Jagr and his faith: The decision is up to everyone who takes from my words
In three months he will be 48 years old, but he continues to score goals and remains an unmistakable sports person. Recently, Jaromír Jágr received the second state honor from the president, he sells out his winter shoes and flashy arenas again, for example for the last time on Wednesday in Prague's O2, where his Kladno faced the leading Sparta.
People have been playing hockey for nearly thirty years because of it, and maybe one more decade. Five years ago, when Jaromír Jágr spoke about wanting to play hockey under fifty, it sounded like a joke. Now he is close, so he raised the line: “I will play in sixty. People told me to finish at thirty, but who will determine when it's early and when is it late? Who can guess what the future will be? ”
What drives him forward? And what is the role of faith in this? Jagr also speaks about this in an interview for MF DNES and iDNES.cz, whose editors voted him the best extraleague player of the month of October.
You have had two extra-league months. Did they surprise you with something?
Nothing could surprise me because I didn't know what to expect. But I don't want to make any big conclusions because only one-third is played. And now the fatigue, the training of the players and how wide the cadre has played will play a role. That's our problem. We don't even put four lines together, especially when someone gets hurt in training. It is then hard to find someone quickly, because you have to be sure that he will help you to be good in the cabin, and the next thing is what happens to him when you get back. No one's going to make a patch for us.
So is it still difficult for you to combine the role of player and owner?
Being a player is the lighter part. "Just" you're on the ice. There is only wrong when you get out of it - because of an injury or a break. I'm going for inertia, but once I stop, it's hardest to get back into it. Older people understand me - they know there's no problem doing anything, but it's terrible to get used to, and it doesn't matter if it's three days or a year. The body forgets very quickly.
What about the managerial work?
We help each other in the club. It is up to me to make the final decision. Often everyone perceives it differently, but I am not the kind of person who sees a greener grass at a neighbor than I have. On the contrary, I am a person who knows that if the grass is not green in July, it can be nicely colored two months later. Patience is important, just the right measure. The advantage is I'm on the ice with the guys. If somebody fails because he is unlucky or doesn't stick to it, then I don't mind. As a player, I just know if anyone has the punch or ****. The owner, manager of the office can fool the player, but I know it at every step.
You recently said after one game that physically players are quite similar, but that you are training psychic strength where others have reserves. Is it about faith?
Yes, it's all about faith. But it is very difficult to talk about these things in a state like the Czech Republic, where there are not so many believers. When I tell an unbelieving person or someone who has no experience with it, when I go to church I feel thirty percent stronger, he laughs at me. But I don't care because that's the water on my mill. I do not convince anyone of faith, I just say my experiences and things that I have experienced. And I have another big advantage in training.
what?
I can feel every little thing. That's why I don't have to train as much, because after every three minutes I know if it's good for my body.
Do you know the minimum differences?
Yes. And when it's there, I know it's the right way because I feel the change. Others might not. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever had in my life. That I got a response right away. And it is, of course, associated with mental power. The most important thing is that the mental power manifests itself into the physical one. When you do the sport at the maximum level, every percent or two or three more is known. If you sit in the office, you won't feel it because you don't go to your physical maximum. In sports, yes. That's why I don't explain much to anyone. I don't even say I believe in God. Believing means maybe ... But I know.
But even an atheistic Czech Republic may ask: He will be 48, he still rolls, so if there is something about the faith.
And maybe that's the only reason I play. Maybe hockey is my mission to show that there's something about it.
Do you see hockey as a gift?
The greatest gift is my recognition of any change. Of course, it also has a negative impact that if I cut the stick a millimeter differently, I know it. If I take other skates, I'm done because my body is thinking about it. Someone else who doesn't feel the change just plays and doesn't have to think about it. So the gift hinders me in some ways.
How much do fans charge you? Jagr sells out the arenas again.
I greatly appreciate it and take it as a bonus to my mission. But I feel that people are coming to pay homage to me now. By arriving, they show respect for me. I don't believe they come because miracles are waiting for me. That's no longer possible. But again, I believe in myself that if I feel good, I will play my own. But not every day. In my years, it is necessary for a constellation of everything to come out.
Is it binding? I remember the first NHL lockout when you didn't feel fit, but when you heard it was a sold out winter because of you, you went out of bed for a match.
But at that time I was one of the best players in the world. I had the responsibility that people said, "I'm going to see one of the best." Now they can't look at him, now they're looking at someone who was good and still plays in his years. The situation is different, but something is the same - I'm going to turn in the best performance again.
But it seems to me that you are more open to people. You answer hours on Instagram, you are going to talk show.
I never had a problem with that, but when I played abroad, I focused on other things, I had different priorities, there was a time shift in the NHL, and even such things were not fashionable. The trend is shifting and I respond. Some people are surprised, but I never mind "opening" it.
Does your energy give you feedback from people about your opinions?
I am not a person who will force someone else to press on him. The decision is up to everyone who takes from my words. But again, I'm never talking about things I haven't tried on myself. If I hadn't felt things about faith or exercise myself and didn't know they were working for me, I wouldn't publicly present it. I understand that each body is unique, different, but I do not believe that I am a special person to feel something for me and not others. The point is, their body is not yet set up to be open to those things.
Faith?
I agree that praying, praying, believing is not about giving God more. No! God is a constant, maximum love. That you feel it means that you open yourself to flow into you. If it doesn't flow, it's your fault. Like when your tap is closed and you scream that your water is not flowing, but you do. There is no mistake that there is no water, but that you do not have an open tap. Just turn it at any time. God's power is constant, it is a fixed star. Perhaps you understand me.
I try to.
It's the same as the sun. It still shines with relatively the same force. But when you hide in your bunker all your life, you can't be surprised that someone is tanned and you don't.
What drives you forward in hockey?
Love for the sport. Connectivity with people. And that as soon as I stop, I feel discontent and pain in my body. And of course I don't like that. But I ask: Why should we stop moving? After all, everything in the world is spinning, moving, only we think that if we stop and rest, it will benefit us. Are we any special beings? No, we also have to move, because of that we were created.
But you also have a morning when you don't want to, right?
Yes, but I know it hurts me. Why do I know in advance that I will pay for it? Worst of all, you are lazy, then it will force you to work anyway and it takes you two or three days to get where you were before. That's crazy, because you're actually just killing time. If the animals stopped, she would starve. They are driven by fear for life, they cannot just reach out because someone would sniff them out. We have it very simple against them. We have a refrigerator, which is the greatest support of laziness.