GR8 vs. The Kid

The Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin debate is going to rage on until one of these superstars falls off track.

Alex the GR8 and Sid the Kid have been taking the NHL by storm since they first made their debut on Oct. 5th, 2005. Ovechkin had two gaols, and 17-plus minutes of ice time in that 3-2 victory over Columbus.

Crosby? Well, he didn't fare too well in his NHL debut – recording only an assist in a 5-1 loss to New Jersey.

Both were picked #1 overall in their respective years. Both play on small-market teams. And both proved they deserved every bit of hype.

Ovechkin won the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year) in 2006, just nudging out Crosby. The following year, Crosby won the Hart Trophy, which is given to the league MVP. Not be outdone, Ovechkin won the Hart last year.

Since coming in the league, Crosby has developed a bad, but earned, reputation of being a baby and a diver. NHL fans have dubbed him the name "Cindy." It's not uncommon to see Crosby talking (complaining) to referees about calls, or non-calls. Ovechkin on the other hand – can not have a bad word said about him from anyone.

Ovechkin will dazzle you with his moves, stun you with deadly shot, entertain you with his post-goal celebrations, but he'll also do something that Crosby will not do – knock the snot out his opponents.

Ovechkin has also earned a reputation in his short time in the league – get out of his way, or he will destroy you!

Don't get me wrong, Crosby will check, will mix in with the rough stuff, but Alex punishes players, there is no such thing as a bump, Alex finishes each-and-everyone of his checks – and makes sure his opponent remembers it.

Here's a breakdown of what each has done in the league since their debut:

Alex Ovechkin-#8-Washington Capitals

• Games - 253
• Goals - 165
• Assists - 150
• Points - 315
• Shots - 1304
• +/- 15
• Playoff Appearances - 1
• Stanley Cup appearance - 0
  
• NHL Scoring Champion 1, Hart Trophy, Calder Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Trophy

Sidney Crosby-87-Pittsburgh Penguins

• Games- 224
• Goals - 102
• Assits - 205
• Points - 307
• Shots - 738
• +/- 28
• Playoff Appearances- 2
• Stanley Cup Appearances - 1
• NHL Scoring Champion 1, Hart Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Trophy

The only thing Crosby has over Ovechkin, is that Stanley Cup finals appearance last year when the Penguins lost in six to the Detroit Red Wings.

My choice, by unanimous decision, Alexander "the GR8" Ovechkin. Hands down, the most entertaining player in hockey today.

Big D....L

Ok, so in football it's called the IR not the DL, but Dallas has been struck with a huge mess of injuries so far in 2008.

Of course the biggest injury (stature, not size) was to QB Tony Romo's pinky but America's team is missing a slew of other key players, which isn't really helping them climb out of the hole they dug themselves into.

Rookie RB Felix Jones(hamstring) is most likely going to miss this week's game against the Bucs after missing practice again on Thursday. He also sat out last week's disgrace of a game against the Rams.

The Cowboys didn't only lose to the Rams 34-14, but they also lost Roy Williams for the remainder of the season. S Roy Williams, not the newly acquired wide receiver from Detroit. Williams re-broke his fractured right forearm in his first-game back since the initial injury during a Week 2 win over the Eagles.

CB Terrence Newman has been out after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia since Week 5. Unlike the Saint's Jeremy Shockey, he will take the suggested recovery time and isn't expected back until Week 11 against the Redskins.

And of course there's Pacman...I mean Adam Jones who was suspended at least four games by commissioner Roger Goodell after an incident with his team-appointed bodyguard. "If he can deal with whatever issues he may have, handle his responsibilities, make good decisions, then he may have an opportunity to play again in the league," said Goodell. Wait, I thought that's what he said last time? Pacman checked himself into an alcohol-treatment center earlier this week.

Backup QB Brad Johnson better rekindle the game he had back in 2003 when he led the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory over the Raiders if Dallas has any chance of beating the 5-2 Buccaneers in Week 8.

