From the Sunday paper...
"This hiring is relatively huge"
Jacobs son to take an office in Fleet
By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 9/1/2002
Nearly 30 years into the Delaware North/Jacobs family control of the Bruins, absentee ownership is about to go the way of the 25-cent Coke, the 35-cent slice of pizza, and the $2.50 seat in the second balcony on Causeway Street.
The Jacobs family finally - repeat: finally - is about to put a face in place.
Charlie Jacobs, the youngest of Jeremy Jacobs's six children and part heir to the DNC empire, soon will move full-time into the Bruins' office at the Vault and will be part of the key decision-making strategies for both the hockey club and the FleetCenter.
A 1993 graduate of Boston College, the 30-year-old Jacobs eschews the idea that his presence will be akin to the ''Thanks Dad'' Paul Gaston regime of the Celtics.
''I'm very much my own man,'' said Jacobs, speaking late last week by telephone from San Francisco, where he has owned his own media company. ''By no means do I feel that I should be tagged with that.''
The mere mention of the Jacobs name, of course, gets much of the loyal Bruins following into a near-demented lather. Thirty years past the last Stanley Cup championship here, fans blame much of the club's failure on the Jacobs family's parsimonious, budget-conscious ways. Absent a Jacobs on the job here, longtime general manager and now president Harry Sinden has had to suffer most of the slings and arrows for the Buffalo-sequestered Jacobs. In more recent years, FleetCenter boss Rich Krezwick has been the recipient of boisterous Bronx cheers whenever the Jacobs name has been introduced at Vault events.
Now Bruins fans will turn their lonely eyes, and leather lungs, to the junior Jacobs. Is he prepared?
''There are questions that will be best answered by Rich,'' said Jacobs. ''And there will be others best answered by Harry. And there will be others best answered by me. And I'm here to answer those.''
The money question has long been everyone's biggest question. Why won't the Jacobs family spend to bring home a winner? Very much in line with what Sinden has said for decades, the younger Jacobs pointed to a payroll that last year was slightly more than $40 million, ranked about 10th in the 30-team league. Spending big doesn't guarantee big results, said Jacobs, again repeating the mantra that Bruins Nation has heard for three decades.
Are we going to see a radical change in the way things are run here? Don't count on it. But there will be a different feel to the place now that a Jacobs is on the job, in place, and held accountable by fans and media. Whether he wants to or not - and he sounds as if he wants to - Charlie Jacobs will be asked to answer for decisions concerning the club and the building. No more shrugging shoulders and pointing 450 miles west when something doesn't go right or something doesn't play right on the ears of Bruins fans.
Jacobs is coming here as a full-timer, moving his family (wife, two children, a third due in December) in the next two weeks to begin a career that he expects will last a long time. His office adjacent to GM Mike O'Connell has been made ready, and he's looking forward to learning more about the day-to-day hockey business from O'Connell and Sinden. He's similarly eager to work with Krezwick, learning the ins and outs of managing an arena and growing business opportunities within the community and around New England. For the record, he'll be an executive vice president with the Bruins and the vice president in charge of business development with the FleetCenter.
''I'm excited about the opportunity I'll have to learn here with Harry and Mike and [assistant GM] Jeff Gorton, and the same with Rich,'' said Jacobs. ''I don't have a plan to be this or that in the next, say, 2-3 years.''
By his account, Jacobs is an accomplished equestrian. He grew up on the family horse farm in East Aurora, N.Y., and became an expert stadium jumper, almost making the US Olympic team in the early '90s. He also plays pickup hockey 2-3 times a week and will be looking to join a league when he comes to Boston.
''I'm just a hack out there,'' he said. ''But I love to play.''
Imagine how many beer leagues here in the Hub of Hockey will want to sign up the son of one of America's biggest concessionaires? Forget the sticks, Charlie, just bring an extra keg or two from the family stash.
After graduating from BC, Jacobs joined the Los Angeles Kings, working in the finance department of then-owner Bruce McNall. He later worked a couple of years for TRW, the defense contractor, prior to starting up his company, Total Media Group, in 1997. Before heading to Boston, he plans to relinquish his TMG management role and find new investors for the company.
