"It's not the biggest city, but it's a city I really like."

I've got a lot of Sid-tastic links for you today! Well, actually they came from several Friends of The Show...

• Michelle B. - Sidney Crosby: This no Pitt stop (Today's title comes from this article.)
• Stagerat & Lauren H. - Penguins' Crosby not pulling a LeBron (This is nearly the same article as the previous one, but this one is written for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.)
• Carlie D. - Vote for the Greatest NHL Captain of the New Millenium (Siddo is in second place. You can vote once per day.)
• Stagerat & Jan M. - Crosby Answering All Questions (Take that, Semin!)
• Michelle - Penguins Shop for Project Bundle-Up
• Michelle sent in a video of the Project Bundle up article:

• Stagerat - Crosby, Ovechkin Receive NHL Honours
• Michelle - Penguins Crosby named NHL player of week (Post Gazette)
• Stagerat - Crosby named first star of the NHL's 'Three Stars' (Tribune Review)
• Stagerat & Kellie D. found this video tribute to Sid honoring his First Star Status on the Pens' website:

I got an update from Friend of The Show Jan about the Mario Lemieux Foundation auctions for her drawings:

Just wanted to report that the bidding is over for my two drawings and I am so pleased that one brought in $200 for the foundation and the other brought in $210 for The MLF. How cool is that? Again, thank you for letting me be a part of the family of Friends of the Show! I think it's cool that the first drawing I ever did of our Captain that was featured on YOUR site went for the top price of the two.

Once again - congratulations, Jan! $410 for the MLF! I'm so proud of you! :)

Finally today, I received this e-mail from Friend of The Show Lauren a few days ago:

It was snowing at my house yesterday before I left to drive back to Ohio for class, and I should've been working on a paper, but instead I took a break to take my dog Emma and Sidney Penguin outside for a couple of pictures! :) Enjoy!

Look at how sweet Emma is:







What a pretty puppy!!! Big thanks go out to Michelle, Carlie, Stagerat, Kellie, Jan, and Lauren for their contributions to today's post. Tomorrow I'll have some amazing game day pics for you.

Eye Candy

This one's for the ladies...

I haven't ever mentioned here on The Show whether or not I think any of the Penguins players are attractive for two main reasons:

1. because, as a female hockey blogger, I take more than enough crap for running a Sidney Crosby site because some people just assume that I'm only doing it to try to get close to him or because I have aspirations to marry him. Some of the bigger tools actually think NO woman can love hockey without wanting to bed a player. Anonymous cowards already have no qualms about leaving hateful comments and/or sending emails insulting everything from my writing ability to my knowledge of the game, and I really don't want to give them something else to fuel their vitriol, so I deliberately keep mum on the subject. FYI - True Friends of The Show know it's no secret that I'm already married. We've been together for more than 11 years, wed for almost 8 of them, so the odds are pretty good that I'm going to keep him around. ;)


2. because, more importantly, I really don't care what they look like so long as they can get that little black puck past a half dozen opponents and into the back of a 6'x4' net - repeatedly.

That said, I am only human, so I don't feel bad at all saying that PittGirl from TheBurghBlog.com is my new heroine. At Monday's practice, some of our Boys decided they'd rather play a game of soccer than skate. A reader of TheBurghBlog.com was in attendance and sent some photos of the soccer game to PittGirl. Oh, and did I mention it was Shirts v Skins? WOW. :D Niiiiice! (Thanks to Friends of The Show Allison Y. and Cathy F. for the links!)

And since I'm still working on editing the rest of the fan photos (there are a lot of them, they're H-U-G-E files, and they need to be cropped, color-corrected, and resized - it's a lot of work!), part 2 is not ready yet. Instead, I'm just going to put up some other great stuff I got from some of our Friends. First, we've got a wallpaper from Friend MichelleInNovaScotia that she put together with screenshots of Siddo from a CBC interview:


Next up, Friend of The Show Kayla A. took this photo...


...and used her pencil to create this lovely drawing:


And finally tonight, this next wallpaper came out of a collaboration between Friends of The Show Jaime and Lizzy. Lizzy took Jaime's favorite picture of Siddo...


