With Success Comes Haters, Especially if You are Sidney Crosby

With success comes great responsibility. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told.

However, the coaches that lecture us about the responsibilities of success never talk about the hateful anti-fans that come with a new status. Even if a successful player keeps his nose totally clean and stays out of trouble both in and out of the rink or arena, he will have people that hate him purely for the fact that he is so successful in his sport. During NHL Stanley Cup playoff time, this is even more obvious. 

Take Sidney Crosby for example, he is being booed no matter what he does. During games three and four (both on the road games for the Penguins) in the semi-finals against the Montreal Canadiens, whenever Sid touched the puck, the Bell Center would instantly fill with boos. 

That was paired with the often heard cries of “Sidney Sucks” at any time during the game. During a fight after the second period of game three, “Sidney Sucks” was the phrase echoing through the building. The Montreal fans seemed so intent on the player often commented as being the “best hockey player on ice today” that they did not notice at least three other fights going on in the same area, including two that were much rougher than Sid’s. 

The reception Sid the Kid gets when he is away from home ice is often the same as he received in Montreal. If a new hockey fan turned on an away Penguins game when Sid was on the ice, they would think the man was a mass murderer or in a Tiger Woods-like scandal, with what can be heard at any “Sid time” during games. 

They would not realize he may be the most clean-nosed player in the NHL who leads a low-key lifestyle and makes the perfect role model for kids. Instead of being the Woods or Roethlisberger of the NHL, Crosby is a straightdown home kind of guy that has not had his ego inflated with all the trophies and awards he has earned in his short life. 

Most 22-year-olds would be living up the high-life if they were a successful team captain of a Stanley Cup winning team who was hailed as a hero in Canada only months ago for scoring the gold medal goal. But Sid can be found on the ice at any given time, putting in the extra effort to be successful. It has often been said by his teammates that he is the hardest working guy on the team.

It is true that Sid, like most other professional athletes, has had his moments of whining? Then again, who hasn’t? He is the perfect example of being hated just because he is successful. 

I doubt many people could give reasons for why they hate the Sidney Crosbys, Jimmie Johnsons, Jeff Gordons, etc of the world other than the success they have had in their respective sports. Every time I hear successful, yet clean-nosed athletes get booed, I know it is more because of jealously instead of opposing team loyalty even if others say differently. 

If those people that are booing would put in half the effort these elite athletes put into their game, the anti-fans may be off the bleachers and on the bench.