153 replies to this topic

[haroldsnepsts]

Crosby is among the one or two best, if not the best player in the NHL, and a Canadian boy. It's not surprising that the league would be marketing the hell out of him.

It's just unfortunate that he has tendencies to be such a little *****. And no I don't think he's a cheapshot artist or any of the other ridiculous claims made in this thread. Many of them are somewhat minor, but he just does these things that make him hard to like and strike me as a lack of maturity, even for his young age.

Skipping the handshake after winning the Cup. Rarely if ever giving his opponent credit in post game interviews.

At least he moved out of Mario's basement. He needs to go by Sid instead of Sidney, pay attention to the great leaders of the game past and present, and start acting like more of a man. And I'm not talking about growing a beard.

[55fan]

I was talking hockey with a 16-year-old Bruins fan after church last week. He started out as a Pens fan and Crosby fanboy, but after the way Sid acted after the 2008 cup, he switched teams.

As we were talking, a young girl came up and asked us if we knew who Sidney Crosby was. The young man and I both kind of went, "ugh" and I said yes. She was breathless with excitement and told me that he's "SO CUTE!!!"

After she left, the young man and I chatted about Sid. He was turned off by his lack of maturity.

In summary. Sid needs to be the face of the NHL to attract the "Zach and Cody" crowd, but not the voice of the NHL if he's going to whine. He's got enough talent for highlight reels, and can smile for the camera, but please marketing and media- let someone else do the talking!

Edited by 55fan, 15 May 2010 - 11:06 AM.

[GMRwings1983]

I love seeing that Jonathan Toews/Tyler Kennedy billboard, with the Cup in the background.

Priceless.

[GordieSid&Ted]

Does the NFL market just one player?

esteef

No. But that's a terrible comparison.

NFL football has surpassed baseball as America's pastime. It's essentially our national sport. It dwarfs everything in North American professional sports.

Conversely, hockey is essentially a fringe sport in the US.

I would argue that the NFL doesn't need to market anything or anybody, it's the king. However, they do market and CAN market because they rake in more money, more advertising dollars and essentially have a blank check.

Simply comparing advertising strategies between the 2 sports would be to ignore the fact that one sport dominates our national psyche while the other is relegated in popularity to a photo finish race for 4th or 5th place with golf, nascar and poker.

The more I think about it. The more I think we all should thank our lucky stars that the most exciting player (debatable of course) in the game, Alex Ovechkin has such relatively easy name to pronounce for the knuckle-dragging, beer-swilling American sports fan.

Can you imagine the league trying to break down the barriers in the US and bring hockey to the masses whilst trying to get people to pronounce ILYA KOVALCHUK or EVGENI MALKIN or PAVEL DATYSUK. We're lucky to have Sid and AO's rivalry be marketable.

There's something to be said for local coverage of a team's stars to bring in fans. But one question I would ask is how the hell does anyone here know if they do that or not? If you live in Boston, how the heck do you know that they don't have a Shane Doan commercial in Glendale?

I live in Ohio, when I tune into FSN Detroit, I see Wings players featured. I assume it's like this in every NHL city. So I think that's a moot argument.

The NHL isn't raking in cash hand over fist like the NFL. They need to get the most bang for their buck. They've cast their lot with Crosby, and to a lesser extent, AO.

From a business standpoint, that's the smartest thing to do.

And for those who say they've never met anybody who wanted to watch b/c of Crosby or whatever, to that I say so the F--K what. Who are you? Individually, we're nothing. We certainly aren't a large enough sample to say anything definitive. I actually work with a guy in his 50's who got turned on to hockey because of Crosby and is now a huge Pens fan. And this is an Ohio guy cheering for a Pittsburgh team! So does my one encounter wash out that of somebody who has never had that experience? Of course not. But i'm not arrogant enough to think that my experience translates to enough info to say the ad strategy is working or not.

My guess is the league's people know. My guess is the salary cap tells you something.

