"Give Sid A Break" Article Completely Drops The Ball

[Kipper]

SidandRay.jpgDo you know what I hate more than almost anything? It's when parts of the media feel a personal obligation to tell the rest of us, the "fans" how we are supposed to think, act and root. There's this obligation in Pittsburgh by those in the sports writers circle to try and profess that they have this sort of grand knowledge on how to be a fan that the rest of us need to follow. That they know and understand sports more than the rest. Since when did journalism requirements go beyond research, reporting and composing sentences properly? If "Sports 101" were a credited class in college, everyone would take it. Whenever I hear or see someone in the media trying to claim superiority over the general majority with regards to topics that they are no more knowledgeable than the next guy walking down the street, it strikes a chord. Whether it's reading 3rd rate journalists like Bob Smizik call fans "knuckleheads" for being fans and booing players like Marian Hossa that we not only have a right to do for not liking or in this recent Article by Dejan Kovacevic stating that we and others need to "Give Sid a Break". This annoying authoritative need by the media to "parent" others exists when it shouldn't

The last I looked out on Twitter, Facebook and Google +(the 5 people that actually use it with the same regularity as Twitter and Facebook), there wasn't an overwhelming charge of fans blaming Sidney Crosby for having a concussion. There has however been an ongoing barrier put up by the Pittsburgh Penguins organization between the fan base/players and Sidney Crosby that has done nothing but create rumors and further frustration amongst everyone from fans to the players themselves. That, is and has been one of the main roots of any issue regarding Sidney Crosby and the fan base of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

So, let's try this...

Give the Pittsburgh Penguins fans and players a break.

It's the fans that have been waiting for over a full year since Sidney Crosby originally went out of the lineup with a concussion. It's the teammates of Sidney Crosby who have gone through this as well. The lack of any response by the Pittsburgh Penguins organization for months to provide frequent updates about Sidney Crosby did nothing but create rumor on top of rumor. "Sidney Crosby is going to retire" and plenty of other rumors were created and they were created for one reason...

The Pittsburgh Penguins organization forgot that it's fan base cares. They forgot that their own players care.

Apparently it's seeped into the clubhouse as well as once again rumors are surfacing that some players believe that Sidney Crosby is symptom free.

Let me reiterate a simple truth..

Rumors don't exist because people know the truth, they exist because people don't want to know the truth, because of personal spite and hatred and most importantly because they really have no idea what the truth is.

That last one applies to the Sidney Crosby situation.

Once again, give the fans and players a break and start blaming the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. Somehow in this city, every gun is cocked, loaded and aimed at the North Shore but when it comes to critiquing the Pittsburgh Penguins, it's sacrilegious. Whether it's because Mario Lemieux is revered in this city as a savior or Ray Shero is constantly absorbed of blame by the fan base despite inheriting a ton of talent and filling holes every summer with studs like Nils Ekman, Mike Comrie, Ruslan Fedotenko, Miroslav Satan and the like....

Most of these rumors about Sidney Crosby, most of these questions exist because the Pittsburgh Penguins organization has refused to regularly inform the public despite having an obligation to inform the public. It's the public that pays their checks, that pays the players salaries. The players, Crosby's teammates have a right to know as well. There is never anything good that comes from an unhealthy, divided locker room. Any issues created in the Pens locker room related to this subject has been created by the Pittsburgh Penguins organization not by players who are just like all of us - Human.

As a fan I support any decision that Sidney Crosby makes, that the Pittsburgh Penguins make for him, since it really appears to be out of his hands despite him allowing it to be that way. I don't however support a concept that it is alright to ignore the public and the locker room and allow speculation and rumors to be created (on more than 1 occasion). This gets done and then GM Ray Shero addresses the media as if a gun was held to your head. Every time GM Ray Shero addresses the media regarding Sidney Crosby, he looks and sounds like he'd rather be shoveling horse manure and then he appears and sounds aggravated as speculation and rumors grow that he has to eventually address. How about doing some Public Relations work a little more often and addressing a hungry fan base and personnel about Sidney Crosby? How hard is that? I'm not talking about the usual Ray Shero canned responses like "He's not cleared to play. He'll play when he's cleared". We want actual updates. We want to know what it is that is holding Sidney Crosby back. We want to know why. We would like to know these answers more than at major Press Conferences every 6 months.

Do your part to end speculation and rumors from happening.

Give your fans a break. Give your players a break. They all deserve it after going through more than a year of mostly silence regarding one of Pittsburgh's most popular sports figures.

...and to Sidney Crosby from the Pittsburgh Penguins fan base.

[(419)BlackNGold]

If the Pens were winning, no one would care.

I understand that a lot goes on behind the scene and the Pens may keep a competitive advantage by keeping players status vague.

IMO, The media doesn't need to protect players from public opinion, especially someone as popular as Crosby. It's like having your mom tell your friends to quit picking on you. You look like a wuss... like you can't defend yourself!

Even if Crosby was playing, some fans would be *****ing about his play. It's what fans do.

[Kipper]

Most certainly. It agittates me when people whoa re nothing more than fans themselves like members of the media act like they are in this next level of "fan" and take on an approach where tell the rest of us how we should be.

