The kid returns tomorrow... Yawn

"Sidney Crosby... has just sneezed"

"Crosby just ate a peanut butter sandwich WITH the crusts"

"Sid will return on September 19th... to Chuck E. Cheese"

"There is no change to Crosby's condition but he did just buy a new hat"

"There were games held today but who cares? Sidney just looked at his skates"

"Crosby's return is essential to the NHL. The entire league is in jeopardy of folding without his return... okay... we made that last part up... But still!"



Since January 5th of 2010, I have heard nothing but progress reports and lots of 'there is no progress' reports regarding Sidney Crosby's concussion and playing status. After months and months of hearing about his return, tomorrow Crosby will return to the ice. Now I'm not going to say that I don't care about his return. I do... to a minimal extent. I never want to see someone that young have their career ended and I am capable of recognizing his talent. Maybe with his return, I can stop hearing about every move he makes. The National Media has really made the situation stale for me. Initially, I cared because I watched how a concussion injury plagued Andreas Lilja when he was on the Red Wings and I understood how frustrating the symptoms are. After months of hearing that he had no change and that there was no time table every day, I began quite frustrated with the coverage. On September 7th, almost every ounce of care towards the situation left me.

In case you live under a rock, September 7th was the day that the plane carrying the Lokomotiv hockey team crashed. The crash claimed 44 lives. Sidney Crosby had scheduled a press conference to update his status on that day. The status update was essentially a "there is no timetable or update but let us explain how concussions work" type of event. Press conferences take time to set up. They take time to get everything together. However, they also can be postponed quite easily. It was that moment that respect for Sidney, all those working on his behave, and the national media diminished significantly. Many media outlets covered the Crosby press conference first and covered the plane crash secondly as a hockey after thought.

44 people losing their lives were not as important as one player's concussion?

26 other professional hockey players were not as important as Sidney Crosby's injury?

Sidney Crosby is an important player, but he's not the only player that matters.