Don We Now Our Gay Apparel
May 3, 2011 7:52 PM Subscribe
The Don Cherry Jacket Watch. Amazing, mind-blowing garishness.
Oh. I barely know who he is (some kind of possibly-ex hockey coach, and I think a commentator on Canadian sports TV) but wow, the jackets. I just can't stop looking.
posted by asperity at 7:57 PM on May 3, 2011
posted by asperity at 7:57 PM on May 3, 2011
He's Grapes!
posted by mannequito at 7:57 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mannequito at 7:57 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Up until this post, this was the only Don Cherry I knew about.
Kinda wish it still was.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:02 PM on May 3, 2011 [10 favorites]
Kinda wish it still was.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:02 PM on May 3, 2011 [10 favorites]
I should probably link the Don Cherry in question. Not that I looked him up until just now. Definitely not a post that got any planning, I'm sorry to say (I didn't even bother to come up with a good title, just used the one from the blog). In my defense, I think the bright colors did something to my brain.
posted by asperity at 8:07 PM on May 3, 2011
posted by asperity at 8:07 PM on May 3, 2011
That's Donald S. Cherry to you.
He does a between periods segment, Coach's Corner, on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. And he's the most foppish redneck you'll find, anywhere. On the planet.
posted by kneecapped at 8:07 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
He does a between periods segment, Coach's Corner, on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. And he's the most foppish redneck you'll find, anywhere. On the planet.
posted by kneecapped at 8:07 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Hockey Night in Canada, the only hockey we watch in Michigan.
posted by tomswift at 8:08 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by tomswift at 8:08 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Yikes. How to explain Don Cherry.
He's possibly the most famous living Canadian, in Canada.
Former hockey player, hockey manager, and fixture on Hockey Night in Canada. Famous for loving hockey fights and, ahem, 'speaking his mind' on TV. Also rabidly right wing and famously alienated a fair section of his audience recently by insulting pinkos and cyclists.
I've been in bars where they have hockey on the TV with the sound down, then turn up the volume when Don Cherry comes on for his post-first-period bloviations.
Very hard to describe. A national treasure. And ass.
posted by unSane at 8:08 PM on May 3, 2011 [6 favorites]
He's possibly the most famous living Canadian, in Canada.
Former hockey player, hockey manager, and fixture on Hockey Night in Canada. Famous for loving hockey fights and, ahem, 'speaking his mind' on TV. Also rabidly right wing and famously alienated a fair section of his audience recently by insulting pinkos and cyclists.
I've been in bars where they have hockey on the TV with the sound down, then turn up the volume when Don Cherry comes on for his post-first-period bloviations.
Very hard to describe. A national treasure. And ass.
posted by unSane at 8:08 PM on May 3, 2011 [6 favorites]
I thought they had a policy against loud patterned clothing on TV as it looks bad on old flickery sets?
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:09 PM on May 3, 2011
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:09 PM on May 3, 2011
His clothes are slightly less horrifying than his spray tan. The dude looks like a Cheeto desaturated to 65% with the crumbs left intact. I bet he leaves a ring every bathtub for a half mile.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 8:10 PM on May 3, 2011 [8 favorites]
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 8:10 PM on May 3, 2011 [8 favorites]
"as it looks bad on old flickery sets?"
Don Cherry (well, at least his jacket) looks bad in person... no point in worrying how it's gonna look on TV...
posted by tomswift at 8:10 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Don Cherry (well, at least his jacket) looks bad in person... no point in worrying how it's gonna look on TV...
posted by tomswift at 8:10 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
down here, national treasure-level asses tend to be, well, female. You Northers are doing a fine job for gender balance.
ducks, runs
posted by mwhybark at 8:18 PM on May 3, 2011
ducks, runs
posted by mwhybark at 8:18 PM on May 3, 2011
I was watching a hockey game with some friends and I was thrilled when the US channel played Coach's Corner (Montreal vs. Boston). I told everyone about Cherry's jackets and attempted to explain what he meant to me/Canadians (crazy drunk uncle?). Unfortunately his jacket that night was super tame but then it switched to an older epsiode with him in a black flowered satin jacket, and we all cheered together. Felt like home.
