Canadian Icon and Over-rated Hockey Idol Don Cherry is Relieved of Duty

[Jimmy Higgins]

Most Americans won't recognize the name Don Cherry, but certainly soon, right-wing mouth flappers will be considering canonizing the man for speaking the truth.

And when I say speaking the truth, I'm talking about Don Cherry during his segment of "Coaches Corner" which has been a staple in Canadian (-ien) living rooms every Saturday Night between the 1st and 2nd period of the nationally broadcasted hockey game. In the past, Don would talk about hockey this, hockey that. Cherry yearns for the good ole days. He was one never to hold his tongue, in fact, he held his tongue as well as he picked out suits, so it wouldn't seem particularly surprising that his tongue would get him into trouble. And this is the controversial statement he made regarding hockey this past Saturday.

You people ... you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price.

To the common observer, they might notice that the statement had nothing to do with hockey. Instead, Cherry was bemoaning that not enough of "those" people had purchased a poppy pin to show remembrance for those lost in the Canadian military, mostly in WWI, WWII, and that short span of 18 months when Canada had taken over the US during a Congressional budget impasse.

In general these days, ranting about minorities on national television is viewed negatively. Especially on a program dedicated to ice hockey. So, in light of Don Cherry's age (85) and the likelihood that his best performances are well behind him... he and Sportsnet have parted ways. Since the split, Cherry has noted, he doesn't regret what he said.

Ron MacLean was sitting next to Cherry while he made that statement and didn't drop an anvil on Cherry to stop the rant. It should be noted that MacLean has since released a doctor's exam which indicated that MacLean's exposure to endless Don Cherry rants has completely desensitized him to being able to tell when Cherry has 'gone off the deep end'.

 

[krypton iodine sulfur]

I saw he had been let go, but I didn't see why. I'm surprised it wasn't something worse.

There are a handful of media personalities who exist in an interesting space. They aren't on entertainment media such as the Rebel or Post Millennial, but they do try to push the more ' everyman who isn't afraid of controversy' image. When they're on form, they probably broaden their program's appeal, but when they go off, they're probably harder to market. There have been a few cases where such media personalities were eventually let go.

I've always been amazed Cherry stayed in the game this long. The handful of people I knew who were once fans have all long since wanted him to retire (though we aren't talking about statistically significant numbers here). What feels like Canadiana when you're 14 some times feels ridiculous and painful to watch when you're 34. Hey, maybe the Rebel will make Cherry a columnist or something.

Re poppies: I haven't worn one since I was a cadet, and I was born and raised here. Though in all fairness, it's possible Cherry would still consider me 'you people'. On one hand, I like that other people wear poppies as it's good to see Canadians treat at least something with a bit of solemnity and gravity. On the other hand, I don't really buy into the schtick that soldiers fought and died for my way of life. I have plenty of reasons for not wanting to observe Remembrance Day.

I am sure right now comments on news articles cover this are being flooded with 'defund the CBC'.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

It seems kind of odd to fire him over this. He's been a racist weirdo for decades now and this isn't particularly different from anything else that he's said.

He's Canada's drunk uncle sitting off in a corner ranting about the minorities and is honestly as much a part of our national fabric as drinking Tim Horton's coffee and apologizing to our muggers for having made their knife all dirty with our blood. Being kind of embarrassed about having him around is one of the things that brings us together as a nation and today we're all just a little bit more American without him here yelling at us while we're waiting for the next period to start in the hockey game.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I saw he had been let go, but I didn't see why. I'm surprised it wasn't something worse.

There are a handful of media personalities who exist in an interesting space. They aren't on entertainment media such as the Rebel or Post Millennial, but they do try to push the more ' everyman who isn't afraid of controversy' image. When they're on form, they probably broaden their program's appeal, but when they go off, they're probably harder to market. There have been a few cases where such media personalities were eventually let go.

I've always been amazed Cherry stayed in the game this long. The handful of people I knew who were once fans have all long since wanted him to retire (though we aren't talking about statistically significant numbers here). What feels like Canadiana when you're 14 some times feels ridiculous and painful to watch when you're 34. Hey, maybe the Rebel will make Cherry a columnist or something.

Re poppies: I haven't worn one since I was a cadet, and I was born and raised here. Though in all fairness, it's possible Cherry would still consider me 'you people'. On one hand, I like that other people wear poppies as it's good to see Canadians treat at least something with a bit of solemnity and gravity. On the other hand, I don't really buy into the schtick that soldiers fought and died for my way of life. I have plenty of reasons for not wanting to observe Remembrance Day.

I am sure right now comments on news articles cover this are being flooded with 'defund the CBC'.

As a programming note, HNIC hasn't been on CBC for a while now, it is now on Sportsnet. On Saturday nights CBC now shows programs dedicated to Canada's second favorite pasttime, beaver grooming.

The animal! The animal!!!

