Crosby: America's New Villain

Thirty years ago a scrappy group of ameteur hockey players defeated a group of mature professionals in what is still the biggest upset in hockey and possibly all sports. Team USA beat the Russians in what is now known as The Miracle on Ice.

I bring this up because the game played on Sunday between the USA and Canada was the closest any hockey game has come to the intensity of The Miracle game since 1980. While Team USA won in 1980 they lost in 2010 in overtime. In a game where the momentum had shifted to the Americans side and out of no where the star of the Canadian team broke the hearts of millions of Americans.

Since this is my first real post I'll fill you in on my hockey allegiences. I grew up following Eric Lindros' Flyers, I watched them make it to the Stanley Cup finals and get destroyed by the Red Wings. I slowly stopped following hockey and I moved to the DC area in 94. Then the strike happened and many fans left the sport. When teams came back after the strike I started to follow the Washington Capitals where I've now seen Ovechkin, Semin, Green, Laichs, and others become stars in the NHL.

I tell you this because it lays the groundwork for my pure hatred of Sydney crosby, you see being a fan of any Philadelphia team, especially being from the metro area you grow up hating Pittsburgh teams and Post Strike DC despises the Penguins and most of all Sydney Crosby. The NHL set out to create a rivalry between Crosby and Ovechkin, needless to say they didn't need to do much.

They compete for everything, Ovie leads in personal awards and Crosby has the team achievements. Ovie has Rookie of the Year, 3 scoring titles, 2 league MVPs. Crosby has 2 Eastern Cnference Championships, 1 Stanley Cup, and an Olympic Gold.

One other thing that makes it hard to find an endearing quality about Sydney Crosby is he looks like a robot out on the ice. The Americans had personality and heart and that's what hurt the most Sunday is you could see the pain in there faces after the loss.
Last season though Crosby broke the hearts of Capitals fans, he also crushed a few other teams on his way to the Stanley Cup, but on Sunday all Americans joined in the hatred of Crosby, except for a few Penguins fans who have no National Pride. Either way my only hope is that Crosby does not get to hoist the Cup this year, I hope its the Caps, but I'd be ok with any of the teams that have one of the American Players on it hoisting it. Plus if Sydney Crosby loses, maybe Mario Lemieux will kick him out of the basement.

The one thing Team USA can take away from these Olympics, aside from there Silver medals is knowing that they made Americans care about hockey again. Gary Bettman should give these guys a bonus, because he stands to make money off of the exposure.