Great piece on Sidney Crosby in the Vancouver Winter Olympics Sports Illustrated Preview Issue.
Titled "Destiny's Child", it's written by one of my favorite SI writers, S.L. Price, and is an in-depth look at the 22 year old Captain of the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins... and now major piece of the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team's hopes for Gold.
Through Price's story a view of Crosby emerges that is consistent with other truly great athletes... that of someone born with exceptional potential who then works harder than anyone else to maximize that. This concept coupled with a recent Michael Farber SI story about Crosby stepping up his goal-scoring for the Pens by necessity really heightened the respect I've got for the guy.
The other thing that struck me about the Price story, though, was just how important winning Gold in the upcoming Olympics is to Canada. Granted, I'll be rooting for the U.S. (even though I think their shot at winning is slim to none), but unless lightening doesn't strike in the form of Gold for America, I really hope Canada does in fact beat the Russians and take the tournament.