Is Sidney Crosby the Most Hated Athlete in Philadelphia? It’s been an interesting week on the Philly sports front. The Flyers are one game away from sweeping their cross-state rivals from Pittsburgh in what we’ll call an “interesting” series, the Sixers are barely clinging to a playoff spot (as The20’s @GonzoCSN writes), the Phillies are playing too late for many to watch and the Eagles are busy preparing for their just-released 2012 schedule.

But back to Crosby. There’s no debating his incredible talent as one of the best hockey players in the world. But in the past week, he’s gotten under the skin of many Flyers, fans and the NHL by being just a bit of a pain. As so eloquently described by former Flyers defenseman Chris Therien on the Flyers radio broadcast, Crosby was in the middle of — or started — nearly every skirmish that occurred in Game 3.

Today, the front page of the Philadelphia Daily News compares Crosby to the cowardly lion from The Wizard of Oz (to which Crosby responded Wednesday, “I’ve been called worse”).Even the Flyers are handing out shirts to all fans tonight poking fun at Sidney.

So it got us to wondering…has Crosby passed those other guys we as Philadelphia sports fans love to hate? In basketball, that would be Kobe Bryant, in baseball, David Wright, and in football, Tony Romo and Eli Manning. Is Crosby now public enemy No. 1? (If our informal Facebook poll today is any indication, the answer is yes.)

Weigh in below.

-LD

[@GonzoCSN, CSNPhilly.com, Crossing Broad, Philadelphia Daily News]

Photo: Getty Images

Is Flyers vs. Penguins The Best Rivalry in Philly Sports Today? The20’s @GonzoCSN penned an interesting piece over at CSNPhilly Friday, where he essentially calls the Flyers-Penguins rivalry the best in Philadelphia today.

“Sidney Crosby is a brilliant player, a singular talent, which makes him easy to love if you’re from the Burgh and even easier to loathe if you’re not. Pittsburgh fans boo Jaromir Jagr each time he touches the puck, even though there’s a giant mural of him painted on the wall at the CONSOL Energy Center. The two coaches don’t seem to like each other very much, and just to remind everyone of that fact, the Penguins played a video montage before Game 1 that featured the now (in)famous footage of Dan Bylsma and Peter Laviolette screaming at each other and doing their best John Calipari and John Chaney impersonations.” 

What other rivalries come close to that?

“If this isn’t the most entertaining rivalry in Philadelphia right now, what is? Hating the Mets never goes out of style, but it’s a touch less enjoyable these days considering New York’s other baseball team is in a state of disrepair. Disliking the Cowboys is a tradition, but there’s something reflexive about it — as though it’s expected of Philadelphia, and so Philadelphians comply. The Giants are natural villains, because of the geographic proximity and the success that makes Eagles fans envious. That has been a great rivalry for a long time.” 

Thoughts?

-LD

[@GonzoCSN, CSNPhilly.com]

Are the Phillies Too Old? Chase Utley sat down with the media on Thursday to talk about his health, less than 24 hours after Ryan Howard did the same thing. Injuries are nothing new to the team. As this team gets older, it will happen. Virtually every starting position player spent time on the disabled list in 2011. But are they too old?

Let’s look at the 10 (arguably) core players on the team and their age:

• Ryan Howard: 32
• Chase Utley: 33
• Jimmy Rollins: 33
• Placido Polanco: 36
• Shane Victorino: 31
• Hunter Pence: 28
• Carlos Ruiz: 33
• Cole Hamels: 28
• Roy Halladay: 34
• Cliff Lee: 33

That’s a combined 321 years old, or an average of 32.1. It’s important to remember that this is essentially the same team that was old in 2011 and won 102 games (despite an early exit in the playoffs). So maybe it’s not really an issue. Or is it? What is more important - age or experience level?

A 2010 study from Springer Science+Business Media that examined the performances of 39,698 Major League baseball players in the 20th century found that hitting performance peaks at age 30, base stealing at 27, and pitching at 34.

From The20’s @GonzoCSN:

“Not long ago, Ruben Amaro said pretty much that same thing — that the Phils are an experienced group and maybe the birth dates on their drivers’ licenses aren’t such a big deal. Except, well, you see their ages and you see their injuries, and you do wonder if one isn’t directly tethered to the other.”

