Brandon Dubinsky makes the New York Times sports front page, sort of
Congratulations are in order to Brandon Dubinsky, who signed a six-year contract extension with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, and in so doing, accomplished a pretty impressive little feat.
Dubinsky's extension -- again, with the Blue Jackets, and not the team he came from, the hometown Rangers -- landed him on the front page of Saturday's New York Times sports section.
How did he do it?
Mainly because Dubinsky wasn't the only high-profile athlete to sign a contract with an Ohio-based team on Friday. Some guy named Lebron James, who plays basketball, did the same thing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Obviously, the combination of two elite athletes signing big deals in Ohio was enough for the Times to make sure they got to share the front:
It's a very clever front. Normally, these transaction pages are buried, but with Dubinsky and Lebron signing, it deserved a more prominent role. It's clear that Ohio sports is the theme here, as the first transaction you see is a right-handed pitcher called up to the Cleveland Indians.
Lebron's name is highlighted, so people don't miss it.
Dubinsky, who put up 16 goals and 34 assists in the regular season, then impressed in a first-round matchup with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, needs no such treatment.
Suffice it to say, with Ohio in desperate need of a major championship and Dubinsky and Lebron signing on the same day in the hopes of bringing one home, the two will be compared for the duration of their contracts.
"Who's better? Brandon Dubinsky or Lebron James?", people will say, and then debate will rage. It's a tough call, as it really depends on what sport you're playing -- whether the playing surface is slippery, whether the goal is on the ground.
It's a toss-up as to which of these two high-profile athletes will lead their team to a title first. Both have what it takes: skill aplenty, as well as a supporting cast dotted with Canadians.
