Scott Cordischi On Sports: Jaromir Jagr a Bruin
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
He may be 41 years old, but he still has game!
Jaromir Jagr is one of only a few members of what is known as the “Triple Gold Club” which means he has won the Stanley Cup (1991, 1992), the Hockey World Championships (2005, 2010) and an Olympic Gold Medal (1998). Now Jagr is a member of the Boston Bruins.
The B’s acquired Jagr from the Dallas Stars for prospects Lane MacDermid, Cody Payne and a conditional second round draft pick in 2013. That pick would become a first round draft choice if Boston makes it to the Eastern Conference Finals this season.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhile Jagr is a little long in the tooth, he can still produce offense. In fact, through 34 games this season, he has 14 goals and 12 assists. Those 14 goals make him Boston’s top goal-scorer along with Brad Marchand this season.
According to GM Peter Chiarelli, the plan is to have Jagr play on the team’s third line with Rich Peverly and Jordan Caron. Once Chris Kelly returns from his broken tibia, he would likely join Peverly and Jagr on that line.
Jagr is currently on a 1-year contract worth $4.55 million. He has always said that he prefers short contracts at this stage of his career because if his game deteriorates quickly, he does not want to be a burden to whatever team he is playing for.
One area that Jagr should help is Boston’s anemic power play. He already has 6 power play goals this season.
He will wear the #68 for the Bruins and is slated to join the team Wednesday.
-Did you see the video of Rutgers men’s basketball coach Mike Rice at practice with his team? It shows Rice kicking, shoving, berating, swearing and throwing balls at his players. Former Friar Eric Murdock was allegedly fired by the school for reporting the illegal conduct by Rice and is currently suing the suing the university for wrongful termination. After watching the video it is hard not to say that Rice, himself, should be fired. Yelling and swearing at players is one thing, but physical abuse clearly crosses the line. Now that the video has been released, it will be difficult for Rutgers to rationalize keeping Rice on as head coach. And while the school is at it, they should determine whether or not Athletic Director Tim Pernetti should keep his job. Pernetti apparently saw that video and decided not to fire Rice instead choosing to suspend him. Now he says he’s reconsidering Rice’s job status now that the video has become public. What? It seems like the only person to have done the right thing was Murdock and he lost his job because of it.
-Speaking of college basketball, that injury to Louisville’s Kevin Ware was about as gruesome as it gets! I don’t know about you, but after seeing the replay once, I couldn’t watch it again. The injury was eerily similar to Joe Theismann’s with the exception of the fact that no one came down on Ware’s leg like Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson of the New York Giants did on Theismann in 1985. After having what has been termed “successful surgery” to repair the injury, doctors say that Ware could be back playing in 6 months time.
-Now to the Final Four. No need to ask who this Syracuse alumnus is rooting for. If that 2-3 zone defense continues to play as well as it did against Indiana and Marquette last week, there’s no reason to think that the Orange don’t have as good a chance as any team to win it all. The Big East fan in me would love to see a Syracuse-Louisville final with the Orange taking the title.
-Did you see where the Yankees’ Robinson Cano dumped agent Scott Boras to sign with Jay-Z? Cano signed with Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation which is getting into the sports representation business.
-Am I the only one who thinks it’s a crime that no one has stepped up to take Hostess out of bankruptcy? No Twinkies, Ho Ho’s or Ding Dongs? No Ring Dings, Yodels or Devil Dogs? Oh, the humanity!
-How is it that David Stern and the NBA can fine the San Antonio Spurs and Gregg Popovich $250,000 for sitting their star players but Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat receive no fine for sitting theirs?
-It’s only one game, but it’s pretty clear that the 2013 Boston Red Sox will be a much easier team to root for than the 2012 club. The organization did a good job of ridding itself of most of the so-called “turds” and has replaced them with much more likeable guys. We shall see how they perform this season.
-Nice to hear that new Patriots WR Danny Amendola is out in Los Angeles working out with QB Tom Brady. The two were reportedly seen working out at USC according to this photo tweeted by Trojans WR’s coach Tee Martin.
-While I think it’s great that coaches like Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens have decided to stay at VCU and Butler respectively, I will never blame another coach for taking another job at another program. UCLA’s firing of Ben Howland is a perfect example of the lack of job security these coaches have. Howland won 4 Pac 10 (or Pac 12) regular season titles in his ten years at the school. He took the program to the NCAA Tournament 7 times and made 3 Final Fours. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for the powers to be at UCLA where he was fired after losing in the second round of this year’s NCAA Tournament.
-Tiger Woods or the rest of the field at next week’s Masters? I’ll take the rest of the field despite how well Tiger is playing.
-Rest in peace Chuck Fairbanks. The former Patriots head coach passed away at the age of 79 Tuesday from brain cancer. Fairbanks coached the Pats from 1973-1978.
