Times that you thought Don Cherry was for sure going to fired

NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS

Registered User
Feb 28, 2006
13,542
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I like Don Cherry, he is very entertaining and give him credit if you like him or not he gets people talking about and tuning in to watch. For those of you who say he picks on Europeans a lot he dishes it out on Canadian players just as much like Marchment, Claude, and Matt Cooke. That has to be one of my favorite ones when he called out Cooke on Coaches Corner and then a couple weeks later Cooke confronted him about it and Cherry told him he was a rat and a dirty player to his face haha.

Does anyone have the tape of that?
 

Hanji

Registered User
Oct 14, 2009
3,149
2,595
Wisconsin
In my opinion Cherry has, quite savvily and successfully, morphed into a parody of his former self; hence why is schtick and outdated perspectives are tolerated by today’s viewers. People understand the joke.
He’s a brilliant entertainer.
 
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Dennis Bonvie

Registered User
Dec 29, 2007
29,201
17,552
Connecticut
Don cherry is not a european or russian hater. He is a swedish hater. He has actually praised a lot of russians but never a single swede. 14 seasons of sundin in Toronto but not a single good word on him.

Complete BS.

I recall one time when Cherry said something like, "Sundin's a horse. You have to utilize him. Instead, the coach saddles him with two stiff, (mispronounces Ponikarovsky & Antropov)".

Classic Grapes.
 
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golfortennis

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Oct 25, 2007
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The Tim Hortons/Starbucks post earlier upthread makes it all sense. Hipsters have made it a thing to hate Nickelback. Hating Don Cherry is the hockey hipster thing. Think you sound all smart and score points with the "cool kids", but....
 

Johnny Engine

Moderator
Jul 29, 2009
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The Tim Hortons/Starbucks post earlier upthread makes it all sense. Hipsters have made it a thing to hate Nickelback. Hating Don Cherry is the hockey hipster thing. Think you sound all smart and score points with the "cool kids", but....
You're really dealing in a lot of stereotypes here. When a PEI police chief is threatening to torture DUI offenders with Nickelback music and Father John Misty is giving interviews about how much he loves "How You Remind Me", it calls into question what you think a hipster is...

In the case of Don Cherry, what is it that people hate him for? Many people dislike his politics. That's fair, and when you continually insert strident political views into your non-political platform, you're going to lose a clean 50 percent of your audience off that hop, and galvanize the other half. Way it goes.

Others think his views on the game itself are antiquated. This is a funny one, because so much of that reputation is tied up in his socio-political outlook. His fondness for violence, aggressiveness and swift retaliation all line up perfectly with an individualist conservative and pro-military political stance, but when you get down to it have almost nothing to do with Xs and Os. On the other hand, his campaigns against touch icing and hitting from behind were ahead of their time, and his ever-present bugaboo about defensemen screening their own goaltenders is more or less evergreen. Parsing this comes down to a willingness to hear to what he's saying, and I don't think that lines up with one's choice of coffee.

One thing that's becoming increasingly clear to me though, is that he's an awful broadcaster at this point. Older videos show a guy making lucid points with a knack for captivating stories. Now, how often does he finish a full sentence? A large part of the youngest hockey-watching demographic has grown up alongside the "Coaches Corner Transcribed" Youtube series, which highlight just how broken and disjointed his words and thoughts are when he's on camera at this point. Another poster said the same about Bob Cole in another thread, but Cole is background noise for the game itself. I'd listen to Cole randomly shout "oh baby!" over game footage any day. But Cherry has a talking head segment, and uses it to shout sentence fragments for five minutes. If Coaches Corner was a new segment introduced this year, not a single person watching would get more than a few moments of sense out of what was going on. As it is, it's more of a blank canvas for people to project what they already decided about Don Cherry a decade ago.

This from a guy who makes his own coffee, but gets Starbucks on the way to work if I'm running late (it's two right turns in and out of their parking lot), and Tim's on my lunch break (it's walkable with only one traffic light crossing).
 
