Who's more popular in Pittsburgh? Crosby or Malkin?

[DegenX]

Geno is the 1%.

He has to pay his fair share of + so we can have a fair redistribution of + to Sid.

#occupypittsburgh

 

[Nicky Santoro]

I was wondering that too, unless he doesn't realize that Clemente was a baseball player.

no.. it's because a few said lemieux is popular now because of his off ice stuff like charity and saving the pens. and some did say Crosby is slightly ahead in popularity. What i got so far here is that if you compare Mario in early 90's as a player vs Sid today as a player during their hockey careers, sid wins popularity.. but after what mario did outside of hockey, plus as a player, mario wins.

i'm getting that maybe it's because hockey today is way more popular in pittsburgh than it was during mario's prime. is this possible?? if it is, it's a real shame.

 

[Dying Alive]

no.. it's because a few said lemieux is popular now because of his off ice stuff like charity and saving the pens. and some did say Crosby is slightly ahead in popularity. What i got so far here is that if you compare Mario in early 90's as a player vs Sid today as a player during their hockey careers, sid wins popularity.. but after what mario did outside of hockey, plus as a player, mario wins.

i'm getting that maybe it's because hockey today is way more popular in pittsburgh than it was during mario's prime. is this possible?? if it is, it's a real shame.

People said some of his popularity is because of his off-ice stuff. Some of it is because of the player he was. Everyone in this thread said that he's in the top 2 all-time most respected/revered athletes in the city, and that's saying something considering the football team that plays on the other side of the river. He's beloved enough that he kept right on living here after his career was over. I think that pretty much says it all.

I guess I don't see where you're going with this. Nobody did or would say that Sid is more popular in Pittsburgh than Mario. He's certainly more front-and-center now but of course that would be the case, partly because Sid is currently playing and partially because more often than not Mario purposely stays out of the spotlight. Some people said that Sid is more popular than Geno because that's actually the topic of the thread. It almost feels like you're passive/aggressively trying to say that Pittsburgh doesn't appreciate Mario and even though we've all told you he's a very big deal here you keep digging and looking for reasons why he's not. If your motives are not nefarious then I apologize.

 

[Ogrezilla]

no.. it's because a few said lemieux is popular now because of his off ice stuff like charity and saving the pens. and some did say Crosby is slightly ahead in popularity. What i got so far here is that if you compare Mario in early 90's as a player vs Sid today as a player during their hockey careers, sid wins popularity.. but after what mario did outside of hockey, plus as a player, mario wins.

i'm getting that maybe it's because hockey today is way more popular in pittsburgh than it was during mario's prime. is this possible?? if it is, it's a real shame.

Mario is head and shoulders the most popular hockey player in Pittsburgh history even without what he's done after his playing career. We just happen to have had some pretty great guys in other sports as well. Being great at your sport isn't enough to get anyone to the top of the list here. You better be a damn good person off the field/ice too. That's what boosts Clemente and Lemieux above the rest; they had the combination of being great at their sport and just being great people. A guy like Bradshaw - who QB'd 4 Superbowl winners in a Football town -- isn't even in the discussion.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

thanks guys, i appreciate all the responses. mario is indeed a great guy. one of the nicest guys you'll ever see.. even at age 14 he was so nice to everyone. I also thought for sure Big Ben would be huge in pitt, but no one ever mentioned him. I figured the QB of the steelers and won 2 super bowls. if mario is bigger than this guy, nothing else needs to be said. thanks guys..

BTW, i'm happy mario lives in Pitt, but look at the house he just bought here in montreal recently too. it's actually outside of MTL so he can play golf up there and ski too.. what a freakin house in an amazing area. it's great to be mario lemieux and have his fame and money, but damn did he earn it.

 

[Dying Alive]

Big Ben is a polarizing figure in Pittsburgh mostly due to his behavior off the field. I would say he's more tolerated than liked.

Pittsburgh sports fans don't like *******s regardless of how good they may be at their sport. Look no further than Jaromir Jagr or Terry Bradshaw for proof of that.

 

[vodeni]

I was not in Pgh during Mario's world domination, but he is sort of deity here especially around hockey and sports journalism establishment. Younger hockey fans that make majority of fans now, I doubt have the same feelings simply because they were not around, but all in all general public don't care much (outside of hockey fans) Black and Gold is still the King.

 

[Eidolan]

Malkin is more popular in Magnitogorsk.

 

[AgentM]

For hockey fans - even. Crosby is the leader while Geno's dedication steals our heart.

For regular Pittsburgh fans - Crosby. And it ain't even close.