...and created a drawing that Jaime then used as the centerpiece for this sweet wallpaper:

(Click to enlarge)

Thanks SO MUCH to Allison, Cathy, MichelleInNovaScotia, Kayla, Lizzy, and Jaime for helping out with today's post.

So it's been, what, 2 years since the Pens last played? They FINALLY get back into action tomorrow when they come home to face the Oilers at 7:00pm Eastern.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LATE EDIT: Many apologies go out to Friend of The Show MichelleInNovaScotia, whom I misidentified earlier in the post. She is the one who made the red Siddo wallpaper.

Sid the - Juvenile???

Friend of The Show Julia found the clip of Sid rapping on YouTube. It's the clip mentioned in The Friends' Zone from the Sidney Crosby: On The Ice and Beyond DVD where Siddo sings Juvenile's song "Slow Motion:"


Here's something that will get you worked up for November 11^th - from Friend of The Show Doug L.:

It looks like a tomato threw up all over him. >:O

We've got to acknowledge and congratulate our girls Carroll T. and Cassie G. for submitting two of the questions that ESPN chose to ask Siddo in yesterday's chat:

Carroll (Ottawa, Ontario Canada): Do you miss Tim Horton's coffee and donuts will living in Pittsburgh?

Sidney Crosby: I do miss Tim Horton's! There's not many here. I definitely do miss it.


Cass (Norman, OK): What do you think is the biggest challenge you as captain will face this season?

Sidney Crosby: I think making sure the team doesn't listen to past history or facts, because history isn't on our side right now. There haven't been a lot of successful teams that have had Cup runs. We just have to prove ourselves. What we've done in the past doesn't matter.

AWESOME!!! Good job, ladies! :) Now I know some of you were upset that the interviewer didn't ask him about TSCS. I have to tell you in all honesty, I don't think I'd be comfortable knowing Sid knew about my site. I see The Show as a work in progress with many improvements (on my end, not yours - you guys ROCK!!!) to be made. Bottom line: I just don't think I do a good enough job here for him to be made aware of The Show's existence. Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did not submit a question. I missed the deadline because I was at my sister's house and I got distracted. It's just as well - I couldn't think of a good one to ask him anyways.

Speaking of being away, I did try to keep up a little bit with my emails while I was away, but I failed miserably. Please don't get mad if I don't respond or don't use the stuff you've sent right away - I've still got it all (pictures, articles, Roaming Penguins stuff, etc.) and I can absolutely guarantee you that I will get to it eventually.


Stagerat, who writes for The Flower Shop, keeps finding stuff about the Saint in his search for all things Fleury. In an effort to help me out, he passes along the info. Here's what he has found this week:

• this article about how Sid's been handling all the attention as the "Face of the NHL"
• this tip that "TSN has gone Crosby Crazy." Click here to browse through articles, interviews, videos, and more
• an open letter to Siddo over at Barry Melrose Rocks that begs the Kid to stop being so careful about his words and - every once in a while - let loose and tell us what he REALLY thinks
  
• and two reviews of the new DVD: DVD Verdict review, Washington Post review

Kellie D. sent in this ESPN Crosby v Ovechkin article that has what may be the coolest Sid/Ovie graphic I've ever seen in an article comparing the two.



Ali W. found this link to Business Week's list of 100 most influential people in sports. Our title man comes in at a respectable #52:

52 - SIDNEY CROSBY Center and captain, Pittsburgh Penguins
At just 21 and with three years as a pro, Sid the Kid is hockey's top player and most marketable athlete.

And finally today, Sidney Penguin arrived in Benbrook, Texas, where he met Karen S. and her furry friends. S.P. wrote us to tell us all about it:

Well I made it to my new home and I met my new mommy. She has two black furry things that seem to own the living space. When mommy was talking to me one of them got curious about me and got too close. We will call that one 'Evil Kitty'. 'Evil Kitty' keeps staring at me but mommy has me protected by her side. The other one we'll call 'Good Kitty' let me sit with her and mommy took our picture. She gave me a soft nose kiss and then laid down on the blanket which has a Penguin logo on it. Mommy said they claimed it as their own and she is just lucky to get to use it. 'Evil Kitty' keeps lurking around but mommy said I will be kept in a safe place.