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Kyle McMahon

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May 10, 2006
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You're really dealing in a lot of stereotypes here. When a PEI police chief is threatening to torture DUI offenders with Nickelback music and Father John Misty is giving interviews about how much he loves "How You Remind Me", it calls into question what you think a hipster is...

In the case of Don Cherry, what is it that people hate him for? Many people dislike his politics. That's fair, and when you continually insert strident political views into your non-political platform, you're going to lose a clean 50 percent of your audience off that hop, and galvanize the other half. Way it goes.

Others think his views on the game itself are antiquated. This is a funny one, because so much of that reputation is tied up in his socio-political outlook. His fondness for violence, aggressiveness and swift retaliation all line up perfectly with an individualist conservative and pro-military political stance, but when you get down to it have almost nothing to do with Xs and Os. On the other hand, his campaigns against touch icing and hitting from behind were ahead of their time, and his ever-present bugaboo about defensemen screening their own goaltenders is more or less evergreen. Parsing this comes down to a willingness to hear to what he's saying, and I don't think that lines up with one's choice of coffee.

One thing that's becoming increasingly clear to me though, is that he's an awful broadcaster at this point. Older videos show a guy making lucid points with a knack for captivating stories. Now, how often does he finish a full sentence? A large part of the youngest hockey-watching demographic has grown up alongside the "Coaches Corner Transcribed" Youtube series, which highlight just how broken and disjointed his words and thoughts are when he's on camera at this point. Another poster said the same about Bob Cole in another thread, but Cole is background noise for the game itself. I'd listen to Cole randomly shout "oh baby!" over game footage any day. But Cherry has a talking head segment, and uses it to shout sentence fragments for five minutes. If Coaches Corner was a new segment introduced this year, not a single person watching would get more than a few moments of sense out of what was going on. As it is, it's more of a blank canvas for people to project what they already decided about Don Cherry a decade ago.

This from a guy who makes his own coffee, but gets Starbucks on the way to work if I'm running late (it's two right turns in and out of their parking lot), and Tim's on my lunch break (it's walkable with only one traffic light crossing).

Great post. I've loved Grapes since I was a kid, but haven't really made a point of watching Coach's Corner for about a decade. You're exactly right with your assessment; it's largely just disjointed musings at this point. Cherry wasn't the first broadcaster who didn't exactly go out on top, and he won't be the last.
 
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MeHateHe

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Dec 24, 2006
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In answer to the OP's question, I never thought there was a time he would be fired, but I am confused as to how he keeps his job. He was a good coach in 1975, but the game has changed and he has, largely, not. The most recent direct involvement he has had with the game was when he owned the Mississauga Ice Dogs and decreed that, among other things, the team would have no Europeans. They were, for a few consecutive years, the worst team in junior hockey.

I can't comment on Coach's Corner, because it's been 15 years, at least, since I haven't muted it as soon as the first period ends. I am vaguely aware of the things he has said in that time, because I read the news, but I'm not terribly interested, when I'm watching a hockey game, in watching a clown who comes on with the express intention of saying outrageous things. I like listening to smart people say relevant things that are based on today, not what Eddie Shore said 60 years ago.

He's an entertainer, not an analyst, which is fine as far as it goes. I don't find his schtick particularly entertaining anymore.
 

Tarantula

Hanging around the web
Aug 31, 2017
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A few years ago during the playoffs, Don had to announce some winner of a contest every second intermission. Ron would hand him the envelope and Don would pleasantly announce the winners name and some kind of obligatory phrase, such as "Way to go!". He was clearly getting sick of this after a while and wanted to talk hockey and began to simply just mumble the name and basically blow the segment off. Looked pretty amateur hour as a broadcaster on a national telecast as this went on and on IIRC.

