"What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb.
I think that if you take any player, even if he is 'dead wood,' and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 100 points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in, and he scored 50 goals; everyone will say 'Wow!' and then hand him a $10 million per year contract. That's what they like here."
-- Alexander Semin October 31, 2008
If you think that's the only individual rivalry being visited tonight, you are gay.
Ovechkin/Malkin friendship has turned into a feud.
ESPN
Unless Malkin and Semin start slapping each other, the only rivalry left in the equation is the good old-fashioned Crosby/Ovechkin one.
We introduce you to Mike Wise from the Washington Post.
He suffers from not-smiling-when-his-picture-is-taken syndrome. Emo.
When your picture is taken, smile.
Unless his whole career is based on tough-nosed, empty writing.
Oh, wait. It is.
The link to this article ran rampant in the Flyers recap C-Blog.
We had to link the pages separately, 'cause the WP blasts you with registration pages randomly.
He titles his article "All-Star Shame," letting us know that his entire article is based around trying to rationalize why Ovechkin didn't get into the All-Star Game.
If you've been reading our blog for at least the last two months, then you know why he didn't get in:
Caps fans didn't care.
But Wise delicately side-steps that issue.
No need to throw your readerbase under the bus, right?
But as Ovechkin and his reeling teammates head north for another Caps-Penguins meeting, it bears repeating how ludicrous the NHL balloting process is and how much it illustrates the anti-Ovie bias covertly taking over hockey.
What a misinformed statement.
We'll say it this last time: Caps fans didn't care to get AO into the game.
Hell, we cared about getting him in more than the Caps fanbase. What a shame.
This isn't just about over-promoting Crosby, the apple-cheeked, well-spoken kid essentially plucked to be the next Great One from a frozen pond in Nova Scotia; it's about ignoring the fact there is a player in Washington bigger, stronger, better and more valuable to his own team, a player who happens to be from Russia, speaks halting English and has a front tooth missing.
The only reason we quote this is because it's the first of at least 8 references in Wise's article about how good-looking Crosby is.
The vision of selling the NHL on NBC -- Nobody Beats Crosby -- comes at the expense of Ovechkin, a player nearly every genuine observer of the game believes is better than Crosby. Some even argue that Crosby's teammate Evgeni Malkin is more valuable to Pittsburgh.
What a vague statement. "Nearly every genuine observer"?
A prodigy from childhood, Crosby's first biography appeared on bookshelves his rookie season -- at 17. Boyishly handsome, he is indeed Canada's own. Every time he scores you could almost hear Don Cherry proudly intoning, "What a fine, young North American boy."
In case you forgot, Crosby is hot.
Don Cherry likes Crosby?
[ Ovechkin ] became the first player since his countryman Pavel Bure to score more than 60 goals in a season.
What a fail. Pavel Bure had 60 in 1993-94.
Both Lemieux and Jagr topped 60 in the 1995-96 season.
FACTDoes this guy even have an editor?
Between voting and marketing, you see what's happening, don't you? Cherry's xenophobia is spreading south, to a provincial North American city near you, where they love how Sidney Crosby looks, how he plays and where he's from.
And they barely tolerate the fact that Alex Ovechkin is better.
Crosby is hot.
Nothing else needs to be said.
do it
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. Here are some of our high-priority areas that we're specifically looking to grow. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 