Leave Coach’s Corner alone – Don Cherry
THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – Don Cherry plead his case on Coach’s Corner on the Roger’s deal.
“When I had Bobby Orr, he was the number one, and I just left him alone.”
Speaking on the blockbuster hockey deal that will see Rogers take on Hockey in Canada the iconic Canadian hockey fan says that “I know I’m good, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, leave us alone and we will be just as good next year”.
There have been commentary across the media that Cherry might not be back for the Rogers run hockey in CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.
The seventy-nine year old Cherry has been outspoken, generated controversy on the broadcast and created a whole new flare in his wardrobe.
Is it time to Retire Don Cherry?
Often in recent years, Cherry has seems increasingly more a figure of his former self. Coach’s Corner has taken different personalities the usually calm and unflappable Ron MacLean and the flamboyant and boisterous Don Cherry have provided some insight and made for entertaining segments on the widely popular hockey broadcasts.
At the end of the argument, it is going to end up as a business decision.
If Rogers decides that Cherry is bringing added value to the broadcast, then Coach’s Corner and Don Cherry will stay put.
If it is a purely business decision, it is likely that Rogers will look at the value, and at seventy-nine years of age, might decide to leave the program alone for a year or two and then decide.
The reality for Cherry is often in the past couple of years, he has often seemed more interested in being the stereotype he thinks people want rather than the person he was. Increasingly grouchy, Grapes is starting to show his age.
Time is on Rogers side, but right now the echoes of the massive blockbuster deal are still being heard across Canada. If Rogers dumps Cherry, one could expect that perhaps TSN might pick up Cherry as a means of bolstering their viewership after losing out on the sports side of covering hockey.
Real Loser in the Deal is TSN
The Rogers deal is likely going to be good for hockey and will help the players and owners. The only loser in the deal are the CBC and TSN.
In the case of the CBC, the subsidized network will likely continue on mostly the same. In the case of TSN, the loss of so much of their hockey coverage is likely to have many viewers scrambling for their remotes.
There are only so many hours of poker and curling that people will watch.
James Murray
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