News Article: SI Article Written By Sid

[PensBandwagonerNo272*]

Check it out:

http://www.si.com/thecauldron/2016/09/01/sidney-crosby-pittsburgh-penguins-stanley-cup

Pretty lengthy article, mildly interesting, must read for us nonetheless.

Click to read more...

 

[DoktorZaius]

He makes it sound like the coaching change was incidental to their success. I know he has to say that, but casual hockey fans will read that article and get the wrong idea about what happened last season.

 

[Shady Machine]

About as good as you'll get from robotic Crosby. I do wish he would have treated the coaching change as a bigger change of direction, but this was an article about his struggles. I suppose from his perspective, he just kept working to simplify things and eventually it clicked. I think Sully changing the culture and style of play was a catalyst for that, but maybe Sid doesn't think it was as big of a factor for him personally. Either that or he's too polite to say anything negative, even if through omission, about another coach.

Coaching change aside, this was a pretty honest piece from Sid and I enjoyed reading it.

 

[SEALBound]

He makes it sound like the coaching change was incidental to their success. I know he has to say that, but casual hockey fans will read that article and get the wrong idea about what happened last season.

I see what you're saying but I didn't get that out of it. Crosby is not the guy who will dump on and blame Johnston. That's just not who he is. He knows though. The entire team knows. The fans know. Everyone knows. Crosby is too polite to say.

All I can say is, go for it Sid! A back to back in the cap era will make your 3 cups >>>> everyone elses. Just hope JR and Co do their job to give you the best tools. You can do it though! Go get em!

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

As we collectively fixed all the little things in our games, the chances increased and our point totals increased along with them. The fast-paced style we wanted to execute eventually became ingrained. That became our identity. It was natural. It became Penguins hockey and the memories of those early season struggles vanished as if they had never existed.

I don't know what people expected from Sid regarding the coaching change...but it should be pretty obvious to any NHL fan what he's referring to here. He was never going to point fingers, and I think we'd all lose a little respect for him if he did.

 

[ColePens]

Read it... and question how any of these people can hate this man. Sid is so freaking awesome.

 

[Zen Arcade]

Read it... and question how any of these people can hate this man. Sid is so freaking awesome.

He leaned too close to John LeClair on the bench 10 years ago, I've never forgiven him for it.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Not sure why Sid wrote this. Seems unnecessary. Maybe he wanted to reflect, maybe he wanted to get it off his chest. I guess sometimes it's easy to forget that he's human.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Read it... and question how any of these people can hate this man. Sid is so freaking awesome.

Unless someone does something to harm another person or animal (which Sid has never done) the only logical explanation to hate someone like Sid is jealousy.

 

[Shady Machine]

I don't know what people expected from Sid regarding the coaching change...but it should be pretty obvious to any NHL fan what he's referring to here. He was never going to point fingers, and I think we'd all lose a little respect for him if he did.

I didn't expect anything different but something like "we were playing poorly as a team and that was on us as players. JR made a coaching change and sometimes that's what you need. You never like to see someone lose their job 'insert super nice thing about MJ'. Sully changed the culture and identity in a way that really seemed to fit our team, the young kids came in and energized us, and the team seemed to mesh. I kept working hard and things clicked for me too."

I'm not really complaining and enjoyed the read. I'm just saying there's a way to discuss the stark contrast in the season and what the coaching change did for the team and culture without throwing the old coach under the bus. I get that's not Sid's style so I didn't expect differently.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I read it.

My question is why do people ***** in this thread about him being robotic or whatever, it makes me understand why fans outside of our fan base hate some of us, some of the people in our fan base are absolute ***** of human beings.

We have a good kid on the team, but we ***** anyway.

Seriously?

 

[ColePens]

I read it.

My question is why do people ***** in this thread about him being robotic or whatever, it makes me understand why fans outside of our fan base hate some of us, some of the people in our fan base are absolute ***** of human beings.

We have a good kid on the team, but we ***** anyway.

Seriously?

One person calls him a robot and you lump us all together. Yeah...

I think you are overreacting.

 

[canadianguy77]

Reads like some of those "Players Trib" pieces. Makes me wonder if the league or the PA has a writer or team of writers that help out with these things. Decent article regardless.

 

[DoktorZaius]

Reads like some of those "Players Trib" pieces. Makes me wonder if the league or the PA has a writer or team of writers that help out with these things. Decent article regardless.

I actually thought it was a lot less polished -- I would say there minimal ghostwriting/editing, unlike Players' Trib articles which seem heavily ghostwritten. Which, if true, is even more impressive to me -- that Sid would take the time to sit down at a laptop and pound out an article is pretty badass.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

I read it.

My question is why do people ***** in this thread about him being robotic or whatever, it makes me understand why fans outside of our fan base hate some of us, some of the people in our fan base are absolute ***** of human beings.

We have a good kid on the team, but we ***** anyway.

Seriously?

