Wait, there's a 99.9% chance that the ageless wonder is retiring after this upcoming year? And that's out of, like, how many total percentage points? In all seriousness, that's got to be the strongest fraction of a percentage in the history of sports. Are there any sports books translating this quote in futures betting, because - regardless of not being a gambling man - ignoring the most heavily weighted .1% of all time would be flat out financially irresponsible. What this poorly calculated declaration really reads as isn't Jaromir Jagr's desire for some long, drawn out retirement tour. It's not an acknowledgement of his decreasing interest in putting in the work necessary to compete with the next generation of kids that he is easily old enough to have fathered. Instead, it's an indictment of just how callous the NHL, as a whole, was in shaming him for his lack of acceleration. Poor guy gives his entire adult life to hockey at it's highest level, and that very same league turns around and makes someone that registered over half a point per game last season feel self conscious about the fact that he predominantly used lower body strength, skill, and veteran savvy to do so? Make no mistake, that 99.9% figure is nothing more than a reflection of Jagr's confidence in an NHL team paying him to continue playing beyond this season. Somehow, it's not an admission that the end of the road is near for a 45 year old man playing amongst teenagers, but rather a recognition of the road block that 31 GM's who were blinded by their love of speed were so quick to lay out once free agency hit. Personally, I hope that there will always be a "Calgary Flames" out there so that Jaromir Jagr never retires. Not just because I selfishly yearn for his witty soundbites and age defying highlights, but because he's made it pretty damn clear that never wants to.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
January 2020
|