Friday, May 1, 2009
Crosby vs. Ovechkin
Someone told me today if I didn't root for Pittsburgh I'm anti-Canadian, because this isn't just a playoff series. It's Canada vs. Russia in Crosby and Ovechkin. But I can't stand Crosby. The whining to the refs, the diving, the cheap shots on opponents already down...he's just not a good sport. Ovechkin, on the other hand, is pure passion and fun on ice. I have a hard time accepting that if I don't root for Crosbaby I'm anti-Canadian. I prefer to think I'm pro-hockey. What do you think?
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5 comments:
This is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it's not the Olympics, so I don't think it should matter what team we cheer for. The Vancouver Canucks is the only remaining Canadian team in the hunt. Personally I don't like the Canucks so I'm cheering for the Blackhawks. I like the energy and skill of this young Chicago team. So I guess that makes me anti-Canadian too.
Did that person tell you cheering for the Habs would be anti-Canadian too because the Habs have an abundance of Europeans on their team?
Look, this isn't the Olympics. This isn't Canada vs. Russia. And despite what the media says, this isn't even Ovie vs Crosby. This is the Pittsburgh Penguins vs the Washington Capitals.
Now, this is a particular sticking point for me because I don't like the Penguins anymore, but I'm a huge Caps fan.
I cheer for the Capitals because I like them. I don't cheer for them because they have a pile of Russians. Likewise, I'm not going to not watch a team just because they have a pile of Russians on their team. It's not about nationality for me. It's about hockey. It's about what these guys bring to the ice every night. If a player is exciting and brings a lot of passion to the game like Ovie does, then great. If the guy is a whiny twerp, who takes cheap shots at people and seems about as exciting as a cardboard box, I probably won't be interested in him, even if he is from the same country as me.
If that makes me anti-Canadian than fine. But these teams are called the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. Not the Canadian Penguins and the Russian Capitals. It's about the team. Not the players nationalities.
At least, that's how I see it anyway.
Crosby is a great player. A bit of a whiner but not more than Gretzky, Bobby Clarke or some other greats of the past.
On the other hand, Ovechkin is the most exciting player I have ever seen. He's even more spectacular than Lafleur and that says a lot. He's not as talented as Lemieux but so much more intense. His "joie de vivre" scratch that, his " joie de play" is so vivid.
Patriotism my you know what. Ovie is amongst the 5 players I have enjoyed watching the most in the last 55 years, him and also Valeri Kharlamov (he who got his ankle broke by Bobby "The tug" Clarke, in 1972.
You're pro-hockey.
Crosby is like a piece of cardboard. I wish I could just once hear him speak like a human being with a living, beating, individual heart. Ovechkin, on the other hand, gets my fiance to sit down and watch hockey. And I'm ok with that.
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