Don Cherry on Ovechkin Celebrations

I think just about everyone inside the sport of hockey would agree that if they could have any guy on their team, it would be Alexander Ovechkin. Its more than just his incomparable goal scoring and playmaking ability, it’s the passion with which he plays the game. He plays all parts of the game, plays for his teammates and throws his body around to contribute to his team in more ways than just goal scoring. NHL fans love the guy because he plays like he CARES. It doesn’t seem like too much—just act like it’s more than a job and if you’re having fun then show that you’re having fun.

Mr Cherry: Foot, meet mouth

Whether celebrations in soccer are automatically a bad thing is a discussion for another day. But what in the world is wrong with having fun and showing emotion in the game?

Would Cherry prefer to adopt the rules of the NFL (No Fun League)? Maybe he would like for the NHL to start assessing a 2 minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct if someone’s celebrations are deemed excessive. Better yet, maybe he would prefer that only international players were penalized for the celebrations. I think that would pretty much pacify the man who likes to wear 1960’s curtains, drapes and couches as suits.

I hear people are getting upset because yet again, he’s attempting to prove that he’s a racist bigot. The problem is that this isn’t about being politically correct or not, this is about being flat out wrong (yet again). I have no problem with Cherry being the Canadian version of Howard Stern. In fact, when it comes to being PC or not, most people just need to grown thicker skin and get over it. Come on, when someone says that they are “offended” by something Cherry says, don’t you think that person needs to get a life? If you are so sensitive that you are offended by something a television personality says on the air, that’s not the networks problem—that’s YOUR problem.