Mad Max's Thoughts on The Ice Bowl

Good Friend of The Show Eric B. from the Sidney Crosby Spotlight hooked us up with two sweet links. The first story is from WPXI.com. It covers Sid's appearance on the cover of Men's Fitness magazine which, by the way, hits newsstands tomorrow.

"Sidney Crosby exemplifies the combination of fitness and passion to which our readers aspire," said Men's Fitness editor-in-chief, Roy S. Johnson. "And he's the best hope for a sport that is in dire need of a star. If anyone can help hockey recover from its recent challenges, it's Sidney."

Indeed. I think he's already done the sport a world of good - considering that even my football loving parents will occasionally tune into a Pens game - especially if I'm in attendance - to watch Sid work his magic. (I don't know if I can convey how HUGE that is. They've never watched hockey before Sid, even though I've gone to dozens and dozens of games prior to his arrival in Pittsburgh.)

That's a lot of pressure for a 20 year old...

The second story Eric sent is from The Peru [Indiana] Tribune. Author Tom Davis takes yet another look at the Crosby v Lecavalier: Who's the best hockey player? battle. The two superstars are constantly compared to determine which man is the best player in hockey today. The problem that I have with the comparisons is that Lecavalier is seven years older than Sid, thus he has six more years of experience in the NHL (and one year in Russia, during the lockout). I always see sports journalists saying, "Sid will be better than Vinny." Okay then, a more accurate comparison would be made if Sid's current record would be compared to Lecavalier's record when he was 20 years old. Even the comparisons between Sid and Alexander Ovechkin make more sense, despite their 2 year age difference, because they entered the NHL in the same year, so they have the same number of years' experience. But the comparisons to Lecavalier seem ridiculous to me.

Don't get me wrong; Lecavalier is definitely one of the best hockey players in the league. But here is a little food for thought: Sid's point total for his rookie season was 102 in 81 games played, and his point total after his sophomore season last year was 120 in 79 games played. Lecavalier's point totals for his first and second seasons in the NHL were 28 points in 82 games played and 67 points in 80 games played. Enough said. You can weigh in and leave your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below.

Who's better? Who's best? Who cares!

Speaking of the Sidney Crosby Spotlight, while checking out his site, I noticed that Eric found this great article by Kevin Allen of USA Today talking about how Sidney has helped "the Penguins plow through the league":

When Crosby scored that outdoor goal, it was if everyone suddenly remembered that this kid is going to own this sport for another two decades. He will beat you indoors or outdoors. He will beat you on a smooth sheet or rough ice. He will beat you with good or bad wingers. He will beat you when it snows. He will beat you when the wind blows. He will beat you like a rug. He will crush you like a bug.

The Seussical Allen goes on to list other reasons for the Pens' recent success - bumping Mark Recchi off the roster (and then the team) and starting Ty Conklin in goal, among other factors.

Another good Friend of The Show, Alex M. posted the link to this video of Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey talking about NBA megastar (the word "superstar" just isn't strong enough, haha) LeBron James's reaction to being compared to the Saint:

And finally today, I give you the inspiration for this post's title. I'm going to attempt to use the Google and the Yahoo! translation tools to figure out what Mad Max Talbot had to say about the 2008 Winter Classic. Between the two tools, I THINK I have a handle on what he's saying, but if any of our French-speaking Friends out there spot a mistake, feel free to post the correction in the comments section or shoot me a quick email. (Thanks to good Friend Mike H. for alerting me to Max's Winter Classic journal entry!)

Missed Appointment With Buffalo

My [high ankle sprain] injury not being healed, I missed the party outdoors in the football stadium of the Buffalo Bills on January 1^st. It was a dream for me to take part in it, so there is no need to tell you that my disappointment was great.

I was really hoping to be able to take part in it. I worked very hard to be there and during my rehabilitation, I was anxious that I would not be able to be there. I started to relax when I realized officially and accepted foremost in my mind that I would not take part in it.

I had a glimpse of the experience by participating in the training the day before. It was super. Moreover, I am in the photograph of team. During the game, I was sitting near the players on the bench, so I felt like a part of this historical moment.

During the breaks, Marc-Andre [Fleury, also out due to his own high ankle sprain injury] and I bombarded the mascot of the Sabres with snowballs. [snoop: I personally did not see this happening. If I had, I definitely would have taken a picture or tried to get a video of it.]

Max (l.) and MAF (r.) take a break from torturing Sabretooth at the Winter Classic.

