Should the CBC renew Don Cherry's contract?

[xarir]

Love him or hate him, Don Cherry is a Canadian hockey icon. To some he is a pompous buffoon; to others he is voice of The Way Hockey Should Be.

Recent rumors have it that the CBC may not renew his TV contract. Are they right in pursuing this course of action? Should CBC let Grapes go or should they renew his contract?

[the_big_E]

No, its over for him.

[superquad1968]

Don Cherry is yesterday's voice. The game of hockey rolls on and grows while Don still believes that by and large the only people who can play this game are Canadians.

Don... retire.

[tboy]

No matter what he believes, when the players themselves turn him on between periods to hear what he has to say, and when the coaches listen to what he has to say, and he preaches the do's and don'ts to the up and coming kids, I'd say he knows what he's talking about.

Sure, he's a cliche, sure he dresses outrageously, but he's Mr Hockey! Compare him to Pete Rose (Mr Baseball) Mario Andretti (Mr Racing) etc etc

HNIC without Don just won't be the same.....

[Kev]

NO hes had his day in the sun. Its time to find someone who can bring a fresh look to HNIC. --- Kev

[Mao Tse Tongue]

Personally, I'd say renegotiate his deal on a yearly basis.

Nobody thinks Don Cherry is the Dalai Lama, so his xenophobia is a given. :)

[Drunken Master]

Replace Don Cherry with Adrianne Clarkson.

John Raulston Saul can replace Ron.

(the upside is, the taxpayers would probably end up paying them less money than they do now...)

[healer677]

if you thought hockey fans were having a hissy fit with Mclean a couple of years ago.....

WAIT til the CBC tries to can Cherry - In todays Sun the Killer actually wrote an article in the praises os Cherry.

[2cent]

No matter what the Cherry haters say, he is still entertaining, and he knows what he is talking about. Canning him is because the CBC wants to save money more than anything else.

[Leaffan1976]

Don Cherry deserves to stay on with CBC. He's Canada's icon when it comes to our great game of ice hockey! Maybe one day he may take up the many fan's offers to run for PM lol. It might be like having Mel Lastman run the country tho hehe. Well if Don Cherry steps down from coaches Corner one day I think Tortarella from Tampa Bay when he retires would be a good replacement. A coach who's not afraid to speak his mind in front of the media. For now Don is the man and he should stay for a while!

[Ranger68]

Keep Cherry. Love him or hate him, he's good for ratings. There are far worse things on television than Don Cherry. Most of reality television leaps to mind. :(

[The Bandit]

What else do you expect from the CBC. Look at the rest of their programming, if it wasn't for HNIC, who would watch the station...

[Ref]

The people who sponsor Coaches Corner for that brief 10 minute window allow CBC to make a tidy profit on their hockey telecasts. Without Cherry their advertising dollars are lucky enough to maybe break-even considering the costs it absorbs with the nightly coverage of play-off hockey.

Personally I would rather have the sports channels cover hockey and the CBC network be cancelled by the government. Hopefully public pressure on this issue will make it a reality

[Foxbat]

The CBC needs Don Cherry. They're just grandstanding. It would be political suicide to let Don go. I'm sure they don't want a national ruckus ten times greater than the one they had with Ron MacLean.

[superquad1968]

Let me ask a question. Do you watch the hockey game or do you watch BigMouth? All Cherry does is keep me watching the intermission and away from the fridge. I'll always come back for the game which is what matters.

There is an assumption that if Cherry wasn't there we wouldn't watch HNIC. That I think is false. It does increase revenue for that 10 minute period which helps cover his costs. (I believe the corp pays him $600,000 per year). But in the end we are here for the game.

Me personally I'd rather watch Hrudey who is current with the state of hockey today rather than a reject from the 70s.

SQ

[Don]

Cherry is entertainment but it won't affect the ratings at all. People are going to watch HNIC regardless. It's different if there was another network up here that broadcasts games and was competing with CBC like is the case in the states with football or basketball but that is not the case here.

