The Columbus Dispatch took a shot at an opposing player ahead of the Blue Jackets’ NHL playoff home opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday, but that shot backfired.
The Dispatch tweeted Friday about a promotion where they’ll distribute crying “Sid The Kid” masks mocking Penguins’ star Sidney Crosby with Sunday’s paper, and they got plenty of negative responses, leading to them eventually taking the tweet down. You can see a screenshot here.
That didn’t go over well at all on Twitter. Here are some of the reactions the Blue Jackets received:
.@DispatchAlerts Pretty cool if you're from Philadelphia and it's 2008.
— Chill Kessel (@ChillKessel) April 15, 2017
https://twitter.com/_tdome/status/853037483151552513
Maybe next week print a mask of a D-man to cover the guy pic.twitter.com/yZ2tYRqoP3
— Pat Sutton (@Clueless_Sutton) April 15, 2017
Seriously? You're a professional newspaper, and you're ridiculing one of the greatest sportsman in the NHL. Have some class.
— PengWIN! (@benguin_) April 15, 2017
https://twitter.com/CBJackalope55/status/853059665198014465
https://twitter.com/MLennon66/status/853049252217577474
Oh wells. This is the kind of thing we expect from a minor league sports city.
— jtkola™ (@jtkola) April 15, 2017
https://twitter.com/CECsec214/status/853042317204348931
1 tear for every point he puts up on your team.
— AdamC (@acontidesign) April 15, 2017
So, yeah, that didn’t go over well, and it wasn’t just Pittsburgh fans complaining. Plenty of neutral fans went after the paper too, and even some Blue Jackets’ fans weren’t thrilled with the idea. As Josh Cooper notes at Puck Daddy, this kind of newspaper trolling has happened before, most notably with The Chicago Tribune‘s pullout poster of “Chrissy Pronger” (then-Flyers’ defenseman Chris Pronger) during the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.
This kind of mask is taking that to a different level, though, and it’s perhaps not the wisest move for a newspaper.
In any case, the Penguins certainly haven’t been troubled by Columbus on the ice so far. The Blue Jackets fell 3-1 in the series opener Wednesday, and lost Game Two 4-1 Saturday. Crosby had three points in that latter game, so he won’t be crying too much at the moment. And Columbus has other things to worry about, including possible disciplinary action against Matt Calvert after he broke his stick over Tom Kuhnhackl’s neck near the end of the game.
The Dispatch came to its senses Saturday morning, announcing that the mask plan was canceled. Whether because of the backlash or the Blue Jackets falling behind 0-2 in the series, the decision to put “Sid the Kid” in timeout is the right one.
The Dispatch has canceled plans to distribute Sidney Crosby "crying" masks in Sunday's paper. #CBJ #Pens @DispatchAlerts
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 15, 2017
@DispatchAlerts editor Alan Miller: "We heard the response and we are not going to print it. We appreciate the input from hockey fans."
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 15, 2017
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.