Canada Turning On It's Own

[Gregmal]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/don-cherry-addresses-firing-i-speak-the-truth-and-i-walk-the-walk-210454669.html

 

How sad. To hell with the soldiers....

[no_free_lunch]

Believe me that his firing does not represent the opinions of many Canadians.

 

If you really listen to him and know Canada, he is complaining more about the leftist culture than immigrants.  There is a common trend among the left to avoid the poppy and to denounce the veterans as evil.

[stahleyp]

I would imagine a lot of immigrants don't know about the poppy. Many times immigrants are prouder than regular Americans about being in America (and I would imagine it's the same in Canada). This was a very good opinion piece on the left's anti-Americanism.

 

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cold-welcome-for-veterans-on-campus-11573411754

 

 

[Parsad]

Don't make this a thing about left or right.  He made the mistake of saying "you people" and "immigrants".  It's the same rhetoric that he's been using for 40 years, as did Archie Bunker and as does Donald Trump.  Generalizations about groups of society!  Creating divisiveness, instead of unity.  He didn't call out the rest of the population who don't wear a poppy. 

 

The Defense Minister of Canada, Harj Sajjan, is an immigrant family, he served two tours in Afghanistan.  There are thousands and thousands of immigrants who serve in the Armed Forces.  Thus, the outcry over what Cherry said...in this day and age, where immigrants make up all walks of life, he specifically (by mistake or otherwise) targeted the immigrant population.  I thought we were past people making immigrants feel inferior like when my family was called "Paki" all the time back in the 70's and 80's! 

 

Cherry has done alot of good things in his life.  I think it's a shame that much of that will be lost in one stupid act!  As Buffett says, it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and only one mistake to tear it down. 

 

And by the way, not only do we wear a poppy, but various members of my family and many of my friends, have served, continue to serve, at different times, in different capacities, both here and overseas.  Cheers!

[Castanza]

Don't make this a thing about left or right.  He made the mistake of saying "you people" and "immigrants".  It's the same rhetoric that he's been using for 40 years, as did Archie Bunker and as does Donald Trump.  Generalizations about groups of society!  Creating divisiveness, instead of unity.  He didn't call out the rest of the population who don't wear a poppy. 

 

The Defense Minister of Canada, Harj Sajjan, is an immigrant family, he served two tours in Afghanistan.  There are thousands and thousands of immigrants who serve in the Armed Forces.  Thus, the outcry over what Cherry said...in this day and age, where immigrants make up all walks of life, he specifically (by mistake or otherwise) targeted the immigrant population.  I thought we were past people making immigrants feel inferior like when my family was called "Paki" all the time back in the 70's and 80's! 

 

Cherry has done alot of good things in his life.  I think it's a shame that much of that will be lost in one stupid act!  As Buffett says, it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and only one mistake to tear it down. 

 

And by the way, not only do we wear a poppy, but various members of my family and many of my friends, have served, continue to serve, at different times, in different capacities, both here and overseas.  Cheers!

 

I agree with you on this. I think what’s difficult in society is we still have generations alive who have some deep rooted biases for various reasons (personal or remnants of culture). These generations are being outpaced by quick social/racial changes. I’m not giving them excuses but Vietnam veterans come to mind as an example of this. Most of them don’t but many of them have extreme bias towards anyone who looks Asian. These types of people probably won’t change and as a result the dichotomy will continue to grow more obvious as culture continues to shift. But as the new guard continues to take over the we’ll(hopefully) see fewer cases of this.

 

No idea who this guy is, but some of the outrage probably has to do with people knowing his TV personality vs his off air one. Nostalgia build strong opinions. Reminds me of the Bill Cosby debacle to a much lesser extent. Nobody wanted it to be true (including myself) but alas it was. And America’s favorite Dad was ruined.

 

 

[Gregmal]

The best comp for Don Cherry is probably John Madden in the US. Except IMO Cherry was even bigger than Madden. But same thing. Old school, no nonsense, play the right way, be a team player kind of mentality.

 

The problem, is if you are ignorant, or a sissy, you can very easily misinterpret what he says, or take something way out of context. Frankly, Im surprised Cherry lasted this long. I am not a huge fan of his per say, but the guy was a legend in hockey and not exactly some dangerous threat.

