Last Monday, The Current gave its readers the opportunity to vote on the justification for Don Cherry’s firing following his comments during the Coach’s Corner segment the previous Saturday. During the three days that the poll was open, it received 2147 “hits” resulting in a total of 1108 votes being cast. The result was that an overwhelming 93.05 percent of voters disagreed with Cherry’s dismissal.
The story attracted international attention including on the pages of the New York Times, London’s The Guardian, and CNN. The opinion writers appeared to be divided on the justification. The Guardian, referring to “the problematic pundit’s sacking” headlined its story with “It’s good Don Cherry is gone. It’ll be better if his successor represents today’s Canada.” Today’s Toronto Star is publishing an opinion headlined “Don Cherry’s words ‘you people’ are a dog whistle to the prejudiced.” The Post Millennial, on the other hand, described the firing as a “disgrace.”
Hockey legend Bobby Orr, who was coached by Cherry, did not hold back in his comments supporting him. In an interview with a Boston radio station yesterday, he said, “What they’ve done to him up there is disgraceful. It really is.” He described Cherry as a “generous, caring guy” and said he is not a bigot or a racist.
Cherry has refused to apologize for his comments but is reported as having told CBC News that he blames his firing on poor word choice. “I think it was a mistake, but I think the big thing was that I should have said everybody. That was the big big thing.”
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