Among the many things on Jacobs's plate: What to do with the empty parking lot where the Garden once stood? Development plans for the area, which still include retail, hotel, and residential uses, have been excruciatingly slow to develop.
''That's sacred ground as far as I'm concerned,'' said Jacobs. ''It's where the Garden used to be, so that's special territory. With the highway being torn down, the look of Causeway Street will be radically different, and whatever goes there will be a cornerstone development for that area. We'll take our time. We want it to be right.''
It's time to meet the new boss. Not the same as the old boss, because the old boss was never here.
=====
United they stand?
Agents for NHL players are taking yet another stab at forming a governing body to deal directly with the Players Association.
The Professional Hockey Agents Association, with Lewis Gross heading up the budding organization, recently sent letters to some 160 agents worldwide, looking for rank-and-file support among a rather disparate brotherhood.
''What you're talking about is getting together a bunch of guys who are accustomed to cutting one another's throats,'' said one agent, requesting anonymity.
That said, this group has some heavyweights on its letterhead, including the likes of Steve Bartlett, Don Meehan , Bob Murray , and Jeff Solomon. According to Murray, the group is looking to streamline and enhance its relationship with the NHLPA.
''But what we all want to emphasize is that this has nothing to do with the expiration of the CBA [collective bargaining agreement], or the negotiation of the CBA,'' said Murray. ''That's all Bob's [union boss Bob Goodenow]. That's his show and we fully support him and the PA.''
Goodenow, though, has a well-earned reputation for being prickly, not only with NHL ownership but also with agents (his job before becoming grand poohbah) and especially with the media. The move to formalize a governing body among the agents is no doubt meant, in part, to make the union, and especially Goodenow, more accessible and slightly more engaging.
''It's been tried before, but it's never gotten anywhere,'' said Murray. ''This time I'd say there's a real possibility. I think a lot of us have been pleased with the level of discussion and camaraderie in the group.''
Murray said Goodenow is well aware of the group's intention.
''He's been very open to it,'' said Murray. ''And he's said, `Hey, when you get your act together, come talk to me and we'll work things out.'''
"This hiring is relatively huge"
Jacobs son to take an office in Fleet
By Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff, 9/1/2002
Nearly 30 years into the Delaware North/Jacobs family control of the Bruins, absentee ownership is about to go the way of the 25-cent Coke, the 35-cent slice of pizza, and the $2.50 seat in the second balcony on Causeway Street.
The Jacobs family finally - repeat: finally - is about to put a face in place.
Charlie Jacobs, the youngest of Jeremy Jacobs's six children and part heir to the DNC empire, soon will move full-time into the Bruins' office at the Vault and will be part of the key decision-making strategies for both the hockey club and the FleetCenter.
A 1993 graduate of Boston College, the 30-year-old Jacobs eschews the idea that his presence will be akin to the ''Thanks Dad'' Paul Gaston regime of the Celtics.
''I'm very much my own man,'' said Jacobs, speaking late last week by telephone from San Francisco, where he has owned his own media company. ''By no means do I feel that I should be tagged with that.''
The mere mention of the Jacobs name, of course, gets much of the loyal Bruins following into a near-demented lather. Thirty years past the last Stanley Cup championship here, fans blame much of the club's failure on the Jacobs family's parsimonious, budget-conscious ways. Absent a Jacobs on the job here, longtime general manager and now president Harry Sinden has had to suffer most of the slings and arrows for the Buffalo-sequestered Jacobs. In more recent years, FleetCenter boss Rich Krezwick has been the recipient of boisterous Bronx cheers whenever the Jacobs name has been introduced at Vault events.
Now Bruins fans will turn their lonely eyes, and leather lungs, to the junior Jacobs. Is he prepared?
''There are questions that will be best answered by Rich,'' said Jacobs. ''And there will be others best answered by Harry. And there will be others best answered by me. And I'm here to answer those.''
The money question has long been everyone's biggest question. Why won't the Jacobs family spend to bring home a winner? Very much in line with what Sinden has said for decades, the younger Jacobs pointed to a payroll that last year was slightly more than $40 million, ranked about 10th in the 30-team league. Spending big doesn't guarantee big results, said Jacobs, again repeating the mantra that Bruins Nation has heard for three decades.