Sidney P. shares a nice blanket with "Good Kitty."

LOOK OUT, S.P.!!!

Many thanks go out to Julia, Doug, Stagerat, Kellie, Ali, and Karen for their help with today's post. Look for pictures of the Sweden games from two Friends to go up sometime in the next 24 hours. :)

Catching Up: Part 2

I told you I was behind, right? Well, I'm still working my way through my inbox today.

Last week, Friend of The Show Christine sent in links to two articles regarding Ryan Malone's feelings about leaving Pittsburgh. The articles are from competing newspapers, and (predictably) they heard Bugsy's words from conflicting perspectives. "Malone Says Pens Showed 'No Love'" comes from The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, while "Malone Has No Harsh Feelings" comes from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Hockey Fights Cancer has some new merchandise. Last year, everything was pink; this year, it's lavender. There's the tie for men, a book, a sweet scarf for women (the pattern is crossed hockey sticks and a puck), and men's and women's hats. CLICK HERE AND BUY SOMETHING to help a good cause. :)

I'm definitely getting the scarf. It's just too freaking cute to pass up. I think I'm going to get the tie for my husband this year. I wanted to get him last year's tie, but he really wasn't into the whole pink thing.

Friend Eighty-Two found this piece about the renewal of the feud between IFHSA™ and Don "Grapes" Cherry. Avery really is a jerk. This probably is the one and only time you'll ever hear me say, "Go get him, Grapes!"

I got this one from Friends Stagerat, Lauren H., and Melissa G. - ESPN's Pierre LeBrun says that this season, they are truly Sidney Crosby's Penguins.

Friend Lisa-Marie W. found an interview with Siddo, but the video doesn't have a direct link. Just click here to launch the video player (it should pop up in a new window) then click on "Most Recent" on the left. Scroll through the list until you find the video titled "Interview with Sidney Crosby." It's one of the more relaxed interviews with the Saint that I've seen in a while. LATE EDIT: I'm at my sister's house, and I pre-wrote this post and scheduled it to go up today, so I didn't mention that this is the CBC interview that was mentioned in The Friends' Zone yesterday.

Friend Stagerat sent in this article from Rob Rossi's Chipped Ice detailing how the Pens' director of team operations, Frank Buonomo, kept the masses at bay while in Europe with Sidney.

Here's a video of The Save of The Decade. Friend of The Show Jennifer B. sent in this video of Carey Price's incredible stick save in the September 30^th preseason match up between the Canadiens and the Red Wings. If you haven't seen this already, I guarantee you that you'll hardly believe your eyes:



Here's another article about the Pens' Swedish scavenger hunt that Friend Cathy F. found in the Ottawa Citizen. All I have to say is we NEED to find this picture, LOL:

At least the shopping and zoo experience became a little more, shall we say, revealing, than originally planned.

A group including goaltender Marc-André Fleury and winger Pascal Dupuis bought bright yellow and blue Swedish underwear, planning to strip down to take a picture in front of two sleeping moose. But when the group got set for the picture, they realized they were short one set of underwear.

That forced Darryl Sydor to pose with the Viking helmet placed strategically in the picture.

Sounds like they had a good time, eh? ;)

Friend ReneeDC used a photo I posted last week and added some hilarious captions:


Friend of The Show Carlie D. went to watch the Buffalo Sabres unveil their third jersey on September 20^th. While she was there, she snapped a few pictures of a giant mural of the Winter Classic:

I don't mean to beat it into the ground, but any time I see Winter Classic pictures, I get chills!!! :) What an AMAZING day!!!

Sidney Penguin had to get on a plane for today's Roaming Penguin installment. Here's what Friend of The Show Sigma956 had to say about S.P.'s first flight:

Sidney Penguin took his first plane ride on 8/30/08 from Pittsburgh to St. Louis (via Chicago). He visited with my mom and step-dad in Cape Girardeau, MO, then went to eat at the infamous Lambert’s Café (Home of the “Throwed Rolls”) in Sikeston, MO, and then back to St. Louis to see my beloved Cardinals in action against the Florida Marlins at Busch Stadium. Sidney had a great time in visiting the “Show-Me-State”.