I am sure Donald is a great guy in person and I like his stories, but I found him to be a blowhard on CC.
 

golfortennis

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Oct 25, 2007
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In answer to the OP's question, I never thought there was a time he would be fired, but I am confused as to how he keeps his job. He was a good coach in 1975, but the game has changed and he has, largely, not. The most recent direct involvement he has had with the game was when he owned the Mississauga Ice Dogs and decreed that, among other things, the team would have no Europeans. They were, for a few consecutive years, the worst team in junior hockey.

I can't comment on Coach's Corner, because it's been 15 years, at least, since I haven't muted it as soon as the first period ends. I am vaguely aware of the things he has said in that time, because I read the news, but I'm not terribly interested, when I'm watching a hockey game, in watching a clown who comes on with the express intention of saying outrageous things. I like listening to smart people say relevant things that are based on today, not what Eddie Shore said 60 years ago.

He's an entertainer, not an analyst, which is fine as far as it goes. I don't find his schtick particularly entertaining anymore.

See, this is what I mean though about people who think it's cool to rip on him. What is not relevant about defensemen tipping shots instead of letting them get to the goalie undisturbed? He was the biggest voice saying they shouldn't be wearing armor when it first came out. And he was right about that. Linesmen calling icing when players can easily play the puck, or throwing a guy out of the face-off for not waiting patiently or whatever, but then dropping it immediately when the next guy comes in. And has he been proven right or wrong that the instigator rule will lead to a lot more dirty crap by guys who won't have to answer for their shenanigans?

If you don't find him entertaining, that's fine. But saying he's not relevant, or the game has passed him by, is just saying you're not actually paying attention. I'm not big on the guys coming in dressed in suits(I've never understood who finds it interesting watching a guy walk into any arena), but he spends a lot of time on things other guys don't. The man doesn't cow to anyone, which is rare in this day and age of TV. That rubs people the wrong way. So be it.
 
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Bear of Bad News

Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
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Although it's difficult to separate politics from this discussion, please attempt to do so.
 

golfortennis

Registered User
Oct 25, 2007
1,878
291
You're really dealing in a lot of stereotypes here. When a PEI police chief is threatening to torture DUI offenders with Nickelback music and Father John Misty is giving interviews about how much he loves "How You Remind Me", it calls into question what you think a hipster is...

In the case of Don Cherry, what is it that people hate him for? Many people dislike his politics. That's fair, and when you continually insert strident political views into your non-political platform, you're going to lose a clean 50 percent of your audience off that hop, and galvanize the other half. Way it goes.

Others think his views on the game itself are antiquated. This is a funny one, because so much of that reputation is tied up in his socio-political outlook. His fondness for violence, aggressiveness and swift retaliation all line up perfectly with an individualist conservative and pro-military political stance, but when you get down to it have almost nothing to do with Xs and Os. On the other hand, his campaigns against touch icing and hitting from behind were ahead of their time, and his ever-present bugaboo about defensemen screening their own goaltenders is more or less evergreen. Parsing this comes down to a willingness to hear to what he's saying, and I don't think that lines up with one's choice of coffee.

One thing that's becoming increasingly clear to me though, is that he's an awful broadcaster at this point. Older videos show a guy making lucid points with a knack for captivating stories. Now, how often does he finish a full sentence? A large part of the youngest hockey-watching demographic has grown up alongside the "Coaches Corner Transcribed" Youtube series, which highlight just how broken and disjointed his words and thoughts are when he's on camera at this point. Another poster said the same about Bob Cole in another thread, but Cole is background noise for the game itself. I'd listen to Cole randomly shout "oh baby!" over game footage any day. But Cherry has a talking head segment, and uses it to shout sentence fragments for five minutes. If Coaches Corner was a new segment introduced this year, not a single person watching would get more than a few moments of sense out of what was going on. As it is, it's more of a blank canvas for people to project what they already decided about Don Cherry a decade ago.

This from a guy who makes his own coffee, but gets Starbucks on the way to work if I'm running late (it's two right turns in and out of their parking lot), and Tim's on my lunch break (it's walkable with only one traffic light crossing).

