The Coming Backlash Against Sidney Crosby

Sometime between the hours of, oh, 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. tomorrow, the Sick of Sidney Crosby Society's power will reach critical mass. It's bound to come to a head after last night's made-for-YouTube night when Crosby had a career-high six points in an 8-4 drubbing of the Philadelphia Flyers and took over the NHL scoring lead, barely four months after his 19th birthday. There have long been rumblings. Some of old fart hockey types bristled last year when the Penguins made him the youngest alternate captain in NHL history. Other people called him out for diving. Now that's he No. 1 in the NHL in scoring, the backlash is likely bound to start brewing in earnest. Why? Well, Crosby is of the Alex Rodriguez-Tiger Woods-Peyton Manning-Kobe Bryant milieu. The great player who is liked, but not well-liked. He's one of those superstars whom almost no one except the worst front-running fair-weather types cheer for. It's nothing personal. That's the problem -- for us, not him.