Don Cherry!
You either love him or hate him:
As a high school dropout - he played hockey in the minor and junior leagues, and surprisingly - only ONE NHL game - with the Boston Bruins in a playoff game.
After a short foray into "normal work" he missed Hockey so much, he segued into coaching. He was notorious for encouraging the aggressive style of hockey.
But that's not all he is noted for.
He was a flamboyant guy, politically incorrect (prompting the 7 second delay rule on his talks on CBC - not unlike Janet Jackson and her wardrobe malfunction!), pitching improbable one liners but he has wormed his way into the hearts of most Canadians - to the extent that he made (in a CBC poll several years ago) The Greatest Canadian top ten... AT NUMBER 7!!!
Here's the List, a few of whom some Americans might recognise:
1. Tommy Douglas ( he was the father of socialized medicine and Kiefer Sutherland's grandfather)
2. Terry Fox
3. Pierre Trudeau (PM * famous for the Charter of Rights and the Trudeau Salute )
4. Sir Frederick Banting ( medical scientist who discovered insulin)
5. David Suzuki (scientist, TV personality, activist)
6. Lester B. Pearson (PM and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize).
Don Cherry was more popular than Sir John A MacDonald (our first PM and Father of Confederation and 8th on the list), Alexander Graham Bell (needs no explanation - 9th) and Wayne Gretzky (see, we are still pissed off that he moved to California!- 10th).
| He even has his own bobblehead! |
So you see, albeit it was by no means a scientific poll, Don Cherry sits high on Canada's popularity list. Like I said, you either love him or hate him. Not many are indifferent.
Last year he was asked to speak at Toronto's mayoral inauguration. More than one person was unhappy with his speech which basically started out with "I am wearing pink for all those pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything..." and when someone voiced their opinion that he was perhaps an embarrassment to the city, he stated emphatically " Well what can I tell you? Don't invite me. You don't invite a pit bull. You invite a pit bull, you get a pit bull."
He is best friends with Hazel McCallion the Mayor of the City he lives in. Remember her from a previous post of mine?
One thing about Don Cherry though. He does have a big heart beneath his abrasive presentation.
He refuses to publicize the numerous charities and individuals he helps out since, after all - "It's not Charity if you talk about it" he claims.
Did you know that if you addressed a letter simply to "Don Cherry, Canada" - it would find it's way to his house in Mississauga, Ontario?
He has a whole room in which he spends 30 hours a week reading and responding to letters....usually handwritten replies (email is too easy, he scorns)..signing autographs for kids and sending encouragement to people in despair....he has even been known to sign his autograph on a hockey stick - while sitting in a hotel's sauna - because it was "for the kids".
He has been a visible advocate for organ donation.
His son Tim, who, as a 13 year old became deathly ill from a complication of a strep infection that had scarred his kidneys several years previous. After months of dialysis his wife Rose insisted that all three - Don, Rose and sister Cindy be tested for a match. Cindy donated her brother a kidney and he is still alive today.
Sadly, in 1997, Don Cherry lost his wife to liver Cancer.
They had met in Hershey Pennsylvania** when he was playing hockey in 1954. Their first date was to a hockey game he was playing in which he was bloodied up in a fight.
| Don Cherry as young coach for the Boston Bruins |
After her death he established the Rose Cherry Home for Kids, a hospice in her memory, for terminally ill children and their families, in Ontario, Canada.
Soley due to Cherry's influence, multiple donations of money, time and products were made from various companies - not only the ones Don Cherry pitched for - but local businesses also - with the stipulation that there would be no formal acknowledgement since " real homes don't have commemorative plaques" - and this is to be a real home insisted Cherry.
It opened in 2004.
Don Cherry's description of a well-dressed man?
" Suit? The Coach always wears a double-breasted suit, never single-breasted. Flamboyant patterns are essential – plaids, bright green and yellow, Canadian colours, to name a few.
Shirt? High collared shirts – 3½-inch, to be exact. Tight around the neck. Tie? The crazier, the better – flashing lights, cartoon characters, flags. Ties must be tied in Cherry's special Windsor knot … tied backwards, single knot, not a double Windsor.
Shoes: Silvas with extra thin soles.
Jewelry? Cuff links, stick pin, gold bar for shirt collar. There was that one time when Don wore an earring in L.A. …
Favourite accessory? Lucky CCM cuff links, which are allegedly 50 years old and in the shape of hockey skates.
The Coach has a style all his own and it's a "beauty."
I think Don Cherry should be next in line for an Order of Canada Medal. After all, if Neil Young was awarded one, shouldn't Don Cherry???
*******************
*PM=Prime Minister, equivalent to USA's "president" - for you Americans!
** His wife was an American - Italian Catholic. Don Cherry is pro-American and even chastised the crowd at the hockey game in Montreal when they booed the American national anthem before a game in 2003 at the beginning of the Iraq war. But, he is a Canadian and wears his Maple leaf with pride.
(Photos gleaned off google search. If you don't want these photos on here - and they are yours - let me know.)
9 comments:
This post was really interesting! I didn't know all that about Cherry except for his verbal filter (or lack of) and his restaurant :)
He is a very interesting guy! I hope there is a move to get him that Order of Canada.... :)
As an ignorant American, never heard of him. But in my defense I never watch hockey either!
Thanks for sharing- I have a soft spot for celebrities who give back. The other kind is just plain repulsive to me! Another confession of ignorance, I didn't know that Alexander G. Bell was Canadian. Somehow in school they must have left that detail out. I always thought it was American ingenuity that produced the telephone! Learn something everyday!
I agree with you on the celebrities thing.
A.G. Bell originally was from Scotland, his family moved to Canada...their homestead is near Brantford Ontario CAN. and he did a lot of his work in Boston Mass. - and eventually became a naturalized citizen of the USA, but they kept a home in Canada the entire time... He did state that "I am not one of those hyphenated citizens who claim allegiance to two countries" so you can see why the USA generally only acknowleges that citizenship only. ;)
Basically he was one of *those* immigrants!! ;)
Never heard of the guy before. Thanks for giving me some info on him.
Now if you ever hear the name ever - you will know who he is! :)
You're welcome! :) Now, if you ever hear the name, you will be in the know!
I hope this guy never gets the Order of Canada. He doesn't deserve the national access to Canadians and should be fired.
Like I said, you either love him or hate him..... :)
Thanks for your comment!
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