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http://www.embarrassing.us/dp/2-83.htmBograt said:
Canadian Icons
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The fans have spoken!
I'm glad, simply because this probably made the left-leaning, politically correct CBC puke!
However, I do like Don Cherry for his charity work and telling it like it is
(as opposed to arrogant weasels such as "Papa Doc Crouton").
Cherry among ten greatest Canadians?
(Garth Woolsey, Toronto Star, Oct. 19, 2004, 12:09 PM)
Hockey commentator Don Cherry is a surprise member on the list of the 10 Greatest Canadians, chosen by CBC viewers. He joins such heavyweights as former prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald, medicare creator Tommy Douglas and Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin.
The stereotypes are true: We really are a nation of shallow, narrow-minded, beer-swilling, puck-chasing hosers.
Proud of it, too.
Confirmation comes in the high-collared, low-browed form of Don Cherry making the CBC's list of "The Ten Greatest Canadians" of all time, as voted upon by some 140,000 citizens of the Great White North.
Oh Canada, woe Canada, you have spoken. You have accorded Cherry a place in the pantheon, alongside Tommy Douglas, Sir John A. Macdonald, Terry Fox, Frederick Banting, Lester Pearson, Alexander Graham Bell, David Suzuki, Pierre Trudeau and Wayne Gretzky.
In the next few weeks, Cherry has a chance â †outside, but anything's possible â †of emerging as our nation's choice, our No.1 go-to guy, our face, our "greatest," whatever that might mean.
There is much, obviously, to like about Cherry. Underneath the bombast resides a man of considerable charity and charm. Many Canadians view him as the voice of the common man, the Average Joe who tells it like it is, unafraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and the maple leaf over his heart.
But there is much not to like about him, too. He has skirted the edges of racism in his anti-European and anti-Quebec rants, and there are many in hockey who believe he has single-handedly retarded true progress in our game.
To some, he is a dangerous, hidebound dinosaur fighting to protect his dwindling turf, with the CBC complicit in the continuing offence.
To some, his act is quintessential warts-and-all Canadiana. To others, he's an embarrassing buffoon.
Speak Out: Greatest Canadian
There are some parents who won't allow their kids to watch Coach's Corner. There are others who actually use him as a role model, beyond hockey.
"Controversial and contentious, whatever some may think of Don Cherry," says The Greatest Canadian website, "he has earned himself an indelible place as a Canadian icon."
Think about it, though. He wasn't a Hall of Fame player or coach but owes his popularity â †which is hardly a synonym for "greatness" â †to a Saturday night TV podium that a politician or preacher, pundit or punk would die for.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., the people's network, as much as Cherry himself, created this seven-second-delay monster/cash cow.
Gretzky makes the Top 10 on merit. Hockey is us and he is the best of us, The Great One.
The CBC's final 50 included Bobby Orr at No. 19, Maurice (the Rocket) Richard at No. 23 and Mario Lemieux at No. 38 â †but how did Gordie Howe not make the cut?
Pro wrestler Bret (the Hitman) Hart made it at No. 39 and is among the list of advocates who will plump for their nominees among the final 10 in coming days and weeks. His man â †Cherry, naturally.
Douglas, the father of medicare, got the first advocacy treatment last night, with broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos making the case, and will be followed by Gretzky tomorrow, former MP Deborah Grey doing the supportive honours. Hart makes his pitch for Cherry next Monday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m.
Viewers can vote throughout the series at http://www.cbc.ca/greatest, or at 1-866-303-8683, as it progresses through all 10 candidates, leading up to the grand finale Monday, Nov. 29.
We Canadians like to laugh at ourselves, at each other and with each other â †on the list are John Candy, Rick Mercer, Jim Carrey and Mike Myers. We are family and we are funny.
Maybe Cherry is really more about our capacity for fun, in all its masquerades, than the often life-and-death business of hockey.
