Am I crazy? Betting US Open odds against Tiger kind of crazy? Maybe. Because I’m about to defend Marian Hossa.

As much as we love to drag athletes through the mud, condemn them for being selfish and spoiled and call them bad role models — and I’m part of this populus — it’s time to point a finger the other way and call the lot of us sports predictions pundits a bunch of hypocrites.

Everyone giggled with glee at the site of Hossa being on the wrong side of the Stanley Cup result yet again. Har har! He shunned Pittsburgh, switched sides and gets shafted again! Everyone loved to see Hossa lose because he was “selfish” and bolted for Detroit.

Let me ask you something though — what is it that usually makes us call a player selfish? it’s greed, right? Being a merc, signing with a crappy team for a big payday, right? So why are we suddenly chastizing Hossa for signing with the team he felt gave him the best chance to win? Isn’t that supposed to be a virtue — caring more about the sport, about winning, than the money?

Keep in mind that…

(a) Hossa owed nothing to Pittsburgh — he didn’t sign there, he was traded there at the deadline.

(b) Hossa signed a one-year deal with Detroit in hopes of winning a cup. He could’ve hit the jackpot with a seven-year deal somewhere else but he risked, say, losing it all to a career-ending injury and chose Detroit.

So I say we leave Hossa alone. I never liked him a lot as a player — I’ve always felt he wilted when the going got tough — but I have no problem with his motivation. It’s not like was Johnny Damon in baseball or even Brett Favre hinting at going to the Vikings to boost their NFL odds — Hossa didn’t jump to a bitter divisional rival. He just left a team he’d been a part of for a few months.

If he had special betting software that could’ve told him the Pens would win, I’m sure he would’ve stayed. You can’t blame a guy for just wanting to win.