Weigh in: are the Phillies too old to win? Or are they just fine?

-LD

[Springer Science+Business Media, @GonzoCSN]

Photo: Getty Images

Hip-Hop is Dead in Philly. After receiving hundreds of notes and emails from fans asking for the ouster of the long-tenured mascot, Philly.com is reporting that the 76ers have listened to their fans and ended the Hip-Hop era. The Sixers PR team wouldn’t confirm or deny the news, but did say “keep your eyes and ears open.”

(10:45 official statement from Sixers PR): “The Philadelphia 76ers new Chief Executive Officer and co-Owner Adam Aron announced today that its rabbit mascot, Hip-Hop, informed the team’s new ownership group that he has fallen in love, married and will relocate to a rural part of Pennsylvania to start a family.  He will therefore be unable to serve as the 76ers team mascot going forward, and will not again appear at a Sixers game.”

From Philly.com’s Rich Hoffman:

“A decade ago, with Allen Iverson as the face of the franchise and Pat Croce rappelling the Walt Whitman Bridge as the out-there owner, Hip Hop arrived as a replacement for another mascot, Big Shot (whose demise wasn’t exactly mourned, either, if memory serves). Big Shot was lumbering and dopey. Hip Hop was acrobatic and edgy. Then, it was the image they sought. But all of these years later, after all of the coaches and all of the losses, fans were nearly unanimous in the missives they sent to newsixersowner.com. Before the forum was closed, more than 6,500 comments were received on every conceivable Sixers topic, but hundreds focused specifically on the bunny.”

As @GonzoCSN explained in late October, calling for the rabbit’s ouster:

“Even in the late ‘90s, when baggy jeans and over-sized jerseys and the like were the standard youth uniform, Hip-Hop was a gross, embarrassing, obvious attempt to appeal to 20-somethings…Back when it was created – and for, oh, the first decade or so thereafter – Hip-Hop was a transparent and lame marketing ploy. Now it’s lame and stale, like the mascot version of planking.”

Where will the new mascot come from? Hoffman reports that “The task of coming up with a replacement for Hip Hop will fall to two firms specializing in the business. One is Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which began as the workshop of the late creator of the Muppets. The other is Raymond Entertainment Group, whose founder is Dave Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic.” 

The20’s @dhm has his own suggestion:

“There is no other option: Pat Croce in a pirate costume must be the Sixers’ new mascot.”

We still long for the days of Big Shot (I mean, look at this Michael Jackson impersonation). Thoughts? Suggestions?

-LD

[Philly.com, @GonzoCSN, CSNPhilly, Youtube, @dhm]

Photo: Getty Images

Should the 76ers Kill Off Hip-Hop? Since the new Sixers owners (led by financier Joshua Harris) officially took over on October 18, they’ve been encouraging fans to send in suggestions of what they’d like to see changed with the team. And as The20’s @dhm writes for PhillyMag today, “the only concrete idea fans can get behind is getting rid of Hip-Hop, the creepy anthropomorphic rabbit that’s been the team’s mascot since 1998.”

The20 and CSNPhilly’s @GonzoCSN explains why the rabbit needs to go, saying:

“Even in the late ‘90s, when baggy jeans and over-sized jerseys and the like were the standard youth uniform, Hip-Hop was a gross, embarrassing, obvious attempt to appeal to 20-somethings…Back when it was created – and for, oh, the first decade or so thereafter – Hip-Hop was a transparent and lame marketing ploy. Now it’s lame and stale, like the mascot version of planking.”

Meanwhile, @dhm takes the opposite side of the argument, stating that the team’s problems need not focus on a rabbit:

“What Sixers fans really want is for the team to acquire better players, win more games and eventually contend for a championship. But submitting that suggestion to the owners is boring; they have to know that already. It’s more fun to think they’ll read your letter and fix your stupid pet peeve about the 76ers.”

Weigh in: should the Sixers ditch the rabbit, or focus on bigger issues? They could always bring back Big Shot, as @dhm says. Of course, none of this matters until the NBA lockout ends.

-LD

[Sixers, @dhm, PhillyMag, @GonzoCSN, CSNPhilly, Philebrity]

Photo: Getty Images