Okay, this Sidney Crosby concussion problem is officially scary business.
I first discussed my concerns over Crosby’s cranium the week before the Super Bowl. At the time I felt that Penguin fans and the Pittsburgh media were soft peddling a potentially serious concern.
http://habersp0rtsblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/crosbys-concussion-overshadows-steelers.html
Two months later I argued my case that Sid should not play again in the 2010-11 season; even though his absence was the knockout blow to the team’s championship hopes.
http://habersp0rtsblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/short-term-pain-for-long-term-gain.html
Well here we are nearly eight months beyond Crosby’s unfortunate collision with Victor Hedman and the Penguins’ current savior is still having concussion issues. It goes beyond stating the obvious that this is a significant concern.
Let me start off by saying my position today is no different than it was last March. Simply stated, under no circumstances should Sidney Crosby appear in an NHL game until he is 100% symptom free, and for a measurable period of time. If this means Crosby is off the ice until calendar 2012, so be it. If it means he pulls a Peter Forsberg and plays only in the playoffs (assuming the Pens make it without him), so be it. If it means he misses the entire season…GULP…well you get the point.
This is not Aaron Asham we are talking about. Sidney Crosby is the franchise, plain and simple. It may sound callous and cold but life will go on at the Energy Barn if Asham suffers another concussion. Another blow to Crosby could derail the Penguin franchise for years.
Consider the long-term implications which have been overshadowed by the short-term concerns about his health and return. Crosby has two years left on his current five year contract. Sometime before that expires, the Penguins are going to have to extend him his next deal. I have no idea what it will be but a reasonable estimate starts at 7 years, $70 Million. If Sid is healthy and dominating the game, as he is uniquely cable of doing, that’s a bargain price.
Imagine however if Sid signs that contract and then spends those seven years missing 20 or more games per year because of concussions. Imagine if his effectiveness slowly wanes a la Eric Lindros turning him from league poster child to marginal offensive player; at $10 million per annum. Can you imagine the damage that would do to the franchise?
And it’s a frighteningly realistic scenario; one that we endured throughout the 1990s with Mario Lemieux’s back (and other assorted ailments). I will go to my grave believing that a healthy Lemieux in 1993 equals an easy run to a third consecutive cup. You’ll never convince me that injury and fatigue did not weigh him down in that post season. Who knows how many cups Mario would have lifted if not for his frequent injury sabbaticals.
Right now I have concerns that Sid’s head may become Mario’s back of the 2010s. That’s bad enough at face value; even worse when you consider the financial impact overall and against the cap. Which means the Penguins have to consider what was once incomprehensible; trading Sidney Crosby before his contract expires.
I’ll give you a moment to process that before you projectile vomit.
Such an idea was utter blasphemy before January 1, 2011. Eight months and two concussions later it’s a realistic consideration. Simply put, if the Penguins’ organization determines that it can not manage the risk of Sid’s health and an eight figure, long-term contract, they must deal him; and they must do so before its too late.
For the record, the Steelers may very well have the same dilemma with Troy Polamalu in the summer of 2013, which a subject for another blog.
To be clear, I’m not talking about the Jaromir Jagr and Alexie Kovalev yard sale frauds that Craig Patrick perpetrated in the early 2000s. I’m talking about a legitimate return of top players and prospects to support an otherwise solid nucleus. You simply cannot allow Sidney Crosby to walk out of the Burgh for nothing when his contract expires; voluntarily or due to injury concerns. That scenario is as damaging to the Pens as the one I described above.
Of course trading Crosby is the nuclear option. It goes without saying that I hope it NEVER comes to pass. We all watched Crosby’s “Lemieux-like” dominance last season and we all want that to continue for another decade plus. Before the winter classic, there was little reason to doubt that it would.
The Pens are legitimate cup contenders pretty much any year a healthy Crosby is in their line-up. Sid the Kid is that rare franchise superstar who combines top shelf talent with a Michael Jordan like drive to dominate and win. I have very high expectations for a rejuvenated and focused Evgeni Malkin this season but let’s be honest; Geno does not have Sid’s singular focus and six sigma drive to improve. Few athletes do. Few humans do.