Maybe a 70-year-old man who dresses up in garish outfits, makes outrageous and often insensitive comments, huffs and puffs and apologizes for nothing, maybe that person, in a nutshell, is who we want to see ourselves as and â †evidently â †how we want to be seen.
Similar "greatest" polls have been conducted, or are under way, elsewhere. The British made Winston Churchill their choice, the Germans voted for Konrad Adenauer. Nelson Mandela is favoured in South Africa. The smart money is on Vincent van Gogh in the Netherlands, Antonin Dvorak in the Czech Republic.
Statesmen, leaders, painters, composers, geniuses all, a who's who of "greatness."
You're in some fine company, Grapes.
Get the players and owners back on the same page, Coach's Corner back on the air, and you might actually deserve it.
I'm glad, simply because this probably made the left-leaning, politically correct CBC puke!
However, I do like Don Cherry for his charity work and telling it like it is
(as opposed to arrogant weasels such as "Papa Doc Crouton").
Cherry among ten greatest Canadians?
(Garth Woolsey, Toronto Star, Oct. 19, 2004, 12:09 PM)
Hockey commentator Don Cherry is a surprise member on the list of the 10 Greatest Canadians, chosen by CBC viewers. He joins such heavyweights as former prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald, medicare creator Tommy Douglas and Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin.
The stereotypes are true: We really are a nation of shallow, narrow-minded, beer-swilling, puck-chasing hosers.
Proud of it, too.
Confirmation comes in the high-collared, low-browed form of Don Cherry making the CBC's list of "The Ten Greatest Canadians" of all time, as voted upon by some 140,000 citizens of the Great White North.
Oh Canada, woe Canada, you have spoken. You have accorded Cherry a place in the pantheon, alongside Tommy Douglas, Sir John A. Macdonald, Terry Fox, Frederick Banting, Lester Pearson, Alexander Graham Bell, David Suzuki, Pierre Trudeau and Wayne Gretzky.
In the next few weeks, Cherry has a chance â †outside, but anything's possible â †of emerging as our nation's choice, our No.1 go-to guy, our face, our "greatest," whatever that might mean.
There is much, obviously, to like about Cherry. Underneath the bombast resides a man of considerable charity and charm. Many Canadians view him as the voice of the common man, the Average Joe who tells it like it is, unafraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and the maple leaf over his heart.
But there is much not to like about him, too. He has skirted the edges of racism in his anti-European and anti-Quebec rants, and there are many in hockey who believe he has single-handedly retarded true progress in our game.
To some, he is a dangerous, hidebound dinosaur fighting to protect his dwindling turf, with the CBC complicit in the continuing offence.
To some, his act is quintessential warts-and-all Canadiana. To others, he's an embarrassing buffoon.
Speak Out: Greatest Canadian
There are some parents who won't allow their kids to watch Coach's Corner. There are others who actually use him as a role model, beyond hockey.
"Controversial and contentious, whatever some may think of Don Cherry," says The Greatest Canadian website, "he has earned himself an indelible place as a Canadian icon."
Think about it, though. He wasn't a Hall of Fame player or coach but owes his popularity â †which is hardly a synonym for "greatness" â †to a Saturday night TV podium that a politician or preacher, pundit or punk would die for.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., the people's network, as much as Cherry himself, created this seven-second-delay monster/cash cow.
Gretzky makes the Top 10 on merit. Hockey is us and he is the best of us, The Great One.
The CBC's final 50 included Bobby Orr at No. 19, Maurice (the Rocket) Richard at No. 23 and Mario Lemieux at No. 38 â †but how did Gordie Howe not make the cut?
Pro wrestler Bret (the Hitman) Hart made it at No. 39 and is among the list of advocates who will plump for their nominees among the final 10 in coming days and weeks. His man â †Cherry, naturally.
Douglas, the father of medicare, got the first advocacy treatment last night, with broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos making the case, and will be followed by Gretzky tomorrow, former MP Deborah Grey doing the supportive honours. Hart makes his pitch for Cherry next Monday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m.