posted by hydrobatidae at 8:21 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by hydrobatidae at 8:21 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Every time I see Don Cherry now, I have more and more respect for Ron MacLean. Having dealt with a similar situation in my own family, I understand how difficult it can be to care for someone with progressive senile dementia. He does it with patience and grace.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:23 PM on May 3, 2011 [22 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:23 PM on May 3, 2011 [22 favorites]
I thought the whole point of the garish patterned suits (especially on old flickery television sets) was to confuse your brain to overload, inciting that OH GOD THE BEEEEEEES noise, and thus preventing you from having to listen to anything he says.
posted by cmyk at 8:23 PM on May 3, 2011
posted by cmyk at 8:23 PM on May 3, 2011
Perhaps it was just my sheltered upbringing, but I for one could not accept the possibility that Canadians would do this kind of thing - dress in a garish fashion - until I saw my first Royal Canadian Mountie. It was an eyeopener, and it made me reconsider my whole relation to masculine fashion.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:28 PM on May 3, 2011
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:28 PM on May 3, 2011
Don Cherry is the Craig Sager of hockey.
posted by pickinganameismuchharderthanihadanticipated at 8:29 PM on May 3, 2011
posted by pickinganameismuchharderthanihadanticipated at 8:29 PM on May 3, 2011
He's a bigot, a jackass, a buffoon, a fellator of anything in uniform (preferably dead), our public broadcaster's highest paid employee, someone who can't count to six, the producer of 22 best-selling "Rock 'em Sock 'em" hockey fight/hit compilation videos, a failure, the loud defender of all that is wrong in the national sport, a man our PM wants to run for office. When he dies I hope they bury him somewhere close so I can piss on his grave.
posted by docgonzo at 8:33 PM on May 3, 2011 [12 favorites]
posted by docgonzo at 8:33 PM on May 3, 2011 [12 favorites]
Ron is the face we think we present to the rest of the world and grapes is who we are with our friends, behind closed doors, blind drunk on may 24
posted by captaincrouton at 8:40 PM on May 3, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by captaincrouton at 8:40 PM on May 3, 2011 [6 favorites]
He occupies the same psychic space that apple pie occupies in the U.S. (But especially buffoonish and racist apple pie that really know its hockey.)
posted by ~ at 8:44 PM on May 3, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by ~ at 8:44 PM on May 3, 2011 [4 favorites]
Can we have some sort of "not the real Don Cherry" disclaimer on future FPPs about this guy? Because, really, he's about as interesting as George Steinbrenner or Don King; but I keep clicking through because I think the posts are about, y'know, Don Cherry.
posted by steambadger at 8:51 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by steambadger at 8:51 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
I'd almost be willing to accept Celine Dion back here into Canada if the US was willing to take Don Cherry as a trade and do whatever you will with him. Are there any rooms opening up in Gitmo?
posted by anothermug at 8:53 PM on May 3, 2011
posted by anothermug at 8:53 PM on May 3, 2011
When he dies I hope they bury him somewhere close so I can piss on his grave.
Oh stop already.
posted by Adam_S at 9:03 PM on May 3, 2011
Oh stop already.
posted by Adam_S at 9:03 PM on May 3, 2011
It should be noted that Cherry is an English Canadian icon; French Canadians who know who he is are more likely to refer to him as "s't'hostie d'cave là" ou (giving him his prejudice back), "c'te crisse de bloke".
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 9:04 PM on May 3, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 9:04 PM on May 3, 2011 [5 favorites]
I wonder if people who love him and people who vote for Harper is a positive correlation.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:05 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Meatbomb at 9:05 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
"I understand how difficult it can be to care for someone with progressive senile dementia."
Well, his peeps are running the country now so we'll see how that works out.
posted by sneebler at 9:07 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Well, his peeps are running the country now so we'll see how that works out.
posted by sneebler at 9:07 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
My analogy would be to imagine Glenn Beck as a hockey commentator. Then add in these suits. And he screams instead of crying. You now pretty much have Don Cherry.
posted by GuyZero at 9:13 PM on May 3, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 9:13 PM on May 3, 2011 [7 favorites]
I'm not sure I'd agree with Canaduhs (<- a lame joke I intend to make for the next five years. Deal with it.) most famous living Canadian. Take him out of the suit made of grandmas shower curtain and I'm not certain he'd turn any heads, except for the fact he was another idiot driving an F-150 in the city designed for more sensible vehicles. I fact I'm certain I saw him at the liquor store today. Trying to shoehorn his pickup into a "small cars only" spot.
posted by Keith Talent at 9:14 PM on May 3, 2011
posted by Keith Talent at 9:14 PM on May 3, 2011
where are the fashion police when you really, really NEED them?
posted by pyramid termite at 9:25 PM on May 3, 2011
posted by pyramid termite at 9:25 PM on May 3, 2011
My analogy would be to imagine Glenn Beck as a hockey commentator.