Which means the Penguins’ primary objective is to get Crosby healthy, no matter how long it takes. We want Crosby to take the Patrice Bergeron path to returning; not the Marc Savard, Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya path. I never much cared for Lindros but the concussion based demolition of his career was truly unfortunate. It was predicated in large part by the refusal of both he and his employer to recognize and address the severity of his injury. For Crosby’s career to follow that path to ruin would be, strictly in a sports sense, a tragedy.
It is critical the Penguins do everything possible to prevent that, including obstructing Sid’s return if they do not believe he’s ready. Given the propensity of hockey players to ignore pain and injury that may be easier said than done. I doubt for example that Lemieux’s doctors gleefully endorsed the idea of him returning to the line-up the day of his last cancer treatment in 1993.
That does not absolve the Penguins of their responsibility to protect their most important asset, even if it means another lost season. The Penguins can make the playoffs without Sid, given a return to health and dominance of Malkin, but they cannot win the Cup without him. That’s a harsh reality but it’s a small price to pay if it ultimately leads to another decade of Crosby dominance in the Burgh.
The question is where do they draw the line. At what point does this issue become serious enough for the team to consider the nuclear option? At what point is the best player of this era more valuable for his trade value than his on ice contribution? Lest you scoff at this notion remember that none other than Wayne Gretzky was traded in his prime. The Gretzky deal was never about improving the Edmonton Oilers; it was the best attempt to salvage an untenable financial situation.
And for the record, Edmonton won a cup without Gretzky; in part due to the players they received in that deal. They remained competitive for several more years even while playing at a significant financial disadvantage.
None of which should be interpreted as my endorsement of the nuclear option. I remain staunchly vested in the Crosby full recovery option, uncertainty and all. My belief will be even stronger if the NHL makes a sincere effort to eliminate headshots; rather than continuing its Neanderthal view of the issue. The league’s insistence on impotent punishments for head shots last year was nothing less than a tacit endorsement of the resulting carnage.
In the end however it’s not about me or any other Penguin fan. It’s about the organization balancing the implicit uncertainty of a brain injury with the financial realities of modern sports. It’s about understanding how tenuous an athletic career can be, even for a dominant superstar. It’s about accepting what nine months ago was unfathomable, trading the superstar who resuscitated the franchise when he arrived in 2005.
I truly hope it never comes to that. Right now there are no guarantees.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Going “Big Z” on the Sports Deadzone
We have a saying here in the windy city that a person went “Big Z” on someone. This is in deference to (or fear of) Cubs’ lunatic fringe pitcher Carlos Zambrano and essentially means the person to some degree lost their mind, freaked out, had a meltdown, and possibly beat the crap out somebody. Better stated, they reenacted the last five years of Zambrano in Chicago.
After Big Z’s latest meltdown and childish threat to retire last week it appears the Cubs have FINALLY had enough. I guess $90 Million buys a lot of forgiveness given that the Cubs have repeatedly overlooked (among other things) Zambrano's remarkable inconsistency, beating up his catcher, selling out his teammates, and freaking out at opposing players, coaches, and umpires. Bailing on his teammates in the middle of a game was the final straw. This should not surprise anybody who lived through the tumultuous end of the Sammy Sosa, Flintstones vitamin era in Chicago. The Cubs actually released Zapruder film like coverage of Sosa in the parking lot during his final game in Chicago.
The shame of it is that during those rare times when Zambrano is lucid and focused, he’s an exceptionally good pitcher. He appeared to be on the verge of Cy Young caliber stardom before signing his massive contract and he even after that tossed a no hitter in 2008. Alas, such greatness is far too rare and completely eclipsed by his over the top public meltdowns (and subsequent hollow apologies).
