WEDNESDAY CAT COUNTRY COMMENTARY – DON CHERRY IS CANADA
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary at 9:50 am and 5:20 pm on Cat Country 98 FM)
DON CHERRY SAYS HI.
IN AN INTERVIEW I’VE BEEN WAITING 30 YEARS TO LAND, THE HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA ICON JOINED US ON THE ROD PEDERSEN SHOW TUESDAY FOR A NEARLY 20-MINUTE INTERVIEW.
AND IT WAS, QUITE FRANKLY, BETTER THAN I EVER IMAGINED IT WOULD BE.
WHY? BECAUSE THE 86-YEAR OLD JOINED US FROM HIS TORONTO HOME AND WAS IN A VERY JOVIAL MOOD AS WE DISCUSSED THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS.
IT WAS A BIT OF A HOT POTATO. I WASN’T COMFORTABLE BRINGING UP HIS DEPARTURE FROM HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA OVER CONTROVERSIAL COMMENTS ABOUT IMMIGRANTS LAST DECEMBER BUT THAT’S OKAY. GRAPES DID!
CHERRY SAID HE MISSES BEING ON THE SHOW BUT ADMITTED AFTER 40 YEARS, PERHAPS CHANGE IS GOOD. HE GOT IN A JAB AT THE END WHEN HE SAID, “I’D LIKE TO THANK ‘YOU PEOPLE’ FOR HAVING ME ON”.
IT WAS THAT PHRASE AND HIS REFUSAL TO APOLOGIZE FOR IT THAT BOUNCED CHERRY FROM THE AIRWAVES.
IT SURE DOESN’T SEEM LIKE HE REGRETS IT NOR IS SORRY FOR SAYING IT.
HOWEVER WHAT I’LL TAKE AWAY FROM THE INTERVIEW FOREVER IS WHEN CHERRY SAID HE FEARS HE’LL BE FORGOTTEN.
I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT BUT I GUESS I SHOULDN’T BE SURPRISED. WHEN THEY SHOW YOU THE DOOR, NOBODY GETS A 21-GUN SALUTE AND THEY DO THEIR BEST TO ERASE ANY GOOD MEMORIES YOU MADE OVER DECADES IN THE ROLE.
I KNOW THE FEELING!
BUT CHERRY WILL NEVER, EVER BE FORGOTTEN AND WE VOW TO DO OUR PART NOT TO LET IT HAPPEN.
DON CHERRY IS HOCKEY. AND DON CHERRY IS CANADA.
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY ON CAT COUNTRY 98.
