12.07.2010 03:51 PM

Don Cherry word cloud from Rob Ford swearing-in

Personally, I look at the next four years as all punks looked at the Reagan/Bush years: as a disaster, but also great source of material.

Wordle: Don Cherry installation speech for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford

Click to open.

53 Comments

  1. Riley says:

    The loud mouthed schnook party (TM)

  2. hugger says:

    Seems to me issues like the Swedish/ British/ American, Master Card, Visa, Pay Pal and Swiss Bank behaviours, are more important than what the hockey Don does or says. He is just another reason why I don’t watch HNIC.

    An aside, paying an exorbitant amount of money to attend a Maple Leafs hockey game is much like paying for our Military involvement in Afghanistan. Paying a great deal even though the owners never intended a decisive winning strategy as their ultimate goal.

  3. Namesake says:

    that word clous doesn’t do it, er, justice: it leaves out “Pinko(s)” which he said three times.

    http://torontoist.com/2010/12/don_cherrys_speech_to_council_transcribed.php

  4. Andrew says:

    I actually enjoyed the whole event!

    It was offensive and self-deprecating all at the same.

    The highlight was Adam Vaughn turning his back as Don Cherry spoke.

  5. Iris Mclean says:

    If Ford had wanted a more polished and articulate sports celebrity to introduce him, he could have hired (invited) Eddie Shack.
    Bob Runciman used Eddie at his fundraisers, and the worst thing that Eddie ever said was “Don’t take no shit, Bob.”

  6. Pete says:

    We love Rob Ford and Don Cherry; finally 2 people that speak the truth the way it is….
    Government is meant to be entertaining….looking forward to great changes in the next 4 years!

  7. Pete2 says:

    Come on you “left wing pinkos” , dont get your panties in a knot. We put up with Miller for 7 wastefull years.

  8. Art Williams says:

    This is the Jerry Springer of politics. You can’t make this stuff up.

  9. Chris P says:

    Thank you to Don Cherry, Rob Ford and Julian Fantino for being the old angry white man that every once in a while are needed to remind many of us just how important: practical, rationale, intellectual, and thought based leaders are needed. You don’t have to be left, right or centre to be thoroughly embarrassed by today’s events. It’s only day two of being mayor and people that voted for him around me are wondering what the hell the voted for – this is what happens when you vote with anger not with civic minded thought. Rob Ford will do to Toronto what ‘straight talker’ George W. Bush did for the United States of America. For Rob’s sake and that of the CoT I hope I’m wrong.

  10. James Bow says:

    And the similarities between Rob Ford 2010 and Larry O’Brien 2006 keep piling up…

  11. J. Coates says:

    Heh-heh. Four years of Rob Ford, Toronto you deserve it. He might even do a great job.

  12. J. Coates says:

    Ha-ha! Take that you bicycle-riding pinkos! I just about split a seam watch that on the news.

  13. Marc L says:

    Why do people in English Canada love that clown so much? Why does the CBC use our tax dollars to let him spew his ignorant bigoted rants on the airwaves. As one of the “french guys” he likes trashing so much, the only thing I can say is that it’s because of people like him that Quebec separatists exist. Oh, I ride a bicycle too.

    • Jerome Bastien says:

      Marc L: As one of the “french guys” he likes trashing so much, the only thing I can say is that it’s because of people like him that Quebec separatists exist.

      Haha, what a load of baloney. Quebec separatists exist to blackmail english canada out of more and more money every year. And Im one of the “french guys” too.

      Don Cherry is great – he speaks from the heart, doesnt give a damn about political correctness, says what he thinks and thinks what he says, i wish more people were that honest rather then everybody going for the ‘let’s try not to offend anybody in the world’ approach.

      With him, you know what you’re getting, with politically correct nonsense you only get what the speaker thinks people want to hear, which is useless and boring.

      That’s why Don Cherry is well loved and why douches like David Miller are nearly universally loathed.

      • Marc L says:

        Miller is a joke. But that doesn’t change the fact that Cherry is an ignorant bigoted clown. You like bigots? I don’t. Sorry.

        • Jerome Bastien says:

          He’s not a bigot, he has a soft spot for his own – like Quebecers have a soft spot for their own. You’re reducing the value of the term ‘bigot’ by misapplying it to Cherry.

