I pay as much attention to the NFL preseason these days as I do to watching paint dry on the walls at my local gym. In other words, none. So, when I mindlessly hopped on to ESPN.com earlier today, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the following short headline: "Geno, Crosby flash obscene gestures at hecklers."
Naturally, I thought to myself, "What's making Sid and Geno retaliate to heckling fans like that?" And since nothing's going on in the NHL world right now next to mock trade proposals from hockey netizens that'll never happen, I was further stumped and had to click through to the article itself.
Upon further review, the headline after I clicked, read, "Raiders' Smith, Crosby aim obscene gestures toward Seattle hecklers." Oh, okay, then, that's different. Didn't realize the Raiders played the Seahawks on Thursday night. Even if it wasn't until Friday did the rest of the world hear about the back-and-forth two members of the Las Vegas Raiders had with fans.
ESPN's short headline would've fooled some die-hard Penguins fans
Obviously, the article was about Raiders quarterback Geno Smith and defensive end Maxx Crosby, not Evgeni "Geno" Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Still, with a short quip under ESPN's "Top Headline" section in their right sidebar, any headline with the names Geno and Crosby would've probably had a contingent of hockey fans in the Steel City thinking it pertained to the two Penguins legends.
So, no, Sid and Geno aren't getting into confrontations with fans, and I'm sure that, even if fans were relentleslly heckling them or holding up rude signs, they'd be tactul enough to ignore them and focus on the task at hand.
Plus, they also have three Stanley Cup Championships between them to boast about, and that's three more than any heckling fan probably has. As for the Las Vegas version of Geno and Crosby, maybe they'll get their first Lombardi this season but I wouldn't get my hopes up if I'm a Raiders fan. I'm at least aware that one of their division rivals is a borderline dynasty....
Expect Sid and Geno to be getting ready for what we're hoping is a better season
Right now, the Penguins version of Geno and Crosby are getting ready for what they're hoping is a better campaign than what they ended up with in 2024-25. And for Geno, this one could be it, as he's entering his final season under contract with the Pens in what will be his age-39 season.
So, he'd like to make it a memorable one, and I'm sure both he and Sid want to at least make one more playoff run before what may be the greatest era in franchise history comes to a close. Once again, that means focusing on what's happening on the ice, and not in the stands.
More from Pens Labyrinth