Sidney Crosby is showing up on our TV sets every couple of hours selling skates and sticks for a Canadian sporting goods firm - personally, I prefer 'Croz' over Sid's choice, 'SC87'- but the big question is this: Will Sidney show up in the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup during the 2011-12 National Hockey League season?
When we last saw the best hockey player in the world, he was skating groggily off the ice after getting smashed into the end boards in a game against Tampa Bay, five days after getting his bell rung with an elbow to the head Jan. 1 in the Winter Classic outdoor game against Washington Capitals.
The "upper body injury" turned into a season-ending concussion and it doomed the Penguins Stanley Cup playoff hopes.
Hockey fans can only hope it didn't doom Crosby's career.
The list of players whose careers ended prematurely by concussion is long - and, unfortunately, getting longer. Eric Lindros's grey matter got mangled and he joined his brother Brett in early retirement. Marc Savard of Boston has had two serious concussions - he played in only 25 games last season - and speculation is that his career is over. Keith Primeau didn't get to his prime before his NHL time was up and Pat LaFontaine was almost as good as Crosby is today, but concussions prematurely ended his career in 1998.
If Crosby's career was to end, it would sadly rank with the 'what-ifs' associated with the likes of early-retired Sandy Koufax, Barrie Sanders and Bobby Orr.
What must be worrisome to fans of the Penguins is that off-season news about Crosby has been muted. If all were well, the trumpets of Sid's 100-per-cent recovery would be blaring. We've heard he's skating a bit, and spending quiet time back home in Coal Harbour, Nova Scotia, not to mention his SportChek commercials, but there has been no definitive word that Sid's completely healthy. Which is horrible news for the NHL.
Last year, he was so far ahead of the field in the NHL scoring race at mid-season that Gretzky references were occasionally made. Hockey fans can only hope the comparisons this season continue to be with Gretzky, and not Lindros or LaFontaine.
R.J. Currie of sportsdeke.com: "Quarterback Matt Leinart changed his mind about joining the Seahawks and re-signed with the Texans. This may be because a) Seattle signed Tarvaris Jackson, or b) the bench is warmer in Houston."
Comedy writer Jerry Perisho: "Tiger Woods' recently-fired caddie, Steve Williams, caddied Adam Scott to victory in the Bridgestone Invitational. The only thing that could have made it sweeter would have been Elin Nordegren giving Williams a big sloppy wet kiss on the 18th green."
Another one from RJ Currie: "St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina got suspended five games for a confrontation with umpire Rob Drake. On the bright side, drought-stricken farmers in the Midwest have invited him to yell at their crops."
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: "Danica Patrick confirms she will move from IndyCar to NASCAR next year. Be interesting to see if she can carry not winning to a whole new level."
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: "Earnhardt Ganassi Racing fired two crew members after they were arrested on marijuana-related charges. Suspicions were reportedly aroused when the engine kept smoking."
Comedy writer Alan Ray, on Cowboys owner Jerry Jones not taking exhibition games too seriously: "He only interferes during the first quarter."
Budd Bailey of the Buffalo News, on pizza-chain mogul Alex Meruelo saying he'll keep the Hawks in Atlanta: "Basketball fans were happy he didn't buy it to go."
Another one from Cote, on the NFL's new random tests for human growth hormone: "Why random? I'm no doctor, but wouldn't it be smart to target the guys whose necks are roughly the width of their shoulders?"
More clever wordplay from Perry: "In Friday's 1-0 loss to the Angels, the Mariners had a runner picked off first, another caught trying to steal second and yet another nabbed rounding third too far. Just one foolhardy tag at home, and the M's would've gotten picked for the cycle."
Matt Tiffany of the San Diego Union-Tribune, on Plaxico Burress announcing his own signing with the Jets: "Don't shoot the messenger."
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "And to think I used to wish I could play golf like Tiger Woods, and now Tiger Woods wishes he could play golf like me."
Bianchi again: "A Baptist preacher at a NASCAR race in Nashville last week said the invocation and gave thanks for, among other things, 'GM Performance Technology and Sunoco Racing Fuel.' Only in NASCAR could Jesus be turned into a corporate spokesman.
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: "This is so Dennis Rodman. In his Hall of Fame speech, he thanked Howard Stern but not David Stern."
Snipped from Perry's 'Sideline Chatter': Reader "Ed," to The New York Times, on the best reason to keep going to Mets games: "Because when you call up to order tickets and ask them what time the game starts, the clerk says, 'What time can you be here?'
