Now, there are going to be loads of people who think I am full of crap for saying that. Truth is, I hadn’t seen or heard of Don Cherry[wiki] before moving to Canada. Being a hockey fan south of the 49th, you have to realize that there is this border of ignorance as to what goes on in Canadian media. Unless you know people up here or make an effort to find out for yourself, you don’t get exposure to what goes on up north. That’s the simple truth.
So catching the latest episode of the Canucks Outsider yesterday, DaveO mentioned that Don Cherry has started podcasting. This isn’t completely the truth, but you can catch him and Brian Williams in your ear buds. Basically you get a snippet version of Grapeline, ripped straight from the airwaves and put into podcast form. I’ve listened to a handful of them, and they’re not too bad. Under ten minutes long, super short ads inserted here and there, and entirely not enough content.
I would have to say that it’s a podcast of a radio program that sounds like radio. That’s kinda of sad. And truth be told, the feed hasn’t been updated since this past march. I can’t find a website telling me anything new or different, so I’m unsure as to if I have the right feed or the show is no longer being podcasted. I was originally excited to get more Don Cherry because we never seem to get him during Canucks games when they are broadcast on CBC. Sure, he’s more of an east coast guy, but I’ve been getting a kick out of him.
Natives to his antics will probably say otherwise. I dig a guy who speaks his mind and ruffles some feathers, even if what he says is a load of crap sometime. I would even equate Cherry to watching the television show House[imdb]. Rude, blunt, and somewhat unforgiving for saying the things they say. Let’s all be thankful that Cherry isn’t in charge of saving people’s lives, but you can argue if the guy has some sort of addiction to pain pills and what not. In fact, I’d go as far to say that Cherry can make Hugh Laurie’s character on House appear sane.
Blogcritics made a post about Don Cherry today that sums up a lot of the love/hate relationship that many people have. No matter how you really feel about the guy, hockey would not be the same without him, not to mention the intense fashion sense the guy brings to the broadcasts. I think he’s the one guy in hockey that could wear glitter and completely get away with it. Chances are, he already has and I just don’t know it.
By the way, it took some good sleuthing in the iTunes podcast directory in order to find The Grapeline podcast. Here is the XML feed for it.