Nice to Meet You / $idney I$ Re-$igned

Hi! I'm new here. My name is Jodie, but I'm better known in the blogosphere as snoopyjode. Along with Loser Chris, I'll be sharing some facts and opinions about anything and everything sports. I have been a Pittsburgh Penguins fan for more than 10 years now. I live in central Pennsylvania, so I get to go to Pens games once in a while, and I look forward to sharing my experiences at some of the upcoming season's games with you. I'm most familiar with hockey, but I'm smart enough to pick up on a good sports story when I hear one. I can't wait to get started, so without further ado...

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Imagine, if you will, going to a car lot. You've narrowed it down to 2 choices. Vehicle A is a brand new Range Rover that normally sells for more than $80,000 but the dealer has offered to you for $60,000. Vehicle B is a used 2001 Ford Explorer that is valued at around $10,000 but the dealer has informed you that he will accept no less than $30,000 for it. Which do you choose? (I know. It's a stupid analogy, but bear with me. I'm making a point...)

Well, if you chose Vehicle A, you're Penguins' general manager Ray Shero and you've just signed NHL phenom Sidney Crosby to a 5 year extension at the bargain price of $43.5 million. (FUN FACT: Crosby was born on 8-7-87, wears the jersey number 87, and his new contract works out to be $8.7 million a year.) Sir Sidney could have commanded top dollar (which would have been more than $10 million a year based on current NHL guidelines) because, after all, he is the best player in the league. But Sid showed his Penguins loyalty and gave Shero the "team-player" discount. Get this: There have been Internet grumblings that the contract is too expensive. That is an incredibly ridiculous statement. He's the best player in the entire NHL and could have demanded the maximum payment and would have gotten it (Shero doesn't want to be forever known as the one that let Sidney get away) but he didn't. $8.7 mil a year is a bargain basement price for a player like Sid! What other teenager who is the best in player in his or her sport is going to pass on collecting an extra $2 mil in order to leave some extra cash in the pot for his coworkers? That's one of the big reasons Sid is my favorite player.

Now, if you chose Vehicle B, well that makes you one of these guys:

• Glen Sather, GM of the New York Rangers, who just signed Chris Drury to a 5 year, $32.25 million contract. He's a decent player, I realize, but on a scale that's weighted with Sid's talent-to-salary ratio, Drury's new salary is a joke. I guess it doesn't help that the Rangers have always seemed to have more money than brains...


• Paul Holmgren, GM of the Philadelphia Flyers, who just signed Daniel Briere to an 8 year, $52 million contract. What is with the OUTRAGEOUS amount of money? One awesome season does not make any player worth that kind of money. Wow. I wonder if I have one outstanding day at work if they'll quadruple my salary with no guarantee that I'll ever have another day as good as that one again?

Was it just me, or did you too think the dollar amounts being thrown around to average (hear me out - I mean average in terms of the NHL) players during this year's free agency frenzy was out of control? Does ANYONE think Briere would have gotten that kind of offer if Sid's contract was inked first? Maybe now other general managers can Sid's deal as a guideline to get the overspending under control. Hey, a girl can dream, right?



On a somber note, former Detroit Red Wings coach Jimmy Skinner, who was at the helm when Hall of Famers Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay captured Lord Stanley's Cup in 1955, died on July 11, 2007 at the ripe old age of 90. T.O.F.T.T. offers our condolences to his family, friends, and fans.