 

I grew up playing hockey during the 90's so my "era" of the game glanced a couple different "versions" of it. While I completely understand what Don means when he says you need to be a "good old Canadian boy" and cant play the game like a "lazy Russian", those that played hockey in their lives, know exactly what he's talking about. The "Canadian" way, is sacrificing your body to block a shot, hustling your ass off 100% to get back on a 2 on 1, etc. Whereas once Europeans started getting involved in the sports, the game shifted. "Their" way of playing, which was often called "lazy" was much more of a pure skill and offense minded game. Guys like Fedorov, Kovalev, and Elias. They looked like they weren't hustling because they just played smoothly and had a certain finesse element to them. They often secondarily sought to entertain and make the game exciting. This a stark contrast to the Montreal Canadiens and NJ Devils defense oriented, left wing lock approach.

 

So the gist, this guy is passionate as heck about the sport and an ambassador of the game. He means no harm, but was a sitting duck and said shit that in todays day and age was bound to hurt somebody's feelings or get an advertiser's panties in a bunch. All that said, you also now have a lot of diversity in the game. Not just the Subban's, but the Kadri's, Zibenejad's, Kane's, etc. So maybe it's time for Don to exit stage left...

[mcliu]

What Don Cherry said was pretty bad.. but how is it worse than Trudeau black/brown facing multiple times? But somehow JT gets re-elected?

[Spekulatius]

You people love — you, that come here, whatever it is — you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey,” Cherry said. “At least you could pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that.

 

On top of what he said, he doubles up on this and is unapologetic. Seems to be the right thing to do to fire him for saying this totally out of context in a sports program. I am not sure why this firing is even considered controversial.

 

I do know that a lot of ”good people” are saying racists thing every on in while. But it’s one thing to say this at home or in private company,  it’s quite another to do it on the job and even more so in public on national TV. If you do that you should be prepared to get fired, it’s that simple.

[Parsad]

The best comp for Don Cherry is probably John Madden in the US. Except IMO Cherry was even bigger than Madden. But same thing. Old school, no nonsense, play the right way, be a team player kind of mentality.

 

The problem, is if you are ignorant, or a sissy, you can very easily misinterpret what he says, or take something way out of context. Frankly, Im surprised Cherry lasted this long. I am not a huge fan of his per say, but the guy was a legend in hockey and not exactly some dangerous threat.

 

I grew up playing hockey during the 90's so my "era" of the game glanced a couple different "versions" of it. While I completely understand what Don means when he says you need to be a "good old Canadian boy" and cant play the game like a "lazy Russian", those that played hockey in their lives, know exactly what he's talking about. The "Canadian" way, is sacrificing your body to block a shot, hustling your ass off 100% to get back on a 2 on 1, etc. Whereas once Europeans started getting involved in the sports, the game shifted. "Their" way of playing, which was often called "lazy" was much more of a pure skill and offense minded game. Guys like Fedorov, Kovalev, and Elias. They looked like they weren't hustling because they just played smoothly and had a certain finesse element to them. They often secondarily sought to entertain and make the game exciting. This a stark contrast to the Montreal Canadiens and NJ Devils defense oriented, left wing lock approach.

 

So the gist, this guy is passionate as heck about the sport and an ambassador of the game. He means no harm, but was a sitting duck and said shit that in todays day and age was bound to hurt somebody's feelings or get an advertiser's panties in a bunch. All that said, you also now have a lot of diversity in the game. Not just the Subban's, but the Kadri's, Zibenejad's, Kane's, etc. So maybe it's time for Don to exit stage left...

 

You are correct.  I think a good replacement for Don would be Brian Burke...crusty, no-nonsense, old-school GM, but he knows the difference between what is acceptable and not.  He'll push lines to make the discussion interesting, but he knows the game, like the world, has evolved. 

 

By the way, some of the best players in the game today, who play what Don Cherry would consider old-school hockey, not like the "lazy Russians" are the Russians.  Ovechkin, Malkin, Kucherov & Tarasenko to name a few.  Cherry also did alot of good things for players (pushed for automatic icing), player health and care, pensions for older players, support for veterans, police officers, first responders and ambassador for the sport.  But it was time for him to go...usher in an era where Canadians no longer dominate the sport...it is global, it is played by immigrants, it's bigger than Cherry and Canada!  Cheers!

[Parsad]

What Don Cherry said was pretty bad.. but how is it worse than Trudeau black/brown facing multiple times? But somehow JT gets re-elected?

 

Hey, I was all for a Trudeau resignation.  The fact that he got as many votes as he did is more disturbing than what Cherry said.  It's the hypocrisy of the left, just like we see elsewhere.  Cheers!

[Cardboard]

Hypocrisy of the left??? Sanjeev where did the illumination come from?

[SharperDingaan]

Few would dispute that Don Cherry has done a great deal of good during his broadcast career, but nothing lasts forever.