I think people are disappointed because he didn't contrast the difference between Johnston & Sullivan. I think people were expecting some a raw version of Sid where he would bash Johnston.

Fact is that Sid has been dealing with the media non stop since he was a little kid, it has basically become a part of his personality to always say the right things and always show respect to former coaches and players. It's hard to relate with because the vast majority of us have never dealt with nonstop media scrutiny since before we were even teenagers.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Not sure why Sid wrote this. Seems unnecessary. Maybe he wanted to reflect, maybe he wanted to get it off his chest. I guess sometimes it's easy to forget that he's human.

Usually in these cases, it's the magazine pitching the article to the athlete's management, okaying their involvement, and then an editor or two cleaning it up (or even writing it) behind the scenes. It's possible Sid called up SI and pitched it, but highly unlikely.

So, the most likely answer to your question is- SI paid Sid money to share his thoughts because it'd draw clicks, and Sid, being an obliging person (and knowing that he'd get **** for not doing it) did so.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Usually in these cases, it's the magazine pitching the article to the athlete's management, okaying their involvement, and then an editor or two cleaning it up (or even writing it) behind the scenes. It's possible Sid called up SI and pitched it, but highly unlikely.

So, the most likely answer to your question is- SI paid Sid money to share his thoughts because it'd draw clicks, and Sid, being an obliging person (and knowing that he'd get **** for not doing it) did so.

That would make sense. I can't see why Sid would write an article for SI reflecting on the title otherwise.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

I actually thought it was a lot less polished -- I would say there minimal ghostwriting/editing, unlike Players' Trib articles which seem heavily ghostwritten. Which, if true, is even more impressive to me -- that Sid would take the time to sit down at a laptop and pound out an article is pretty badass.

Well, he did take university classes for ***** and giggles last year or the year before (history class if I remember correctly and those would involve writting papers). I guess he easily could have written that piece himself.

 

[Shady Machine]

I read it.

My question is why do people ***** in this thread about him being robotic or whatever, it makes me understand why fans outside of our fan base hate some of us, some of the people in our fan base are absolute ***** of human beings.

We have a good kid on the team, but we ***** anyway.

Seriously?

I called him a robot and he is but that doesn't mean I don't love him. He's a hell of a hockey player and seems like a really nice guy. If it bothers you so much I'll take it back.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I actually thought it was a lot less polished -- I would say there minimal ghostwriting/editing, unlike Players' Trib articles which seem heavily ghostwritten. Which, if true, is even more impressive to me -- that Sid would take the time to sit down at a laptop and pound out an article is pretty badass.

Yeah, I really enjoyed the Players' Trib articles, but to my eye, it was pretty clear that they had some pretty heavy editing/rewriting going on behind the scenes. Not that it's bad, per se, mind you. The average Joe doesn't really have the skillset to write an interesting article, and it's way quicker for all concerned to just get some content, notes, audio logs, whatever, and just write it at the office instead of having to go back and forth between multiple people under deadline.

 

[BHD]

I read it.

My question is why do people ***** in this thread about him being robotic or whatever, it makes me understand why fans outside of our fan base hate some of us, some of the people in our fan base are absolute ***** of human beings.

We have a good kid on the team, but we ***** anyway.

Seriously?

Newsflash: people have pointed out Sid being a "robot" - or always saying the right thing - since he joined the league. And by 'people', I mean not every single Pens fan.

Anyways, this quote stuck out to me...

Naturally, winning the Stanley Cup is the hardest thing to do in this sport. The six years of postseason disappointment between 2009 and last season were a good example of that taught me that.

I know some fans probably got caught up with the thought of winning another Cup. But imagine how the core felt during that span.

 

[Freeptop]

Reads like some of those "Players Trib" pieces. Makes me wonder if the league or the PA has a writer or team of writers that help out with these things. Decent article regardless.

The Player's Tribune pieces are mostly ghost-written by Sean Conboy, based on conversations he has with the player. The information and many (if not most) of the words come from the athlete, but Conboy stitches them together into a coherent article.

(As a local-interest side-note, Sean Conboy used to be the sports editor for Pittsburgh Magazine, and is now the deputy editor at the Player's Tribune).

The SI piece probably used an SI writer, but likely was done in a similar way - the writer recorded a conversation with Crosby, and then took his words and wrote them into a coherent article.

 

[#66]

Read it... and question how any of these people can hate this man. Sid is so freaking awesome.

Thats what I like a about him though. Makes it even better when he wins.

He competes. Simple as that. Off the ice hes sqeaky clean.

 

[flaneur]

Crosby was never going to throw Johnston under the bus. From this article and other previous interviews, it is pretty clear he feels some guilt about the firing.

Thought it was a good read and it would not surprise me if it turns out that Crosby actually wrote the thing (with a heavy dose of editing help of course).

Plus, now we know that he is at least aware of the terribleness of his beard situation...

 

[flaneur]

Also, one small detail that tells a lot about Crosby

No hockey player can really control what his or her point total is from night to night