Whatever Crosby Wants, Crosby Gets

(Courtesy of a heads up from TSCS creator Jes Golbez) Many players have been less than pleased with the new RbK Edge jerseys, and not just because some of the new designs are desperately ugly. It seems that their new jerseys wick sweat away from the body as they were designed to do, but the moisture ends up collecting in the gloves and even the skates. But now that Saint Sid has complained, Reebok finally feels the need to take corrective action:

Never let it be said that Sidney Crosby doesn't have a whole lot of marketing clout. Whatever Crosby drinks, eats, or skates in will sell a whole lot more when his image is shown on TV consuming and using that particular product.

Of course, plenty of athletes have endorsed products without caring whatsoever how good the product actually is. When Wayne Gretzky shills for both Coke and Pepsi, you know he's full of crap.

Sidney Crosby, however, seems to have taken his endorsement duties a little more seriously, especially the new Reebok Edge uniforms, which have caused all sorts of controversy for their crappy designs and breakability in fights.

My question to Jes was, "After all the testing, how did they miss it?!" His answer? "Rbk and the NHL are so short-sighted, that is why. They wanted the unis to look 'cool' and sleek, but little did they know that hockey players are sweaty beasts." Good stuff! :)

Sidney gets what Sidney wants. Period.

Also on the docket today, I found a couple of articles I thought might interest you. First up, John Kreiser of NHL.com thinks there is stil room for Sidney to improve:

Sidney Crosby already is the NHL’s first teenage-scoring champion and the League’s youngest-ever captain. For the Pittsburgh Penguins to be as good as a lot of people think they are, Crosby will have to keep building on those accomplishments.

At age 20, Crosby is still a work in progress. Though he led the NHL last season with 120 points, he’s still growing, in terms of both maturity and skill.

Second up, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review released its season preview. They've uploaded the pages of the newspaper as it appeared in the print version. It is six pages of goodness under the headline "Their Time Is Now." (You'll need Adobe Acrobat reader to view the pages.)

My third item for you is something I found quite by accident. It's a survey that was posted in March on ESPN.com. If you'll notice, it was posted on the same day that Mario announced the Pens were staying in Pittsburgh. The survey is still active, and once you've filled it out, it displays the results. The last question asks who the greatest sports figure in Pittsburgh is. Not surprisingly, Mario wins this one by a landslide. What is surprising is that Sid comes in above legends Honus Wagner, Franco Harris, Jack Lambert, and Willie Stargell. Looks like Sid is on pace to claim the number 2 spot in the future.

And finally, Greg Wyshynski of TheFourthPeriod.com tells us why each team in the Eastern Conference WON'T win the Stanley Cup. I'll leave you tonight with his take on why Pittsburgh won't win:

Why They Won't Win the Stanley Cup: Because it's like, what, at least eighth or ninth on Sidney's "Trophies I'm Going To Win" list? He still has to snag the Richard, the Selke and figure out how to retroactively win the Calder; then there's the Pulitzer Prize and the Best Actress at the Golden Globes. But a good start on the way to the chalice would be the Atlantic Division title, which the Penguins will win this season.

Uniform Improvement or Fashion Disaster? Disaster. I still hate the colorful fabric on the sides of the sweaters. It makes the players look like they're sweating out a Marti Gras decoration.

Worst Case Scenario: The outstanding young players on the Penguins simultaneously all hit a sophomore slump, and head coach Michel Therrien's formidable shortcomings are exposed. (But, going forward, his inevitable removal might be a best-case scenario).

Oh, and if you haven't already, don't forget to check out my predictions for the Penguins this season! I posted that today, too, and hopefully you'll take a minute or two to check it out. :)

LET'S GO PENS