The man is 85, and is in great shape for his age, but his demographic cohort just isn't Canada anymore. The world has moved on.

 

Most recognize that Hockey Night In Canada is a cultural institution, but it really needs fresh blood, and in a big way.

We also have Hockey Night In Canada-Punjabi!, an Olympic Gold Medal Women's hockey team, world-class music/rappers (Drake), and the ability to do routine live music/social media interaction (SNL). Just provide some guidance, trust the younger generations, and get out of the way. Sure, it'll look different, and it'll be better! 

 

Cherry will be back. Maybe not in his old role - but he'll be back

If only because he's a living poster-boy on how to age 'gracefully', on your own terms, keep contributing, and staying healthy!

85 years old! - no zimmer, no cane, no stroke; yet still skates like a demon, and works like a pig ......

Something that should be celebrated.

Best of luck to him!

 

SD

 

[Parsad]

Hypocrisy of the left??? Sanjeev where did the illumination come from?

 

There's hypocrisy on the left and there is hypocrisy on the right...I'm not a fan of either.  I've never said the left were innocent souls who were getting short changed.  But the right isn't any better, and in fact has taken extremism further than either side!  Cheers!

[TorontoRaptorsFan]

Hockey is a dying sport.

 

It's an expensive sport to play. The demographic shift now favours soccer and basketball. And no one pays any heed to it in the U.S.

[Spekulatius]

Hockey is a dying sport.

 

It's an expensive sport to play. The demographic shift now favours soccer and basketball. And no one pays any heed to it in the U.S.

 

It’s very popular where I live (MA). Virtually all boys play it here. My own son doesn’t seem interested though.

[Gregmal]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_in_the_United_States

 

https://www.usahockey.com/news_article/show/966542

 

Attendance crushes pretty much every other major sport outside football, regularly hovering around 100% for most teams, which is pretty remarkable given the 82 game season. Compare that to basketball.

 

Additionally, Sun Belt growth is tremendous. Previously it was really just New England and the Great Lakes regions, and now you have 2 of the past several number one overall picks in the draft coming from Phoenix and Orlando.

 

Not to mention it easily has the most affluent, and intelligent fans  :P

[Cigarbutt]

^Hockey remains supremely popular in my Canadian area and many kids dream of making it to the Big League.

The above comments remind me that US teams have won the Cup for the last 25 years. I was at the last game of the series when the Habs won the Stanley trophy in 1993. Newspapers reported a "riot" the next day but what I remember is that people in the street, of all ages, colors, origin, language or class exchanged feelings of common enjoyment, a somewhat uniting moment, unlike what has been conveyed by some commentators.

Having said that, the atmosphere in arenas can be quite poor with a tribal component: yelling at refs and young children..

 

[Castanza]

When living out near Columbus I used to go to Blue Jackets games pretty frequently. Always seemed to have a big following with the younger crowd. Bars were always packed during hockey games etc.

 

Also was in Nashville for the Sabers(?) and Broadway was cblocked off for a few blocks with a big screen rolled out for fans.

 

Hockey is gaining popularity in the US

[SharperDingaan]

The reality is that Hockey is an expensive sport to play.

Back in the day it was cheap; because ice was easy/free to find/play on, and all you really needed was a used pair of skates, a stick, and gloves. Quite a bit different today, and sadly well out of the budget of many. Today, it's a rich persons game.

 

Today, poor kids in the cities play soccer, or basketball; it's a lot cheaper, but you've still got to get to a field, or court. Poor kids in the rural areas often don't play at all; they are too spread out, there are not enough of them, and they typically have to play on seperate boys and girls teams - if at all.

 

Hockey Night In Canada, in its current format, is really just a weekly Nostalgia Fest.

For a large part of the population there is a very limited connection, and for the remainder - there is declining resonance across the  generations. Lots of potential 'fixes', but it will require an entirely different way of thinking; nation-wide, cross-sports, cross-gender, and cross-generational. Throw the doors wide open - let the gales blow through ... then get back to work!

 

Personally, I'd like to see an annual 'Northern Cup' (similar to the 'original 6' Stanley Cup)

..... played for by the arctic communities of a Canada, US, Russia, and Europe's northern nations. A competitive 'mini-olympics' of the traditional sports/daily activities important to these communities, that facilitates community building, better integration into their respective nations, and improved overall health.

 

SD

 

 

 

 

[cwericb]

About 25 years ago on a visit the Big Island of Hawaii I saw five or six boarded in areas outside a rec area and was amazed to seek them filled with kids playing hockey on roller blades. I knew then that the Canadian game was in good shape in the US.