Sidney Crosby Retirement Rumors: Low-Ball Attack by Crosby Critics

Much like LeBron James of the Miami Heat or Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts, Sidney Crosby is one of the best, if not the best, at his craft.

When it comes to being the best like James, Manning or Crosby there are a ton of fans. However, for every fan there is a critic (also known as a hater, who is jealous because he stunk at sports growing up).

Critics say James is not clutch, he is afraid to be the man and the list goes on.

Critics say Manning will never add up to Brady, Brady has done more with less and so on.

Critics say Crosby is not tough, he is a diver, he is a crybaby and so on and so on.

These are all fair. Whether I agree with them or not is not the point. They are all points that could be reasonably argued.

I have no problem when critics want to criticize things that can be measured or are performance-based.

When I take issue and feel the need to lash out is when critics want to write articles or spread rumors that are nowhere near true and have no justification.

For those of you who may not know, rumors had come out of Toronto from Bob McCowan that Sidney Crosby was thinking about retiring due to his recent concussion.

Some may say this was just a misguided report and McCowan just jumped the gun. However, that is not the case. This was a case of someone trying to attack Sidney Crosby.

Just because he has taken a long time to come back from a concussion, someone wants to question his desire to play hockey?

In a time where long-term concussion illnesses are becoming more common, Crosby has every right to take his time.

This report was from a Crosby critic who wanted to generate some publicity. He wanted to give opposing fans more ammo to criticize Crosby. Why would a 23-year-old kid walk away from what he has done his whole life? He has only been injured for two months, why not give him time to try and rehabilitate before spreading retirement rumors?

McCowan also loses credibility when he cannot provide his proof and give names from Crosby's family that told him they were encouraging retirement.

Grant you, I do not have evidence that completely proves McCowan wrong. However, I do have Sidney Crosby's dad, Troy Crosby, on my side, who has completely refuted the accusations. I am pretty sure Crosby's dad would know the best here.

You want to criticize Crosby for his play or actions, that is fine. But to spread a rumor like this is wrong.

Crosby is recovering from a serious injury and yet people still try to find a way to attack him. This is a new low in sports reporting.