Lunchtime Musings

You have to love the unbiased coverage (yay, opposite day!) and crazy hype that is leading up to the Caps-Pens showdown Monday night, or as I'm sure Mr. Commissioner would like me to refer to it, the Ovechkin-Crosby showdown.

Take this into consideration - the Caps play two games between now and then, one of those against the best team in the league right now. The Penguins also play once more, Saturday night against the Thrashers (there's a battle between evil and evil if ever I saw one...). Of course, I'm not complaining - any coverage of Ovechkin is good even if it's hyping a game against Cry-Baby and the Evil Ones...

What bugs me is the way it's being hyped. This may seem petty and small, and it probably is - but you have to understand how ultra super sensitive I am about this. I like to see balanced coverage, and in my ultra super sensitive mind, this ain't it:

• USA Today - Besides having quite possibly the least attractive pic of Ovechkin I've ever seen, this article comes across slightly pro-Crosby. Take this comparison:

  Ovechkin is almost an old school player, leading his team is both goals and hits (65). Crosby has a Wayne Gretzky-like vision as a playmaker. "Ovechkin is a shoot-first kind of player. He loves to score goals," Olczyk said. "Sidney thinks pass first, but he has a (shot) release that is as quick as anyone in the league."

  Basically Ovie is good, but Sid the Kid has it all...and what's with no quotes from Ovie in the entire article? I know he's not as well-spoken in English, but he's always quotable.
• CBC.ca - Ah, those lovable Canadians. This one starts out better, with quotes from both sides...but that lovefest at the end with the "talented youngster rollcall" in Pittsburgh made me want to throw up a little. After all as Ovie points out, "[w]e have a couple of guys, too."
• NHL.com1 and NHL.com2 - These are actually pretty balanced, well done NHL. Even I can't find something offensive and biased here, and I can do that with almost anything. For a minute I was upset because Crosby was pictured first, but...yeah, I know. It's sad.

I know to the average fan these all may seem like nice little pieces - to me, though, I see the Crosby-love and it drives me up a wall. I've got my anti-Caps radar on heightened alert at all times, and it's my job to, well, make you hate Crosby and realize he's not as good as everyone thinks.

No, that's not true. My hatred of Crosby is merely on principle because he wears that damn bird on his chest. Even I know that talent like Crosby's is rare, whining and diving aside. Besides, having someone in the league like him can only be good for Ovechkin - with Ovie's talent it would be easy to become complacent (although I don't think Ovie could ever be lazy). This way he's always going to have someone to be compared to and that will make him a better player in the end.

And don't get me wrong - should Crosby take off for greener pastures (ahem, Montreal) I would be forced to dote on him like I do with Ovie. He'd have to kick that smug, whiny thing he's got going first.

For now, though...blech. Stupid overrated whiny cry-baby captain of the Canadian Diving Team - we'll see you and your smug face at the Phone Booth, Monday night, 7:00 pm.