General

Pittsburgh: Even More Insecure Than Detroit

Jun 3, 2009, 7:10 PM UTC

Last July, free agent right winger Marian Hossa picked a one-year, $7.4 million deal from the Red Wings over a host of lucrative long-term offers from a half-dozen teams. Pittsburgh, then his current team, was among them, though their offer wasn’t the biggest. â†µâ†µSo maybe it’s not a huge surprise that every time Marian Hossa touched the puck in Pittsburgh last night he was vociferously booed as a Traitor To The Holy Cause. But if you go by the internet—and it’s not like there’s anything else—Marian Hossa is the most hated man in Pittsburgh. Here’s a guy’s Fourth of July jersey-burning tribute: â†µ

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â†µHere’s a guy who says “way to sell your soul,” and says Hossa’s decision to turn down guaranteed zillions long term is “just greed.” Here’s a guy comparing Hossa to Benedict Arnold. Here’s’ the world’s dumbest T-shirt. Here’s an Urban Dictionary entry. Here’s a guy ranking the “biggest traitors in Pittsburgh sports history” who slots Hossa at #5. There are many other enraged folk, most of whom spent every moment last night holding their breath so they could tell Hossa—with their lungs!—just how much they hated him. Mission accomplished. â†µâ†µAll this is, of course, completely insane. Hossa, a pending free agent in 2008, spent all of three months as a Penguin after his trade deadline deal from Atlanta. He probably lived in a hotel the whole time. He’s played 32 games as a Pittsburgh Penguin in his career… and 38 as an opponent of the Penguins. â†µ

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â†µIf there was an anti-Pittsburgh anti-team that would completely annihilate itself if it ever came in contact with the Penguins, that team would have more right to be pissed off about Hossa's decision than the Penguins do. And when Hossa signed with Detroit he loosed this damning indictment: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“It was a really tough decision for me to make. When I compared the two teams, I felt like I would have a little better of a chance to win the Cup in Detroit.” â†µâ†µâ†µIf anyone should be upset it’s Edmonton, which tried to dump $9 million per year on Hossa long-term only to be told to talk to the hand. â†µ

â†µâ†µQuestions for discussion: Is there something wrong with the concessions at Pennsylvania sporting events? Does the beer have mind-altering chemicals? If Mario Lemieux plays a pick-up game in Yellow Knife will his house get burned down by an angry mob? Could Penguin fans be more like Stacy, psycho hose beast, if they tried? â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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