The Twittersphere and talk radio was a-twitter today with people claiming that Sidney Crosby has been getting a free pass compared to other superstars in town.
My question is who are the other superstars and how are they being attacked?
Ben Roethlisberger? He was criticized for playing some bad games during the 2014 regular season but is there a person in the media who hasn’t said that 2014 was his best season ever?
is there anybody in the media who hasn’t said that the Steelers should pay him whatever he wants to
keep him.
Was Andrew McCutchen ripped last season or do i remember a lot of media saying that he should be voted MVP of the National League for the second year in a row?
Was he being criticized in 2013 when he was on his way to the MVP?
Quarterbacks are different animals. When they throw three interceptions and miss open receivers they can easily — if not always justifiably –be blamed for a loss.
And they only play 16 games so every thing is magnified.
Hockey players aren’t listed as probable or questionable during the week before a game.
When they miss games it’s because of an upper or lower body injury.
When Andrew McCutchen played with a bad back everybody knew. It wasn’t excuse making to attribute any drop off in performance to a bad back. It was a fact.
Sidney Crosby played with a sore wrist for the last two or three weeks of the regular season and all through the playoffs. Surgery was suggested if not recommended.
We don’t know if his wrist is the reason for his major dropoff in goal production but if it is, that would be a fact and not an excuse.
Crosby has been criticized for being stubborn about who plays on his line. If he is and it’s to the detriment of his team, then that is a legitimate criticism.
But the coach, the general manager and the owner deserve more criticism if it’s true.
They are not doing their jobs if they don’t tell Crosby who he’s playing with and tell him to shut up if he doesn’t like it.
Same is true if Crosby is being stubborn about where he positions himself on the power play.
Of course,he has been criticized for that, which flies in the face of the argument that he’s never criticized.
He’s been criticized for not going to the dirty areas as much as he used to. Maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s a legitimate criticism. I invite my friends at the three local TV stations and Root Sports to support that theory with video.
It wouldn’t be hard to look through tapes from past years to show the contrast – if there is one.
Right now it’s a nice theory
So, to sum up:
Crosby has been criticized by every person in Pennsylvania for not producing enough in the playoffs the last two years.
He has been criticized for being unwilling to change linemates.
He has been criticized for being stubborn about his role on the power play and blamed for the lack of its success.
So, do me a favor and give me a list of criticisms that should be made that haven’t.
And one more thing. Crosby ran away with the scoring title last year. He was voted MVP and he won the Pearson award as the best player in the NHL as voted on by the players.
The response to that from just about everybody was, “It doesn’t matter. It’s all about what he does in the playoffs.”
Fair enough.
But you can’t have it both ways.
If Crosby were running away with the scoring title right now and the Penguins were running away with the Metropolitan Division, the response would be, “Doesn’t matter. They choke in the playoffs.”
It says here Crosby will win the scoring title.
And, if you were among those who said before the season that nothing he did in the regular season was going to impress you, then, to be fair, you have to give him a chance to change your mind in the playoffs.
There’s a lot of hockey left.
Calm down.