Sid's Home From Boot Camp

The Penguins returned home yesterday from their boot camp trip to West Point (← make sure to check out the video on the Pens website):

The routine was altered a little from last year’s trip. This time, the Penguins had to embark on a campus-wide scavenger hunt and make a hike up a hill.

[...]

First Sergeant J.B. Spisso, a former Army Ranger and current member of the New York National Guard, oversaw the Penguins’ training. The Greensburg native kept the team moving.

“If we weren’t practicing, we were in our shorts and running shoes out running, climbing hills and carrying heavy stuff,” [Erik] Christensen said. “Every day we had virtually no down time to relax or rest. You were either eating, playing or working on something else. We were pretty busy for about two and a half days.”

The team also played a wicked game of paintball. There were no rules and shots could be taken at close range. As Maxime Talbot said, “some guys had some pretty big welts and bruises. It’s very good for team building because you have to cover each other and try to get plans to attack the other team.”

Last year's trip to West Point is widely believed to have played a big part in last season's remarkable turnaround. (The other part, of course, being Coach Therrien!)

Think they tried to recruit him?

For local Penguins fans (any of you that get FSN Pittsburgh), all next week FSN will be showing Penguins programs to get you pumped up for the start of the season. You can catch Sidney's "In My Own Words" program on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. and again on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. If you haven't caught it yet, it's a must-see for any Sid fan.

Now, hopefully, the new banner at the top is a little better than the one I made yesterday. I am much happier with this one. :) The final change I've made is visible on the right side of the main page, underneath the Sidney Crosby Monitor. I found this widget to keep you abreast of the latest scores. It displays the score of the last game played, and the time of the next game to be played. I think TSCS is finally ready for the new season - with little more than a week to go. I can't wait until it is finally time to DROP THE PUCK!!!

Inside the Mind of Sidney Crosby - New Gatorade Ad

Gatorade has come out with a flashy new ad featuring Sidney Crosby.

This ad features the inner workings of Sidney's mind as he goes in on a breakaway against the hapless Carolina Hurricanes netminder.




This ad has very good production values and it very well done.

Is it original? According to Robert Lefebvre, who was kind enough to upload the video, the spot is a good take-off on a Woody Allen flick.

The one minute ad is highly ingenious, considering the multi skilled Crosby, but it is hardly original.

The scene is a direct descendant from a Woody Allen vignette from his 1972 movie, "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (* But Were Afraid To Ask)." That scene, featuring actor Burt Reynolds, was also about scoring, in a different way!

The Allen clip involved the same crew to crew interaction, in conflict with the heart and mind in a moral equation. Instead of a goalie, the desired target is one attractive brunette.

Hmm, a Sidney ad featuring his mind as he hits on a bunny? That would kick ass.

The Crosby Gatorade Commercial

This site has been getting a lot of search hits for the Sidney Crosby Gatorade Commercial, "Sticks"

Well, thanks to the magic of YouTube, here it is in all of its glory.

Crosby's new Gatorade Campaign

Most celeb/athlete endorsements are pretty crappy, but Gatorade has shown that they can come up with some pretty good advertisements over the past few years. While the good ads typically involve basketball, the producers of sugar-water have diverted some of their resources to Sidney Crosby and hockey.

The new Gatorade campaign, "Sticks", is a spoof of a road hockey game. When Sidney puts his stick in the pile, chaos ensues. (See the spot on the Gatorade.ca website)

A big assist to Kukla's Korner for the pointer.

Gatorade’s new integrated marketing campaign featuring NHL phenom Sidney Crosby launches across Canada today, and acts as a national rallying cry uniting Canadians in celebration of road hockey. The campaign consists of 30- and 60-second versions of the television spot “Sticks,” a 60-second cinematic version, public relations activities, as well as an on-line contest at Gatorade.ca. “Sticks” debuts in English and French across Canada Monday, April 17th, in time for the NHL playoffs.

I saw the ad before a movie the other day, and I felt it was well done. It's corny, but in a good way. Sidney has that "aw shucks" charm about him and the whole spot is well produced and very involved.