I find the criticism being levied against Penguins captain Sidney Crosby over turning down a request from the "Late Show with David Letterman" completely incomprehensible.

Serving as media relations director for the Penguins during Sidney's rookie season in 2005, I witnessed firsthand the extraordinary number of requests for his time. Interview and special access requests from the local media, national media and international media, beyond his daily media responsibilities, were a regular occurrence. At no other point during my nine-plus years with the Penguins did I ever witness anything that remotely compared to the intense focus placed upon one individual day after day.

Hockey players in general are among the most accessible athletes in all of sports. They are made available on a daily basis, and on game days they are usually available two times. That access is not the norm in professional sports. Sidney is one of the most accessible among this distinguished group.

As an 18-year-old rookie, Sidney handled his media obligations like a 38-year-old veteran, never shying away from his daily responsibilities. He routinely agreed to allow special access, above and beyond his daily access, to fulfill requests that would benefit the National Hockey League. One such request came from a national Canadian newspaper that sent a reporter to Pittsburgh to cover Sidney's entire rookie season. The reporter lived in Pittsburgh for eight months with the specific assignment to report on the trials and tribulations of this remarkable teenager as he navigated the National Hockey League for the first time. Even more remarkable than the request was how accommodating Sidney was to the reporter during the entire season, often allowing special access. To compare, an 18-year-old student athlete is not even required by the NCAA to speak to reporters, yet this 18-year-old was required to be available daily and oftentimes more than daily.

Sidney always understood the importance of marketing the NHL and was always generous with his time to do his share to help the league. He also understood that the media had a job to do as well and that he had a responsibility to the team and the league to be available. His dealings with the media were always courteous and professional, even on bad days, and there were plenty of bad days during the 2005-06 season.

In the age of the 24-hour news cycle and with the blossoming of social media sites and Internet blogs, the quantity of requests for Sidney's time far exceed anything ever seen by any hockey player, including Wayne Gretzky. Any journalist or league executive who argues Sidney should be doing more is either misinformed or flat out wrong.

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