Management A letter from Charlie Jacobs

[Aussie Bruin]

Well, I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I didn't read it like that at all.

I don't take offense to him saying he's a Bostonian. My parents are immigrants but they consider themselves Bostonians. He's lived here for a long time. At what point does someone become a Bostonian? Or a New Yorker? How many decades does it take to be one of us? This take feels eerily similar to some of the political stuff going on regarding people who aren't 'from here.'

I think him thanking fans is just that. Did you see people at the game last night? Cheering for saves, cheering for goals... I don't think he's talking to the scorned HFBoards crowd. I think he was genuinely thanking the fans who keep coming to the games despite the team being awful.

I took the expectations and accountability line to mean they're not going to accept another blown season. To me, that's reasonable. I think, after a decade of success it would have been an overreaction to fire the front office for one bad season. But two bad seasons? That would be something they'd look at.

I can't access the Globe article so I can't speak to the Monty comments.

A matter of option and perspective, for sure.

The Globe article, or part of it at least, was kindly reproduced in Post #7 of this thread.

 

[Bradely]

Well, I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I didn't read it like that at all.

I don't take offense to him saying he's a Bostonian. My parents are immigrants but they consider themselves Bostonians. He's lived here for a long time. At what point does someone become a Bostonian? Or a New Yorker? How many decades does it take to be one of us? This take feels eerily similar to some of the political stuff going on regarding people who aren't 'from here.'

I think him thanking fans is just that. Did you see people at the game last night? Cheering for saves, cheering for goals... I don't think he's talking to the scorned HFBoards crowd. I think he was genuinely thanking the fans who keep coming to the games despite the team being awful.

I took the expectations and accountability line to mean they're not going to accept another blown season. To me, that's reasonable. I think, after a decade of success it would have been an overreaction to fire the front office for one bad season. But two bad seasons? That would be something they'd look at.

I can't access the Globe article so I can't speak to the Monty comments.

North America is built on immigration.
How is someone considering himself part of a community offending people. I agree with you.

 

[BiteThisBurrows]

The positive to consider from today is last year Habs were dead last in the division and finished the season with 76 points. Exactly what the Bruins did this year.

 

[Bradely]

The positive to consider from today is last year Habs were dead last in the division and finished the season with 76 points. Exactly what the Bruins did this year.

I like your positive. I could add the Rangers from top to almost bottom in back to back season. We will see next year, we never know.
But what a painful Bruins season just finish. You know your team is bad when fans wishes the team losing, and concentrate on draft and draft lottery with mors than 25 games left in a season. That was how bad the Bruins were.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

North America is built on immigration.
How is someone considering himself part of a community offending people. I agree with you.

Just want to make clear that I have no personal comment on who is and isn't a Bostonian - not my place and it could descend into politics real quick. I was only pointing out that some people would dispute it in Charlie's case, as they have.

Him calling himself a Bruin I actually thought was more silly, and frankly a bit much. No more than an off-hand comment perhaps, but rather naffy.

 

[rfournier103]

I’m going to weigh in on this since I’m the one who said “living here doesn’t make you a Bostonian.”

I’m just saying that Charlie Jacobs has shown zero interest in endearing himself to us, and has never cared about us at all.

No more. No less.

I know that people want to make everything about politics these days, but don’t make this into something it isn’t.

 

[BiteThisBurrows]

I like your positive. I could add the Rangers from top to almost bottom in back to back season. We will see next year, we never know.
But what a painful Bruins season just finish. You know your team is bad when fans wishes the team losing, and concentrate on draft and draft lottery with mors than 25 games left in a season. That was how bad the Bruins were.

True all true. I am encouraged by the deadline tear down though. Had they stayed the course and kept the vets or tried to add we'd be looking at a worse draft pick and a really slow steady decline. Now we suddenly have a bunch of potential prospects and picks and the hope that this can turn around quicker.

Big big, really big off season .

 

[MattFromFranklin]

 

[22Brad Park]

Charlie is giving Sweeney and Neely a chance to fix it .OK fine,but don't tell me bringing Marchand back is the way to do it.They need good young talent from here on in ,not slow vets on way out at 37 yrs of age..Let's move forward not stay in stagnation longer.Sorry but just how I see it.