I hate to tell you, but if he were American, he'd be a bog-standard right-winger - no arch-wingnut like Beck.
He's only shocking in the Canadian context.
posted by downing street memo at 9:32 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
I hate to tell you, but if he were American, he'd be a bog-standard right-winger - no arch-wingnut like Beck.
He's only shocking in the Canadian context.
posted by downing street memo at 9:32 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
the obituary of frank cosco, his tailor
posted by pyramid termite at 9:39 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 9:39 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
He's only shocking in the Canadian context.
Uh shocking, I think you might want to make that normal now, especially with the Harperbots in firm control.
By the way, I saw him call a player a hypocrite, then he added 'like Suzuki' referring to Dr David Suzuki the environmentalist. Not sure what that has to do with hockey.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 9:59 PM on May 3, 2011
Uh shocking, I think you might want to make that normal now, especially with the Harperbots in firm control.
By the way, I saw him call a player a hypocrite, then he added 'like Suzuki' referring to Dr David Suzuki the environmentalist. Not sure what that has to do with hockey.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 9:59 PM on May 3, 2011
I recently got basic cable on the promise that it would lower my internet bill. I've been watching hockey the past couple years on the NHL member site and various bars. Imagine my surprise when my package came with CBC! Just in time for the playoffs!
I totally forgot about Don Cherry. Honestly, it's kind of a pleasure to watch him because there's almost nobody in the states that has the kind of deep knowledge he does. Plus, my favorite hockey book Open Ice takes place when he was coaching the Bruins.
I dunno, I'm an American so Hockey is the rebellious sport to me, and not the national one like it is in Canada. But Don brings me back to my childhood as a Bruins fan.
Sure, I'd probably take a swing at him and get punched out Buzz Aldrin style, if I ever talked politics with him. But he represents an earlier, lower class, rougher, and much missed era of hockey to me.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:01 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
I totally forgot about Don Cherry. Honestly, it's kind of a pleasure to watch him because there's almost nobody in the states that has the kind of deep knowledge he does. Plus, my favorite hockey book Open Ice takes place when he was coaching the Bruins.
I dunno, I'm an American so Hockey is the rebellious sport to me, and not the national one like it is in Canada. But Don brings me back to my childhood as a Bruins fan.
Sure, I'd probably take a swing at him and get punched out Buzz Aldrin style, if I ever talked politics with him. But he represents an earlier, lower class, rougher, and much missed era of hockey to me.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:01 PM on May 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Don Cherry is amusing exactly as long as there is a vaguely left wing government in power. The moment there isn't, he's a bully and a boor. Sad but true.
posted by unSane at 10:03 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by unSane at 10:03 PM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
The reason that Canadians are, by and large, quiet and polite is that 63% of the entire national store of boorishness is contained in Don Cherry. That leaves only 37% to be spread around the rest of the population.
posted by angiep at 10:30 PM on May 3, 2011 [18 favorites]
posted by angiep at 10:30 PM on May 3, 2011 [18 favorites]
The Habs/Bruins jacket (that is, the first one in the blog) really does resemble a test pattern.
While I completely agree with all the comments about Cherry's politics, boorishness, xenophobia and stupid love of fights that stop the &$%! game, he has two good points. One, he loved Rose, his wife profoundly and was devastated when she died in 97. The omnipresent rose in the lapel is for her. Two, he has a fondness for bulldogs.
Oh, and the jackets make me laugh. Three good points.
posted by jrochest at 11:21 PM on May 3, 2011
While I completely agree with all the comments about Cherry's politics, boorishness, xenophobia and stupid love of fights that stop the &$%! game, he has two good points. One, he loved Rose, his wife profoundly and was devastated when she died in 97. The omnipresent rose in the lapel is for her. Two, he has a fondness for bulldogs.