If it had snowed a bit less, it would have been perfect weather. I do not believe that the players were cold. Certain odd things occurred, in particular when shots were stopping on the ice. It was rather amusing to see Sidney Crosby losing the puck in snow.

The crowd was so involved in the spectacle. The guys told me that they were impressed by the fireworks and the flyover of the four large [blackhawk] helicopters before the meeting. It was a unique event.

I think that there will be possibly other games played outside. As [the] Penguins are very popular, I would not be surprised if we were invited to take part in more of them. I know that there are five or six interested cities, including Montreal. I also know that Penguins would like to play Heinz Field, the Steelers' home stadium.

Another Penguins outdoor game?! If it comes to fruition, whether it's at Heinz Field or at Beaver Stadium, I AM SO THERE, MAX!!! :)

Big thanks go out to our GOOD FRIENDS who sent me the links that made today's post possible!!!

Winter Classic 2008

I wanted to get this post done so much earlier than this, but I had to take my car back to the dealership. It turns out that driving more than 150 miles in poorly maintained snow covered roads can shove anti-skid into the wheel wells and up into the routers and the brakes, which then causes a horrifying shrieking sound as they all rub together as the car is driven. No matter anymore; it's been fixed, and this morning in the daylight I discovered that the rock that hit my car only left a chip in my windshield that is so small that it can't be seen from the outside of the car. :)

I thought of all of you throughout the entire day yesterday. I wanted to make sure I got as many pictures as I could for you guys. Most of the pictures were taken during the very beginning of the game, or when there was a break in play. I didn't take pictures during the game because I was too busy watching it. I was trying to absorb every moment so I could share it with you. Hopefully, my story will give you the closest idea of what it was like to be there, especially if you weren't able to go. Anyone else who went is more than welcome to share your experience with us! All the following images and silent videos (my digital camera doesn't record sound) were shot by me. Click the pictures to enlarge them. I hope you enjoy:

Enlarge this picture to see Sidney.

My husband, his best friend, and I ventured up to Buffalo bright and early (7:00am). We got lost only briefly on the way there. My husband's friend called into XM Radio while we were driving, and just as he was put on the air live, his cell phone lost service. Then when we were about 60 miles away from our destination when we saw this:

I took this shot on the way home. I just couldn't resist! I thought you would appreciate the humor as much as I did. :)

We laughed and figured it was a good omen. :) As we approached the Ralph Wilson Stadium, I panicked about the traffic ahead and decided to park in someone's yard. They only charged us $15 dollars ($10 less than the stadium was charging), they offered us use of their indoor bathroom, and it wasn't the sink hole mud mess that the stadium parking turned out to be. As we walked the two blocks to the RWS, we could already hear the crowd as well as the rumble of a helicopter and the buzz of a small airplane circling above. Honestly, it wasn't as cold as it may have looked at that point. I wore long underwear, two shirts, and this wool throwback Penguins sweater (isn't it awesome?), jeans, thigh-high wool socks, these Yeti boots (say what you want about them - they were TOASTY), a hat (it matches my sweater and looks very similar to the one Sid is wearing here, but mine has extra stripes on it and is a few years old now), these gloves (thanks to Jes!), a wool scarf, and Pens logo earrings. Keep in mind, all this Pens stuff was only what I was wearing. Both my husband and his friend were just as decked out in Pens gear as I was (minus the earrings, haha). We approached the RWS and quickly realized that we were in the VAST minority. We were just a few yards from the gate when I saw a female Sabres fan pointing at me, and as we got closer, this happened: She said, "On the count of 3! 1-2-3!" and she and several friends actually booed us. Seriously. I couldn't believe it either. I shouted back, "Who just got the shutout, baby?" None of them offered a comeback. ;)

After we were all frisked (I actually had to leave my husband and go to "the female frisk line" - thank GOD we didn't lose each other in the crowd), we made our way into the stadium amid shouts of "[Penguins Player - usually Crosby] Sucks!" That's fine. But then we started hearing stuff like "You suck!" and other much more vulgar things being said to us - things that I won't relate here, simply because I know that some of our readers are minors, and I don't want to make anyone's parents mad. I suppose that's what you get at an away game, but, right hand to God, I've NEVER heard anyone harassing opposing teams' fans at the Mellon Arena so harshly - not like that. I'm sure it's happened, though, I guess.

I still can't believe what a crowd of 72,000 people looks like.