The first picture is me and Sidney Penguin inside Busch Stadium. The background is the scoreboard that is outside the stadium:


The second picture is from inside the Jack Buck Party Room:


The third picture is Kylie (my three-year old daughter) and Sidney on the flight to our layover in Chicago:

[snoop: Oh my gosh, she's so darn cute!!]

The last picture is from Lambert’s, the best home-cookin’ comfort food on the face of the earth!

Lots of thanks go out today to [*takes deep breath*] Christine, Eighty-Two, Stagerat, Lauren, Melissa, Lisa-Marie, Jennifer, Cathy, ReneeDC, Carlie, and Sigma956 for basically doing my job for me! :)

"Cup"

Stagerat, Jenn Casey, and Adrienne F. sent in the link to a sweet new commercial starring our title man. The commercial is called simply "Cup." Enjoy:



We never want you in that photo again either, Sid.

Maria T. found this piece on NYTimes.com which describes how Siddo shot the new "Cup" commercial and how the NHL is using The Kid to market the sport.



Retired TSCS founder Jes Golbez found an awesome photo of what may be the funniest sign I have EVER seen at a hockey game (WARNING - Do not view with liquid in your mouth):


Stagerat sent along this article from St. Louis Today that says that the Pens' rise to the top over the past few years is the blueprint for success for any struggling hockey club. (Although, the author isn't so naive to think that having the Saint and Geno wasn't a big part of the Pens' big comeback.)

Lauren H. and Rachel C. sent in articles about the Pens' Swedish scavenger hunt and their tour of the Vasa Museum. (Make sure you keep checking Dan Potash's Swedish photoblog. He's a beast - he's been updating it constantly, and there are new pictures of the scavenger hunt, a hockey game the team watched, and a practice.)

Nikki spotted this street sign in Cape Cod:


71Crush sent in this photo that was featured in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:


Stephanie C., her son, her dad, and none other than Roaming Petr Penguin took a trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium on September 19^th and then to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum on the 20^th for her son's fourth birthday. Stephanie's own words introduce each photo below.

1. "Ready to go to the zoo!"


2. "At the zoo's main entrance:"


3. "With the newest elephants, babies Angelina and Zuri. They're a little hard to see in this photo, but it was pretty crowded, so it's the best shot I could get:"


4. and 5. "With his penguin pals!" [snoop: How awesome is it to see a Roaming Penguin with a real penguin?! :)]



"We had a lot of penguins swim up to Petr and give him a good checking out, as photo no. 6. shows:"


7. "In the children's play area, there's this thing, See If You Can Jump As Far As... and then it lists various animals, and how far they can jump. Turns out Petr can jump as far as a penguin!"


8. "A sign in the Children's Museum entrance. Petr says, 'You're welcome!'"


9. and 10. "When Fred Rogers retired, he and WQED donated much of the original Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood stuff to the Children's Museum. Here's Petr with a lovely photo of Mr. Rogers and the show's band, and with the original Make Believe inhabitants!"



11. "Petr trying out the fun pincushion wall:"



Only a few more installments of TSCS's Quote of The Day left in this offseason!

"Any discussion on hockey goaltenders must begin with the assumption that they are about three sandwiches shy of a picnic. I can prove this. From the moment Primitive Man first lurched erect, he and those who came after him survived on the principle that when something hard and potentially painful comes at you at great velocity, you get the hell out of its path. Goalkeepers throw themselves into its path. I rest my case."