          • Marc L says:

            “A soft spot for his own”???!!! What on earth does that mean??? Who are you referring to when you talk about those Quebecers who have a “soft spot for their own”? Those who don’t like anglophones and immigrants? I don’t like those Quebecers any more than I like Don Cherry. Please explain what you mean by that — are “their own” somehow superior or more desirable?

          • Jerome Bastien says:

            I mean that he generally prefers hockey players from Ontario. Big deal. He’s from Ontario. Same thing with many quebecers: the habs get criticized for not having enough french-canadian players, koivu gets criticized for not learning french, are all these people bigoted because they feel a certain sense of attachment to their home province? I dont think so, and I apply the same standard for Cherry. Same thing whenever there are olympics on TV: on the french channels they give predominance to quebec athletes, and I see no problem with that.

            Did Cherry hurt your feelings when he said that french-canadian players are wimps for having visors? Boy, that’s serious man, I do hope you recover from that.

          • The Other Jim says:

            Jerome – that’s the very definition of a bigot! From Websters:

            : a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance

            He’s not a racist (as some are apt to describe him), but he is absolutely a bigot!

          • Jerome Bastien says:

            Other Jim:

            Cherry doesnt treat quebecers or other groups with “hatred and intolerance”. Im not denying he has a preference for hockey players from Ontario, or generally english Canada. That is hardly hatred and intolerance. You’re doing yourself a disservice by diminishing the meaning of the words hatred, intolerance and bigot by applying them to Cherry. Clearly, you have never been on the receiving end of actual hatred, intolerance and bigotry.

            I know it will help you appear (keyword: appear) intelligent in some circles to crap all over Don Cherry. Good for you. You are very sophisticated. But in reality, you’re creating a false equivalence between the very benign (Cherry) and the far more serious (actual bigotry and hatred).

          • Marc L says:

            “Im not denying he has a preference for hockey players from Ontario, or generally english Canada. That is hardly hatred and intolerance.”

            We definitely don’t have the same definition of intolerance.

          • The Other Jim says:

            Jerome – Yes, that’s it, I’m not intelligent because I disagree with you, and used facts to make my point. Sorry that my gul durn book lurning hit such a sensitive note for you.

            The definition from Webster’s clearly and plainly describes Cherry. He holds significant prejudices against hockey players from Europe and Quebec, particularly those with more skill than grit, and especially those who wear visors. His biases strongly and consistently prejudice his opinions on players and situations. That said, he is not completely inflexible in his prejudices, he’s shown that players can win him over (Pavel Bure being a good example of such). I agree that the impact of his bigotry is mostly benign, but that doesn’t make the description any less accurate. A tumor is still a tumor, regardless of whether it is malignant or benign.

            FWIW, I infrequently post on a major hockey forum and have, on multiple occasions, defended Cherry against those who describe him as racist. You, like them, fail to grasp what is a very important difference between the two terms. Cherry doesn’t hate French Canadians (who really aren’t a race, but I digress) or Europeans, he is simply biased/prejudiced against hockey players from those regions. Describing him as a racist absolutely minimizes examples of true racism in the world. Accurately describing him as a bigot, however, does not.

            The character of Archie Bunker was a bigot. My (real life) grandmother, whom I adored and miss deeply, was also a bigot. Their bigotry did not make them morally reprehensible, evil, or irredeemable. It did, however, make them misguided, wrong and, in terms of how they spoke about and thought of ours, rather pathetic.

            I like physical hockey. Scott Stevens is one of my favourite players ever. I enjoy a good scrap (I’m sure that will send some WK followers into fits of the vapours) and agree with several of Cherry’s hobby horses (no-touch icing, the negative impact of diving and yippy cheap-shot artists on the game). Much of his bluster is probably shtick, but that doesn’t lessen the bigotry of his rants.

  14. hitfan says:

    Don Cherry used the term “left wing pinko” as a sort of friendly jab. He’s a bit of a clown. He wore a pink suit.

    But I do enjoy the butthurt and the liberal froth being shown here since Ford’s election.

  15. Who is this Jerome Bastien???
    He should be on one of the political shows in the afternoon.
    His comments are balanced and right on.
    I hope he continues to post on this blog.
    Comments from him are a great read…….

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