[Mao Tse Tongue]

Originally posted by superquad1968
Let me ask a question. Do you watch the hockey game or do you watch BigMouth? All Cherry does is keep me watching the intermission and away from the fridge. I'll always come back for the game which is what matters.

There is an assumption that if Cherry wasn't there we wouldn't watch HNIC. That I think is false. It does increase revenue for that 10 minute period which helps cover his costs. (I believe the corp pays him $600,000 per year). But in the end we are here for the game.

SQ

Not true. A good portion of the demo watches the broadcast as much for Don as for the hockey. You could EASILY argue that Cherry pays for his salary and then some independent of the hockey.

Additionally, the fact that it's the CBC and not a private broadcaster changes the landscape significantly--it's not simply a question of money, but identity. If people are sufficiently outraged, as they were with McLean, no CBC exec can stand in the way, as Cherry is an icon of canadiana.

I can't even understand why anyone would think that Cherry is obsolete. There are so many corporate nabob sports reporters these days it's unreal. Elliot Friedman? Please!

[superquad1968]

The question is if he were not on Saturday nights would you watch or not? If yes, then Cherry is irrelevant to the ratings (except for the intermission). If no then he shold stay. As for paying his salary, ask Samsung and Moores what they have paid to sponsor his segments.

To me we have so many more important icons of Canadiana ( Terry Fox, Rick Hansen, Any of the Canadian Women's Hockey Team) that we have to put this buffoon on a predestal.

IMHO, Cherry is obsolete on the fighting issue, Europeans (and the French), visors, can't stay unbiased (He is a Leaf Lover), violence in hockey, etc. I just think time has opassed him by.

[Mao Tse Tongue]

Originally posted by superquad1968

To me we have so many more important icons of Canadiana ( Terry Fox, Rick Hansen, Any of the Canadian Women's Hockey Team) that we have to put this buffoon on a predestal.


I don't share your Chamber of Commerce mentality when it comes to canadiana. Cherry's a lark, a xenophobic circus clown who talks like he drinks at The Legion, but he's also a fantastically savvy showman who makes it fun to watch otherwise deadly dull regular season games.

He's not running for office, merely being reelected as HNIC showman.

He's harmless--and entertaining.

:)

[bornonaug9]

It is ok if he only talk about hockey, keep his opinion on war on Iraq to himself. Can he stick on current topics, some of his AHL experience is not relevant about the current game. Neogiate his contract, he is piad on per game basis plus a reasonable basic salary. Do not have to pay him if there is no hockey next season. This is the tax dollar we paid to ottawa.

[n_v]

Originally posted by bornonaug9
This is the tax dollar we paid to ottawa.
He brings in money for CBC.

[blitz]

Originally posted by Mao Tse Tongue
...when it comes to canadiana. Cherry's a lark, a xenophobic circus clown who talks like he drinks at The Legion, but he's also a fantastically savvy showman who makes it fun to watch otherwise deadly dull regular season games.

He's not running for office, merely being reelected as HNIC showman.

He's harmless--and entertaining.

:)

That was very well put MST.

I personally won't miss him if his contract isn't renewed. HNIC will endure without Grapes. Afterall, it is about hockey, not buffoonery or goonery.

[GlavaMan]

Vancouver will not be renewing Brian Burke's contract as GM. Burke would be a good replacement for Cherry should the CBC not resign him. He tells it like it is and has an edge to him.

[pistol]

Burke might be a good replacement but is more likely to end as GM in Boston or Chicago than on CBC. His track recod is pretty strong despite the Canucks 1st round failures.
It would interesting to have the folks in Vancouver, Mtl, Ottawa and Alberta opinion on this as well. Cherry is admittedly a Leaf fan! I think outside the Leaf Nation, he is despised and ignored fo rth emost part.
Someone on TSN pointed out that on a Saturday night when the Leafs don't paly ratings are brutal despite Cherry's presence. Peole watch him as part of the game. They don't substitute him fo rthe game.