Count Me IN as A "KNUCKLEHEAD," Mr. Smizik!!

I don't know about you, but between the fan-bashing of Ron Cook and Bob Smizik, my ass is getting a little raw!

This Sunday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featured an article by Bob Smizik entitled, "'Knuckleheads' can't wait to boo 'traitor' Hossa" in which he characterizes Pittsburgh fans as "knuckleheads" stating that, "When it comes to knuckleheads, Pittsburgh has it all over Philadelphia."

The term "knucklehead" is not that surprising coming from someone who began his writing career in the early 1900's and moonlights as Bozo the Clown at local children's parties (can't you just see it?!)!



First of all, I don't think Pittsburgh is worse than Philadelphia - COME ON! They are vulgar and mean which we are FAR from!! And most all teams, especially Canadian, boo Crosby for what reason I have yet to figure out -- you forgot those fans, Mr. Bozo, I mean, Smizik!! Even though I must admit, as a Pens fan, I never truly understood the negative reception given to Jagr everytime he set skate on the ice (or had the puck on his stick) and never felt the need to join in the banter, but as far as Hossa is concerned, I believe he deserves that and MUCH MORE!! He'll be lucky if we all don't decide to throw octupi at him for his debut at the Mellon Arena as a Red Wing!! However, I can clearly distinguish the two players, Jagr and Hossa, in one major way: you knew Jagr wanted traded - he let it be very well known that he felt as though he was "dying alive." But with Hossa, he led us on from the very beginning leading all of us to believe "

No, Mr. Smizik (and I say that very loosely), Hossa's crime was not just that he decided to play with the Detroit Red Wings (honestly, I could give a shit less where he decided to play since I was one of the few who never wanted him to sign with the Penguins in the first place). No - his biggest crime was not being honest with the organization, team, or fans. He was what he will always be (and what will make Detroit "knuckleheads" if they believe he'll be signing with them long-term), a hockey whore who will do nothing for the rest of his entire career but hop from team to team in the hopes of being lucky to land on the one who will be wining the Stanley Cup for that season. And even though this illustrates he puts winning ahead of money, it will never make it honorable - I don't care which team he does it to - that DOESN'T make him team-oriented, it makes him Whore-sa, uh, I mean Hossa-oriented!! And that, in turn, makes him a "knucklehead" too! Actually, I could come up with a few more appropriate names, but I won't tarnish this post more than it already is!

Bob, the more I read your article, the more I realize more than ever that you just don't get it and never will because you are not a hockey writer let alone a fan!! We didn't need Hossa to get where we did as a team. Yes, he did help us along the way but we fought long and hard to get where we were BEFORE he ever dressed in the black and gold uniform!!! We didn't need him to make it to the playoffs - we have Malkin and Conklin to thank for that!! Hossa didn't even make a contribution until

So, needless to say, I'm hoping to be lucky enough to be 1 of the close to 17,132 Pens fans "booing" Whore-sa, I mean, Hossa when he premieres at the Mellon Arena on February 8th and, I CANNOT WAIT --

I will wear the "knucklehead" badge proudly (as we ALL should)!!

I think it would be an AWESOME idea if EVERY Pens fan wore a "knucklehead" button for the Detroit game on February 8th (and join together to "BOO" Hossa!)!! I am working on creating buttons for fans to buy -- check it out HERE (The Steel City Sports Fan Shop (Penguins Edition)!! ALL PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO THE MARIO LEMIEUX FOUNDATION!! LET'S UNITE AS PENS FANS (pass this information on to everyone and tell them to visit this site and purchase a button to prepare for this game on February 8th) -- we'll show Hossa and Smizik we're not to be messed with!!!

[NOTE] The Pensblog is also asking all Pens fans to e-mail Bob and let him know what we think: bsmizik@post-gazette.com