Viewers can vote throughout the series at http://www.cbc.ca/greatest, or at 1-866-303-8683, as it progresses through all 10 candidates, leading up to the grand finale Monday, Nov. 29.
We Canadians like to laugh at ourselves, at each other and with each other â †on the list are John Candy, Rick Mercer, Jim Carrey and Mike Myers. We are family and we are funny.
Maybe Cherry is really more about our capacity for fun, in all its masquerades, than the often life-and-death business of hockey.
Maybe a 70-year-old man who dresses up in garish outfits, makes outrageous and often insensitive comments, huffs and puffs and apologizes for nothing, maybe that person, in a nutshell, is who we want to see ourselves as and â †evidently â †how we want to be seen.
Similar "greatest" polls have been conducted, or are under way, elsewhere. The British made Winston Churchill their choice, the Germans voted for Konrad Adenauer. Nelson Mandela is favoured in South Africa. The smart money is on Vincent van Gogh in the Netherlands, Antonin Dvorak in the Czech Republic.
Statesmen, leaders, painters, composers, geniuses all, a who's who of "greatness."
You're in some fine company, Grapes.
Get the players and owners back on the same page, Coach's Corner back on the air, and you might actually deserve it.
- Reaction score
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- 410
As Warmington points out, Cherry was singled out for abuse
(and Rose's was "conviently overlooked" ...)
Phone 1-866-303-8683
Critics earn the wrath of Grapes
By JOE WARMINGTON, TORONTO SUN - Wed, Oct 20, 2004
MESSING WITH Don Cherry is like messing with a porcupine. Sure, you can get your shots in but you come away with a lot of quills stuck in you, too. Let me start off today by saying I voted for Cherry for the CBC's Greatest Canadian and I am not going to apologize to the Toronto Star or National Post for doing so. If you feel the same, you too can vote for Grapes by calling
Now, I'm not saying Cherry is the greatest-ever Canadian but since the oh-so-clever politically correct crowd is picking on him, I figure it's time to come off the bench to back a fellow countryman. After how Grapes has been treated by the lefty crowd in this country, I really do hope he wins it.
This would send a message to that CBC crowd who have not re-signed him for Coach's Corner and kept him on the couch during the World Cup. The campaign is on to dump him, so this little development of being in the top 10 is driving them nuts.
Apparently your votes are not good enough for the Star or Post. Well, at least writers Garth Woolsey and George Johnson, who both not only trashed Cherry in columns yesterday but trashed the whole notion of a democratic contest to determine the "Greatest Canadian."
The CBC has been holding this contest to determine who Canadians want and Sunday announced its top 10, which consisted of Cherry, Tommy Douglas, Sir John A. Macdonald, Terry Fox, Dr. Frederick Banting, Lester B. Pearson, Alexander Graham Bell, Pierre Trudeau, Wayne Gretzky and David Suzuki.
Some of them must have had a fault or two, but it seems Cherry is the only one who is being criticized in this instance, calling him "low-browed" and "obnoxious."
It's nothing but a bully-like attack on a guy they know doesn't have a forum from which to fight back right now, with the NHL lockout in full swing.
The CBC's top 10 are all good candidates, but both the Star and Post ridiculed the Canadian public for Cherry being included -- scoffing at not only his achievements but suggesting we are a "shallow nation" whose people may be "stark, raving mad."And here I was thinking it was a free vote.
"I don't think of myself as a great Canadian," Cherry told me last night. "But I am a good Canadian -- as are so many out there, from coast to coast."
For most people, finding out they had achieved something so grand as to make the top 10 Canadians of all time it would be some special day, but for Cherry it was awful. "I couldn't believe it," he said of the media tirades. "I mean, I didn't ask to be in the (contest)."
Cherry -- who despite a bombastic exterior and public persona is actually quite a softy -- admitted the stories hurt a little.