Anyways, we finally found our seats in section 223 directly above the tunnel where the players entered and exited the field and settled at about 12:30pm. We sat on one blanket and covered up with another. We were seated in section 15, which seemed to be the line where Sabres fans ended and Penguins fans began. (All throughout the game we battled back and forth with chants of "Let's Go Pens!" going up against chants of "Let's Go Buffalo!") And I have to tell you that it was a pleasant change of pace when we started chatting with 4 Sabres fans in front of us and 2 seated next to us. Those six fans were actually nice to us, so much so that they were a pleasure to be around. One of the guys in front of us even bought my husband an $8.50 16-ounce beer!

On our side of the stadium, there was a smaller ice rink beside the main ice. Some little kids were dressed up in little Penguins and little Sabres jerseys playing pond hockey in front of 71,217 people. I imagine that would be surreal. Then it was FINALLY game time. As I said before, we sat directly behind the tunnel. When those torches went off, I almost passed out because they startled me so much. I was not expecting them at all!

Then we stood for the national anthems. The USA and Canadian flags were ENORMOUS. It took an entire team of military members to unroll each of them.

The Canadian anthem was sung first. Being Irish, I was absolutely thrilled that I was going to witness Ronan Tynan - one of the Irish Tenors - singing our national anthem. BUT WAIT! He didn't sing our anthem! For some reason, the NHL decided it would be okay to replace our national anthem with a song written by Irving Berlin in the 1930s. It was a huge disappointment.

At the end of the song, the Blackhawks flew overhead. It felt like they were so low that if I stood on my tippy toes I could have touched them.

Finally. The puck was dropped. Before anyone even knew what happened, Colby Armstrong scored that all important first goal. The 7 rows of Pens fans in our section went WILD. We were high fiving and screaming like mad people. Midway through the first period, I looked at my husband and said, "I feel a shootout. I just feel it coming." I must be psychic! :P When the Sabres tied it early in the second, he looked at me and said, "You might be right!" The weather really affected how the puck behaved on the ice, as I'm sure you saw when you watched it on TV. It was amazing to me to see the Zambonis on the ice driving right past the players as they stood on the ice near the benches. In this clip, you'll see players just barely getting out of the way of one of the Zambonis, followed by a quick look at how packed the stadium truly was:

It snowed during the first period, then it sleeted during the second period, and then it started really snowing during the third period. The blanket we were using to cover our legs got wet as the game went on and began to lose its effectiveness. That sucked because the temperature dropped fairly drastically in the middle of 3^rd period. We were soooo cold, but it could have been -10° and we still would have soldiered through it. The issues with my car, the cold, the horrible road conditions, the abuse from some of the Sabres fans - it was all worth it. Watching the game was so crazy. It was hard to believe we were there, even as we watched it all happen in front of our eyes. At our vantage point we could see everything pretty clearly.

After overtime ended and the shootout began, the intensity of the atmosphere tripled. We started shouting "Let's Go Pens!" again, stopping only when the shots were taken. Ales Kotalik scored on the Sabres' first try, but Erik "Mr. Shootout" Christensen did not score on the Pens' first try. One of the Sabres fans beside us said, "Oh, good! We've just won it because if Kotalik can score on Conklin, we'll get all three. He sucks at shootouts!" But then Ty Conklin blocked Tim Connolly, and Kris Letang kept his streak alive and pushed his shootout record to 4 for 4. The third shooter for the Sabres was Maxim Afinogenov. The stadium went absolutely bonkers for him. He buckled under the pressure, though, and didn't find the net behind Conklin. Finally, the Saint was the lone shooter left. He literally carried the game on his stick as he raced toward Ryan Miller. A split second before our small pocket of Pens fans erupted like Mount Vesuvius, I saw Sidney jump and smile like he was a little kid. Then it was chaos. There we were - a handful of Pens fans shouting and high fiving and whistling and celebrating together in a sea of dejected Sabres fans. It was unreal.

Fireworks explode as the Pens celebrate their win.

In a gesture of appreciation for the fans for coming out and freezing our butts off, the players on both teams raised their sticks at us.

The game was over and the Penguins won!!! If this had been a movie script that someone had written, it wouldn't have been this good. For Sid the Kid to score the game winning shootout goal was as good as it could have possibly gotten, at least for me. This was only the second game I've ever seen in person that has ended in a shootout. The other one I saw was the 01-07-07 loss to Tampa Bay.

This was the last picture I got at the game.

We weren't heckled as badly on the way out as we were on the way into the stadium. There were a few Sabres fans saying some things to us, but we just said stuff like "Two in a row!" and they left us alone. The loss really pulled the plug on the worst of the insults, though.

