OT: Don Cherry Fired from HNIC
The always colorful long time host of the Coaches Corner segment during CBC's Hockey Night in Canada has been fired by Sportsnet. This is in response to some ugly comments around immigrants and support for veterans by wearing poppies, as is Canadian tradition. It was probably a matter of time with his personality and history of...strong viewpoints.
But this is a really unfortunate situation, as he is a staple of the hockey community. I'm sure anyone who grew up in Canada or within broadcast range of the CBC (Detroit area) has fond memories of Saturday night hockey with his obnoxious suits and feisty Coaches Corner segments.
No public apology from Don Cherry as of yet.
November 11th, 2019 at 4:12 PM ^
So stupid. I personally know a few sons of immigrants that served in the military. Many of them are grateful for the stability of the US.
One served in the marines and died in Iraq. At his hometown funeral, 50 older marines of many backgrounds and generations, who obviously didn't know him, somehow found out about it and came to pay respects.
November 11th, 2019 at 4:59 PM ^
Go enlist, big mouth.
November 11th, 2019 at 3:46 PM ^
I wouldn't be expecting an apology . . .
'When contacted by the Toronto Sun, Cherry refused to apologize. "I have had my say," he told the paper on Sunday.'
November 11th, 2019 at 3:49 PM ^
I’m surprised this was the straw that broke the camels back. loved his bravado as a kid, but his act got less interesting to me as I grew up.
November 11th, 2019 at 4:57 PM ^
This sums it up for me. Growing up in Flint, I watched him every Saturday night and he was such an edgy dude with great hockey knowledge. Really surprised he lasted this long.
November 11th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
Guy sucked, Happy he is gone, however, I am sure he will end up somewhere else.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:22 PM ^
He's 85, is never going to change and his chemistry with McLean made his schtick more entertaining. Aside from that, he's so closely tied to Hockey Night in Canada that I don't see him going anywhere else.
November 11th, 2019 at 11:43 PM ^
Go somewhere else? Geez. The man is 85. Loved him 35 years ago. Concluded he wasn't insane when he admitted Vlad Konstantinov was a great hockey player even if he came from Russia. In the later years I just turned to check out what he was wearing. What a wardrobe. Where did he find that stuff???
November 11th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
Never heard of him.
November 11th, 2019 at 3:53 PM ^
Cherry and Maclean have always been enormously entertaining. I enjoyed Coach’s Corner a great deal whenever I got to watch it, and of course the theatrics were a part of the charm. The suits, the props, the barking about this or that...
Honestly, though, this is Grapes we’re talking about. The loose cannon of loose cannons. The biggest surprise is that he hadn’t gotten fired sooner.
November 11th, 2019 at 3:53 PM ^
It always intrigued me that Don Cherry was considered such a Canadian icon while acting the exact opposite of what you'd expect from a Canadian
November 11th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^
kind of like Bob and Doug Mckenzie..
November 11th, 2019 at 4:24 PM ^
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWQAeYvGWQg
Kidding? Bob n Doug are the epitome of Canadians. Just listened to this for 1st time in many yrs. and still cracks me up. "The Beerhunter". Just off a comedy LP so audio only.
November 11th, 2019 at 4:38 PM ^
I was shocked by Cherry's comments. Who knew Canada had a military?
November 11th, 2019 at 4:54 PM ^
I grew up thinking the Boblo Boat was part of their Navy. I was a late bloomer when it came to sarcasm.
November 12th, 2019 at 7:21 PM ^
OK, Bloomer...
November 11th, 2019 at 4:55 PM ^
I know that's a joke, considering the country's reputation for politeness.
BUT Canada entered World War II TWO years before the United States, and was a significant presence in European fighting, including D-Day.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:00 PM ^
This.
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/public/pages/publications/system-pdfs/FWW_Passchendaele_e.pdf
November 11th, 2019 at 8:30 PM ^
It was by mere hours - but Canada's 1941 formal declaration of war against Japan also technically preceded the one from the United States.
As for September 1939, Canada does deserve credit for entering the European war at a very early date. England no doubt expected them to - but they didn't have to.
November 11th, 2019 at 4:57 PM ^
Not funny on Veterans Day.
Canadian Forces took Juno Beach at Normandy on D-Day. Many Canadiens died fighting with the Allied forces.
November 11th, 2019 at 5:37 PM ^
Exactly. Then there's the landing at Dieppe where 5000 Canadians suffered a 20% (!) mortality rate, plus another 3000 wounded or captured. When considering population size, these guys did some heavy lifting.
November 11th, 2019 at 7:28 PM ^
So very true. Juno also didn't have the luxury of naval bombardment either, but in the end 3rd Canadian Infantry Division had succeeded in pushing farther inland than any other landing force on D-Day. Someone must have told them that Hitler had the puck.
November 11th, 2019 at 7:11 PM ^
I'm certainly hoping you mean that in a fun way.
As a current serving member of the Canadian military I can assure you we exist. I myself have served 18 years, and hopefully many more, with 3 deployments two of which were along side US and UK forces. I spent 5 years at Beale AFB in California helping to defend the US from ICBM threats and protect US space assets. While it was a great experience, I was serving 5 years in another country with a duty to protect YOUR country.