"I don't understand," he said. "The funny thing is I am being ripped to shreds for being popular. These people hate me."
The question is why? As my sister, Dana Kingstone, said in a message left on my answering machine yesterday:
"I think what it is, is Cherry is the last Canadian who can actually say exactly what he's thinking and people realize that once he goes, that freedom of speech goes with him."
One thing for sure is that when Cherry's name is raised, there is no shortage of that little privilege called freedom of speech.
I hit the street last night and asked the first 12 people I met what they thought of Cherry and he being in the CBC's top 10.
"Is he on radio?" asked cabbie Nuelparajah Kadhasamy, who admitted he didn't know Cherry. But David Crouch, at Betty's on King St. E., said, "I voted for him -- just to tick off Peter Mansbridge."
Waiting for a streetcar, Valerie Zenyer-Mason said, "He shouldn't be on it. He's got a big mouth. I don't like him."
At Gabby's on King E., Robin Erickson said, "He brings a lot to Canada."
"He's a national icon -- a blue-collar guy," adds David McGann. "He tells it like it is."
James Salmon said, "No," he doesn't belong in the top 10, but Victor Ma said, "He's a good guy who knows his hockey."
"I like his suits," said Omar Swarez. "He deserves to be there."
Dino Yumul said that while he "has great fashion sense, (he) doesn't deserve" to be in the top 10.
Jimmy Strifto said "He's overrated."
Pal Alex McCormack, a hockey player, said he definitely voted for Cherry. "I respect him," he said.
Walking her English Bulldog, Otaga, Terri Jackson said, "Why not? He's not Banting but he's very famous."
So there's an unscientific poll.
Seven in favour, four against and one who is not sure. Maybe tomorrow I should do the same kind of thing to see how people are feeling about Suzuki.
One thing Scrawler noticed that was missing from both pieces against Cherry was the recent opening of the Rose Cherry Home For Kids -- a 31-hectare hospice in Milton for kids with terminal cancer.
Now, I'm not putting this home in the same standing as the invention of insulin or winning the Nobel Peace Prize but it's something pretty nice -- built by Cherry, his family and other private contributors.
"We didn't get a cent of taxpayers money," Cherry said proudly. "You know how it got built? It got built because of the construction workers who donated their time to do it."
He said workers in all the trades refused to be paid.
"You should have seen them," he said. "The roofers were out there roofing in the freezing cold, and same goes for the bricklayers."
Grapes has been out watching minor hockey games with his son, Tim, each night.
"You know, if I do win this thing, I will dedicate it to those construction and factory workers because they are the great Canadians -- as are all the other hard-working people all across this country."
He already has Scrawler's vote. That number again is 1-866-303-8683.
(and Rose's was "conviently overlooked" ...)
Phone 1-866-303-8683
Critics earn the wrath of Grapes
By JOE WARMINGTON, TORONTO SUN - Wed, Oct 20, 2004
MESSING WITH Don Cherry is like messing with a porcupine. Sure, you can get your shots in but you come away with a lot of quills stuck in you, too. Let me start off today by saying I voted for Cherry for the CBC's Greatest Canadian and I am not going to apologize to the Toronto Star or National Post for doing so. If you feel the same, you too can vote for Grapes by calling
Now, I'm not saying Cherry is the greatest-ever Canadian but since the oh-so-clever politically correct crowd is picking on him, I figure it's time to come off the bench to back a fellow countryman. After how Grapes has been treated by the lefty crowd in this country, I really do hope he wins it.
This would send a message to that CBC crowd who have not re-signed him for Coach's Corner and kept him on the couch during the World Cup. The campaign is on to dump him, so this little development of being in the top 10 is driving them nuts.
Apparently your votes are not good enough for the Star or Post. Well, at least writers Garth Woolsey and George Johnson, who both not only trashed Cherry in columns yesterday but trashed the whole notion of a democratic contest to determine the "Greatest Canadian."