The roads were AWFUL on the way home. Apparently, New York doesn't own any snowplows, haha! Truthfully, the roads were awful all the way down 219, including well into Pennsylvania, as well as most of the way on I-80, until about 2 exits away from ours. Then suddenly, the roads were 1000% better. We got lost in New York because the snow was sticking to the road signs on the Eastbound side. We called my sister, who did a quick GPS scan of where we were on her fancy phone to help us get back on track. We were only about 20 miles out of our way, and in the scope of the trip, that wasn't too bad. We got back on the Westbound side of the highway, and the signs were bare. (That helped a lot!) It took nearly twice as long to get home as it did to get there because driving conditions were so poor. We passed 2 accidents (one really bad one) and 3 cars that had slid off the road. I was never so happy to pull into my driveway.

Here's another video clip. This one shows the Penguins leaving the ice after winning, then I moved up to the scoreboard and recorded the night's three Stars. Bet you can't guess who the First Star was:

It was an absolutely amazing night that we were privileged enough to be able to witness in person. If an outdoor hockey game comes to your area, whether it's an exhibition or a regular season game, YOU MUST GO. It is unlike anything you'll ever experience. Nobody knew exactly what would happen yesterday, but everyone knew it would be special, and I still can't believe I was lucky enough to be there. :)

There Really Are No Words

I spent 13 hours driving. It took 4½ hours to get there, but it took 7½ hours to get home because the roads were awful. (Well, also we got lost on the way up and then again on the way back, but that only cost us about an hour of travel time combined.) I just got my 2007 Dodge Caliber brand spankin' new in late August - I took a rock to the windshield on the way to Buffalo and encountered a mystery squeaking problem while driving home on snow covered roads...

Look at that snow! (Click to enlarge)

...BUT, WITHOUT A DOUBT, I'D DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I'm sure you can imagine, it was AMAZING. I took 95 pictures and a couple (silent) videos of the NHL Winter Classic. I will be posting some of them and a detailed account of my experience tomorrow afternoon after I have a long chat with the car dealership. But for now, I MUST SLEEP! :)

Sidney Crosby Wins the Ice Bowl

by Jes

Normally, Crosby sucks in shootouts and gets pwned like a total n00b.



So, how sweet it was to see him score the winning goal to give the Pens the 2-1 shootout win in The Winter Classic.

The Pens were really lucky to come away with a point, let alone two. They were outplayed for much of the game, and got a surprisingly good performance from Ty Conklin, of all people!

(Edit: OK, here is a video of the shootout)



Jodie will certainly have lots to say about this game when she unthaws.

Last Day to Win Tickets to the Ice Bowl

I got my Ice Bowl tickets a while ago. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was extremely fortunate. That whole sales event turned into a furious rush that resulted in 41,000 tickets selling out in less than 30 minutes. (← Check out that seating chart - I'll be in section 223!)

If you are one of the thousands of folks that wanted tickets but didn't get them, I've got something that might help you get to Buffalo on January 1, 2008. I just got wind of a contest from Verizon Wireless that you can enter to win a trip to the NHL Winter Classic - BUT you need to know two things: First and foremost: the contest ends today so you must enter NOW. Secondly, it is only open to residents of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.

Here are the details (click the image to enter the contest):

♣ ♣ GOOD LUCK!!! ♣ ♣

Tonight's Town Hall Meeting

I just finished watching the Penguins Season Ticket Holder Town Hall Meeting, which was held tonight at the Mellon Arena. The biggest news to come out of the meeting is the announcement that the NHL has promised more Ice Bowl Winter Classic tickets to the Penguins for sale after September 28. So there is still hope for anyone who missed out on tickets this Tuesday.

Ken Sawyer and Ray Shero gave updates on the new arena and progress at training camp, and outlined some goals for the upcoming season. Shero didn't sugar coat it: he wants that Cup.

Sidney was his usual aw shucks self as he was given a standing ovation and called "the best hockey player in the world." It continues to shock me how well adjusted and humble this guy is - especially since he's the best of the best. He must have great parents.

The highlight of the night (at least for me) was when Sidney was asked who his favorite player in the NHL is to watch when he has time. His immediate first answer was Daniel Briere, because he's "a little guy" but Sid also mentioned that Briere's move to Philadelphia was a "bad choice." (Cross-state rivalries are AWESOME.)

Then Sidney mentioned that he enjoys watching one Alexander Ovechkin play. The crowd erupted into a fierce storm of "BOO!!!!!!!!!!!" It was so loud that the Saint couldn't be heard over it, so he stopped talking to let the crowd vent. Sidney got a devilish grin, and then he started laughing.

