sweater weather-or, "imprinting" on athletes

[horizon_greene]

So there's been all sorts of hockey-related flailing on my Twitter feed for a while now, and I resisted for a long time because what, exactly, is hockey bringing to the party? Toothless faces and slashed throats and catastrophic injuries and...what are you supposed to do with all that. Like, really.

But then.

Comments

[sophia_helix]

I know what you mean about somebody being in the back of your mind; they brought up Tim in 2007 and I was taking an extended Giants break because they suuuucked, and I saw him and was like "Hm, that's nice, hope they don't break him." And then I just remained vaguely aware of him through the Cy years and then bandwagoned back onto the team when they got into the 2010 postseason, all the while grumpily insisting they wouldn't win because they never did and I didn't believe in the team after so much heartbreak. Somewhere in there I went "oh, hey, that skater kid has grown up attractive and interesting" and the switch flipped, especially when I saw him around that hot new catcher...

Whereas hockey fandom was just a faceplant into Blackhawks fic because C sent me some and it was basically the same dynamics/personalities. And some people I knew were into Sid/Geno. Have you had better luck with other Sid pairings?

[horizon_greene]

I'm glad you can relate-and that the Giants got it together in time to pique your interest. I hate to imagine what the fandom would be like without you. And I definitely understand how that hot young catcher suddenly made things FAR more relevant, immediately :)

Meh. I'm still slogging through it. I only read 4-5 fics a night, usually, so it's taking me a while. There has been nothing outstanding; just a lot of things that make me go O.o. I'm becoming more mindful of tags, I have to say.

[frausorge]

Riiiight?? I kind of imprinted on Sid too, not quite by the same trajectory, but in a way where things got a bit tense with some friends who emphatically Do Not Like him. But I do, and I can't help it.

I'm a Sharks fan first and foremost, but the Pens are my Eastern conference team, mainly because of Sid. I have tickets to see them play each other in a couple of months and I don't know what I will do. Probably wring my hands a lot.

[frausorge]

Also, still waiting for the universe to provide the Tim-as-a-Shark AU.

[harleymae]

I am not opposed to that. :P

[frausorge]

The groundswell of support is on the rise!

[harleymae]

I had to double check that it was you who had posted about Crosby because I was like "Heeeeeeey that's a baseball person!"

Awkward is probably an accurate description of him. :)

My favourite entertaining player right now (Jack Johnson, not the singer) was Crosby's high school boyfriend which has led to all sorts of... really awkward thinking about them having awkward teenage sex.

Have you seen Crosby's All Access (it's really called that) draft videos on YouTube?

[horizon_greene]

Surprise, it's me! :D

I keep hearing people say that he's awkward, but I guess I just haven't been watching the right videos. Although it should be noted that I'm deliberately avoiding a lot of the formal interviews, which I think set people up for awkwardness, and instead focusing more on the documentary-type scenarios where people can be a bit more normal.

Aww, I watched an awkward video where the two of them wandered around and interviewed a group of unsuspecting 14/15-year old girls before the NHL draft. (In this case, I'm willing to forgive the awkwardness because he was, what, 16 at the time?) THAT was entertaining, if horrifying in a secondhand embarrassment sort of way.

And yes, I think I've seen at least one All Access video, if it involves Crosby rolling around on his bed for a while and then talking about how he cleaned his room.

[harleymae]

Well, his public face is awkward. This is someone who's had national attention since he was in his early teens, supposedly has a controlling asshole father. He's pretty restrained most of the time because I think he knows that if he says anything even a bit off it will be a big deal. He apparently swears a lot in 24/7 (the HBO series) though! :P

That... sounds about right. If he was half naked at the time. He also told Jack he liked his Superman underwear; Jack responded by throwing it onto his face.

[horizon_greene]

Oh goodness, I don't recall anyone throwing underwear around (and that seems like the type of thing that I'd remember). I will have to go back down the YT rabbit hole!

[thorne_scratch]

Oh man. It's like watching someone eat dog food when they could have steak. And not even, like, Alpo. it's like watching someone eat discount, Mexican-recall, dollar store dog food. (Coincidentally, also my opinion of Crosby's slackjawed face! Actually, the first version of this analogy involved chocolate ice cream and... something else. I changed it.)

