Graphic: @PictureTheGame

 This never ceases to amaze me, and in fact always leaves me feeling a little sad for our great Captain. To set the scene, Alex Ovechkin had to travel from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, Russia on Tuesday. The trip included a seemingly hassle-free one-hour flight. 

I was skimming Instagram the other day, and came across a ton of photos of Ovechkin with fans in the Moscow airport. Mind you, these are just the photos posted to the aforementioned social media platform. There is no telling how many other photos he kindly stopped for. I know Ovi does what he can for fans, but even this was eye-opening. The photos are essentially in chronological order (notice the waning smile). I can say this much, he certainly has more patience than I ever will.

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A post shared by Марина Наумченко (@marina_naumchenko)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJc3oNUgOTV/?taken-at=274317852&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJdUHTIhYEC/?taken-by=grigorieva_any&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJc5bj2Dtre/?taken-at=274317852&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJc5POUDSNf/?tagged=%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%B9&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJdihnwjnWS/?tagged=%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%B9&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJdRzR7BCXT/?tagged=%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%B9&hl=en

I know we as a society expect a lot from our sports heroes. It’s human nature. And yes, they get paid plenty of money, and I suppose that includes the embracing of the so-called “public eye”.  I guess we just need to take an empathetic perspective from time to time, and realize there is always another side to the coin.

By Jon Sorensen

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A post shared by NoVa Caps (@nova_caps)