Question by Spaceboy: Do you agree with Shero?
He said (after Crosby’s snubbing the opportunity to appear on Late Night with Letterman):
“There’s no one in the history of the game, (not) Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux, that’s done more to promote the NHL than Sidney Crosby.”
Agree? Or is he way off?
Best answer:
Answer by Like I’m Telling You Who I A
Agree to an extent. Gretzky did what he could at the time, and Lemieux has done everything he could to avoid promoting the NHL (and he talks about the reasons why in one of his books).
Crosby and Ovechkin have been huge troopers in that aspect of the game. Gretzky had a smaller audience to play to, and there was less access to players, less scrutiny, etc in the pre-internet age. Had Gretzky or Lemieux chose not to appear on Letterman, it would have been months before anybody heard about it, confirmed it, etc. Nowadays with video game promos, viral videos, youtube, etc…..the players who choose to be the face of the league, really are taking on a huge responsibility that didn’t exist back in the day.
It’s hard to explain, but the access that the common fan has to information now magnifies everything.
It would be interesting to know how Wayne Gretzky in his prime would handle the media responsibilities today compared to 30 years ago….and I assume that Lemieux would continue to shun them as he always has.
Shakey – I think there’s a huge difference between promoting the sport and saving a franchise. While Mario stepped and in and put his money where it needed to be, he refuses to use himself to promote the team, or the league, and his personal stance has always been that it is not his responsibility to do so. He has refused to allow the league to use his image in solo form in any marketing or promotional material (He appeared on the cover of the 2006 NHL Guide and Record Book with newly drafted Sidney Crosby).
What do you think? Answer below!
Disagree
Without Lemieux, Pittsburgh would have no team, most likely it would have moved to Canada. Had the team moved to Canada, Crosby would be playing for a Canadian team, and thus his impact on Americans would be next to nothing.
On that one homer line, not at all. Gretzky and Lemieux has done way more, but Crosby’s not retired yet. I do, however, agree on what he said before all that….that Crysby should have his focus on hockey, and not appearing on Letterman. He’s got his priorities straight, at least.
“Without Lemieux, Pittsburgh would have no team, most likely it would have moved to Canada.” That’s not promoting the NHL. That’s saving a team. You’re talking about something completely different.
But yeah, I agree with what was stated before.
There’s a lot of things today that back in the day players didn’t have to do.
There’s a lot more chances that teams have to do charity based activities, there’s calendar shoots that the Pens have done for animal shelters, among other things.
It’s different times, so Shero shouldn’t have really compared what Gretzky/Lemieux have done to what Crosby is currently doing as a player.