A TSCS Summer Project

I will declare today a Rumor Free Zone since some of you requested a day of respite from all the recent speculation. I promise that just for today, I'll only post an update if a player actually signs a contract. Instead, I want to talk about the summer project I mentioned yesterday. The idea for this project came to me from two ideas I received from several Friends of The Show.


The original idea was one that grew in the Game 6 recap's comments section. We all wanted to express our thanks to the Pens for a fantastic season, but I think in those hours following the loss, none of us were really thinking about how quickly the Boys of Winter would be heading back to their homes for the summer. We didn't have much time to get anything together, so that idea quickly lost steam.


Since this was my first season as a hockey blogger, I still want to use this public forum to express my thanks to the Pens for making it memorable, but sending thanks to them for just one season seems somewhat inadequate - especially since the Penguins organization has given me so much over the past 11 years.

So then I got an email from across the pond from Friend of The Show Dave D. He had this fantastic idea:

Just wanted to throw an idea to you guys. I got it from looking at the map you added last week with all TSCS fans from around the world. Just thought it would be a cool idea if we all sent in pics of us in our Crosby / Penguins gear holding our national flags.


[It] would be great to see all the nations together showing the love and support of Sidney Crosby and of course you guys at TSCS.

How awesome is that idea?! I thought I should expand on Dave's idea just a tad to make sure everyone could be included: It doesn't have to be a picture of you in the Pens gear. All that I want to see is your country's flag with whatever you have to support the Pens. It can be you in a Pens jersey waving a huge flag, or it can be a miniature flag hanging next to a Sidney or Mario poster on your wall.

Add your country's colors to this picture and you've got yourself an entry.

Just be creative and have some fun with it! I'm pretty sure we'll get a lot of pictures of the US and Canadian flags, but they'll all be different so it'll be okay. (You know, you could use a state flag, if you have one.) I'll take your submissions until Saturday July 12^th. That should be plenty of time to think of a unique way to get a picture that shows your pride in your country and in your Penguins. (Perhaps some of us Yankees can get a great picture at our Independence Day celebrations!)

LATE EDIT 1: Friend of The Show Mer R. pointed out that our Northern Friends can use provincial flags. :)

After it's all said and done and the resulting post is complete, we could use the comments section of that post to express our thanks to the Pens for everything they have given to us fans over the years. Everyone should feel free to let me know what you think of TSCS Summer Project in the comments section below. We've got lots of time to tweak the idea if you guys have improvements. FYI: I'm going to try to think of a way I can get my three dogs in on the action for my photo... :)

LATE EDIT 2: Read the comments below and you'll understand why Friend of The Show Stephanie S. created this:

The Day After

Some of you may still be reeling from last night's loss. Mark Messier thinks the loss was the beginning of something much bigger. He's right - the Pens took their experience from being eliminated in Round 1 in five games by the Ottawa Senators in 2007 and used it to get to the Stanley Cup finals only one season later. The future is definitely WOW for our Pens. :)


While on MSNBC, I found this solid timeline that puts last night into perspective for us. It details the Penguins' rise out of the ashes of bankruptcy. If for whatever reason you're not interested in checking out the entire article, you MUST at least check out 2001 - whether you love him or hate him, the photo NBC sports picked to accompany the item about Jaromir Jagr's trade is priceless. (It's especially funny because the article makes no mention of how loudly Jagr expressed his unhappiness in Pittsburgh. They let the photo do all the talking.)

Friends of The Show Cassie C. and Mer R. each sent me similar ideas. They thought it would be cool if we could see where we're all located. I found a map that we can all add our markers to at ZeeMaps.com. Don't worry about it tracking you by your IP address - I picked this one because it only adds the information that YOU choose to include. Check out my entry (it's the little sunflower on Pennsylvania) and make sure to add yours - even if you want to do it anonymously! Just click the Add button in the upper right corner to get started.



NHL.com has the transcript to Sid's (and Mario's) post-game presser. Here are some highlights:

Q. Sid, reaction to the fans?

SIDNEY CROSBY: They've been great all year. We appreciate their support. And it doesn't make it any easier for sure. But they stuck through with us all season, and a long time before that, and so we appreciate it.

Q. In the heat of the loss can you put in perspective what has been accomplished this year?

SIDNEY CROSBY: Not right now. I mean it's pretty tough. It's not a fun time. But we will remember this feeling, that's for sure.

Q. You go down fighting, taking it literally to the last second of the game.

SIDNEY CROSBY: That's the way we played all season. And the guys have been through a lot and battled through it and it doesn't surprise me that the guys never gave up.

This is an old picture. Sid probably wasn't smiling when he gave this interview...

Q. Can you put it in perspective how far this team has come in such a short time?

SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, we've come a long way, that's for sure. But it doesn't make it any easier, that's for sure.

Q. Marc-Andre was not happy with the second and third goals. What did you say to him when you came in?

SIDNEY CROSBY: I don't think really anything needs to be said. Without him we wouldn't be in this position. So it's without him we wouldn't be here.

Q. Can you talk about the future of the core of this team and some guys have to be signed?

SIDNEY CROSBY: Like you said, we've got a great group. And hopefully we can keep it together. But it's a tough thing.

Q. They say it only takes an inch.

SIDNEY CROSBY: The last play is an example.

Regular readers will remember that before this series got underway, I issued a call looking for a Red Wings blogger with whom I could make a friendly bet. KCJacoby contacted me and accepted. I agreed to let him author a post if the Red Wings won the Cup, so that post will be up sometime tomorrow. Don't worry - I've been talking with him and getting to know him - he'll no doubt be bragging a little bit, but he's really cool. I think you all know me well enough to realize that I wouldn't let just anyone guest post on The Show!!!


So, is it too early to start a countdown until October???

GO PENS!!!!!!!!

TSCS Map

Friends of The Show Cassie C. and Mer R. each sent me similar ideas. They thought it would be cool if we could see where we're all located. I found a map that we can all add our markers to at ZeeMaps.com. Click on the markers to learn a little bit about all the Friends, then you can add your own!

Don't worry about it tracking you by your IP address - I picked this one because it only adds the information that YOU choose to include. You can find specific Friends' entries by clicking the bar on the right with the double chevrons on the top. A list of everyone who has left a mark on the map will pop out.

Make sure to add your mark - even if you want to do it anonymously! Just click the Add button in the middle of the second row of buttons in the upper right corner to get started.



Thanks to Cass and Mer for the great idea, and thanks to all the Friends who have added (or will add) their marks!!! :)