The CBC has been holding this contest to determine who Canadians want and Sunday announced its top 10, which consisted of Cherry, Tommy Douglas, Sir John A. Macdonald, Terry Fox, Dr. Frederick Banting, Lester B. Pearson, Alexander Graham Bell, Pierre Trudeau, Wayne Gretzky and David Suzuki.
Some of them must have had a fault or two, but it seems Cherry is the only one who is being criticized in this instance, calling him "low-browed" and "obnoxious."
It's nothing but a bully-like attack on a guy they know doesn't have a forum from which to fight back right now, with the NHL lockout in full swing.
The CBC's top 10 are all good candidates, but both the Star and Post ridiculed the Canadian public for Cherry being included -- scoffing at not only his achievements but suggesting we are a "shallow nation" whose people may be "stark, raving mad."And here I was thinking it was a free vote.
"I don't think of myself as a great Canadian," Cherry told me last night. "But I am a good Canadian -- as are so many out there, from coast to coast."
For most people, finding out they had achieved something so grand as to make the top 10 Canadians of all time it would be some special day, but for Cherry it was awful. "I couldn't believe it," he said of the media tirades. "I mean, I didn't ask to be in the (contest)."
Cherry -- who despite a bombastic exterior and public persona is actually quite a softy -- admitted the stories hurt a little.
"I don't understand," he said. "The funny thing is I am being ripped to shreds for being popular. These people hate me."
The question is why? As my sister, Dana Kingstone, said in a message left on my answering machine yesterday:
"I think what it is, is Cherry is the last Canadian who can actually say exactly what he's thinking and people realize that once he goes, that freedom of speech goes with him."
One thing for sure is that when Cherry's name is raised, there is no shortage of that little privilege called freedom of speech.
I hit the street last night and asked the first 12 people I met what they thought of Cherry and he being in the CBC's top 10.
"Is he on radio?" asked cabbie Nuelparajah Kadhasamy, who admitted he didn't know Cherry. But David Crouch, at Betty's on King St. E., said, "I voted for him -- just to tick off Peter Mansbridge."
Waiting for a streetcar, Valerie Zenyer-Mason said, "He shouldn't be on it. He's got a big mouth. I don't like him."
At Gabby's on King E., Robin Erickson said, "He brings a lot to Canada."
"He's a national icon -- a blue-collar guy," adds David McGann. "He tells it like it is."
James Salmon said, "No," he doesn't belong in the top 10, but Victor Ma said, "He's a good guy who knows his hockey."
"I like his suits," said Omar Swarez. "He deserves to be there."
Dino Yumul said that while he "has great fashion sense, (he) doesn't deserve" to be in the top 10.
Jimmy Strifto said "He's overrated."
Pal Alex McCormack, a hockey player, said he definitely voted for Cherry. "I respect him," he said.
Walking her English Bulldog, Otaga, Terri Jackson said, "Why not? He's not Banting but he's very famous."
So there's an unscientific poll.
Seven in favour, four against and one who is not sure. Maybe tomorrow I should do the same kind of thing to see how people are feeling about Suzuki.
One thing Scrawler noticed that was missing from both pieces against Cherry was the recent opening of the Rose Cherry Home For Kids -- a 31-hectare hospice in Milton for kids with terminal cancer.
Now, I'm not putting this home in the same standing as the invention of insulin or winning the Nobel Peace Prize but it's something pretty nice -- built by Cherry, his family and other private contributors.
"We didn't get a cent of taxpayers money," Cherry said proudly. "You know how it got built? It got built because of the construction workers who donated their time to do it."
He said workers in all the trades refused to be paid.
"You should have seen them," he said. "The roofers were out there roofing in the freezing cold, and same goes for the bricklayers."
Grapes has been out watching minor hockey games with his son, Tim, each night.