You're right, fans of all colors are going to criticize to an extent, that's what they do.

what ticks me off is when I read stuff like Dejan wrote and see the Pittsburgh Penguins organization completely absent of any responsibility in all of this. That to me is where any blame is at. You can't tell the fans to "give Sid a break" when the fans haven't been given one to begin with from the organization

[exNCite]

Crosby addresses media: Feeling better, but not symptom-free

Mike Halford

Jan 13, 2012, 2:08 PM EST


After skating for 27 minutes today during Penguins practice in Florida, Sidney Crosby spoke to the media and addressed the latest in his concussion recovery.

“Symptoms are a lot better but no, I wouldn’t say symptom-free,” Crosby told reporters. “I’m allowed to exert. That’s a positive when you’ve been sitting around a bit.”

Crosby went on to say he’s experiencing fewer headaches and balance issues. He also feels less frustrated with this most recent stint on the injured list because he’s better versed in concussion recuperation.

“It was so new and [I had] so many questions and not a lot of answers,” Crosby said of his first go-round. “It’s a tough injury. It’s not clear-cut all the time. Being more familiar helps a bit.”

No. 87 also fielded questions about the current state of the Penguins. Earlier today, a report from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said some of Crosby’s teammates felt he should be playing — the article also said the Pens went so far as to hold discussions regarding a temporary replacement captain.

But during the pregame skate, the Penguins showed some solidarity by wearing makeshift Cs on their jerseys, a move Crosby appreciated.

“That was a nice gesture, especially at a time like this when times are tough, there’s adversity with injuries, a few losses,” he said. “We stick together, it’s a good sign.”

Afraid to comment on this so I'll just post it.

[Kipper]

Afraid to comment on this so I'll just post it.

The solidarity shows that the rumors of teammates "unrest" was just that - rumors. Good to see. Actually I wouldn't doubt that the team itself wasn't burning with questions themselves but ultimately they are always going to rally behind and support one of their own when they have the chance like they did.

Sid simply needs to do more of this. It doesn't haven't to be weekly but he needs to update the public. The Pittsburgh Penguins need to update the public too, since it's them more than Sid preventing Sid from playing. They have to own up to this and ease the public, and the team

[Kipper]

Pens Fans Adopt "C" in Support of Crosby

Friday, 01.13.2012 / 4:48 PM / Features
By Sam Kasan


When a local Pittsburgh newspaper reported there was a rift in the Penguins locker room between some players and Sidney Crosby, the team responded with a strong showing of solidarity with and for their captain by wearing a “C” on their chests at Friday’s morning skate in Sunrise, Florida (full details here).

But the players weren’t the only ones who are adopting the "C." Fans also got in the act to show their support of Crosby, who continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms.

Amber Alexander, a senior journalism and English major at Mississippi State, started the ball rolling by lobbying fans to hashtag the C on Twitter to get it trending from her account @amb_alex. The movement picked up steam and soon fans were tweeting and retweeting with #C.

"I first heard about the players wearing the C when you actually tweeted it!" Alexander said of the handle shared by Michelle Crechiolo and I (@PensInsideScoop). "I was in the middle of talking over Twitter about the exact situation with some of my followers and of course some Philly fans who wanted to chip in their opinions and then I saw the tweet and couldn't keep the smile off my face.

"My first tweet from that was 'Now this is OUR team.' When the article was written about possible rifts in the locker room I just remembered feeling like this came out of nowhere. It took me by surprise big time and it felt like a completely different team from reading the article. When I saw the tweet, I immediately felt like this was that defining moment where a team could turn a season around. I was extremely proud to be a part of this fan base when I saw that the players did that for Sid."

But now fans have taken it a step further, trying to also show their solidarity with the team and captain. Some have said they’ll also tape a C on their personal jerseys and sherseys to show support at games. One fan taped a C on her cat (true story).

And with some help from @pghpenguins, fans were able to actually add a C to their Twitter avatar (click here to add the C). The response and outpouring of fan support has just gone viral. But what else do you expect from the best fans in the NHL.

"It was completely random! I still laugh at how far it went but it doesn't surprise me one bit," Alexander said. "Penguin fans are unbelievable when it comes to supporting the team through a rough patch. ... I tweeted, 'I'm sure Penguin fans can get #C trending.... wanna try?' and I had no idea it would work. But once I started having people tweet me back and I saw the excitement they were expressing and just the overall emotions from it, I knew I wanted to continue it.

"The avatars are amazing!! When I saw it I think I sent (Sam Kasan) three tweets because I was so excited! But I love them! They are perfect for what we are going through, and now when we see that we will remember this, and the players and fans now all have C's on them to represent what it means to be a Pittsburgh Penguin."

[Kipper]

Pens Show Solidarity with their Captain

Friday, 01.13.2012 / 1:31 PM / Features
By Sam Kasan



The Penguins wore a Scarlett Letter at their morning skate practice jerseys at BankAtlantic Center in Florida, but it wasn’t an “A.”

The team all came out wearing “C”s on their sweaters to show solidarity with captain Sidney Crosby, who skated for the first time after the team’s practice on his own (well except Evgeni Malkin, who went with the Russian version "K" on his chest).