 

[Fenway]

I would say there's a reason Charlie was put in charge of the Boston holdings and his two older brothers are responsible for Delaware North's primary operations in Buffalo

I think that is a valid point,

I can tell you there is one cardinal rule for Delaware North employees in Boston - DO NOT CRITICIZE PAPA JACOBS.

I have said this many times, Jacobs WANTS TO WIN, but he doesn't know how to do it. The only time they did win was after Chia fired all of Harry's people.

 

[The don godfather]

Donny had a magical trade deadline let's smash the draft and free agency. I'm on board!

 

[Number8]

Again, what do you expect from an employee who you were going to fire the year before if he lost in the playoffs round 1 and no interest in giving him an extension. They should have fired him regardless, they only won that series because of Swayman.

I still haven't figured out who built all these calamities

I don't know what happened with Monty. But clearly the situation was not managed well. Either Monty didn't want to be here, Boston didn't want him, or some combination of the two.

Regardless, the excuse that "training camp was a mess" really bugs me. Has all along.

 

[Number8]

Charlie calls himself a Bostonian. To judge from the reaction, that’s a reach. He also calls himself a Boston Bruin. Uh-uh. Nope. Players are Bruins, maybe long-term staff. Owners are not.

He thanks the fans for their “unwavering support”. That’s a bit presumptuous. Also rather hints that there’s something wrong with you if you stop giving it.

Charlie says that “expectations and accountability are higher than ever”. To date there’s little evidence that’s the case.

The stated aim “to restore glory to this great franchise” is laying it on a bit thick but I’ll accept that’s probably just a matter of taste.

In the Globe he says he can’t understand why some people would want Sweeny and Neely fired. Really? You can disagree, but to claim not be get why it might be seen as a valid option suggests some pretty strong detachment, unless it’s purely protective.

And finally, in the Globe Charlie hangs Monty, which is fine, but he doesn’t pause to ponder it any further as to why the Monty situation was able to play out the way it did, and who should bear responsibility for that.

That’s my take. Don’t think any of what he said and wrote is outright horrible. And most of this stuff is a matter of interpretation or opinion. But again, I can see why it would annoy some folks, especially some of those forking out a lot of money to support the team. That's all I'm saying.

This is an excellent overview. At best Charlie is tone deaf.

To me he also came across as edgy/aggressive in that Globe interview. Thin skinned.

For example, he seems to want to focus on the issue of the Bruins not spending money and gets very defensive about that. Very defensive.

 

[Bruin4]

Charlie is giving Sweeney and Neely a chance to fix it .OK fine,but don't tell me bringing Marchand back is the way to do it.They need good young talent from here on in ,not slow vets on way out at 37 yrs of age..Let's move forward not stay in stagnation longer.Sorry but just how I see it.

I agree! The best thing Marchand can do for this franchise moving forward and specifically in the near future is for him to stay healthy and help the Panthers reach the Conference finals, bringing that current 2nd round pick to a 2028 first.

 

[rfournier103]

This is an excellent overview. At best Charlie is tone deaf.

To me he also came across as edgy/aggressive in that Globe interview. Thin skinned.

For example, he seems to want to focus on the issue of the Bruins not spending money and gets very defensive about that. Very defensive.

Probably because that subject hits a little too close to home.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

Charlie found his Harry Sinden in Neely/Sweeny (Plus Harry is still around too). No way they are getting fired.

 

[rfournier103]

@Fenway has said that Jacobs (not sure if he meant Papa Bear or Baby Bear) wants to win, but doesn’t know how. My question is, if it is Charlie Jacobs that actually wants to win that elusive second Cup in the last 53 years, will his approach be any different after Jeremy Jacobs passes?

How much autonomy does Charlie actually have? Is Jeremy still pulling the strings at 85 years young?

I’d actually love to have a sit down with Charlie and have a real conversation with him. I have real questions and I’d give anything to have him look me in the eye and tell me he wants to win.

Unfortunately, as the years have passed in my adult life, I’ve lost a lot of faith in many institutions I’ve held dear. One of them being the Boston Bruins. Yes, the Boston Bruins are in the “toys and games” isle of life, but sometimes it’s the toys and games that we turn to to make the clouds go away for a few hours. I’m a third generation Bruins fan, and the Bruins were something that my father, my brothers and I bonded over. It actually saddens me to see this team managed so poorly. Of the four Boston teams, when the Bruins are down, it’s the only one that actually hurts.