For the most part I agree with this, but I think Geno gets more love at games that Sid does. The fans go bonkers when he scores, more so than for Crosby. And the crowd loves to chant 'Geno' or 'MVP' for Malkin at any opportunity.

 

[Dying Alive]

Malkin's parents seem to be more popular than Sid, Geno & Mario combined.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

hello Pittsburghers.. i really would love to know this.. of these 5 athletes in PIT, who would you say are top 3 (in order) most famous in PIT?


1- Big Ben
2- Troy Polamalu
3- Sidney Crosby
4- Andrew McCutchen
5- Evgeni Malkin


Thanks.

 

[Allie Kitsune]

hello Pittsburghers.. i really would love to know this.. of these 5 athletes in PIT, who would you say are top 3 (in order) most famous in PIT?


1- Big Ben
2- Troy Polamalu
3- Sidney Crosby
4- Andrew McCutchen
5- Evgeni Malkin


Thanks.

The way he gets coddled by the team and casual fanbase, I wouldn't be surprised if Sid and Geno are actually even below MAF in PGH...

 

[orby]

hello Pittsburghers.. i really would love to know this.. of these 5 athletes in PIT, who would you say are top 3 (in order) most famous in PIT?


1- Big Ben
2- Troy Polamalu
3- Sidney Crosby
4- Andrew McCutchen
5- Evgeni Malkin


Thanks.

1. Roethlisberger
2. Crosby
3. McCutchen
4. Polamalu
5. Malkin

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

For hockey fans - even. Crosby is the leader while Geno's dedication steals our heart.

For regular Pittsburgh fans - Crosby. And it ain't even close.

This sums it up nicely

Yeah.

When I was at a bar watching the Preds game the other week, there were these two yinzers who were discussing what we'd get back for Malkin, because they heard on some radio show that he was unhappy and he wanted out. Basically that it was a foregone conclusion.

I think a lot of us are fairly ignorant as to just how absurd a lot of the basic PGH sports fans' views on the Penguins are, and how many of these people there are.

 

[Fordy]

for as popular as sports are in pittsburgh you'd be amazed how ****ing stupid most fans of all the teams are

 

[Lebowski]

for as popular as sports are in pittsburgh you'd be amazed how ****ing stupid most fans of all the teams are

It's the same everywhere, for every sports. People on HF are diehard fans. Most people around here talk hockey everyday, several hours a day.

The more casual fans don't do that. And casual fans are the majority in most cases. You can't expect them to know/be aware as much as you are. I'm a Habs/Pens fans, and even if we're reputed to be the most hardcore fanbase there is (perhaps equal/2nd to Toronto), I can tell you I can't talk about hockey seriously with pretty much anyone I know in real life.

When you get used to HFboards and people spewing advanced statistics and essays on this or that, you kind of forget how *normal* people talk about sports.

 

[Michael8771*]

ya pretty much that. If you pick 100 people off the streets downtown I bet 75% say Crosby. If you pick 100 people coming out of the arena, I bet its about split.

That sounds about right.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Fleury.

 

[hockeystick89]

for as popular as sports are in pittsburgh you'd be amazed how ****ing stupid most fans of all the teams are

You think that's annoying, it appears that in Toronto they have all created accounts on HFBoards!

 

[tom_servo]

I think McCutchen is close to surpassing Crosby on the local fame scale, or already has. In addition to being a perennial MVP candidate and making the Pirates relevant, he's been on national TV (Crosby on Leno notwithstanding) and does endorsements.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

Maybe it's just my group of friends or my generation of people, but I don't think Cutch is close to Crosby or Ben. He's probably on par with Polamalu and Geno.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

thanks to all of you for all your responses so far.


Tommy or Ziggy,

Now that the Bucs are good and made playoffs 2 straight seasons, are they still behind the pens in popularity, or have the bucs surpassed the Pens now? So basically, i am asking if both teams are equally successful and both win 2 championships in the next 4 yrs, who will be bigger in PIT, bucs or pens.

thanks

 

[Jagermeister*]

Idk. Geno is more fun to watch imo but crosby Is a good ol Canadian boy

 

[chunquido]

I think Crosby is probably more popular in Pittsburgh since he is the face and is always at the top of stat charts. I prefer Malkin to Crosby just based on the fact that he is more fun to watch. When Malkin is on, there is no one who can touch his skill level. I have 2 Pen's jerseys and they are both Malkin jerseys.

 

[Lim Ran]

Crosby is the face of the league. It's a pretty big deal to stand up to that in popularity on the same team, and I think Malkin does it well. His enthusiasm is infectious, and he IS the best player in the world when he goes beast mode.