OK, so I am British, and live in Toronto, therefore I 'follow' and 'support' the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL, and the Mississauga St. Micheals Majors in the OHL. However, because his uncle likes the Penguins, so does my six year old son, so once again the Stanley Cup finals are fraught for us, as the Penguins and Redwings take it down to the last game.... exciting stuff.
Really, though my off topic post is more about Mr Don Cherry, if your a Canadian or U.S. hockey fan he probably needs no introduction, if your not, then see his entry on wikipedia.
What I would just like to comment on is the respect he shows for the Canadian armed forces, and principally their casualties and war dead. On every Hockey Night In Canada on prime time CBC, during his Coaches Corner spot, he will pay his respects and talk about the latest young Canadian to die in service. As someone who spent 10 years in the Royal Navy and then 6 more years in the British Army as a reservist, and who has luckily only lost one colleague in Iraq (although my ex-unit lost another in Afghanistan, but I did not know her), I love the fact that Don speaks of, and for these people. Really you would never ever see a TV personality on prime time saturday night TV in the UK getting all choked up talking about these young men he has never met. And its not for show either, this guy is genuine. See the video for last nights (game 6) Coaches Corner here at CBC and watch it to the end, then read the comments below.
Afghanistan is not a 'popular' war in Canada, but the people of Canada get behind their armed forces and show solidarity and support, something the citizens of my country of birth could think about doing !
Anyway, enough of this bizzare of topic post - props, kudos and a 'bravo zulu' to Don Cherry, all round good egg and snappy dresser as they would say in the RN.
And Go Penguins ! our fingers and toes are all crossed for the final game......
2 comments:
Canadian men and WOMEN are out fighting and losing thier lives. And yes, Don Cherry rocks!
Cathy
Forgive my omission, it is very true, I guess I am blinkered because I am old, when I was in the forces women did not do front line jobs, but note the only causalty I personally know from Iraq was a female Staff Sgt, and the only loss of my old unit in Afghanistan was a female too :-(
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