Back From Being AWOL

Well, I hope all of you had as wonderful a holiday as I did! :) I honestly didn't intend to go missing for so long, but I had a very full extended weekend of friends, family, and last minute fun to close out the summer. Now I'm relaxed, rested, refreshed, and READY FOR OCTOBER!!!

It looks like I didn't miss too much in the way of Pens news, but you can bet your life I've got tons of stuff from all over to share with you to pass another day until training camp kicks off. First up, Friend of The Show Paula H. found the video of the commercial where Wayne Gretzky counsels Canadian golfer Mike Weir about the playoff beard:


Friend of The Show MichelleInNovaScotia found this item that claims Tim Horton's co-founder Ron Joyce took Le Magnifique and the Saint for a boat ride, during which Mario had to put the kibosh on the daredevil in our Siddo (from The Times & Transcript):

Sleuth is skating all over the place this week, this item relating a tale from a recent sailing trip Mr. Tim Horton's, a.k.a. Ron Joyce took aboard his mutli-million dollar yacht from his Fox Harb'r complex in Nova Scotia to Charlottetown, P.E.I. That trip's already been reported. Now Sleuth's sources tell him that among guests aboard the boat for that jaunt were none other than Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux and his star player and Nova Scotia native Sidney Crosby.

Keep the risk-taking to a minimum, Kid!

But the story only begins there: it seems that some other young and adventurous passengers were having fun by diving off the yacht into the waters of the Northumberland Strait, and Crosby was makin' to do the same when his boss, Lemieux, stepped in and laid down the law: it seems when you have a multi-million dollar investment in a player, you get a little antsy about what many would consider risky behaviour. . . And so young Crosby stayed safe. . . and dry!

Awww, Super Mario's no fun! ;) Although, after the events that occurred between 01-18-08 and 03-27-08, I can TOTALLY understand why Mario's so protective of our young captain.

New Friend of The Show Debra S. sent in some pictures she snapped at the NHL Store in NYC. (Check out Hossa's new number...)




A while ago, Friend of The Show Ali W. mentioned in the comments section of a previous post that she has a Penguins 2008-09 Season Countdown posted on her dormroom door. She sent in some photos of that and her dorm's other Pens adornments for us (her captions tell us all about them):

"Here is the sweet countdown on our door. People who know absolutely nothing about hockey stop in all the time and ask about it. They wonder what the Penguins are... It's really quite sad."

"The 'WALL OF FAME'!!! That's really all I need to say about this one. :)"

"My awesome garbage can. :)"

Sidney Penguin must like the northern New York/Canadian border area. His most recent stop was in Welland, Ontario, Canada...

Click for a closeup view of Welland.

...where he spent a busy couple of days with Friend of The Show Stephanie B. taking road trips to Niagara and Toronto. Once again, I'll let her captions explain each photo:

"This is Sidney P. sitting on a dock of the Welland Recreational Waterway. Until 1970 when the new canal was built, the Recreational Waterway was a main 'highway' between lake Erie and lake Ontario for large ships. Referred to as 'the old canal' by most residents, it is an important part of the city's history, and hence an important place for Sidney P. to visit. (He went in the paddle boat while he was there!)"

"After Sidney visited the old canal, he made about an hour and a half journey to Toronto to the Air Canada Center for a Celine Dion concert!! He can be seen here chillaxin before the show..."

"...and then is shown with another famous Canadian in the background!"

Now it's time to close with TSCS's Quote of The Day:

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

~ Wayne Gretzky

In this photo taken on January, 18 1997, Gretzky (who played with the New York Rangers at the time) congratulates Mario for a goal scored during the 47th NHL All-Star game at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California. (The Eastern Conference won.)

Many, many thanks to Friends Paula, MichelleInNovaScotia, Debra, Ali, and Stephanie B. for their contributions to today's post. :)

The Sidney Crosby West Coast Tour 2007!!! OMGZ!!

by Jes

As someone who has a blog dedicated to all things Sidney Crosby, I am not surprised at the hype that surrounds the kid, as we know the media has continually gone coo coo for Cocoa Putts over the young prodigy.

What does surprise me, however, is the level of media hype that has accompanied Crosby as he tours the West Coast for the first time in his young career. Yes, the weird schedule meant that we had to wait until Year 3 to see Crosby play in Vancouver.