~ Jim Taylor, columnist

Thank yous all around to Stagerat, Jenn, Adrienne, Maria, Jes, Lauren, Rachel, Nikki, 71Crush, and Stephanie for their respective contributions to today's post! :)

Today Is The Greatest Day I Have Ever Known

BOOYAH, FRIENDS, IT'S MY LAST DAY AT THIS CRAPPY JOB!!!!!!! Um, so I might be slightly enthusiastic today... Just a warning. ;)

Hahaha, my inbox BLEW UP with tips about these photos posted on PittsburghLive by FSN Pittsburgh correspondent Dan Potash. (I wish I could list you all, but I hope you'll forgive me for just throwing out a blanket Thanks for the link! to all of you instead.) Here are five of my favorites. The best about them is that Potash uploaded the original images, so click these babies for HUGE wallpaper quality shots - because really, who among you doesn't want this next shot on your desktop?

Sleepy Siddo and Flower - those masks are dead sexy! :P

The Boys practice in Sweden.

The Saint takes a tour of the Vasa Museum.

Another shot of the Boys touring the Vasa Museum

Sid, Mad Max, and Pascal Dupuis enjoy a candlelit dinner. (WOW - I barely recognized the now relatively hairless Mad Max!)

Good Friends of The Show Lauren H. and Stagerat (who now is affiliated with my good friend, Loser Chris, as a contributor to The Flower Shop) sent in the link to an article detailing how much Siddo is enjoying anonymity in Sweden.

Friend Maria T. sent in this piece about training camp continuing in Sweden:

Because of the extent of this undertaking -- the NHL Premiere also includes weekend games between Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers in Prague, Czech Republic -- the NHL and sponsors are helping to defray some of the player expenses and assisting with things such as arranging transportation.

Some of the Penguins' European players have requested tickets because people from home can get to Sweden more easily than they can get to Pittsburgh.

Russian defenseman Sergei Gonchar had asked for about 50 tickets here and in Helsinki, mostly for friends making the relatively short trip from St. Petersburg, where Gonchar and center Evgeni Malkin work out in the summer. Gonchar had to give those seats back after a dislocated left shoulder forced him to miss the trip.

Malkin still has a group coming, including his girlfriend, Oksana, a friend who doubles as his Russian agent and workout pals from St. Petersburg. [snoop: Aww!!! :)]

WAIT A MINUTE - I have to read that again: "Because of the extent of this undertaking ... the NHL and sponsors are helping to defray some of the player expenses." SERIOUSLY?! I'm no accountant, but I'm pretty sure even the rookies are making more than enough cash to foot the bill. I wouldn't care except that the NHL will likely pass along the costs to us in the form of even higher ticket prices.

Friend of The Show RACHEL S. FOR THE WIN!!!!!!! We get to head back to Pittsburgh for our latest installment of our Roaming Penguins saga, where Rachel captured the first picture of Sidney Penguin in the stands watching Sidney Crosby on the ice:

YES!!!!!

(Here's a zoomed view of S.C.)

Here are Rachel's own words to tell us about their day together:

Roaming Sidney and the family traveled to Pittsburgh for my brother’s wedding. Friday morning, Sept 19, we took the kids and Sid to the open practice. It was really cool – people were walking up in jerseys, which was fun to see.


Heading in to the arena, which will always be the Civic Arena to me, none other than Ray Shero drove in front of us into the lot. The practice itself was really quiet and it was strange to be in the semi-empty, quiet arena.

Sidney P. watches the Zamboni drive by.

My son, Henry, who is 4 ½ was so excited and shouted “my first hockey game!!” I told him, “you have no idea, honey.” It was also funny to see people eating hot sausage sandwiches and nachos at 9:30 in the morning.

What an awesome day!

I highly recommend getting in to see a practice for anyone who can, because it was really cool. So, I got a few good shots of Sidney inside and one at the new arena construction site.

This is also S.P.'s first trip to the new arena site! :)

(I also got some good Pens gear at the shop in the arena!)

Thanks, Rachel!

All that's left today is TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"This letter is a declaration of my resignation, as I have accepted a position as an IT Team Member at another company. I am looking forward to my new position and the challenges that await me. My last day of work will be September 30, 2008."

~ snoopyjode, in a resignation letter which was signed, sealed, and delivered two weeks ago today. :D

Endless thanks to everyone (including Lauren, Stagerat, Maria, and Rachel) for helping with today's post! :)