Zambrano is a locker room parasite who feeds on the extremely limited supply of positive energy at Wrigley field. Regardless of whether Cubs fans have any faith in their management team, the reality is that no meaningful rebuilding can occur on the north side until Zambrano is vanquished from the clubhouse. We can’t even guarantee that will occur given that he’s professed his love for Chicago and filed a grievance against the Cubs for suspending him. Unreal.
Jim Hendry has done less with more than virtually any general manager in sports. His record of player procurement is abysmal, especially given the budget he has to work with. Sadly his one area of expertise appears to be moving out malcontents with supposedly untradeable contracts. Here’s hoping the man who found homes for Sosa and Milton Bradley can do the same for Zambrano.
With that, I go Big Z on some other random topics in the heart of the summer sports dead zone:
• Forgive me if I’m not exactly shocked by the Yahoo story detailing rampant corruption at the University of Miami. Gee, the solid citizens of the U were given improper benefits including money, cars, alcohol, strippers, and prostitutes. What next, violence in maximum security prisons? Partisan dysfunction in congress? The Pirates finishing below 500? Yah, stop the press.
• Sadly, the Miami story is becoming the norm in big time college athletics. Powerhouse programs at USC and Ohio State (not to mention weaklings like North Carolina) are either on probation or facing serious allegations. As I sit here right now I’ll give you 2 to 1 odds that Auburn’s National Championship is vacated within five years. In fact, given the budding scandal at Oregon they might just pretend the whole BCS title game never happened. The unfortunate truth is that big time college football has become a cesspool of corruption. Worse yet, what we do not know is probably a lot worse than what we do.
• I admit I do not have a ready made solution to address corruption in college athletics but it would help if the NCAA stopped enabling egregious violations, let alone actually punishing them. I just read an article that stated the Sugar Bowl folks insisted Terrell Pryor and his accomplices play in their $20 Million New Year’s exhibition in order to, and I love this choice of language, protect the “integrity” of the contest. Sadly it was only slightly worse than Auburn starting their $180,000 amateur quarterback after the NCAA willingly buried its head in the sand. I’m dating myself here but the NCAA compliance officers remind me of the Bartles and James wine cooler guys from those late 80s commercials.
• As much as I believe that it’s long past time for Joe Paterno to retire, I often wonder if Penn State’s recent struggles are more because of JoePa’s age or because we don’t have alumni boosters that chaperone recruits to strip clubs. If it’s the latter, i.e., if Penn State has fallen in stature because they refuse to cheat, it makes it virtually impossible for me to watch college football anymore. Hopefully Pat Fitzgerald can address this after JoePa retires in three to five more years.
• Why do I feel like I’m the only person in the Steeler Nation who is genuinely concerned about the age of the defense? If Aaron Smith is in the line-up on opening day, the team will have eight starters on the plus side of 30. That may be young in public accounting but its ancient in the National Football League. As brilliant as the defense was in 2008 and 2010, there were notable signs of aging, primarily their inability to stop teams in the fourth quarter. I think that’s why Tomlin and Lebeau switched to that horrific prevent in the AFC title game that nearly caused me to Big Z my flat screen.
• Bill Bellicheat is not, as commonly postulated a genius but he is willing to think outside the football box. For years I’ve questioned why teams even attempt to run the football against the Steelers, given the utter futility of the effort. Belicheat to his credit abandoned established football dogma and never did. The Patriots regularly shred the Steelers’ defense with a quick strike passing game while making only token efforts on the ground. Green Bay used this same game plan in the Super Bowl as did Drew Brees and even Mark Sanchez last year.
The good news for the Black and Gold is you need a hall of fame caliber quarterback to execute this strategy. The bad news is that several such quarterbacks potentially stand between the Steelers and another Lombardi Trophy.
• I know the preseason does not mean squat but I could swear I saw Rex Grossman tearing up the Steelers’ defense last Friday night.
• Rick Reilly jumped the shark as a columnist about five years ago but he nailed it this week in ripping the Cincy Bungles and their cheap, curmudgeon owner Mike Brown. What does it tell you that Carson Palmer would forfeit $45 Million rather than play football for the Bungles? Brown has been running a pathetic and cheap organization for decades. He basically told his coach Marvin Lewis to kiss of when Lewis demanded the Bungles spend money and modernize. And this hypocritical oaf has the gall to suggest that Palmer reneged on his commitment to the team? How many players have the Bengals cut while they were under “contractual commitments?”
