Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Sidney Crosby Saves the World

Okay, so it has been a while. But here is something to ponder, or stew about.
 
Watch THIS video:

In this commercial from Gatorade, Sidney Crosby is called upon to help his team win the game in overtime. For those of you who are unaware, Crosby is the young gun hockey player that has been touted as the next Wayne Gretzky, in the troubled world that is the National Hockey League. If you recall, the NHL was on strike due to labor disputes during the 2004-2005 season. Now, in the United States, you can see your beloved NHL on Versus (formerly OLN) and occasionally NBC. Not very prominent media outlets. Attendance has been up, but the league is still trying to recover from the lockout.
Anyway, players such as Crosby and the Washington Capitals’ Alexander Ovechkin are being looked at to revitalize interest in the game. That leads me to my point. Subtly, or maybe not so subtly, the Gatorade “League of Clutch” commercial depicts Crosby not only “winning” the game. It also depicts him as a savior, of sorts, for the National Hockey League. The words, “The Fate of the Game- Lies in the Hands- Of a Kid- Every Game Needs a Hero” leads me to believe that if Sidney Crosby fails, the league fails. The league has put so much on Crosby’s shoulders at the young age of twenty. He has his own clothing line, in commercials, and expected to show fans and spectators things they haven’t seen since the hay day of Gretzky. 
Carl Orff's "O Fortuna" from the Carmina Burana makes an appearance in this thirty-second spot, and with good reason.  In Roman Mythology, Fortuna is the goodess of fortune and good luck.  Crosby is the Fortuna in this situation.  He is the NHL's good luck charm.    
Gatorade put it bluntly: Every game does need a hero, and the fate of the game does lie in the hands of a kid.

So go a head, Sid the Kid, save the game.