Not that ready-for-my-closeup, trying-to-be-polite laugh he normally does when he's being interviewed, but a harty, real belly laugh like he did when he was on Jay Leno when Jay mentioned Cole Harbour and some audience members cheered. Seems to me like the rivalry between Sid and Alex may not be a rumor after all. ;)

I'm sure he's laughing WITH you, Alex not AT you.

Another moment worth mentioning, Ryan Whitney had Marc-Andre Fleury quote one of Jean Girard's lines from the movie Talladega Nights. Hearing Fleury say "Reecky Booby" in his thick French accent was quite hilarious!

And finally, if you have $55, you can join the Penguins for lunch!

Come celebrate the bright future of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey when the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce hosts its annual Penguins Face-Off Luncheon on Wednesday, October 3 at the Marriott City Center.

Join Penguins General Manager Ray Shero, Head Coach Michel Therrien and the entire Penguins team featuring Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Ryan Whitney for lunch.

Doors to the Marriott Grand Ballroom will open at 12:30 pm and the luncheon will begin at 1:00 pm.

Lunch with Sid for $55?! That seems like a bargain to me!

I GOT MY TICKETS

OH MY GOD! I am so pumped right now, I can't even begin to describe it to you. I just got 3 tickets - one for me, my husband, and his best friend - to attend the NHL Winter Classic 2008 (better known on the net as the Ice Bowl)!!!!!!!!! I will be watching Sidney and co. taking on the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL's first outdoor game in the United States!!!

For anyone else who's going, here's a photo that will make you drool:

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!

That's an artist's conception of what the Ralph Wilson Stadium will look like on January 1, 2008. And you can count on this: I promise I will take as many pictures as I can for you - especially the International Friends of The Show!!! It's going to be a day to remember, that's for sure!!!

WOOOO HOOOO!!!

---

LATE EDIT:

74,000 tickets for the Ice Bowl sold out in less than an hour.That is UNBELIEVABLE. Don't think I don't realize just how lucky I am.

10:00AM Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Mark that date and time on your calendars, kids!!! That's when tickets for the Ice Bowl Winter Classic 2008 go on sale. I got this email:

(Click image above to enlarge text.)

I am so excited that I can't even breathe right now. (I linked the "Click Here For Tickets" to the Ticketmaster site for you, so it's pointing to the same page as the original email.) Hopefully, tomorrow I will be the proud owner of 2 tickets (I don't care which row or section) to attend this game. I will let you know how I fare. Good luck to all of you who are going to be trying to get tickets, too! I hope to see you there. :)

Wanna Go To Buffalo?

Today's news is almost all Penguins news, but let's face it - if it affects the Penguins, it affects Sid.

The Penguins released preliminary sketches of the new arena. This slideshow displays actual photographs of the future location of the arena as well as artist renderings of the arena to paint a better picture of what it will look like.

Speaking of the new arena, the Penguins are giving you a chance to "Create the Experience" by voicing your opinion about certain aspects of the design of the new arena. The first in a series of surveys is seeking input from fans regarding parking. Read the open letter to Pens fans from the suits and then take a couple of minutes to fill out the survey.

The Penguins will be unveiling their new RbK Edge uniforms on Wednesday, September 5, at the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills. Defenseman Ryan Whitney and forwards Ryan Malone and Maxime Talbot will make be helping reveal the new sweaters, which will be sporting special patches, which will presumably commemorate the Penguins' 40^th anniversary.

In addition to the new RbK SC87 line, Sid's getting some new threads for on the ice, too.

If you have a spare $1,250 lying around, you can join the Penguins for a friendly game of golf. "On Wednesday, September 12, the Penguins will host the 20^th Annual Summer Sticks Golf Classic at Longue Vue Club in Verona, Pa. A shotgun start [snoop: whatever that means] is set for noon."

From the Penguins' website: "Individual game tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15. Tickets may be ordered online at www.pittsburghpenguins.com or by calling 412-323-1919." Hopefully, I will be as successful in scoring tickets this season as I was last season. The game I most eagerly want to attend is, of course, the Ice Bowl, which leads me to the story that inspired today's headline...

New reader Greg left a comment under the post in which I declared that I'll be seeing you in Buffalo. Turns out, Greg has decided to organize a massive pilgrimage of sorts for Pens fans that want to make the trip to New York's Ralph Wilson Stadium for the as-yet-to-be-confirmed Ice Bowl. He's got detailed information about hotels in the area, including prices and distances from the RW Stadium. He has also checked out the cost of renting a bus for the trip. You can get all the information you need to get involved at Greg's Ice Bowl site. For your convenience, I've included it in the Pittsburgh Penguins blogs links.

