Reading the NY Post will never be the same with Sean Avery’s departure to the Dallas Stars. I never watched him play hockey (actually, the only time I watch hockey is during Sports Center highlights and, usually I change the channel anyway) but he provided great entertainment with his Hollywood hook-ups and late-night hijinx. Now I’m not going to claim that I know much about hockey, but I do know that the Rangers were a much better team with Sean Avery in the lineup. Were his teammates tired (jealous) of seeing him sprinkled all over the gossip columns? Maybe. Were they fed up (wish they had the balls to do it themselves) with the way Avery ran his mouth constantly (and made Marty Brodeur his b*tch in the playoffs)? Probably. But, they will be plenty angry when they fail to make the playoffs next year courtesy of Avery’s absence…

So it’s a month later and I still haven’t fully vented my frustration over the Rangers’ second-round defeat at the hands of the Pens, but this should kind of give you an idea of how I’m still feeling: last night, ESPN flashes one of those newfangled updates on the bottom of the screen where they give you the current situation in a big-time sporting event. This one read something like “Red Wings on a power play with 2-something minutes left in the 2nd OT.” I haven’t watched a minute of this series ’cause I’m boycotting the NHL until the Blueshirts take the ice next October (you’ll find out why in a minute), but I figured I might as well tune in to see the Wings knock off Diver Crosby in humiliating 4-games-to-one fashion.

Well, the Wings never scored, and almost 10 minutes into the 3rd OT, Jiri Hudler got whistled for a 4-minute double-minor for high sticking Rob Scuderi– this led to Petr Sykora’s game-winning goal– to which one of the announcers (I have no idea who it was, I’m sure you could look it up somewhere) responded with something along the lines of: “That’s gotta be a double-minor. If you get your stick up around the face and draw blood, the referee has to give you four minutes for that.” Really??? Cause I’m still waiting for that 4-minute double-f@#king-minor to be called on Ryan f@#king Malone after he went all Thomas Hewitt on Chris Drury’s left cheek during the second period of Game 5.

Last night I was watching Sports Center and they were talking about the fact that Brett Favre’s locker is still intact in the Green Bay locker room. Then someone commented about how Aaron Rogers must feel seeing it every time he walks by. The truth of the matter is, who gives a flying monkey f*ck what Rogers thinks. Favre is one of the most revered players of his generation, as is evinced by the pic of him with his mouth open in jubilation after a victory. The guy’s father dies and he has a career night on MNF (regardless of whether or not it was against the Raiders). Rogers should see that locker and know what he has to live up to… motivation can be a powerful little tool.

The comments on Rogers got me thinking about another athlete who is supposed to be the savior of a sport– much like Favre was the golden child of Green Bay and the NFL as a whole– and Sydney Crosby popped into my head. This kid is supposed to get hockey back on track, er, notch at least 2 more fans by the end of the year. His job is difficult, much like Kirstie Alley’s attempt to get back to her Cheers-figure days. But he could do it. He also has the charisma that Favre has and he plays with an emotion well beyond his years. Could he get the attention of fans that hockey needs (and trust me, it is needed… go to a bar and see how many TVs are turned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and then compare it with how many have golf on instead)? Maybe we won’t know the answer to that for a few years. But, if he can get me to watch a game or two, he has a helluva chance.

So who is the next big thing? Who will take their sport to a level that we have yet to see? King James has made us all “Witnesses”; baseball has a number of players that could be argued as the reason why thousands of fans watch and pack stadiums everyday; but who will step up and make sure that all sports have passionate followers? Who will be found on the streets playing stick ball only to be in the majors when they come of age? Who will take a driver at the age of 5 and hit it straight down the fairway? Who will take a raquet and be unstoppable on both clay and artificial courts? Who will get behind the wheel and make sure that people who aren’t named Billy Bob will watch machines go in an oval 300 times? Who will sleep with Pamela Anderson and not catch a venereal disease? Who will it be?