Are we going to see a radical change in the way things are run here? Don't count on it. But there will be a different feel to the place now that a Jacobs is on the job, in place, and held accountable by fans and media. Whether he wants to or not - and he sounds as if he wants to - Charlie Jacobs will be asked to answer for decisions concerning the club and the building. No more shrugging shoulders and pointing 450 miles west when something doesn't go right or something doesn't play right on the ears of Bruins fans.
Jacobs is coming here as a full-timer, moving his family (wife, two children, a third due in December) in the next two weeks to begin a career that he expects will last a long time. His office adjacent to GM Mike O'Connell has been made ready, and he's looking forward to learning more about the day-to-day hockey business from O'Connell and Sinden. He's similarly eager to work with Krezwick, learning the ins and outs of managing an arena and growing business opportunities within the community and around New England. For the record, he'll be an executive vice president with the Bruins and the vice president in charge of business development with the FleetCenter.
''I'm excited about the opportunity I'll have to learn here with Harry and Mike and [assistant GM] Jeff Gorton, and the same with Rich,'' said Jacobs. ''I don't have a plan to be this or that in the next, say, 2-3 years.''
By his account, Jacobs is an accomplished equestrian. He grew up on the family horse farm in East Aurora, N.Y., and became an expert stadium jumper, almost making the US Olympic team in the early '90s. He also plays pickup hockey 2-3 times a week and will be looking to join a league when he comes to Boston.
''I'm just a hack out there,'' he said. ''But I love to play.''
Imagine how many beer leagues here in the Hub of Hockey will want to sign up the son of one of America's biggest concessionaires? Forget the sticks, Charlie, just bring an extra keg or two from the family stash.
After graduating from BC, Jacobs joined the Los Angeles Kings, working in the finance department of then-owner Bruce McNall. He later worked a couple of years for TRW, the defense contractor, prior to starting up his company, Total Media Group, in 1997. Before heading to Boston, he plans to relinquish his TMG management role and find new investors for the company.
Among the many things on Jacobs's plate: What to do with the empty parking lot where the Garden once stood? Development plans for the area, which still include retail, hotel, and residential uses, have been excruciatingly slow to develop.
''That's sacred ground as far as I'm concerned,'' said Jacobs. ''It's where the Garden used to be, so that's special territory. With the highway being torn down, the look of Causeway Street will be radically different, and whatever goes there will be a cornerstone development for that area. We'll take our time. We want it to be right.''
It's time to meet the new boss. Not the same as the old boss, because the old boss was never here.
=====
United they stand?
Agents for NHL players are taking yet another stab at forming a governing body to deal directly with the Players Association.
The Professional Hockey Agents Association, with Lewis Gross heading up the budding organization, recently sent letters to some 160 agents worldwide, looking for rank-and-file support among a rather disparate brotherhood.
''What you're talking about is getting together a bunch of guys who are accustomed to cutting one another's throats,'' said one agent, requesting anonymity.
That said, this group has some heavyweights on its letterhead, including the likes of Steve Bartlett, Don Meehan , Bob Murray , and Jeff Solomon. According to Murray, the group is looking to streamline and enhance its relationship with the NHLPA.
''But what we all want to emphasize is that this has nothing to do with the expiration of the CBA [collective bargaining agreement], or the negotiation of the CBA,'' said Murray. ''That's all Bob's [union boss Bob Goodenow]. That's his show and we fully support him and the PA.''
Goodenow, though, has a well-earned reputation for being prickly, not only with NHL ownership but also with agents (his job before becoming grand poohbah) and especially with the media. The move to formalize a governing body among the agents is no doubt meant, in part, to make the union, and especially Goodenow, more accessible and slightly more engaging.
''It's been tried before, but it's never gotten anywhere,'' said Murray. ''This time I'd say there's a real possibility. I think a lot of us have been pleased with the level of discussion and camaraderie in the group.''
Murray said Goodenow is well aware of the group's intention.
''He's been very open to it,'' said Murray. ''And he's said, `Hey, when you get your act together, come talk to me and we'll work things out.'''