And finally, a comment left in the post about Sid's appearance on Off the Record from "the silent fan" contained a link to this video GEM. It's Saint Sid answering a handful of Stanley Cup related questions. Two things: It's really nice to see that he recognizes and genuinely appreciates all that his parents did to help him get where he is today, and I think the fact that Sid would celebrate a Cup victory with a game of road hockey with his friends proves how down to earth he truly is. Thank you, silent fan, for the link!!! ;)

I'll See You In Buffalo / Sid v. Ben

Well, it's (almost) official! The NHL New Year's Day Ice Bowl is going to be a reality. The Penguins will face the Buffalo Sabres on January 1, 2008 at the Ralph Wilson Stadium, which is normally the home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills. However, no one from the league, the Penguins, the Sabres, or NBC will actually confirm the "news" until September 10th, when an official announcement is expected. If and when the tickets go on sale, I GUARANTEE you that I will be online trying to buy tickets! I'm not too worried about scoring a couple of seats - there will be plenty of tickets: the stadium seats nearly 74,000 people!!! No doubt it'll be a great way for the NHL to get some mainstream exposure (and cash in on the popularity of one Sidney Crosby).

I received this email from The Mario Lemieux Foundation. If I lived a little bit closer to Pittsburgh, I would SO be going to this event. Click the picture to enlarge so you can read the e-vite. Notice that Sidney can't attend this event until next year!!!

Every hockey fan is anxiously awaiting the early October start of the season. We've all been following trivial stories about our favorite players just hoping for something to pass the time until the action starts. Here at The Sidney Crosby Show, we've posted articles about Sid's birthday, found some cool videos, and previewed his fashion line during this offseason. But Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review has gone a little too far this time. Rossi has written an entire novel article detailing the similarities and the differences between Pittsburgh's two biggest star athletes, our man Sid and Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Okay, other than the fact that these two guys are both relatively young men that play professional sports on teams in Pittsburgh, they really couldn't be more different. Nonetheless, here's a sample of how Rossi says they measure up to one another:

Nickname
Roethlisberger: Big Ben
Crosby: The Kid

Age
Roethlisberger: 25
Crosby: 20

Size
Roethlisberger: 6-foot-5, 241 pounds
Crosby: 5-foot-11, 200 pounds

Rookie of the Year awards
Roethlisberger: 1
Crosby: 0

Athletic idol
Roethlisberger: John Elway
Crosby: Steve Yzerman

Championships
Roethlisberger: 1
Crosby: 0

Famous teammates
Roethlisberger: Jerome Bettis
Crosby: Mario Lemieux

MVP awards
Roethlisberger: 0
Crosby: 1

Shoe contracts
Roethlisberger: Nike
Crosby: Reebok

Celebrity girlfriends
Roethlisberger: 2
Crosby: 0

Method of transportation
Roethlisberger: Motorcycle
Crosby: SUV

Music video appearances
Roethlisberger: 1
Crosby: 0

Personally, I would be kind of embarrassed to include the "Celebrity girlfriends" and "Music video appearances" sections, but hey, I'm just a blogger - not a real reporter - right? Besides, this is like comparing apples to oranges. There is no way anyone can say one of these guys is better than the other. The only way you could fairly compare the two of them would be if they played the same sport. But I can imagine Sid would get knocked around QUITE OFTEN if he tried to play football, and I wonder if Ben can even ice skate?

The two of them have met only once, and apparently had a brief conversation so secrative that even the NSA is trying to figure out what they talked about. I honestly cannot wait until the season starts so reporters have something genuinely interesting to talk about again.


Special note to Jody Vance
In the same article, Rossi mentions the following about Sid's charity work: "Crosby hasn't established a foundation of his own, but said he plans to do so soon. For now he offers his time to the Mario Lemieux Foundation for cancer research." Suck on THAT!

2008 Winter Classic

I was one of the 72,000 extremely lucky hockey fans who got to see this game in person. It was without a doubt the second best day of my life so far (trailing only my wedding day). Seriously. It was THAT special. Here are all TSCS posts relating to the 2008 Winter Classic.

• I GOT MY TICKETS
• Sidney Crosby Wins the Ice Bowl
• There Really Are No Words
• Winter Classic 2008 (Recap/eyewitness account of the game)