Us sports fans can be an interesting bunch. For no special reason really. But sports can really amplify things people do in every day life. I'll give you a couple of examples.
People can be very tribal. I think we all know this one. We just went through an election cycle here in the United States. The way people acted good and bad during that proved that. In sports it's a pretty similar thing.
A lot of people are born into it. My parents were born a fan of this team and I've been a fan my entire life. It's almost, or literally a piece of someone's identity. As ridiculous as it can be in the grand scheme of things. It all comes down to I'm rooting for that shirt, or the little picture someone drew and stuck on that shirt or the side of a helmet. If you're rooting against that well you are now the enemy. Someone does something bad against my colors well the other team is full of dirty players and the fans of that other team are idiots.
Tribalism.
Something else people do a lot is focusing too much on the future. Or simply the inability to focus on the present. We're too focused on where we're going we forget to stop and smell the roses. This is kind of a child's mentality that doesn't ever leave us. "Are we there yet?" We all know that thought or mentality. We can't wait to get to the destination and, yes, getting there can be half the fun.
This is a big one in sports. There was a big example of this one in northern California recently. The San Jose Sharks won the draft lottery this past summer. Instantly what do Sharks fans start thinking about? Getting back in the playoff race and even winning Stanley Cups in four, five, six, seven years.
You want an example closer to home Washington Capitals fans? How about Alex Ovechkin and his chase to become the greatest goal scorer ever, at least officially. These days, when he scores, half of the time on social media people won't even tell you the score of the actual game going on. Ovechkin scored, he's scored this many career goals, he's this many goals away from Wayne Gretzky.
Understandable? Sure. But it's still people focusing on something that is likely months away. Fans want Ovechkin to score, second to win the current game or night. They want him to score so in maybe four months they can be celebrating something.
That of course brings us to championship or bust mentality in all sports. Fans don't enjoy the ride to the championship. When or if a team doesn't win a championship they look back at those seasons as failures. If a great player doesn't win a title that career was a "disappointment".
Sports is nothing but a form of entertainment. Enjoy the movie. Who cares if it wins an award. Who cares if the actor in it wins an award for their performance. You'll still watch it because it's fun to watch. Sports is fun to watch. Enjoy it without worrying about the end result.
You know what else has been fun to watch for almost the last two decades? Alex Ovechkin vs Sidney Crosby.
Sometimes in sports you get this. Generational talent vs generational talent. In football we aren't that far away from one of those. Peyton Manning vs Tom Brady. I think we think it happens a lot but it doesn't really. There's a lot of great players, there is not a lot of generational players. Players who when it's all said and done there will only be, maybe three or four players better, if that. Maybe these are the best to ever do it.
But we just said something important a second ago. It's been Ovechkin vs Crosby for almost two decades. That's a long time. Unfortunately, that also means there is not many more of these coming.
Ovechkin has played the Penguins 76 times in his career. Regular season only. These teams have also met four times in the playoffs for well over twenty games. If you're curious Ovechkin has scored 42 goals and 75 points in these 76 games vs Pittsburgh. Just to give you all the info, Crosby has 31 goals and 90 points in 71 games vs Washington.
Other information I think you need to be reminded of is this. Ovechkin is 39-years-old, Sidney Crosby is 37. To say these guys are on the back nine is probably an understatement. They are probably on the last four maybe five. If that.
There are not many Ovechkin vs Crosby battles left. Ovechkin has said in the past he might want to go home and finish his career there. He only has this season and next season on his current deal. He'll pass Gretzky for most goals all time. He'll score over 900 career goals. He'll have a Stanley Cup, maybe more, who knows. Who's to say this isn't it for him?
If it is how many more Pens vs Caps do we have with these two? A handful, somewhere in the six, seven or eight range. They play each other four times this season, the first coming in just a few hours.
It's also no guarantee Ovechkin and Crosby play in all of those games. Injuries still happen. Illnesses, less likely but still an option is suspensions, whatever.
And these guys are still going strong. We've seen it with the Capitals. Ovechkin is scorching hot right now. He's got 8 goals in 12 games and he's got another 8 helpers to go with it. Crosby is also feeling it right now. He's got 6 goals and 15 points in their 14 games played. These guys are towards the very backend of their careers and they are still producing. They could be the most important players on their teams still. Crosby for sure. And that's a diss to the Penguins and their team construction, not on Ovechkin. He's got a lot more help.
You could also argue maybe I'm doing something I was talking about earlier, just in reverse. Maybe I'm focusing too much on the past. Maybe! But I am for damn sure going to be taking these moments in.
Understand that you are not getting this again. Rival teams who have had stars that had top five careers all time. If we get this again it will be a miracle. Guys who have, potentially, only Gretzky and Lemieux above them. If there's more above them it's not many.
I ask Capitals and Penguins fans to join me in the next and likely final handful of games between these to franchises. When you see 8 and 87 on the ice together, take it in. Before you think about the future, take a second to think about the past and present.
Think about these young exciting players coming in and maybe saving the league after the 2004-05 lockout. Think about the dueling hat tricks in the playoffs in 2009. Think about Crosby and his 3 Cup wins. Think about Ovechkin finally getting his, on his way to breaking Gretzky's record. These legends have given us a ton, both in and out of the matchup of Pens and Caps.
Put down the tribalism. Stop thinking about the future. Focus on the now. Enjoy Penguins vs Capitals, and Crosby vs Ovechkin.