Sidney Crosby = Ben Roethlisberger

As we brace ourselves for the inevitably awesome Sports Illustrated "City Of Champions" cover featuring Sidney Crosby and Ben Roethlisberger (much like the 1979 cover featuring Willie Stargell and Terry Bradshaw) one thing has become apparent to me.

Both Sidney Crosby and Ben Roethlisberger, even after winning a Championship, are still besieged with questions and criticisms from fans and members of the media who wish to downplay their talent and their success.

After Super Bowl XL the Seahawks fans blamed the officials, head coach Mike Holmgren blamed the officials, and suddenly the talk was about how poorly Ben played. And though he did play poorly in Super Bowl XL, he played so well in the 3 playoff games leading up to the Super Bowl that without him, the Steelers would not have made it to Detroit.

And much like Ben, after Sidney Crosby hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time, there are doubters. Even now, not even 24 hours after the Pens won their 3rd Stanley Cup, the talk is how the Penguins won "in spite" of Sid.

They did not win "in spite" of Sid. They won without him. For one game. Sid did not play bad all series, he was not a liability out there. His presence made his team better. The Red Wings were forced to account for him all the time, and it had a tremendous impact on the Final.

Sure Sid did not post great numbers in the Final, but he was 2nd in the NHL for most points in the playoffs behind teammate and Conn Smythe winner Evgeni Malkin. He was also 2nd in points for the regular season.

To ignore what Sid has done for the Penguins leading up to the Stanley Cup Final is ludicrous. Much like Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers, the Penguins would not have been in a position to win the Stanley Cup without Sidney Crosby.

And though Ben still faces unfair criticism, his performance in Super Bowl XLIII changed the way many in the media perceive him.

Perhaps a better performance out of Crosby in his next Stanley Cup Final will do the same to silence some of his loudest critics. As long as they are not from Philadelphia, Washington, or Detroit.

Upgrading The Pittsburgh Pirates

Unless you live under a rock, or are so sick and tired of the Pirates constant losing that your mind blocks out any reference to them, you know that the Pirates suck. And that they have sucked for 16 years now. And that there's no chance they don't continue to suck for the foreseeable future.

My biggest problem with the Pirates isn't that they're terrible. It's just that they're not entertaining. Nothing exciting happens to the Pirates. They might have one or two big ninth inning comebacks at PNC Park each year, but there's never any drama.

Last year the highlight of the season for me was when Doug Mientkiewicz tried to fight Randy Johnson at a meaningless game in early June. Mientkiewicz went on to call the Big Unit "mentally weak."

"Alright! Now we're getting somewhere!" I thought.

I couldn't have been more wrong. Outside of signing two guys from Indian who had never even seen a baseball game before, and failed to win a reality tv show contest because they couldn't throw 85 MPH, the Pirates were essentially boring last year.

Outside of Freddy Sanchez's unexpected run at the batting title a few years, the most exciting season in recent memory was the historic 1997 "Freak Show" season. I remember it clearly, a bunch of no-names fail to reach .500 but still ended up in 2nd place in the NL Central.

That was excitement. And that excitement is all but gone from PNC Park now. Sure it's a nice way to spend the day. Go get some food, visit an incredible park, get a great view of the city and occasionally see one of the league's elite players on the visiting team come into town and make the Pirates look silly.

But is it really all that exciting? I don't think so. But it can be. The possibilities for the Pirates to put an exciting product on the field are clearly there. I have come up with a Top 10 list of things the Pirates can do to make their games more exciting.

The Top 5 Things The Pittsburgh Pirates Can Do To Make Their Games Entertaining

05.) Ball Boys Chimpanzees.

I think we can all get behind a ball chimpanzee going crazy and attacking either LaRoche brother.

Cutest Ball Boy Ever?

04.) Sign Athletes From Other Countries Traditionally Ignored By Baseball Scouts.
I'm sure Vatican City, Madagascar, and The Democratic Republic of the Congo have some budding talent waiting to be discovered. Hell maybe Sengala (the fictional country from the current season of the Fox tv show "24") has some capable ball players.

Ike Dubaku, future 1st Baseman?

03.) The Renegade Video: Pirates Edition.
The Penguins were showing a half hockey/half football version of the famed "Renegade" Video during the Steelers Super Bowl run and the fans loved it. If any team in Pittsburgh needs the ole "Steelers Rub" it's the Pirates.

Just imagine: the amazing vocal stylings of Dennis DeYoung accompanied by videos of big Steelers defensive plays and hard hits. Oh and throw in a Pirate highlight or two from the past few years. Like Randall Simon KOing the sausage, Mientkiewicz going after Randy Johnson, and um...other stuff.

"Dear Mama I can hear you cryin', you're so scared and all alone"

02.) Act Like Real Pirates.
Ok get this: Build a shark pit just outside of center field. Build a metal plank leading from the right field bleachers. Whenever a Pirate player makes an insanely stupid play (which is like, a lot) you send them to right field. Fans can purchase special "Shark Tank" seats at $150 a pop. When said player makes said stupid play, those fans in the Shark Tank seats make 'em walk the plank! Everybody wins!

01.) Bring Back The Freak Show: Literally.
Create at freak show style atmosphere at all the games. This can be done in numerous ways.

First, you can hire a bunch of inbreds from West Virginia to walk around the parking lot and the stadium in their barefeet. Let them go up to random fans and just start sniffing them. It doesn't really fit with the whole Pirate theme, but since Pirates are supposed to be badass, neither does losing constantly.

Have all of the PNC Park vendors be circus acts. The bearded lady can sell the cotton candy.

But most importantly, load the team up with freaks, has beens, wannabes, and players who would make the cast of Major League (at the beginning of the movie) look like all-stars.

Hey, it couldn't make the team any worse. Could it?

I'm Back (And Better Than Ever?)

I am officially back from a long school-related hiatus.

I hope to have my thoughts/opinions on the Penguins, Pirates new uniforms, SB XLIII, the Steelers off-season/draft, the Penn State Men's Basketball team, and much more in the coming days.

Stay tuned.