Oh, and the jackets make me laugh. Three good points.
posted by jrochest at 11:21 PM on May 3, 2011
racist
To be clear, he's racist against Europeans.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 11:30 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
To be clear, he's racist against Europeans.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 11:30 PM on May 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
I've always thought of Grapes as the racist, old-school grandfather that everyone is kind of ashamed of but can't bring themselves to disown. He says really stupid things and does really stupid things (Rob Ford - ugh) but everyone kinda tolerates it because everyone also knows that he's flat insane.
He's Canada's insane racist grandfather.
posted by jimmythefish at 12:06 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
He's Canada's insane racist grandfather.
posted by jimmythefish at 12:06 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
To be clear, he's racist against Europeans.
Oh. Well, then.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:24 AM on May 4, 2011
Oh. Well, then.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:24 AM on May 4, 2011
To be clear, he's racist against Europeans.
Oh. Well, then.
It was actually a good thing in a very weird way. While he was implementing his anti-euro racism as a hockey strategy with the Mississauga Ice Dogs they were one of the worst teams in their league only to bounce back once he was no longer calling the racist shots. How often do you get such clear evidence of the maladaptiveness of discrimination on irrelevant dimensions?
Don Cherry is like the Colbert Report except Don Cherry himself and a frightfully large portion of his audience are not completely in on the joke.
posted by srboisvert at 3:03 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh. Well, then.
It was actually a good thing in a very weird way. While he was implementing his anti-euro racism as a hockey strategy with the Mississauga Ice Dogs they were one of the worst teams in their league only to bounce back once he was no longer calling the racist shots. How often do you get such clear evidence of the maladaptiveness of discrimination on irrelevant dimensions?
Don Cherry is like the Colbert Report except Don Cherry himself and a frightfully large portion of his audience are not completely in on the joke.
posted by srboisvert at 3:03 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
I was expecting a double-breasted wristwatch endorsed by the host of Soul Train.
But this was not bad.
posted by superelastic at 3:20 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
But this was not bad.
posted by superelastic at 3:20 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Who is Don Cherry?
I have no idea either - I came here expecting Neneh's dad - but it appears he is to jackets what Gyles Brandreth is to jumpers.
posted by mippy at 4:07 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
I have no idea either - I came here expecting Neneh's dad - but it appears he is to jackets what Gyles Brandreth is to jumpers.
posted by mippy at 4:07 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
My analogy would be to imagine Glenn Beck as a hockey commentator.
No, he's more like Saul Tigh, disguised as the sofa in your grandmother's sitting room.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:29 AM on May 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
No, he's more like Saul Tigh, disguised as the sofa in your grandmother's sitting room.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:29 AM on May 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
I find this man insufferable even in still photos.
posted by middleclasstool at 4:37 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by middleclasstool at 4:37 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
New Yorkers, and especially Mets fans, of a certain age are probably reminded of Lindsey Nelson.
posted by tommasz at 5:01 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by tommasz at 5:01 AM on May 4, 2011
If only he knew we were laughing at him, not with him.
posted by Capt. Renault at 5:26 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by Capt. Renault at 5:26 AM on May 4, 2011
Honestly, it's kind of a pleasure to watch him because there's almost nobody in the states that has the kind of deep knowledge he does.
This. Although now that Harry Neale does the Sabres commentary, that is less true than it was.
I loathe a ton of things about Don Cherry, and I disagree with him about twice that, but he really does know his stuff. (Plus, you can make him cry like a baby if you show him old Bobby Orr footage).
posted by biscotti at 5:27 AM on May 4, 2011
This. Although now that Harry Neale does the Sabres commentary, that is less true than it was.
I loathe a ton of things about Don Cherry, and I disagree with him about twice that, but he really does know his stuff. (Plus, you can make him cry like a baby if you show him old Bobby Orr footage).
posted by biscotti at 5:27 AM on May 4, 2011
Every time I see Don Cherry now, I have more and more respect for Ron MacLean.
I suspect Ron MacLean is the originator of the O_o facial expression. At least I've seen him use it quite a few times on national television in response to some bizarre comment of Cherry's.
I wonder how many complaints are headed off by his "you, sir, are a loon" expression?
posted by FishBike at 5:38 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
I suspect Ron MacLean is the originator of the O_o facial expression. At least I've seen him use it quite a few times on national television in response to some bizarre comment of Cherry's.
