Joe Starkey
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Sidney Crosby, underrated?
Obscured might be a better word for Crosby's phenomenal rookie season, in which he became the youngest player in the NHL's 89-year history to score 100 points.
I'm not sure people comprehend the magnitude of Crosby's achievement.
In fact, I know they don't.
That's a shame, because all he did was produce the most remarkable rookie year in this city's history (yeah, including Big Ben's) and one of the great rookie years in sports history.
We'll defend those points in a moment.
First, the reasons why Crosby often was eclipsed, locally and nationally:
1. The Steelers won the Super Bowl, a fact that would have bumped World War III to the inside pages.
2. Another rookie - the spectacular Alexander Ovechkin - outscored Crosby and likely will win the Calder Trophy.
3. Expectations were so inflated that people might look at Crosby's 102 points and say, "That's all?"
4. The Penguins generated all kinds of other news. If it wasn't Mario Lemieux's health, it was the team's tentative future. Finally, it was Craig Patrick getting canned before Sid's season could be fully digested.
5. The NHL isn't ESPN's baby anymore.
Crosby turned 18 a month before training camp. His tender age is what sets his rookie year apart.
Joe Thornton, this year's NHL scoring champion, had seven points in 55 games as an 18-year-old. Vincent Lecavalier had 28 points in 82 games.
Kobe Bryant averaged 7.6 points when he was 18.
Robin Yount batted .250.
LeBron James put up 20.9 points per game his rookie season, but he turned 19 two months into it.
Locally, the three relevant rookie years are those of Lemieux, Ben Roethlisberger and Franco Harris.
Roethlisberger actually was better than people thought in recording 14 consecutive wins. Many experts claimed he was a function of the "system." They failed to realize that his threatening presence helped to facilitate a devastating running game.
Still, Roethlisberger was 22 - four years older than Crosby -- and his numbers weren't eye-popping (17 touchdowns, 11 interceptions). He also wasn't expected to do anything but carry a clipboard that year.
Crosby was expected to save the sport of ice hockey.
Lemieux scored 100 points as a 19-year-old rookie, two fewer than Crosby in eight fewer games. But, he played in a far more wide-open league. Twelve of the NHL's 21 teams scored more than 300 goals in 1984-85; two of 30 this season.
Harris also had an incredible debut season with 1,055 yards rushing, sixth in the NFL. He averaged a career-best 5.6 per carry, scored 11 touchdowns, caught 21 passes and famously snatched a deflected ball in the playoffs to beat Oakland (isn't there a name for that play?).
Of course, he also had an outstanding supporting cast, unlike Crosby.
As for Ovechkin, he's two years older than Crosby and played in a relatively pressure-free environment. Crosby had to deal with the retirement of two linemates, a coaching change, a system change, a position change (Eddie Olczyk had him playing left wing), a terrible team, the immense weight of being named an alternate captain and the ridiculous pressure of being hailed the savior of his sport and his franchise.
Seriously, has any professional athlete debuted under more scrutiny? How ironic that as Crosby busily exceeded the hype, the scrutiny lessened.
Sid was hid, in plain sight.
Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com
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