 

[Patdud]

North America is built on immigration.
How is someone considering himself part of a community offending people. I agree with you.

Im from Massachusetts but have lived in NH for 13 years now. I fully consider myself a New Hampster at this point and consider Massachusetts unlivable lol.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

This is an excellent overview. At best Charlie is tone deaf.

To me he also came across as edgy/aggressive in that Globe interview. Thin skinned.

For example, he seems to want to focus on the issue of the Bruins not spending money and gets very defensive about that. Very defensive.

Thanks. And yeah, defensive on spending money, and also on their pricing and price increases. Goes for the predictable but really sleezy argument that the franchise making more money means the players make more money. Which is accurate but A) has very little to do with the prices and rises they set, B) is asking people to feel ok about price gouging because it means a few sporty millionaires will make even more money, and C) draws the inference that richer players makes for a better team, for which I find zero evidence. I don't begrudge the players their earnings, but don't ask me to feel like they deserve more and don't ask me to think it's acceptable to rip off hard-working common folk because Mr. Swayman will be a better player if only he could afford to install a hot tub on his 80-foot boat.

Charlie Jacobs is protective of his asset. I get that. He wants it to maintain a healthy profit. I get that too, much as I don't like the ultra-capitalist condition of most modern pro sports. But the state of the Boston Bruins as the personal money-making enterprise of one family is more naked and more geared than most towards being purely a business rather than a club, and they bleed their fans as hard as anybody to maximize revenue. The organization does a lot of good work too and that shouldn't be forgotten, but if you're going to give fans an underwhelming and expensive experience, privilege the rich, and treat most criticism with thinly-veiled contempt, then you shouldn't be surprised that it upsets some people, especially in the midst of a down season that management look quite keen to just sweep under the rug ASAP.

 

[LJReborn]

I don't know what happened with Monty. But clearly the situation was not managed well. Either Monty didn't want to be here, Boston didn't want him, or some combination of the two.

Regardless, the excuse that "training camp was a mess" really bugs me. Has all along.

Clearly he wanted the Blues job. If the Bruins were going to fire him for losing the round 1 series, fire him regardless with the way it played out. They just didn't want to hear the negativity by being proactive, and I get it, but keeping a disgruntled employee did't help nor did the God awful leadership group in the locker room who were all dumped, other than the two cornerstones.

 

[incidental otter]

To me, the letter and article are pretty much ownership boilerplate. If anything, Charlie was uncharacteristically revealing... a nice change from a leadership group that seems to work from the Bill Belichik model of media relations.

He is definitely thin-skinned and prickly but - given the vitriol directed at his family - I can't blame him. If people hated me while not knowing squat about me, I'd take umbrage, too.

I especially have no issue with him referring to himself as part of the team. I've had the pleasure of getting to know folks from my local minor league team, including players, coaches, trainers, equipment managers, ticket reps and PR/media types. ALL consider themselves to be part of the team, and understand there are many roles to fill while operating an entertainment business. I see no reason why the titular leader of the organization can't frame himself as part of the group.

 

[bigbadbruins1]

This is just ownership deflecting. We've fired THREE jack adams coaches. One went fizzled out (julien), one went on to win a cup (maybe more eventually), and the last coach went on lead his team from the depths of the Western conference into a playoff position.

Lets be real, Jacobs is the biggest fan of one thing. MONEY. What is tied to money? Success.
Just like Chia got one season to turn it around, I think Sweeney is on notice, and this 25-26 is his last chance.

 

[bigbadbruins1]

This is just ownership deflecting. We've fired THREE jack adams coaches. One went fizzled out (julien), one went on to win a cup (maybe more eventually), and the last coach went on lead his team from the depths of the Western conference into a playoff position.

Lets be real, Jacobs is the biggest fan of one thing. MONEY. What is tied to money? Success. He would sell his "Bostonian" self for a few extra million in the bank.
Just like Chia got one season to turn it around, I think Sweeney is on notice, and this 25-26 is his last chance.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Why do corporations and large private businesses write letters of empathy to minions?

Really though. Is there any tangible positive result of it? It doesn’t prove anything to anyone.

 

[Gee Wally]

Why do corporations and large private businesses write letters of empathy to minions?

Really though. Is there any tangible positive result of it? It doesn’t prove anything to anyone.

Its damned if you do and probably more damned if you don’t.