As Crosby has been in the league for some time, you'd expect the media coverage to die down a little, now that we've seen the kid quite often and there aren't many new stories that you can write. Still, do a Google News search for Sidney Crosby and you'll see countless articles about his West Coast Tour. Every media outlet west of Winnipeg has 3-4 guys writing Sidney Crosby stories, as if people in Vancouver or Calgary have never heard of the guy. I look in today's Province newspaper (aka Vancouver birdcage liner) and see FIVE whole pages of nothing but Sid. There are even contests to win Sidney merchandise (sign me up, Scotty!)

It's obvious that Crosby has that rock star aura, at least in the eyes of the media. Radio talk shows, newspapers, blogs, TV shows... it's all Crosby, all the time. Ovechkin got some pub when he came out West, but it was nothing near what we're getting pounded with now. I'm quite surprised that I haven't learned what brand of underarm deodorant the kid uses, or if he prefers brunettes over blondes.

The one thing pisses me off is how the media is trying to tie Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky together. Ever since Gretzky came out and said Sid would break his records, the media want to lump these two together for all time.

Let's see here ... Crosby and Gretzky don't really know each other, don't regularly talk to each other (once a year, at most), don't play in the same conference, don't even play the same style of game, and play in completely different eras. Other than the fact that they both rake in millions$$$ in endorsements and get a crapload of publicity, you cannot really compare the two men. Sidney's playing style has always been more Forsberg than Gretzky, and today's era will never allow somebody to get close to 200 points a season. Hell, achieving 100 points in a season is pretty frickin' incredible these days.

All in all, despite the fact I may sound like a grumpy old man, I am pleased to see the hype and I think it's good for the league. Any time the fans can get excited about a player coming to their town, it generates more interest in the game and will draw more attention to, what would otherwise be, another regular season game in the middle of December.

(cross-posted)

More (Stupid) Advice for Sidney

I hate to rehash an old subject, but someone ELSE has yet another piece of unsolicited advice for Sidney regarding the millions he earns from his contract extension and now his RBK SC87 clothing line. This one comes from Leafs TV sportscaster Jody Vance:

Even young ladies get to join in the fun by donning the "I (heart) Crosby" tops. You must applaud the idea of a new, hip brand targeting the young hockey fan, but there is one thing missing from this marketing equation. Where is the charity element? If there is one, I can't find it.

[...]

Amid all of the organized chaos [of the fans at the September 1998 launch of The Wayne Gretzky Collection], Wayne's message was loud and clear: Part of the proceeds would go to support P.E.B.B.L.E.S. -- Providing Education By Bringing Learning Environments to Students.

[...]

For Sid, this can't be "just" about making money, can it?

We know after signing a five-year extension with the Penguins recently for a cool US$43.5 million, the 20-year-old Pittsburgh captain hardly needs the RBK revenue.

If Sid the Kid is truly tearing a page out of the PR book written by Gretzky, he needs to make sure he is giving back as he grows his brand.

Excuse me, Ms. Vance: EXACTLY WHAT BUSINESS OF THIS IS YOURS? Honestly, is Wayne Gretzky the NHL legend that Sidney should REALLY be idolizing? Personally - and I admit that I may be biased here - I think that Sid's Pittsburgh landlord is a 1,000,000 times better role model than Wayne could ever hope to be.

Sid shows us what his rank will be this season

And, Jody, I can't let this slide: SHAME ON YOU for reducing me and my fellow female Crosby fans to stereotypical, puck bunny caricatures with one sentence!!! As a female sportscaster for Leafs TV, I would think you of all people would understand how hard it is for females who are legitimate fans of the sport of hockey to overcome that particular stereotype. That you would perpetuate that cliché says more about you, ma'am, than it does about Sid's female fans.

---

Moving on... Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come (again) for you to vote for Sidney (again). This time our main man Sid is nominated in AskMen.com's top 49 to determine who voters consider to be the best representatives of the male gender. (Last year's winner was George Clooney.) To vote for Saint Sid, simply click the banner below and click the "3. Athletics" link. Also, be SURE to turn on your speakers when you check out his profile and use the slider scale below his picture - that music is priceless, especially when you click the submit button! UNREAL!!!

I'll include this link in the next couple of posts as a reminder to VOTE FOR SID!!!