So I'm hoping that next time you decide to make a silly remark about another country and their military; maybe you remember that there may be a chance that there is one of those countrymen sitting along side US military members keeping you safe enough to type it.
November 11th, 2019 at 9:09 PM ^
logged in to upvote!
November 11th, 2019 at 6:22 PM ^
When things defy your expectations, it sometimes means that your expectations aren't based in reality.
November 11th, 2019 at 3:54 PM ^
Took me a second to realize it was Hockey Night in Canada. I grew up with that as an acronym for something else.
November 11th, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
The pairing of Don Cherry with your definition of HNIC is hilarious.
November 11th, 2019 at 4:00 PM ^
Same. Coleman Young had a plaque in his office indicating that he was the HNIC.
November 11th, 2019 at 4:17 PM ^
This is disputed, BTW.
November 11th, 2019 at 4:54 PM ^
But if there was a mayor to have one, it would've been him.
November 11th, 2019 at 4:56 PM ^
Actually, it said "H.M.F.I.C."
November 11th, 2019 at 4:01 PM ^
Lmao...same here and when you see a photo of Don Cherry, its even funnier
November 11th, 2019 at 7:01 PM ^
Joe Clark is the HNIC!
November 11th, 2019 at 7:12 PM ^
No, Dr. Napier is.
November 11th, 2019 at 3:59 PM ^
Political correctness at it again
November 11th, 2019 at 4:24 PM ^
ok boomer
November 11th, 2019 at 5:25 PM ^
I am a 35 year old black dude and he's right. PC culture is a fuckin joke. Calling someone a Boomer cause they got common sense is pathetic.
November 11th, 2019 at 5:35 PM ^
OK Boomer wannabe.
November 11th, 2019 at 5:45 PM ^
Hmm. Okay? You’re also the same black guy who thought the Penn State letter about the dude’s dreads wasn’t racist. The self-hate doesn’t stop at being a millennial with you apparently.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:25 PM ^
The fuck you talking about? What I said was I understand that people look down on dreads. That is why I cut mine when I got in the business world. You are fuckin pathetic troll bitch. People like you are the same dumb ass know it alls telling me how to vote and that you care about me and my family. Stay in the burbs bruh.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:33 PM ^
Ooh something tells me I’m not the first person to call you out on the self-hate judging by the response.
Bahaha. Keep bowing to em cuzzo. Their views of you will never change, dreads or no dreads.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:48 PM ^
ok, peace, Mr. Delusional Troll.
November 11th, 2019 at 10:15 PM ^
People who whine and moan about PC culture simply want excuses to remain assholes. The secret to being politically correct is to just treat everyone with respect and, guess what, you're golden.
For example, if Cherry had said: "Look, Veteran's Day is really important to me. I'm worried that people aren't showing as much support for those who fought for this country and our freedoms as they have in the past. These men and women have laid down their lives for our country, so please go out and buy a poppy and show how grateful we are for their sacrifices." Boom, that's all he had to say, no one is offended, and everyone pats him on the back.
Instead, Donny felt the need to specifically call out a group of people who have nothing to do with the greater point (supporting the veterans) because he is and always will be an ass. Plenty of immigrants support veterans and appreciate their freedoms more than "natural" Canadians because they didn't always have those freedoms.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:09 PM ^
True because if he says this maybe 15 years ago he doesn’t get fired. Some people may have disagreed back then but the media wouldn’t try and take his whole life.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:18 PM ^
If Cherry didnt get fired for this, he would have said something down the road. This has been coming for a while.
November 11th, 2019 at 6:36 PM ^
"Take his whole life"
No, they took his job. For saying bigoted comments while on the job.
That's how it works in the real world.
He still gets to live his life; if he still wants to be involved in hockey, I'm sure he can start hockey camps or an internet show or whatever and find a nice-sized audience.
And if he wants to go keep insulting his fellow Canadians who are immigrants and get away with it, he can go hang out on a street corner or run for office in certain parts of North America.
November 11th, 2019 at 7:02 PM ^
Uh, he's paying the consequences for being an idiot. No is taking anything away from him, it's self-inflicted. Also, "taking" a job that someone is choses to give you every day is not taking their life. Jobs are earned and he failed to continue earning his.
November 11th, 2019 at 8:02 PM ^
If you don’t agree with him he is a bigot. He is old school. I know the hypocrites are perfect. He still respects what happened in WW1 and WW2. He expects everyone to acknowledge and respect soldiers that went through a ugly war and a lot that lost their life. News flash a lot of people don’t.
November 11th, 2019 at 11:43 PM ^
I get your point, but there is a way to say things without saying, "hey you brown skinned foreigners!!!" Plus, I would bet there were a ton of "Canadian" looking Canadians who were not wearing a poppy, but no, he chose to call out the immigrants.
BTW, a brown skinned foreigner happens to be the Canadian Minister of Defense, ironic huh donny boy!!!