Pittsburgh sports have failed us again...
Pittsburgh sports have failed us again...
Hockey is my favorite sport. There's no sport in the world as fast and physical as hockey. My admiration for hockey is immense, and this is why it pains me so to be deprived of a good hockey team. The Penguins have struggled this year, sure, but they still played good hockey. It was fun to watch, we had exciting players. Three players in the top ten in scoring, best power play in the league. This was all until the monetary, business aspect had to come in and ruin everything.
Alexei Kovalev, perhaps THE best forward in the league, no longer wears a Penguins uniform. Andrew Ference, arguably the best defenseman on the Pittsburgh squad, shipped out to Calgary. These two, among other quality Penguin players. What do we get in return? A bunch of no names and a pile of money. Will these no names help us secure a playoff berth? Probably not. CAN MONEY PLAY FORWARD FOR THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS? Certainly not. This is where Pittsburgh sports have failed us time and time again. Remember Barry Bonds? Bobby Bonilla? Jarmomir Jagr? Robert Lang? Need I go on? Pittsburgh is a place for athletes to come and get good, show their ability, and then leave, because Pittsburgh teams refuse to pay the talent.
An argument would be that the Penguins don't have enough money to pay Kovalev. Attendance is down. Well how much do you think people are going to pay to come see these guys? Nobody has ever heard of them before. Our piss-poor defense was already lacking, so why go ahead and trade our best defenseman? Nobody's going to pay to see an even worse defense than they had before. Sure, it might've been hard to pay Kovalev the money he wanted, but it would be better than becoming the Pittsburgh Pirates, which the Penguins are on the fast track to achieving.
Some would argue that we're getting good, young athletes out of the deal. Well there's no doubt, but we already have enough good young players. The Penguins have arguably the best minor league prospects in the league, we don't need more. We need experienced veterans. Lemieux, Straka, and Hrdina seem to be the only ones we have, and they can't carry the team themselves. All of them are currently facing injuries, and we go ahead and trade away two of the more highly respected players. Who's going to step up and lead the Pittsburgh Penguins? Unfortunately the list is short. There's no argument that the players we have will perhaps be the superstars of the league in five years, but the question is:
Will Pittsburgh have a hockey team in five years?
-- Scotka
GO PITT
"Yesterday might not have been the day hockey died in Pittsburgh, but it surely seems that day is coming soon."
-Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2/11/03)