 

[Derec]

But seriously, shame on Sportscenter for firing Cherry just for expressing his opinion and being politically incorrect. Apparently, it's only politically correct to criticize non-Muslim white men, not any other groups. I bet Sportscenter would not fire somebody like Kaepernick for ranting about white cops or about how great cop-killer Joanne Chesimard is.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

But seriously, shame on Sportscenter for firing Cherry just for expressing his opinion and being politically incorrect. Apparently, it's only politically correct to criticize non-Muslim white men, not any other groups. I bet Sportscenter would not fire somebody like Kaepernick for ranting about white cops or about how great cop-killer Joanne Chesimard is.

1) Sportsnet as in the channel, not Sportscenter as in the program on ESPN
2) Don Cherry is supposed to be a Hockey Commentator, not a political commentator
3) Whining about "those people" isn't being 'politically incorrect', it is broad brushed lazy complaining

 

[laughing dog]

I thought Don Cherry was dead.

 

[Derec]

1) Sportsnet as in the channel, not Sportscenter as in the program on ESPN

Distinction without a difference. Some sports TV thingy.

2) Don Cherry is supposed to be a Hockey Commentator, not a political commentator

And Kaep was supposed to be a quarterback, not a political commentator and yet he has many defenders here.

3) Whining about "those people" isn't being 'politically incorrect', it is broad brushed lazy complaining

And donating to a group glorifying cop killers is being anti-police, but Kaep has a lot of defenders here.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Distinction without a difference. Some sports TV thingy.

And Kaep was supposed to be a quarterback, not a political commentator and yet he has many defenders here.

3) Whining about "those people" isn't being 'politically incorrect', it is broad brushed lazy complaining

And donating to a group glorifying cop killers is being anti-police, but Kaep has a lot of defenders here.

Curious, do you have any other derails you'd like to bring in here?

 

[dismal]

Sorry this doddering 85 year old triggered you so much Jimmy!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Gosh dismal. You aren’t even trying anymore.

I’m hardly losing sleep over Don Cherry being bombastic. That is his schtick. It is newsworthy though, at least in Canada. After all, he was voted #7 most important Canadian ever.

 

[krypton iodine sulfur]

bleh nm

 

[zorq]

I have never been a fan of symbolic support. I don't put political bumper stickers or Darwin fish on my car. I have never flown flags on my property. I thought the Obama American flag lapel pin scandal was even more ridiculous than most snowflake Obama derangement syndrome scandals.

I only discovered this Canadian obsession with red poppy pins recently when I heard about some right wing social media sources freaking out about some teacher in Manitoba insisting that students wear something called "rainbow poppies" for Rememberance day. Allegedly to support LGBT service members. (Link) The whole "rainbow poppy" scandal is fake, but it makes me wonder...

Why are some people (predominantly conservatives but people of any stripe really) so obsessed with symbols? Is it just tribal identification markers? Is it some sort of anthropomorphic emotional transference? I just don't understand how taking a knee in front of a flag can inspire irrational anger and death threats from some people.

 

[Half-Life]

"You disagree with us, you're fired!" Very fascistic. Pretty sure Hitler had the same policy.

Pretty sick stuff. This is anti-freedom.

 

[zorq]

It's not that he disagreed with management. It's that he disparaged a section of the consumer base of that broadcast product. His comments hurt the marketability of the channel.

In Capitalism, the dollar is king. Don't act surprised.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

I thought Don Cherry was dead.

So did I. Like a decade ago. And I'm Canadian. He isn't as relevant as he was so many year ago. To be fair, I stopped watching hockey when they diluted it with so many NHL teams. A

Are hockey fights still a thing? That always struck me as incredibly stupid. Two guys are fighting and want to hurt the other guy? Don't they realize that they are carrying sticks and have freaking BLADES on their feet? But they decide to punch...

 

[Patooka]

"You disagree with us, you're fired!" Very fascistic. Pretty sure Hitler had the same policy.

Pretty sick stuff. This is anti-freedom.

Said with a total lack of self-awareness or comprehension. You get your "news" from The Blaze. Why was Tomi Lahren (aka Skrieking Youtube Barbie) fired from that outlet again?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I thought Don Cherry was dead.

So did I. Like a decade ago. And I'm Canadian. He isn't as relevant as he was so many year ago. To be fair, I stopped watching hockey when they diluted it with so many NHL teams. A

Are hockey fights still a thing? That always struck me as incredibly stupid. Two guys are fighting and want to hurt the other guy? Don't they realize that they are carrying sticks and have freaking BLADES on their feet? But they decide to punch...

Because they made spearing a serious penalty once it was decide spearing shouldn't be a thing in hockey.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

"You disagree with us, you're fired!" Very fascistic. Pretty sure Hitler had the same policy.

Pretty sick stuff. This is anti-freedom.

The issue is that it is very doubtful that every white person had a poppy. Nor did every one of "those people' not have one. So he was just ragging on minorities... during the intermission broadcast of a Hockey Game.

 

[ZiprHead]

"You disagree with us, you're fired!" Very fascistic. Pretty sure Hitler had the same policy.

Pretty sick stuff. This is anti-freedom.

Irony is dead among republicans.