Even if you 100% agree with Brown and think Palmer is the NFL’s Big Z, riddle me this; would a good owner force a fading star player to retire out of spite or pawn him off for high draft choices to improve the club? Watch Brown do nothing and you’ll have your answer.
• As we sit here today I have no idea whether Sidney Crosby will be in the line-up on opening night. I refuse to make any assumptions based on rampant and irresponsible media speculation. I will say that if he’s not ready to go then he should stay on the sidelines until he is. The Pens made a monumental gaffe in allowing their franchise superstar to play after the Steckel hit. I was convinced he has a concussion when I saw it live and more so when 24/7 replayed it. The only positive here is that the Pens realized their mistake and resisted the temptation to rush him back for the playoffs. Crosby is the franchise and he’s two years away from being a free agent. Given that, I’m okay with exercising a tad more patience than they did with Aaron Asham.
• Sometimes when I need a cheap smile or laugh I remind myself that they worship hockey in Vancouver and Roberto Luongo is under contract until 2047.
• Only 24 days until the Steelers open their season in Baltimore and the sports dead zone mercifully ends. Looking forward to seeing James Harrison and the boys go Big Z on Joe Flacco!
After Big Z’s latest meltdown and childish threat to retire last week it appears the Cubs have FINALLY had enough. I guess $90 Million buys a lot of forgiveness given that the Cubs have repeatedly overlooked (among other things) Zambrano's remarkable inconsistency, beating up his catcher, selling out his teammates, and freaking out at opposing players, coaches, and umpires. Bailing on his teammates in the middle of a game was the final straw. This should not surprise anybody who lived through the tumultuous end of the Sammy Sosa, Flintstones vitamin era in Chicago. The Cubs actually released Zapruder film like coverage of Sosa in the parking lot during his final game in Chicago.
The shame of it is that during those rare times when Zambrano is lucid and focused, he’s an exceptionally good pitcher. He appeared to be on the verge of Cy Young caliber stardom before signing his massive contract and he even after that tossed a no hitter in 2008. Alas, such greatness is far too rare and completely eclipsed by his over the top public meltdowns (and subsequent hollow apologies).
Zambrano is a locker room parasite who feeds on the extremely limited supply of positive energy at Wrigley field. Regardless of whether Cubs fans have any faith in their management team, the reality is that no meaningful rebuilding can occur on the north side until Zambrano is vanquished from the clubhouse. We can’t even guarantee that will occur given that he’s professed his love for Chicago and filed a grievance against the Cubs for suspending him. Unreal.
Jim Hendry has done less with more than virtually any general manager in sports. His record of player procurement is abysmal, especially given the budget he has to work with. Sadly his one area of expertise appears to be moving out malcontents with supposedly untradeable contracts. Here’s hoping the man who found homes for Sosa and Milton Bradley can do the same for Zambrano.
With that, I go Big Z on some other random topics in the heart of the summer sports dead zone:
• Forgive me if I’m not exactly shocked by the Yahoo story detailing rampant corruption at the University of Miami. Gee, the solid citizens of the U were given improper benefits including money, cars, alcohol, strippers, and prostitutes. What next, violence in maximum security prisons? Partisan dysfunction in congress? The Pirates finishing below 500? Yah, stop the press.
• Sadly, the Miami story is becoming the norm in big time college athletics. Powerhouse programs at USC and Ohio State (not to mention weaklings like North Carolina) are either on probation or facing serious allegations. As I sit here right now I’ll give you 2 to 1 odds that Auburn’s National Championship is vacated within five years. In fact, given the budding scandal at Oregon they might just pretend the whole BCS title game never happened. The unfortunate truth is that big time college football has become a cesspool of corruption. Worse yet, what we do not know is probably a lot worse than what we do.