PensWearCsPhotoGallery-5_slide.jpgThe move was also in response to an article written by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which stated: “a group of players held a 45-minute meeting to discuss a temporary captaincy.”

So the Pens responded to the article by showing that they are standing behind Crosby as their captain in perpetuity.

“When someone says we don’t want Sid as our captain, it’s pretty ridiculous,” forward James Neal said. “He’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable leader. He’s going to be captain here for a lot of years. In the room there is no doubt that he is our leader and he is our guy. … It’s a pretty stupid comment.”

“It was just to have fun and loosen it up,” defenseman Brooks Orpik said. “(Crosby’s place on the team) has never been in question, not in this room. People can speculate. If we are on a six-game winning streak it probably doesn’t come up. We can only control what goes on in here.

“Sid will be our captain until he’s retired. I don’t know where that came from, but we had a little fun with it today.”

The players made a collective decision to wear the Cs. The Pens are hoping to snap out of a six-game losing streak and head coach Dan Bylsma saw this as a character-building move.

“The guys coming together and making a little joke of it, but also supporting their captain and coming together as a team, I liked what I saw,” Bylsma said.

Crosby was flattered by the support of his teammates, and thinks that this will bring the team closer as a group while going through adversity.

“That was a nice gesture, especially at a time like this when things are tough and there is adversity with the injuries and losses,” Crosby said. “We need to stick together. That was a good sign of sticking together. Whenever you have adversity there are times when your team and character is questioned. I don’t think that’s ever been a point with our group. It’s good to see everyone sticking together. I think we’ll see the results on the ice.”

[Kipper]

This was EXACTLY what i was talking about in my Article.

1. Pens fans are hungry and loyal. They just want to hear something. Pointing fingers at them is outrageous.

2. all of the signs I see are pointing back to Dejan for creating rumors that there was some sort of divide over Crosby, that players were deciding on the "C", that some believe he's healthy... the players showed that none of that was true but again... when silence is created this type of crap gets created and all it does is create drama.

The only good that might come from all of this garbage is that it appeared to give the team an extra spark it needed to break a bad losing streak

[BlackNGoldRules]

Someone in the media starting rumors? I'm shocked! I think I've made it pretty clear in the past how I feel about the media. Those people can stir things up that aren't true and then somehow aren't held accountable for it and get away with it, until they do it again with their next "story". And the local talkshows are in the same industry so they run with these "stories" themselves to get ratings. OK, done ranting.

[airleg1]

If this were a NY team or Philly team would the front office be able to keep quiet?

I think not....The fanbase would demand information, so what makes Pittsburgh different??

The media!!

[Candii]

Kipper, you're so dedicated!
And I know that you said I was being forced to show up in tomorrow's game day thread, but the problem is I'm leaving to go back to college at noon and it's three hours away, so that may not be possible. (

[BlackNGoldRules]

If this were a NY team or Philly team would the front office be able to keep quiet?

I think not....The fanbase would demand information, so what makes Pittsburgh different??

The media!!

How about the media giving us accurate information instead of spreading false rumors just to create stories. That's all I ask. It seems like I see more of the latter than the former anymore. If members of the media do their jobs properly, then they can be an invaluable tool for we the fans to find out information about our teams. I wish I could say I see much of that, but I don't. That's my problem with the a lot of the media. Don't report things that aren't true. They do it all the time for ratings and to sell newspapers.

[Kipper]

Kipper, you're so dedicated!
And I know that you said I was being forced to show up in tomorrow's game day thread, but the problem is I'm leaving to go back to college at noon and it's three hours away, so that may not be possible. (

You're breaking my heart!

Do your best to see if you can make an appearance before the game ends... if not... hopefully we are able to start a win streak with a win today

[(419)BlackNGold]

How about the media giving us accurate information instead of spreading false rumors just to create stories. That's all I ask. It seems like I see more of the latter than the former anymore. If members of the media do their jobs properly, then they can be an invaluable tool for we the fans to find out information about our teams. I wish I could say I see much of that, but I don't. That's my problem with the a lot of the media. Don't report things that aren't true. They do it all the time for ratings and to sell newspapers.

F*** the media, I really have little use for them... The Tavern is my official Penguins news source!

[El Sid]

AMEN TO THAT! I'm so sick of the media thinking they are some sort of elite know-it-all force, and the rest of us are a bunch of serfs who need to be spoon fed. In reality, I'll bet that I (and perhaps most of you here in the tavern) have more experience with sports between playing, coaching, and volunteering than guys like DJ, Smizik, & Cook combined. While people like me were learning how to field a grounder or practicing foul shots, they were learning how to write. While people like me were teaching kids the basics of baserunning or helping a kid with a sprained ankle off the court, they were learning how to do interviews. I'm not going to say that they are a bunch of dolts who know nothing about sports, or that they themselves are completely unathletic, but I'm willing to bet they have never really immersed themselves into sports like people like me, so they should really quit trying to tell me how I'm supposed to think. I also hate the media generating drama on a team that doesn't exist just so they can have something to talk about and have people pay attention to them.