I am a man who roots for history when it comes to sports. Perhaps posterity is the more appropriate word. Despite his now well documented off-course (pun intended) behavior, I root for Tiger every weekend out. Why? Because I want him to shatter Jack's record. No disrespect to Mr. Nicklaus, I don't know him, though I've heard nice things, but I want to say that I watched the greatest golfer to ever play the game. When Rory McIlroy or Bobo Klongerbo are winning majors left and right with my sons (I will only have sons) in the front of the TV, I'll be able to tell them, "Boys, these guys can play a little bit. But no one will ever approach Tiger." I want the bragging rights for my generation. I remember when the greatest running back of all time debate came up a few years ago when LT was putting up incredible numbers. Some said Barry, others said Sweetness, still others suggested that through his longevity Emmitt Smith earned the Greastest Runner label. My dad laughed when he heard this. "No one was even close to Jim Brown. He's the best running back in history," he said. My dad saw them all, and because his generation watched Jim Brown he has bragging rights.
So now I sit down to watch every sporting event with posterity on my mind. I cheer for Peyton Manning and Tom Brady every chance I get (though I'm on team Peyton, I've always felt that he was a more incendiary player than Brady regardless of rings); I wanted the Heat to win all 82 games this year, I want Tiger to win twenty majors, I want Jimmie Johnson to win every NASCAR championship for the next decade (Okay that's a joke, I don't care about NASCAR, nor do I consider it a sport), and I want Pujols to make 763 the memorable number that 762 isn't. All for bragging rights. So one day I can sit down with my kids and tell them that I saw history, I saw the greatest athletes at work. I can tell my dad, "Yeah Nicklaus was good, as were Hogan and Palmer, but Tiger did things to the golf ball that no other play has ever done. He put it in the hole more often than anyone in history."
This consideration for posterity brings me to my current conundrum: Sidney Crosby is currently playing hockey at a Gretzkyian level. That's not even hyperbole. He has 50 points in 30 games so far this season, an astounding 1.67 points per game. He is ten points ahead of Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who is having an incredible season in his own right, and fifteen ahead of his vaunted rival Alex Ovechkin. He holds an incredible fourteen goal lead on Ovechkin as well. Crosby's 26 goals in 30 games has him on track for a post dead puck era 71 goals. Only Ovechkin has crossed the 60 goal plateau since 2000, and no one has scored 70 since Teemu Sleanne and Alexander Mogily both went for 76 in 1992-1993. Teams scored a combined 7.25 goals per game in 92-93. Now? 5.61. Now matter how you spin it, Crosby is having a truly historic season. He has a chance to reach 150 points, 50 goals in 50 games, and win the Art Ross (highest scorer), Hart (MVP), and Maurice Richard (most goals) in a single season. The last and only person to accomplish that feet? Hockey default answer: Wayne Gretzky. However, I am a conflicted fan. As a diehard supporter of the Flyguys aka the Philadelphia Flyers I hate Sidney Crosby, always have and probably always will. If I do end up having a daughter and she falls in love with Crosby, I would not allow her to marry him. Partly because of the age disparity but still, I have tremendous contempt for the man. He torments my team like no player in the league. He is the bane of my sports fan existence, I despise him more than any other figure in sports. All because he plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Well mostly because he plays for the Penguins; He's also cocky, he complains, and he grows prepubescent facial hair. How can I root for Crosby to have this historical season in good conscience? How can I cringe and cheer every time he puts the puck in the net? Truth be told I can't. This year I'll be using the Derek Anderson denial defense when it comes to Crosby:
Subject A: Hey Dil, Crosby's really havin' a great year isn't he?
Me: I don't see it...
Subject A: His highlights are everywhere...
Me: That's fine
Subject A: Bu...
Me: That's fine
Subject A: But...
Me: That's fine.
But in the future I'll have no choice. My sons (diehard Flyers fans by the way. I teach them to hate Crosby) will ask me how good Sid was in his prime. I'll point to his 2010-2011 season and say that's the best I've ever seen. That's the best anyone's ever seen.
At least I'll have bragging rights.
-Dil
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