I Will be Standing Up Cheering Jaromir Jagr Tonight

What if we tried to make Pittsburgh not look stupid & petty tonight for the HBO 24/7 camera’s and national TV?  Lemieux once got a standing ovation in Philadelphia when he showed up.

Today all I see and hear is reporters all over the radio, news print and social media telling me about how I should boo Jaromir Jagr tonight.  I will not.  Here is the truth…  Jaromir Jagr was dying alive in Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh was trading every player around Jagr who made more than league minimum and was keeping Jagr around to sell tickets.

I’ve always been one that gets confused about how Heroes and Villains work in the Pittsburgh sports world.  Jaromir Jagr didn’t say a word when the team was hurting for money and he wasn’t receiving a pay check.  Mario Lemieux sued the team and forced them into bankruptcy because he wasn’t getting paid even though he wasn’t playing.

Jagr got upset that the Penguins traded away all of the talent except him, and said he was dying alive because of it.  At that point of his career, he loved hockey more than money.  The Pittsburgh media turned what he said into a huge media bonanza and chased Jagr out of town.  It was at that point in Jagr career he learned the hard way that the NHL was a business and nothing else.

Here is how it breaks down to the Pittsburgh media:

Jaromir doesn’t say a word when he is not getting paid but is unhappy the Pittsburgh Penguins are making their team uncompetitive = VILLIAN

Mario sues the Penguins and forces them into bankruptcy when he’s not getting paid then tried to move the team to Kansas and or sell it to Blackberry owner Jim Balsillie who was moving the team to Hamilton = HERO

If it is all the same with all the ignorant media & fans out there, I will be cheering Jaromir Jagr tonight, he won five scoring titles and 2 Stanley Cups for the Penguins right up until they screwed him.  Of course I will only be cheering before they drop the puck, depending on what he does after that, I may boo him.