SPORTS FOLDEROL

  It took too long for them to wise up but …  ZAC JONES  finally is appreciated by just about everyone … except the one that counts. Check some of the latest comments by hardened fans of the NHL New York Rangers, and you’ll find they prefer Jones, 23, who has spent most of the season a healthy scratch, over  ERIK GUSTAFSSON , 32, who joined the team as a free agent prior to season’s start … and immediately was installed (over Jones) on the third defensive pairing.  “ No question Jones is better than Gus.” “ More energy … smarter player. Like his game more.” “ His game does not look like an accident waiting to happen.  Gus, on the other hand, is accident prone.” That was a mere sample of opinion … most of which favored  Jones, the Richmonder who remains the only player to suit up  in the NHL born AND raised in Virginia. OK, so one observer  did request caution: “ Pump the brakes a little on Jones here. He looked spectacular  last game [he...

  You don’t think fans are fickle in New York … especially those who follow the NHL Rangers? … Richmond’s  ZAC JONES  has gone from “too small … get rid of him” to keep Jones, dump  JACOB TROUBA : “Odds he turns the puck over or ices it on the first shift, 3 to 1.” … In fact, the Broadway Blueshirts were 2-0 during Trouba’s recent suspension for elbowing … Jones, at 5-11, 185 the same size as NY’s  ADAM FOX , 2022 winner of the Norris Trophy, was plus-4 (game-winning goal and assist) in 7-2 comeback win over Ottawa then played a personal-season-high 18:07 (2 blocked shots, 0 plus-minus) as the Rangers again came-from-behind with a 2-1 verdict over favored Colorado Monday night at Madison Square Garden … As much as it must pain him, first-year coach  PETER LAVIOLETTE  has had to say some nice things about Jones who was a healthy scratch in 33 of the team’s first 48 games: “He’s really been a good solider,” Laviolette told The New York Post. “Works hard ...

  Baseball’s Hall of Fame voters got it wrong AGAIN when   Billy Wagner  fell short … this time by five votes. Check his numbers. The lefthand relief pitcher from Marion, Va., who went to Ferrum College, averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings and limited batters to an overall average of .187 – best by 12 points of any HOF-worthy reliever … The rap against Wagner is that he ONLY appeared in 903 innings during a 16-year MLB career that ended in 2010 when, at age 38, he walked away after a personal-best 1.73 ERA for the Atlanta Braves to spend more time with his family … You could go on and on with his numbers … but easily one of the most intriguing things about Wagner was … he was born a natural right-hander. At age seven he twice broke that arm and became a southpaw whose fastball was measured at 100 mph-plus. IT COULD BE  that   Peter Laviolette  is doing  Zac Jones  a  favor … by making him a perpetual healthy scratch while the  New ...

  Sooner or later the rest of the NHL will wake up and realize the New York Rangers don’t like contact. Except for  Jacob Trouba , they are reluctant to drop their gloves. So why not run them? It’s certainly worth a try. Meanwhile, the NHL recognized how valuable  Igor Shesterkin  is to the  Rangers, unlike NY fans who don’t think he’s been nearly as effective  as he’s been in recent seasons. The 2021-22 Vezina Trophy-winning  goaltender was selected for the all-star game. In Thursday’s game with the Blackhawks, Shesterkin continued to make  up for poor play by his defense until  K’Andre Miller  was left behind  on an odd man rush -- again, allowing  Colin Blackwell  to have enough  time to fake the goalie then put the puck into a wide-open net. It was  Blackwell’s first goal of the season. The Rangers were coming off a 6-1 trouncing by Carolina in which a  bad giveaway behind Shesterkin by  Eric  ...