Snap Back to Reality

It's about time the New York Rangers and their fans were brought back to reality. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a die-hard Rangers fan, but I'm a realistic one.
Everyone had the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup after they started the season 5-0. Please. Sure they started off with five straight wins, something they hadn't done since the 83 season, but in they looked awful in some of those games.
Take the first two wins of the season. Both were in Prague against the Lightening. Now Tampa has a brand new coach fresh off the desk at ESPN, and a roster that has had more significant changes on it than any other team in the NHL. Not to mention a completely new front office and direction. They squeaked by Tampa and beat them 2-1 in each contest.
Ok, now fresh off that nice little Eurotrip, time to open up the Garden. They beat the Blackhawks. This game easily could have went to the Hawks. Lundqvist made 30 saves, but the Hawks missed the net a good 10-12 times on quality scoring chances. Oh yea, Chicago is the youngest team in the NHL and just fired their coach only four games into the season.
Alright, 3-0 bring on the Flyers. The Rangers started with the most dominating period they have played all season jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first. After that? Same old Rangers. They let Philly creep back to make it 4-3 but the most troubling figure was they only went 1/9 on the Power Play. That's disgusting.
4-0, here comes Marty and the Devils. No complaints. Power Play looked great, Aaron Voros and Brandon Dubinksy continued to play amazing with Nik Zherdev on the other wing, also playing very well. The Power Play was there with Voros putting in two PP goals and Lundqvist looked very sharp as he has all season. Good win boys.
Now, with history on the line, going for their first 6-0 start--Buffalo. This is where the same old Rangers came. They looked awful, absolutely awful. Michal Rozsival continued to show why he is grossly overpaid and would barely be a top-three defensemen on other teams. How he is given so much praise on this team, I don't know. The Rangers looked flat-footed, sluggish and a step behind the entire game. Renney tinkering with lines didn't help either. The worst point in this game was when the Rangers, only down 2-1 gave up a short-handed goal to Thomas Vanek in the middle of a four-minute power play. Ouch.
Hopefully now that the fans are a little more grounded, the Rangers can put together another nice string of wins, with games against Toronto, Detroit and Sean Avery's return with the Dallas Stars coming up.

Upper Deck'd Out

I just spent the last four hours of my life digging through boxes, rummaging through binders, squinting at checklists and staring at online Tuff Stuff books...only to realize that the fortune that I made for myself from the ages of four to 15, is worth less than an autograph from Doc Gooden.

When the hell did sports cards drop so much in value?

I remember saving every penny from lunch money just to go down the block to buy packs of cards from the local card store. There use to be a few card stores in my town, now I had to Google just to find out where the closest one was located...which happens to be two towns over.

Thousands of rookies, inserts, holograms, foilgrams, whatever-grams, all worth peanuts now. As a matter of fact, the most expensive card in my whole collection is only about $150.

What kills me the most is not the fact that the cards are decreasing in value, but the most expensive brands back in the day, are the LEAST worthy now. I remember spending $6 on one pack of cards...which was huge money for a nine year old...and now, they aren't even listed in the pricing books.

Oh the game-used memorabilia card! Those were the biggest thing to find years ago. Imagine finding part of Mark Messier's stick or Babe Ruth's jersey!If you had a jersey or game-used card, it was special, it wasn't just a run of the mill player. Now, ANYONE can get a memorabilia card, who the hell wants an Anthony Thomas jersey card(which I reluctantly pulled from a pack last week).


Nowadays, kids are too busy buying skinny jeans and ring tones to pick up some packs of cards. I asked the guy who owns the store two towns over why there was such a decrease in cards these days and he said one of the biggest reasons...besides the tainted youth, was the MLB, NFL etc. were asking for too much of a kickback to use their likenesses. Figures.

So much for planning an early retirement off my Pavel Bure, Eric Lindros and Griffey Jr. rookie cards!

Thanks for all your talent Europe!

Well, the NHL has decided to give a little back to Europe, I mean after all it's the least they can do considering half of the league consists of European players.

Four regular-season games will be held overseas thanks to last years successful games between the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, held in London.

The New York Rangers will open the season playing two games in Prague, Czech Republic against the Tampa Bay Lightening, while the Ottawa Senators play the Pittsburgh Penguins in Stockholm, Sweden.

There have been rumblings that the NHL might want to make an European division, and add them to the NHL. Really? The NHL just got over re-balancing their terrible schedule because it was too rough on Western Conference teams playing one night in Vancouver, the next in Dallas, and the following in Chicago. Does Gary Bettman really think the NHLPA will fly, literally, for a that same schedule followed by a nice flight over to Moscow? Please.

Mr. Bettman,

Please worry about fixing your games image in the United States and actually draw a decent TV rating here first(yea, right) before you go and expand it to Europe.
Remember what happened last time the league expanded to all these great cities that were just ohhh so booming for hockey? Pheonix, who cares? Nashville? Please move them to Hamilton already. Carolina? Should have stayed in Hartford. Hell, maybe we'd get to see some more of those cool full-pant uniforms of the '70s. Atlanta...enough said.

Instead of worrying about what European city is going to host a MEANINGFUL regular season game, how about you worry about the officiating, and how terribly inconsistent it is, or maybe worry about getting some useful TV exposure.


Sincerely,
Frank Castaldi