My desperate hope continues to be you'll eventually sate yourself on the AO3 archive and emerge from this madness into sanity :/

...Or that baseball season will finally get here and we can talk about Tim or whatever, and my head will stop exploding whenever sports come up. Did Zito retire, or what's going on there?

[horizon_greene]

Well, different strokes for different folks, as they say :) I regret nothing! Even if you compare my choices to discount, Mexican-recall dog food, which is a new and amazing insult that I will file away-there will doubtlessly be a use for that at some point down the road.

Pitchers and catchers report in a matter of weeks! You should come out one of these years for Spring Training; I think you'd love it. And yeah, I can't quite figure out exactly what Zito's doing, but he's done in SF. He took out this really classy ad at the end of his tenure, though, which was cool.

[thorne_scratch]

I mulled the dog food insult for a long time. To make up for it, here is a commercial where I didn't hate him because he was willing to play along and be funny. It was cute. Props for that, Crosby.

(Now, we return to our regularly scheduled hatred. CROSS CHECK CONNOR CARRICK IN THE THROAT, WILL YOU?! DIE IN A FIRE.)

I would love to come out for spring training some time; let me eye my schedule. Man, if I were Zito, I just sit back with my millions of dollars and World Series rings and my hot wife (and my secret tiny pitcher boyfriend) and I enjoy life. I mean, he doesn't have to prove anything, right? Be happy, Zeets! ....ugh, now I want to watch Timmy and Bus. Dammit, look what you did to me.

[horizon_greene]

That is a great commercial, although Crosby's contribution seemed a tad...brief. Perhaps that's why it appealed to you ;)

Ovechkin was awesome.

Oh god, Timmy and Bus. THOSE WERE THE DAYS. Chillalm down, everyone.

[glendaglamazon]

Despite your concerns when composing this post, I think you managed to express yourself quite well regarding the imprinting.

I am not usually the sort who files away an obsession. I tend to see someone and get hit INSTANTLY THAT MINUTE with the need to know everything about him. It happened in baseball with Mike Mussina way back in the dark ages of his rookie season. It happened with Alex Ovechkin (though, to be honest, I'd been hearing about him for a while before I ever saw him or watched him play).

As for the Crosby characterization, I don't know what you've read/watched, but he really is pretty awkward, doesn't seem to date anyone, and basically only ever seems to talk about hockey. There's obviously more to him than that, as there is with all humans, but based on what is out there (which, honestly, I've avoided, because, ew!) that is how he comes across. Fanfic writers can be lazy, but they can only work with that they're given.

I am delighted to have been formally introduced to you! Thanks thorne_scratch! You have inspired me to make a

[horizon_greene]

Oh, Mike Mussina! Taking us way back with that one :)

So, a lot of my confusion regarding Crosby's characterization stems from what I see in this video-a guy who smiles easily, laughs a lot (in a dorky but mildly contagious way), is playful, is well-liked and respected by his teammates, enjoys kids, is self-effacing, has his superstitions (but not unlike a ton of other elite athletes), and just generally seems very sweet? I don't know, maybe it's just me. (And in his defense, the awkward moments in the vid are when he's stuck in situations that make most people feel awkward. Like, seriously wtf was going on in that photo shoot???)

[glendaglamazon]

I'm sorry. He's got absolutely no personality. He's nice to kids. That's nice. I had to stop the video when they got to the jock. Way too much ew.

This is the kind of personality that appeals to me (there's even a funny commercial that Crosby appears in, that is a good funny moment for both of them, though it was professionally written, obviously). And there are no gross undergarments! I promise! ;)

[horizon_greene]

Yeah, the jock is too much. Entirely too much.

This was cool to see; thank you for sharing! Ovechkin is certainly more extroverted and attention-seeking than Crosby, and consequently is probably a lot more entertaining to most people. I can see the appeal.

Fortunately, I'm entertained by Crosby's face and his strange little laugh, so I'm good even if others find him boring :)