Tell Ovechkin I’m Sorry

Alexander Ovechkin (Photo credit: davidkosmos)

Done? Me done? With Ovechkin? I don’t think so.  I admit, I was mad at him for his lackadaisical attitude on the ice and it drove me to write that I was done wearing his jersey in public.  I was disappointed in him as he would have been if the situation was reversed.

Soon after writing my blog, ‘Tell Ovechkin I’m Done’,  The Great 8 went on fire!  Six goals and 3 assists in the last five games!  Maybe he follows my blog…  He also got the attention of the league, so much that he was named the week’s first star!  Now that’s my boy!

I watched him play the first of back-to-back games against the Winnipeg Jets.  He was nothing like the ‘drag-my-ass-around’ Ovechkin that I saw in his first game in the city.  He had fire and purpose.   I was happy.  Welcome back sir!

When asked about his turnaround, Ovechkin had this to say:

“I just try to do my best,” Ovechkin said.

“Right now I’m scoring goals and I’m the king of the world. And a couple weeks ago I was almost in the toilet. So maybe you just forget to flush me.”

Sounds like the old Ovie I once knew!  The line ‘I’m king of the world…’ reminds me of my other hero, the great Muhammad Ali.

Good luck Ovie!  Keep on rolling and I’ll keep on wearing that jersey.  If you are not done, then I’m not done, son.

Interestingly,  Oveckin is fourth in the league for goals, (5 less than leader, Stamkos) and his total points are good enough for 10th.  Pretty decent.

Related articles

• Tell Ovechkin I’m Done! (myvuze.wordpress.com)
• Don’t ‘flush’ Ovechkin, Capitals away just yet (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Ovechkin dominant in Capitals’ 4-0 win (shawglobalnews.wordpress.com)
• Holtby, Ovechkin help Capitals down Jets, 4-0 (miamiherald.com)
• Holtby and Ovechkin lift Capitals over Jets (theglobeandmail.com)
• CSN: Oates asks Ovechkin to ‘earn his keep’ (csnwashington.com)
• Alexander Ovechkin: ‘I’m King of the World. A Couple Weeks [Ago] I Was in the Toilet’ (nesn.com)

Tell Ovechkin I’m Done!

I loved the guy.  He reminded me so much of my other hero, Muhammad Ali.  Brash, energetic and in-your-face type of guy.  Watching him play made my heart beat faster.  He was like a wizard with the puck.  He would do anything to get it into the opposition’s net.  He was my type of guy.  Sidney who?  That wimp couldn’t hold a candle to the Great 8, Ovie.

Then just like that, without warning, it seemed like the wheels fell off the Ovechkin train.  The first season it happened, the excuses were many.  He was playing hurt.  The team had changed to a more defensive style of hockey.  The next season with a new coach with a different system still did not get the train back on track.  Was I witnessing the premature decline of my hero?  Did he peak too soon? I didn’t know what to think.  Fast forward to present day.

About a week ago, I went to see the shell of the Great 8 play the Winnipeg Jets.  I was focused on him as I wanted to see if I could notice anything different.  I did.  Well what I saw was troubling.  As his teammates practiced, Ovie stretched.  And stretched some more.  Then he went back on the bench to take care of his laces that suddenly needed attention.  Then he came back over the boards and stretched some more.  He took a shot with no real enthusiasm then tested the boards by bumping against it.  The captain Ovechkin was the laziest man on the ice!

When his team came out to start the game, Ovechkin made a beeline for the bench and was the first and only player sitting as his teammates made a warmup lap.  (Oh, he was also the first to leave the ice after the initial warmup).  Something seemed wrong.  I had the impression that Ovie did not want to be playing hockey.  His body language screamed that he’d rather be doing something else than play hockey.  Probably rather be spending time with his tennis player girlfriend, Maria Kirilenko.  Whatever it was, it had taken an immense toll on the man many considered to be the next big thing in hockey.  Gone was the brash kid who knocked over any player who dared to stand in his way.  A couple of games ago, he attempted to throw a hip check at an opposing player entering his zone.  He then backed off at the last second and allowed the player to go in and eventually set up a goal.  The player who scored ‘the goal’ while sliding on his backside and many other highlight reel goals have left the building, folks.  The player who was considered by many, including yours truly, to be better than Crosby, is now not even worthy of tying The Kid’s laces.  Comparing him to Sidney is an insult to Crosby.  Heck, comparing him to Malkin, Hossa, and a lot of other players who are playing their hearts out night after night, is insulting.

So tell Ovechkin that I’m done.  I can no longer be seen wearing his jersey, once my prized possession.  I can be tolerate and even appreciate it if a player tries hard but fails due to lack of talent but a player who gives up on his team and his teammates, I can’t support.  I am not comfortable wearing Ovechkin’s jersey anymore.  In fact I’m done, son.

Related articles

• Mike Milbury rips Washington Capitals’ star Alex Ovechkin (nhl.si.com)
• Kirilenko and Ovechkin talking wedding plans (seattletimes.com)
• Has Ovie lost his Magic? (nickolaisblog.wordpress.com)
• Capitals’ Ovechkin in mysterious slide (triblive.com)
• Fixing Alex Ovechkin (getrealhockey.com)

 

The weird world of sports

As a big Hockey fan and an even bigger fan of the Washington Capitals, it was interesting to note the firing of their head coach Bruce Boudreau, this morning.  The same guy who just only a few years ago, was good enough to best the other coaches and win the Coach Of The Year Award. The same coach who with his last win a couple of games ago, became the fastest coach in NHL history to reach 200 wins. (201-88-40).  So we can bet our houses that he would be picked up within 24 hours by some lucky team.

Apparently, Boudreau  had lost the support of his team. Whatever he did was not working, so unfortunately, he was the fall guy as all coaches are when their teams are failing. I am not sure why this is so.  If a student continually fails to live up to his or her potential, the teacher is never in any danger of losing his or her job.  Even though in some cases, the level of tutoring provided at schools are surely reasons for some heads to roll in that department…but that’s another take.

In a league, and also a world, where athletes are extremely overpaid, I think holding same athletes to some responsibility for their performances would not be a bad thing.  Why should the peon have to pay because an overpaid athlete suddenly thinks he’s too rich to give two hoots about playing up to his potential?   They are signed to these outrageous contracts that is not performance based, so why should they risk their health when they could just coast and still pick up their fat pay cheques?  I still say ALL athletes should be paid based on how they perform.  This means that their contract should be reviewed each season and made to reflect their play.

Personally, I also think it is preposterous that someone playing a sport gets paid in the hundreds of millions.  Their job, if one can call it that, does not cure cancer or any ailment for that matter.  Unlike an educator’s, it also does not shape a child to become the next president, scientist or doctor.  In a normal world, a doctor and teacher would probably be high up on the pay scale, enjoying the respect that their careers should garner.  Unfortunately, we are not living in such a world so we will continue to watch a rich brat running up a down a hardwood floor while bouncing a ball, complaining to the ref whenever another rich brat invade his personal space. What a picture!

Related articles

• You: Bruce Boudreau Fired: Washington Capitals Look to Dale Hunter for Guidance (bleacherreport.com)
• Caps Fire Coach Boudreau; Replaced by Dale Hunter (abcnews.go.com)
• Washington Capitals Owner Thanks Bruce Boudreau In Blog Post (tracking.si.com)