I wonder how many complaints are headed off by his "you, sir, are a loon" expression?
posted by FishBike at 5:38 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Don Cherry is a shining example of the saying "just because you can do something doesn't mean you should."
posted by Silvertree at 5:48 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by Silvertree at 5:48 AM on May 4, 2011
Wow, it took reading several posts to get my head around the part where this isn't Don Cherry the genius musician. I'm kind of disappointed, actually, because Don Cherry, jazz great, was a pretty sharp dresser, at least in my opinion. I wouldn't mind a blog about the fashion choices of the great free jazz musicians.
posted by Frowner at 6:27 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Frowner at 6:27 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
He really does use drapes material for his suits. No joke.
posted by howling fantods at 7:07 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by howling fantods at 7:07 AM on May 4, 2011
Canada: Even our Republican blowhards are flamboyant homosexuals.
(See also)
posted by Theta States at 7:18 AM on May 4, 2011
(See also)
posted by Theta States at 7:18 AM on May 4, 2011
famously alienated a fair section of his audience recently by insulting pinkos and cyclists.
He also simultaneously created a cottage industry of downtown cyclists who happily grabbed the identity he created for them. Spacing Magazine in Toronto created these buttons shortly after and has sold thousands.
No, he's more like Saul Tigh, disguised as the sofa in your grandmother's sitting room.
I endorse this description.
posted by dry white toast at 7:31 AM on May 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
He also simultaneously created a cottage industry of downtown cyclists who happily grabbed the identity he created for them. Spacing Magazine in Toronto created these buttons shortly after and has sold thousands.
No, he's more like Saul Tigh, disguised as the sofa in your grandmother's sitting room.
I endorse this description.
posted by dry white toast at 7:31 AM on May 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
Am I the only one reminded of Nudie suits (safe for work, in case you don't know what a Nudie suit is)? Don Cherry even parallels the stereotypical wearer of one down to general demographic: Redneck, fiercely defensive of rural/semi-rural lifestyles despite being well-off enough for kilobuck toss-off costumes and famous enough to wear them in public without getting beat up.
posted by ardgedee at 8:01 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by ardgedee at 8:01 AM on May 4, 2011
Dang, I thought it was a wristwatch in terrible patterns, and I was reminded of the Burberry taxi here.
Hang on, isn't "a wristwatch in terrible patterns" a Swatch? They're back, baby!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:55 AM on May 4, 2011
Hang on, isn't "a wristwatch in terrible patterns" a Swatch? They're back, baby!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:55 AM on May 4, 2011
Nudie used to shop at Gelson's supermarket, where I worked as a bagboy in high school. He'd sail in in his convertible Cadillac, the leather interior of which was FESTOONED with silver dollars. And a set of long-horns displayed prominently. He'd also hand out $2 bills (remember those?) as tips, with a removable sticker of his head placed over Thomas Jefferson's. I sure appreciate those colorful characters of olden tymes.
posted by PepperMax at 9:05 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by PepperMax at 9:05 AM on May 4, 2011
"I wonder if people who love him and people who vote for Harper is a positive correlation."
Oh, I'm pretty sure there are a lot of Don Cherry fans who are not resident in Calgary Southwest.
posted by Kurichina at 9:45 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh, I'm pretty sure there are a lot of Don Cherry fans who are not resident in Calgary Southwest.
posted by Kurichina at 9:45 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
About a week ago, Ron dished out an ultra burn to Cherry during Boston / Montreal.
Background:
1) Don Cherry is "puffy" with a large head.
2) Don's suit had a yellow / black flowery pattern on it with the usual accessories.
Joke:
Ron: "You're looking rather Fabrege tonight."
Don: "Ya about the Canadiens.. Wait, what did you say?"
Ron: "Never mind."
posted by sleslie at 12:47 PM on May 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
Background:
1) Don Cherry is "puffy" with a large head.
2) Don's suit had a yellow / black flowery pattern on it with the usual accessories.
Joke:
Ron: "You're looking rather Fabrege tonight."
Don: "Ya about the Canadiens.. Wait, what did you say?"
Ron: "Never mind."
posted by sleslie at 12:47 PM on May 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
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