Don vs Ron ~ The Great Debate

[Mia62]

I just read part of the transcript from the Don Cherry vs Ron MacLean debate on Hockey Night In Canada.

Don is pro-US/war...Ron is against it.

It was interesting to see the way that they debated this. Did anyone see it live? What did you think? Also...is an intermission during Hockey Night In Canada the proper forum for this type of debate?

 

[breakwall]

Why not?

They talk about the war on every other show, even the Weather Network.

Besides, EVERYONE knows that Don Cherry is a sharp and highly intelligent political analyst...

(can you SMELL the sarcasm?)

oh...LINK please, I wanna read.

 

[plasticman33]

Good God! A war debate between Canadian hockey jocks?? How desperate is the media in Canada? Maybe they should have had them square off at center ice!

 

[Mia62]

This is the article I could find online...but not the actual transcript...

Cherry's latest rant draws return fire


Canadian Press


Tuesday, March 25, 2003


TORONTO (CP) -- Don Cherry's pro-American rant on the war in Iraq wasn't a hit with many Hockey Night In Canada viewers nor apparently with the CBC itself.

"The CBC does not feel Hockey Night in Canada is the appropriate place for discussion on the war in Iraq," CBC spokeswoman Ruth-Ellen Soles said Monday.

As of Monday afternoon, the CBC said it had received about 1,500 calls and e-mails reacting to Saturday night's Coach's Corner with Cherry and co-host Ron MacLean. A CBC spokesman said the majority were against using Coach's Corner as a platform to discuss the war.

CBC ombudsman David Bazay, who came down hard on Cherry in April 1998 after a rant about skier Jean-Luc Brassard, was fielding more calls Monday.

"We've received a handful of complaints about Saturday's broadcast," Bazay said.

"I've sent them along to the executive director of CBC Sports, Nancy Lee, and asked her to address the concerns. I will wait to see what the viewers say once they've had a response from Ms. Lee. If they ask me to do a review then I will consider it."

Cherry didn't want to discuss his on-air comments directly Monday, but said that when he left the CBC studio at the Air Canada Centre following Saturday's broadcast he could barely make his way down the hall because people were coming up to him and congratulating him for his words.

"I've never ever done anything where I've walked down the hall after and had people put their hand out to me to shake," Cherry said in Mississauga, Ont., after watching the IceDogs play the Ottawa 67's in Ontario Hockey League playoff action.

Cherry said NHLPA president Bob Goodenow and player agent Don Meehan were among those to extend their hand and tell him they were proud of what he said. Cherry wouldn't comment further, noting he has a meeting with Lee today.

Cherry used to be a part-owner of the IceDogs but he sold his share last year. Current owner Nick Ricci said Americans have called the team, some of them crying, to thank Cherry for his comments.

Hockey Night in Canada executive producer Joel Darling spoke with MacLean on Monday.

"I can't tell you anything," MacLean said Monday from his home in nearby Oakville. "Nancy is going to meet with me tomorrow. She's asked that we keep it to an internal matter."

MacLean could be in more hot water than Cherry, who at first refused to get into the subject of war, saying "I don't want to go anywhere (with that subject)." But MacLean persisted, saying: "Everybody wants to know what you think."

The Coach's Corner segment started with Cherry commenting on Montreal Canadiens fans booing the American national anthem last Thursday before a game against the New York Islanders.

Cherry, wearing a tie emblazoned with U.S. colours, apologized on behalf of Canadians, saying that "years of pride went down the drain" with Habs fans' behaviour during the anthem.

Cherry also went at it with MacLean over the war in Iraq, chiding the Canadian government for its "lack of support to our American friends. I hate to see them go it alone," Cherry said.

He added: "These guys are over there, they're over there giving it all ... we're just riding their coattails," Cherry said.

MacLean stood firm that it was Canada's right not to go.

It certainly isn't the first time Cherry has got himself into trouble. In fact it's not even the first time he's been in hot water for speaking about Iraq.

Cherry outlined his support of American efforts against Iraq leader Saddam Hussein during a Feb. 19, 1998, broadcast -- prompting a viewer to complain to the CBC ombudsman that if Cherry was stating political views, others should be given the same opportunity.

And in September 1996, Cherry lambasted Ottawa fans for cheering for Russia against the U.S. in a 1996 World Cup of Hockey semifinal at the Corel Centre.

"If Saddam Hussein put up 1,000 missiles at our country, who would you go to for help? The Russians or the U.S.? Don't do it again."

Cherry's biggest faux-pas came during the Nagano Olympics in February 1998. Ombudsman Bazay would rule three months later that Cherry went too far when he called Brassard a "French guy, some skier nobody knows about."

Despite his controversial views, Cherry is a huge asset to the CBC. His Coach's Corner segment usually outdraws the game itself. He earns more than $700,000 a season and remain an icon for many Canadian hockey fans.

 

[Mia62]

Here is a link to all sorts of articles about it...

Don Cherry Speaks Out

 

[breakwall]

Good God! A war debate between Canadian hockey jocks?? How desperate is the media in Canada? Maybe they should have had them square off at center ice!

it would STILL be more factual than that shit Fox News is dishing out.

Poor Americans...at least we get actual News coverage up here, not Government filtered propoganda.