Even Ron gets in on the act

Not only did last week’s Coach’s Corner feature another Montréal Canadiens tie (with a somewhat incongruous Tasmanian Devil), but in response to the recent back-and-forth between Don Cherry and Alex Ovechkin, even Don’s co-host Ron MacLean got in on the silly costumes act this week. (The oversized plastic sunglasses are a parody of Alex’s costume during the shootout challenge at this year’s All-Star Game, incidentally.)

Evidently Don didn’t take too kindly to someone else encroaching on his domain of awful clothing, or something, since about four seconds after Ron put the sunglasses on, Don ripped them off his face and threw them across the stage in a fit of “I’m trying to be serious here!”

Well, if that isn’t the tea cosy calling the lace doily lavender.

Don Cherry at the World Baseball Classic

Continuing his recent love affair with baseball, Don Cherry threw out the ceremonial first pitch before last week’s World Baseball Classic game in which Italy eliminated Canada by a score of 6-2. The clip was shown during last week’s Coach’s Corner segment; unfortunately Don didn’t turn towards the camera enough to glimpse the full glory of his cap and tie, but at least the crazy red velvet (or whatever) of his suit jacket is visible enough.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

On anybody else, this would rank as one of the most egregious violations of good taste ever to have been perpetrated. On Don Cherry, this is just another Hockey Night in Canada.

Note especially: the amazingly loud yellow shirt, the great St. Patrick’s Day hat (which Don had to take off a few minutes into the segment since it was even preventing himself from concentrating), the terrible triple-breasting on the suit jacket itself, the tie with green beer and shamrocks, and the inferior-quality handkerchief in the breast pocket.

Baseball and tradition

In recognition of the Canada-USA game at the World Baseball Classic, Don Cherry presents himself in a sedate black suit (to mourn the Canadian loss?) but spiced up with a baseball-themed tie:

During the segment, Don had some hilarious things to say on the subject of tradition. After last week, Grapes took a bit of a drubbing in the media regarding some stupid and racist things he said about Alexander Ovechkin’s tendency to celebrate goals by jumping up and down and throwing himself into the boards. Well, tonight (after starting off well by saying that Olli Jokinen was Russian—that’s a Finnish name if I’ve ever heard one), Don responded to his critics by bloviating about tradition in baseball as compared to tradition in hockey. If I understand Don’s point correctly, baseball is superior to hockey because it hangs on to its silly traditions longer and takes them more seriously. Add in the requisite amount of racism and xenophobia, plus hilarious winners like a shouted “I know what I’m talking about!”, and voila (or as Grapes would say, “Look”), you’ve got a segment of Coach’s Corner. (What a hypocrite this guy is—he doesn’t like in touch icing, so what, he doesn’t like traditions when they injure Toronto Maple Leafs players? I can’t figure this out.)

Anyway, here’s the video of the incident from tonight’s Coach’s Corner. Enjoy at your peril.