Crosby is among the one or two best, if not the best player in the NHL, and a Canadian boy. It's not surprising that the league would be marketing the hell out of him.

It's just unfortunate that he has tendencies to be such a little *****. And no I don't think he's a cheapshot artist or any of the other ridiculous claims made in this thread. Many of them are somewhat minor, but he just does these things that make him hard to like and strike me as a lack of maturity, even for his young age.

Skipping the handshake after winning the Cup. Rarely if ever giving his opponent credit in post game interviews.

At least he moved out of Mario's basement. He needs to go by Sid instead of Sidney, pay attention to the great leaders of the game past and present, and start acting like more of a man. And I'm not talking about growing a beard.

Harold showing again why he's one of the best posters on this site.

So does this mean that if they are burning Pronger's picture in a couple weeks that he will be the new "Most Hated Player in the NHL"?

I guess I didn't realize that a handful of scrubs in Montreal spoke for the entire NHL fan base.

QFT!!!
Absolutely brilliant post!

I'll concur with that. My wife doesn't follow hockey but even she hates Crosby.

So either your wife hates something she knows absolutely nothing about, which makes me wonder about your wife. Or, she simply hates him b/c you're always whining around your house about him like a little baby.

So which is it? Your wife a bit loony or are you a Crosby? AKA a whiny, little *****.

Edited by GordieSid&Ted, 15 May 2010 - 12:50 PM.

[esteef]

^ Yes, it's a terrible comparison because the NFL does it better and that doesn't jive with your position.

People are tired of Crosby, end of story.

esteef

[EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

^ Yes, it's a terrible comparison because the NFL does it better and that doesn't jive with your position.

People are tired of Crosby, end of story.

esteef

It's moreso the fact that the NFL doesn't need to promote one player, as their fan base is already so large, they don't need to worry about exclusively targeting people who would otherwise never watch their sport.

And it's also pretty ironic that for all the eyerolls you do around here, you're the one complaining about too much Crosby, yet always seem to be found contributing to threads about him.

[esteef]

It's moreso the fact that the NFL doesn't need to promote one player, as their fan base is already so large, they don't need to worry about exclusively targeting people who would otherwise never watch their sport.

And it's also pretty ironic that for all the eyerolls you do around here, you're the one complaining about too much Crosby, yet always seem to be found contributing to threads about him.

Promoting one player is stupid regardless of where you think the league stands on fanbase size. And this is my first eyeroll in two months!

P.S. I'll "contribute" to whatever thread I want, you don't like it, don't read it.

esteef

[EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

Promoting one player is stupid regardless of where you think the league stands on fanbase size. And this is my first eyeroll in two months!

P.S. I'll "contribute" to whatever thread I want, you don't like it, don't read it.

esteef

1) I never said promoting one player wasn't stupid, I was just merely explaining the difference we seemed to be lost on you. The NHL should market guys like Stamkos or Toews more, but when catering to the average non-hockey fan, most will agree that Crosby is the safest pick, due to his Vanilla if not "tool" image. As others have said, can you really blame the NHL for not marketing a guy whose name sounds to most people like some type of russian chicken dish?

2)I never said you couldn't, just found it ironic that you would have such a self-hurting fascination with hating something.

Edited by EZBAKETHAGANGSTA, 15 May 2010 - 01:45 PM.

[Doc Holliday]

Crosby is among the one or two best, if not the best player in the NHL, and a Canadian boy. It's not surprising that the league would be marketing the hell out of him.

It's just unfortunate that he has tendencies to be such a little *****. And no I don't think he's a cheapshot artist or any of the other ridiculous claims made in this thread. Many of them are somewhat minor, but he just does these things that make him hard to like and strike me as a lack of maturity, even for his young age.

Skipping the handshake after winning the Cup. Rarely if ever giving his opponent credit in post game interviews.

At least he moved out of Mario's basement. He needs to go by Sid instead of Sidney, pay attention to the great leaders of the game past and present, and start acting like more of a man. And I'm not talking about growing a beard.