"You know, if I do win this thing, I will dedicate it to those construction and factory workers because they are the great Canadians -- as are all the other hard-working people all across this country."
He already has Scrawler's vote. That number again is 1-866-303-8683.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
I'm quite surprised that everyone is mentioning Don Cherry, Shania Twain and other "pop" icons, but no one yet has mentioned Terry Fox, Rick Hansen, Lester B. Pearson, the entire concept of international peacekeeping and the other more heroic figures that Canada has produced.
There's an excellent book about a lot of this called "How to be a Canadian" by Will Ferguson; very very funny read.
There's an excellent book about a lot of this called "How to be a Canadian" by Will Ferguson; very very funny read.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
The Don speaks (and so do many Canadians, as they thumb their nose at the CBC)
:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/10/22/cherry_greatest041022.html
I'm good, but not the greatest: Don Cherry
Last Updated Fri, 22 Oct 2004 15:51:24 EDT
ST. JOHN'S, NFLD. - Outspoken hockey icon Don Cherry won't be voting for himself in the CBC's Greatest Canadian competition.
Instead, the host of Coach's Corner will be cheering for "another Kingston boy," Sir. John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister.
Don Cherry
Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but moved with his family to Kingston at the age of 5.
Cherry ranked in the top 10 when public ballots in the competition were tallied.
In St. John's Thursday to promote the opening of a restaurant, Cherry said he doesn't expect to win.
"I think I'm a good Canadian, but I'm not the greatest Canadian," he said.
The number of votes for Cherry raised eyebrows â “ and ire â “ among some pundits, following his series of politically incorrect remarks.
"I love it when we get the left-wingers going," Cherry said.
He also believes his nomination said something about Canadian politics.
"I think the people, the working-man people, made a statement here, that you don't have to be a college graduate to be a good Canadian," Cherry said.
The CBC says it received more than 140,000 nominations for the Greatest Canadian competition, and whittled them down to 10 finalists.
Over the next several weeks, the CBC will broadcast profiles each of the finalists and invite viewers to vote. The winner will be announced on Nov. 29.
Cherry said of the other nominees, he was pleased to see Terry Fox made the final 10.
However, he will be supporting Macdonald, in whom he sees something of a kindred spirit.
"He was the guy who got the trains across, got the country together â “ and naturally we put him down, because that's the way we are in Canada," he said.
:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/10/22/cherry_greatest041022.html
I'm good, but not the greatest: Don Cherry
Last Updated Fri, 22 Oct 2004 15:51:24 EDT
ST. JOHN'S, NFLD. - Outspoken hockey icon Don Cherry won't be voting for himself in the CBC's Greatest Canadian competition.
Instead, the host of Coach's Corner will be cheering for "another Kingston boy," Sir. John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister.
Don Cherry
Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but moved with his family to Kingston at the age of 5.
Cherry ranked in the top 10 when public ballots in the competition were tallied.
In St. John's Thursday to promote the opening of a restaurant, Cherry said he doesn't expect to win.
"I think I'm a good Canadian, but I'm not the greatest Canadian," he said.
The number of votes for Cherry raised eyebrows â “ and ire â “ among some pundits, following his series of politically incorrect remarks.
"I love it when we get the left-wingers going," Cherry said.
He also believes his nomination said something about Canadian politics.
"I think the people, the working-man people, made a statement here, that you don't have to be a college graduate to be a good Canadian," Cherry said.
The CBC says it received more than 140,000 nominations for the Greatest Canadian competition, and whittled them down to 10 finalists.
Over the next several weeks, the CBC will broadcast profiles each of the finalists and invite viewers to vote. The winner will be announced on Nov. 29.
Cherry said of the other nominees, he was pleased to see Terry Fox made the final 10.
However, he will be supporting Macdonald, in whom he sees something of a kindred spirit.
"He was the guy who got the trains across, got the country together â “ and naturally we put him down, because that's the way we are in Canada," he said.
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