Let’s do Don Cherry’s checklist from Saturday’s Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night In Canada. The troops, check. Stevie Yzerman, check. Blame the victim on a bad hit, check. Mention the kids, check. Excoriate the media, check. Talk about philanthropy, check. Bad Ron MacLean pun, check. Apologies, nope.
In short, all the bases covered in the Don Cherry manual. Yet somehow the bombast/ pity parade never really launched with its usual vigour. With millions tuned in for a vintage performance in the wake of his expletive-filled week, Cherry merely dismissed the pesky doctor, Charles Tator, with: “I don’t want anything to do with the guy.” Then he showed off Kevlar socks. And his tie. Impertinent radio interviewers? Nada.
Yes, there was something missing last week (other than a word to “the kids” that maybe Uncle Don needs a little anger management). Or perhaps there was something new – the revelation that the brain of former NHL enforcer Reggie Fleming had evidence of chronic trauma encephalopathy, the dementia induced by repeated blows to the head.
As the data accumulate about real damage from hitting and, yes, punching the head, it’s going to be harder for Coach’s Corner to laugh off the effects with the usual General Buck Turgidson of Dr. Strangelove (“I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed tops. Uh, depending on the breaks).
With all his pressing business, Cherry, friend of hockey’s working grunt, ignored the news of Fleming, the grunt’s grunt in the ’60s. Perhaps it simply skipped his mind in a busy week. Or perhaps he knows that more of the men he played with or coached will be showing the destructive effects of taking punches to the head for 20 years. And that grim slices of reality, like Fleming’s diagnosis, will spell the end of his gig as the Pied Piper of Punching.
Fleming Fallout
Over on Hockey Night’s Hotstove segment, they did alight briefly on the Fleming report. Analyst Mike Milbury did his usual version of General Jack Ripper (Dr. Strangelove again): “Hockey is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought.” Milbury has stopped talking about pansification and morphed to ripping “crunchy granola types.”
Discussing the ramifications of Fleming, Milbury compared brain damage to bad knees and hips. “It comes with the territory,” he said. “There’s danger involved.” Milbury, who’s nothing if not consistent, added: “Don’t accuse us of being Neanderthal idiots.” No probs, Mike.
Picture This
Did Tiger Woods make a deal two years ago to hide evidence of his philandering? According to The Wall Street Journal, the National Enquirer had incriminating photos of Woods in 2007. To forestall publication of the pics, Woods allegedly gave a full-profile interview to Men’s Journal, a sister publication of the Enquirer. At the time, Woods had an exclusive deal with Golf Digest, which never got the kind of access granted to Men’s Journal. Oh, Golf Digest also donated millions to Tiger’s charity. Can we get a ruling here?
Don’t ask CBS golf commentator Ian Baker-Finch about it, though. Asked by the Sydney Morning Herald about Tiger’s woes, the former British Open champ said: “Mate, if I say one word about Tiger, I will get fired.” So get set for plenty of candour when the PGA Tour resumes in January.
Put ’Er There, Partner
Rogers Sportsnet is an Olympic broadcast partner. Which makes this odd. Even though the news crawl beneath Bob McCown’s show had been showing the news for much of the hour before, the Friday 6 p.m. ET Connected cast with Sean McCormack did not report that Canada’s Olympic alpine team had lost a fifth member. François Bourque had ripped up his anterior cruciate ligament in Europe that same day, but it must have, er, escaped attention in the seven-minute cast. We did get a nice feature on Luke Schenn, however. And a hot Seattle Mariners-Chicago Cubs trade.
Finally, at 6:56 p.m., Sportsnet sneaked the Bourque news into the back end of its half-hour show. (By the way, TSN, Sportsnet’s partner in the Olympic consortium, played the Bourque news in the first 10 minutes of its 6:30 p.m. ET newscast.)
The Tipoff Point
What impresses bestselling Canadian auteur Malcolm Gladwell? Talking to ESPN’s Bill Simmons, Gladwell recalled being approached by three guys in a Chicago restaurant. Turns out they were studying Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, in their book club.
“How could I forget?” Gladwell told Simmons. “Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes [then of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors],” Simmons replied. “Greatest moment of my life,” Gladwell said with a sigh. Glad he didn’t say Tim Donaghy.
