Pitarresi: Cherry wins us over

So, yesterday, I cut up Don Cherry a little bit for what he had to say about D-Day.

 

I thought it was very nice that he took time to pay tribute to the heroes of that time, but I took him to task for going over the top and insulting everyone involved in the invasion who wasn’t Canadian.

 

So what happens? During his Coach’s Corner segment during the sixth game of the Stanley Cup finals between Detroit and Pittsburgh last night, he let us know again that, right or wrong, smart or dumb, he is all about passion, loyalty, patriotism – whether you think it is misguided or not – and being real.

 

Cherry began a tribute to Canadian soldier Alexandre Peloquin, 20, recently killed in Afghanistan. A photo of the young man, in uniform, was shown on the screen, and then Cherry began reading from a piece of paper. He barely got it done. He mentioned  the soldier’s parents – this kid was French-Canadian, which makes it all the more amazing if you know Cherry’s history with Quebecois - giving some details and then breaking down and crying. “I love him,” he said through his tears. The camera cut away and CBC went to a commercial, far sooner that scheduled I’m pretty sure.

 

I couldn’t believe it, but I could. It’s Don Cherry – loudmouth lout and big-hearted promoter of rock-solid values, visor-hating, foreigner-disparaging Neanderthal, big teddy bear of a great guy. He really ticked me off Saturday, then he made me love him all over again Tuesday.