While I'm not sure how much we agree upon, I must thank you for presenting a cogent, well thought argument. I certainly appreciate this more than the twitter-induced hit and run 140 character posts that are ... well, nowhere near as well presented as this.
 

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,141
Cherry's opinions are driven by nativism and nationalism.

There is a huge market for it in Canada, unfortunately.

Most Canadians are proud Canadians and proud of our culture. A person is definitely not part of the "Tim Horton's" crowd if you are against this, which means you likely don't like Cherry............yet choose to live in Canada still? He relates to Canadians better than anyone else, that's why he is liked.

She's more the Starbucks kind, isn't she? That always bothered me about Don Cherry: that he couldn't find a true Canadian blue collar woman to marry. Very unexpected, to say the least.

:thumbd:

Nah, Rose was blue collar. A good red-blooded American from Hershey. If Don thought that was good enough for 40 years of marriage then that's fine with me. :D
 

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,141
Not only called Cooke out on the air but called him out in person, too.


Even Cherry's biggest detractors have to admit the guy is honest. I have never seen this video, but those two couldn't have their noses closer to each other. He did what he said he did. Like it or not, the guy isn't a known liar.
 

Dennis Bonvie

Registered User
Dec 29, 2007
29,201
17,552
Connecticut
In answer to the OP's question, I never thought there was a time he would be fired, but I am confused as to how he keeps his job. He was a good coach in 1975, but the game has changed and he has, largely, not. The most recent direct involvement he has had with the game was when he owned the Mississauga Ice Dogs and decreed that, among other things, the team would have no Europeans. They were, for a few consecutive years, the worst team in junior hockey.

I can't comment on Coach's Corner, because it's been 15 years, at least, since I haven't muted it as soon as the first period ends. I am vaguely aware of the things he has said in that time, because I read the news, but I'm not terribly interested, when I'm watching a hockey game, in watching a clown who comes on with the express intention of saying outrageous things. I like listening to smart people say relevant things that are based on today, not what Eddie Shore said 60 years ago.

He's an entertainer, not an analyst, which is fine as far as it goes. I don't find his schtick particularly entertaining anymore.

I think its quite disingenuous to post here and rip into an individual who you haven't listened to for 15 years.
 

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,537
4,906
Nah, Rose was blue collar. A good red-blooded American from Hershey.

My point was not really about Rose Cherry. More about crude generalizations. And logical inconsistencies. And how the former are prone to lead to the latter.
Granted, he isn't always popular with the so-called "Starbucks" crowd. So that's where he gets his flack from.
Sometimes Cherry got flack from none other than his wife Rose for things he said on Coach's Corner.

But never mind. As long as there are still phrases to be thrown around, everything is fine in red-blooded & honest Tim Horton Town.
 

MeHateHe

Registered User
Dec 24, 2006
2,401
2,725
I think its quite disingenuous to post here and rip into an individual who you haven't listened to for 15 years.
I'm not ripping into him. I'm saying he's boring and irrelevant. I would call that a pretty mild criticism.

He became boring - largely by being repetitive and talking about things he has no expertise in - and irrelevant - largely by talking about how things used to be instead of how things actually are - a long time ago, which is why I stopped listening.

Sorry, yammering on about the instigator rule 20 years later or complaining about linesmen not dropping the puck in time are not things that are hot burning issues.
 

cupcrazyman

Stupid Sexy Flanders
Aug 14, 2006
16,404
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Leafland
Don cherry is not a european or russian hater. He is a swedish hater. He has actually praised a lot of russians but never a single swede. 14 seasons of sundin in Toronto but not a single good word on him.

Hardy Astrom still gives Don Cherry nightmares. :laugh:
 

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,141
My point was not really about Rose Cherry. More about crude generalizations. And logical inconsistencies. And how the former are prone to lead to the latter.

But never mind. As long as there are still phrases to be thrown around, everything is fine in red-blooded & honest Tim Horton Town.

I don't know what to tell you, Cherry has always been able to relate to the blue collar Canadians, which are plentiful in this country.
 

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