Friday, December 07, 2007
The Sidney Crosby West Coast Tour 2007!!!
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 gaga 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)
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 gaga 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)
Labels: media, Penguins, sidney crosby, Wayne Gretzky, West Coast Tour