Crosby did not "skip out" on the handshake line. He was mobbed by reporters and likely didn't even notice the handshake line had started.

That is on the media, not Crosby.

[Detroit Hockey]

Same with basketball, you either love crosby/lebron james or you hate crosby/lebron james

Crosby did not "skip out" on the handshake line. He was mobbed by reporters and likely didn't even notice the handshake line had started.

That is on the media, not Crosby.

Ye no one is douchebag enough to just say ''ahh forget the handshakes

[esteef]

1) I never said promoting one player wasn't stupid, I was just merely explaining the difference we seemed to be lost on you. The NHL should market guys like Stamkos or Toews more, but when catering to the average non-hockey fan, most will agree that Crosby is the safest pick, due to his Vanilla if not "tool" image. As others have said, can you really blame the NHL for not marketing a guy whose name sounds to most people like some type of russian chicken dish?

2)I never said you couldn't, just found it ironic that you would have such a self-hurting fascination with hating something.

Fair enough.

esteef

[Electrophile]

If the league was REALLY smart, they'd market young, exciting players from the United States. If Bettman was really interested in raising the sport's profile here, that's what he'd do. Of course he's not smart, so he's doing the exact opposite. My personal feelings about Crosby aside, if the league wants to make inroads with American hockey fans, they need to get people interested in guys that from the United States. Crosby isn't even the whole of Canada, so why should he be the whole of the league?

[edicius]

So either your wife hates something she knows absolutely nothing about, which makes me wonder about your wife. Or, she simply hates him b/c you're always whining around your house about him like a little baby.

So which is it? Your wife a bit loony or are you a Crosby? AKA a whiny, little *****.

Bah, in my house, I complain more about officials than I do Crosby.

But I'll give you a prime example - when watching the last Wings/Pittsburgh game on NBC, my wife was in the kitchen and I was in the living room watching the game. The broadcast, as per usual on NBC, was saying "Crosby" nearly every third word. My wife poked her head out of the kitchen and said, "All I hear is 'Crosby, Crosby, Crosby'. It's really annoying. Are there any other players on the ice?" I didn't have to say a word and just laughed.

[CaliWingsNut]

[url="]

A truely great example of someone to wear the "C".

Edited by CaliWingsNut, 15 May 2010 - 03:50 PM.

[Shady Ultima]

Crosby did not "skip out" on the handshake line. He was mobbed by reporters and likely didn't even notice the handshake line had started.

That is on the media, not Crosby.

True, but notice how that didn't happen to anyone else? Bettman's marketing of the Kid made those reporters act like assholes. They should have been fined for not waiting until the handshakes were over.

And, if Crosby was a respectful person, the first game where Detroit and Pittsburgh played each other in the 09 season, he should have shook Lids' hand.

[Hockeymom1960]

If the league was REALLY smart, they'd market young, exciting players from the United States. If Bettman was really interested in raising the sport's profile here, that's what he'd do. Of course he's not smart, so he's doing the exact opposite. My personal feelings about Crosby aside, if the league wants to make inroads with American hockey fans, they need to get people interested in guys that from the United States. Crosby isn't even the whole of Canada, so why should he be the whole of the league?

This!! I've been saying this also. Market the Americans since most of the market is in America!

[soonboomer]

Why hate Crosby? As a Wings fan, he's never hurt my team when it was clutch time.

[Carman]

[url="]

A truely great example of someone to wear the "C".

Here's more examples. Not even including the ones this year.

[Shoreline]

Does the NFL market just one player?

esteef

The NHL does?

[haroldsnepsts]

Crosby did not "skip out" on the handshake line. He was mobbed by reporters and likely didn't even notice the handshake line had started.

That is on the media, not Crosby.

It's the media's fault that Crosby didn't notice or think of the handshake ritual that happens after every series ending game?? Every captain or star player is mobbed after the Cup winning game.

Its not exactly a new phenomenon. And how exactly do you not notice 40 guys lining up at center ice?