• I admit I do not have a ready made solution to address corruption in college athletics but it would help if the NCAA stopped enabling egregious violations, let alone actually punishing them. I just read an article that stated the Sugar Bowl folks insisted Terrell Pryor and his accomplices play in their $20 Million New Year’s exhibition in order to, and I love this choice of language, protect the “integrity” of the contest. Sadly it was only slightly worse than Auburn starting their $180,000 amateur quarterback after the NCAA willingly buried its head in the sand. I’m dating myself here but the NCAA compliance officers remind me of the Bartles and James wine cooler guys from those late 80s commercials.
• As much as I believe that it’s long past time for Joe Paterno to retire, I often wonder if Penn State’s recent struggles are more because of JoePa’s age or because we don’t have alumni boosters that chaperone recruits to strip clubs. If it’s the latter, i.e., if Penn State has fallen in stature because they refuse to cheat, it makes it virtually impossible for me to watch college football anymore. Hopefully Pat Fitzgerald can address this after JoePa retires in three to five more years.
• Why do I feel like I’m the only person in the Steeler Nation who is genuinely concerned about the age of the defense? If Aaron Smith is in the line-up on opening day, the team will have eight starters on the plus side of 30. That may be young in public accounting but its ancient in the National Football League. As brilliant as the defense was in 2008 and 2010, there were notable signs of aging, primarily their inability to stop teams in the fourth quarter. I think that’s why Tomlin and Lebeau switched to that horrific prevent in the AFC title game that nearly caused me to Big Z my flat screen.
• Bill Bellicheat is not, as commonly postulated a genius but he is willing to think outside the football box. For years I’ve questioned why teams even attempt to run the football against the Steelers, given the utter futility of the effort. Belicheat to his credit abandoned established football dogma and never did. The Patriots regularly shred the Steelers’ defense with a quick strike passing game while making only token efforts on the ground. Green Bay used this same game plan in the Super Bowl as did Drew Brees and even Mark Sanchez last year.
The good news for the Black and Gold is you need a hall of fame caliber quarterback to execute this strategy. The bad news is that several such quarterbacks potentially stand between the Steelers and another Lombardi Trophy.
• I know the preseason does not mean squat but I could swear I saw Rex Grossman tearing up the Steelers’ defense last Friday night.
• Rick Reilly jumped the shark as a columnist about five years ago but he nailed it this week in ripping the Cincy Bungles and their cheap, curmudgeon owner Mike Brown. What does it tell you that Carson Palmer would forfeit $45 Million rather than play football for the Bungles? Brown has been running a pathetic and cheap organization for decades. He basically told his coach Marvin Lewis to kiss of when Lewis demanded the Bungles spend money and modernize. And this hypocritical oaf has the gall to suggest that Palmer reneged on his commitment to the team? How many players have the Bengals cut while they were under “contractual commitments?”
Even if you 100% agree with Brown and think Palmer is the NFL’s Big Z, riddle me this; would a good owner force a fading star player to retire out of spite or pawn him off for high draft choices to improve the club? Watch Brown do nothing and you’ll have your answer.
• As we sit here today I have no idea whether Sidney Crosby will be in the line-up on opening night. I refuse to make any assumptions based on rampant and irresponsible media speculation. I will say that if he’s not ready to go then he should stay on the sidelines until he is. The Pens made a monumental gaffe in allowing their franchise superstar to play after the Steckel hit. I was convinced he has a concussion when I saw it live and more so when 24/7 replayed it. The only positive here is that the Pens realized their mistake and resisted the temptation to rush him back for the playoffs. Crosby is the franchise and he’s two years away from being a free agent. Given that, I’m okay with exercising a tad more patience than they did with Aaron Asham.
• Sometimes when I need a cheap smile or laugh I remind myself that they worship hockey in Vancouver and Roberto Luongo is under contract until 2047.
• Only 24 days until the Steelers open their season in Baltimore and the sports dead zone mercifully ends. Looking forward to seeing James Harrison and the boys go Big Z on Joe Flacco!
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