I have to be honest here: I didn’t know about the Sidney Crosby “snub” of David Letterman until earlier today and my immediate reaction was “who cares?”.
If this had happened in the middle of July or some other time when the Pittsburgh Penguins wasn’t actively playing an NHL season, then I can understand the anger or dismay that he is “too much of a celebrity” and can just turn down gigs like that. But the guy had just finished up the Olympics, his team was on the road in New York and getting ready to play a game, and you have to respect his decision to focus on hockey.
I know he’s already done a ton of interviews but this one was a bit different. From what I can tell, the sit downs he’s had have been where they come to him, and they most likely worked around his schedule. Going on Letterman is a different animal altogether, and would take a considerable amount of time out of his day. Not a whole lot, but it’s certainly going to be out of the way from his normal routine.
Penguins GM Ray Shero wants everyone to lay off as well:
“At some point there’s a responsibility, that he takes very seriously, about being a hockey player and preparing,” Shero said Tuesday at the NHL’s GM meetings. “To me, any criticism for Sidney isn’t warranted. He does so much for the game, so much for the league. ...
“He’s trying to do it all and it’s unfortunate he can’t do it all. But he does a lot.”