Worthy or not, Crosby sets a good example for Maritimers
Published Monday August 24th, 2009
It wasn't front page news amongst some of the other major headlines that flew through our province, but Sidney Crosby received some off-ice accolades last week.
The NHL darling and local Maritime hero was given the Order of Nova Scotia, a decision which sparked a lively and worthwhile debate on this newspaper's website.
It's an often-asked question -- are sports stars and celebrities given too much credit for their accomplishments, while the work of valuable community citizens like policemen, firemen and military members goes under appreciated?
My first thought is to jump to Sidney's defence. As I've mentioned in this space before, I grew up in Cole Harbour -- but no, I wasn't named after the harbour and the harbour wasn't named after me, but thanks for asking.
Random digression aside, the point is that I'm quick to defend my hometown's most famous son and I was proud when he was bestowed this honour.
However, when you look a bit deeper at the designation, it is a bit curious that he would be given this award so early in his career.
The Order of Nova Scotia is the highest honour of the province and recognizes people for outstanding contributions or achievements. From the description of the award, it also mentions that winners of the award have distinguished themselves in many fields of endeavour and have brought honour and prestige to themselves and to Nova Scotia. Certainly this would all apply to Sidney, but at 22 years old he still has his entire life and career ahead of him -- one would presume he will continue to excel and be a good Nova Scotian and Canadian for the rest of his life. It seems to make more sense that he would be bestowed this honour at the end of his career, after continuing to prove he's a great Maritimer.
Still, there's no doubting the positive impact he's had on his community and the entire nation thus far -- even if it's primarily as a role model and inspiration.
Sidney is a great example of how hard work and perseverance pays off and while some argue against his inclusion in the Order of Nova Scotia, he's at the very least a great example for our community's youth on the matter of believing in yourself and achieving your dreams -- whether that's as a hockey player or in any other profession.
The fact is, while some people may believe sports stars and celebrities get too much credit, respect and attention to go along with their million-dollar pay cheques, it's a simple case of the market paying what it will bear.
If there wasn't such mass interest in the things these people do and the entertainment they provide, the money wouldn't be there and it wouldn't be an issue. Certainly anyone who works a 'regular' job would gladly accept a six-or-seven-figure pay cheque if it were available, so who are we to judge?
It's just a way of life and a reflection of our society.
Simply put, you are probably more likely to bump into someone on a city street and have a conversation about the AC/DC concert or how the Wildcats power play will look this season than you are to be engaged in a discussion about the local MLA's stance on literacy programs or about the latest session at the provincial Legislature.
A random Monctonian would also probably be more likely to be able to name cast members from Desperate Housewives than they would be to name members of the Moncton City Council.
That's hardly a blanket rule and there are obviously many exceptions, but overall, whether it's on the national scale or right here in Moncton, sports and entertainment is foremost in most New Brunswicker's minds and it doesn't seem that will change anytime soon.
While Sid the Kid's inclusion into the Order of Nova Scotia might raise questions, it at least puts the award -- and others like it, such as the Order of New Brunswick and Order of Canada -- further into the public eye for sports fans. Those fans may then learn more about some of the other great men and women who have helped shape their country, as well as our local communities.
Personally, after learning about Sidney's designation, I spent some time reading over the list of people who have not only won Order of Nova Scotia and Order of New Brunswick awards, but also the very prestigious Order of Canada. I was pleased to find that 29 recipients from Moncton showed up in the search as having been given the Order of Canada designation, while 10 from Dieppe and three people from Riverview have also won the award. A quick look through some of the local recipients is a great way to learn more about the province's history -- which I constantly find myself doing as a transplanted New Brunswicker.
From educators to builders, to journalists and lawmen, New Brunswickers and Metro Monctonians have been honoured with the Order of Canada for a variety of different things. Perhaps Sidney will also come to win this award too, if he continues to impress both on and off the ice and makes all Maritimers proud.
While many of the people who win these awards may have done things more important to society than winning a Stanley Cup and scoring a lot of goals, we can celebrate them all as integral to our culture and society as Canadians.
Whether or not you think Crosby should have been given the Order of Nova Scotia, it's a good reminder that day in and day out, we should all be trying to accomplish things to make our community and city a better place.
* City Views appears daily, written by various members of our staff. Cole Hobson is a reporter with the Times & Transcript. His column appears every Monday.
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Comments (18)
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A random Monctonian would also probably be more likely to be able to name cast members from Desperate Housewives than they would be to name members of the Moncton City Council.
Of course, others may deserve this award as well, I just feel as such a role model for determination, he does deserve an award like this.
He does not deserve it and should not even be a role model (except as a normal person who is very good at hockey). Is there somethign special about his character? No, there are lots of people who worked a lot harder than him (see special olympics). Anything else that separates him from other hockey players let alone other people? No. It's not that he hasn't done anything, it's just nothing special.
There is a lot that separates him from other players as well, but since you clearly do not follow hockey, then its no use trying to point that out.
There is no doubt that firefighters and other as such deserve awards and what and there are awards for them. They aren't in the spotlight, they aren't on TV so its less noticeable.
Sid does deserve an award like this, above some others? Maybe not but he's up there in the top few no doubt
Sports and entertainment does have its placed, maybe a little too much in the sense of the trash magazines and followings like that but for me personally, I'm a sports nut, its a drug for me, an escape and of course, physical activity.
For my argument about the guy himself, I'm not putting him down. I am also not putting him up. There is a distinction. Millions of people do things (like play games) with an iron will and heart. You are putting each and every one of them down to put up your hero (by saying he has more of a will and heart). You are insulting the hard work of thousands of people and kids who are just like him but didn't have the chances he did, and understand, his life has allowed him chances many people worldwide would not have had simply by situation.
He does have immense skill in hockey, I do not debate this at all.
It's nice to see though that you have made it a physical activity. I can't stand people who fight for sports and haven't even ever played one (not even just for fun). I think we need to pour more resources into making sports more locally popular anyway.
Its basically a popular role model (doesn't matter what he's doing) that is local for people to be inspired by and that is exactly what he is for Nova Scotians.
I'm sure if a PM from NS was elected and did a fair job that he'd receive such award as well.