Sidney, We Love You!!!!!

In times when dog fighting allegations surround Michael Vick and juries award $260,000 to victims of beatings handed out by associates of Allen Iverson(notice two big stars of their respective sports), it is refreshing to know what kind of a man we have in Pittsburgh playing for the Penguins. Today, Sidney Crosby signed a 5-year contract extension. In a day-and-age when greed and selfish attitudes prevail among athletes, this signing gives me the idea that there is still some hope.

If anybody deserves $43 million for playing a sport it is Sidney Crosby. Crosby will average $8.7 million a season, but he could have demanded $10,060,000 a season under the NHL terms of the collective bargaining agreement. However, being the type of player, man, leader, and role model that he is, Crosby did not demand the maximum available money from the Pens. Crosby wants to win more than anything and on top of that, he genuinely likes the city of Pittsburgh and its fans.

Penguins fans and Pittsburgh were even luckier than we thought when we won the draft lottery that gave us the chance to select Crosby. Crosby's talents were obvious, but the other intangibles that we got with this player were unrecognizable at the time.

And just to think in January we all thought the team was leaving town. The future for this Pittsburgh franchise is exciting to say the least.