It sounded like he meant to say "blue-collar."

"Oh, I love Detroit, I love Hockeytown..."

Bull$%#&. That's like when Charles Barkley told Dan Patrick he loves ESPN. It's bad enough we have to deal with the national media hating all things Detroit...now it's the international media too.

This just makes me think of that South Park song, "Blame Canada!"

First of all, my eyes hurt after looking at that jacket. Jesus H. Christ, that is loud.

Secondly, pissing off Detroit fans is kind of a right of passage, isn't it?

Great start for Cherry. I loved it from my first glimpse of that amazing jacket to his final "eh?"

I think that this might piss off a lot fewer people then everyone thinks, people in Detroit wouldn't be watching a show about hockey when they're not even watching the hockey.

I think he said something Detroit-bashing on CBC during the game too.

Being from the Detroit suburbs I take whatever he says with a grain of salt.

First off how can you take anything seriously from a man that wears a jacket like that? That is WAY past ANYTHING Craig Sager could even dream about wearing? I mean where do you even get a jacket like that? Is there some screwed up men's clothing store in Ottawa or something?

But onto his comments. I don't know if Don Cherry really knows what "red-neck" means. I am like the other poster. I think he meant "blue-collar" or soemthing similar. Maybe the colors of his coat messed with his mind and he mixed up his colored adjectives. From blue to red. Who knows?

But if you ask me what the problem is with people not showing up is:

1) Redwings tickets are pretty expensive. Tigers and Pistons ticket are pretty reasonable. But that is just part of the problem.

2) A really die-hard Redwings fan would pay the money. The trouble is that group has shrunk since the lock-out. The major overhaul of the NHL has turned people off.

Did I miss something? Is redneck an offensive term now?? What happened to all the Jeff Foxworthy stuff where it was ok to use the word?

I mean, I can understand it if some upstanding Detroit city-dwellers get upset about being mislabelled, but if people are 'country folk' don't they gladly call themselves rednecks?

Maybe he's wrong about classifying the people of Detroit as rednecks, but I just don't see a huge controversy here...

Redneck doesn't seem nearly as bad as when Wilbon refers to Detroit as "beirut."

@odessasteps:
Wilbon talks about beer pong?

I think Cherry meant it literally, as in people having "red necks," what with all the murder in Deadtown.

It's sad when hockey has to be promoted by clowns like this guy instead of emphasizing the merits of the sport. Barry Melrose looks like a potential Secretary of State by comparison. But, hey, if it creates controversy and brings attention to hockey (and to ESPN), then Cherry and the TV execs got their wish.

I have to agree with Justin about the people not showing up. Red Wings tickets are expensive compared to the Tigers and Pistons. I believe another reason why people aren’t showing up is that the Pistons and Tigers are also good. When the Red Wings were winning their cups the Tigers and Pistons were terrible, so the Red Wings were really the only game in town. Now that the Pistons and Tigers are worth watching people are going elsewhere.

As a Detroiter, I'm actually not that offended. I don't think he has any idea what he's talking about Redneck wise, but his assessment of why people aren't showing up to games... makes enough sense.

Atlanta, Nashville, and to lesser extents Raleigh and Tampa are redneck hockey towns. Detroit? Not so much...

Off topic, but is it just me or is Jeanne Zelasko's hair ridiculously large? Kinda reminds me of this...

http://b8.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/01516/87/12/1516012178_s.jpg

@jay
and anon 3:05

Way to throw the stereotypes out there, good job. /sarcasm
Being Southern doesn't automatically make someone a redneck, dumbasses. I don't know anyone who calls themselves a redneck.

And jay, I suspect you get your views about Southerners from "comedian" Larry the Cable Guy. He's not representatve of the South or even from the South. Unless Nebraska is concidered southern. He's a walking stereotype.

@ Anon 3:46

Did I ever use the words 'South' or 'Southerners' in my last post? Stop putting words in my mouth.

I'm talking about whether or not the word 'redneck' is now suddenly offensive. I'm illustrating my point by saying that people, regardless of their geographic location -- 'rednecks' are not confined to the US South -- often identify themselves as renecks a la Jeff Foxworth or that country song "Redneck Woman."

In Cherry's dictionary, "redneck" is a compliment. To him it means the hard-working salt-of-the-earth regular joe. If he calls you a redneck that means he likes you. The people he doesn't like are "left-wing liberal pinkos" (he's the only person I know of who still says "pinko" unironically).

I guess he isn't aware that Americans aren't used to his schtick and take what he says at face value. If he gets wind of any complaints about what he said, he'll just blame it on pinkos.

Darren McCarty = Brandon Inge

I live in Detroit. Because we get CBC on cable & over-the-air here, we've seen this song-and-dance before from Grapes. Will & Justin have this bang-on, but don't get lost in the message he's conveying. This is part of his "anti-European player" rant that he normally goes to about Euro players being soft and not tough or physical. This is no big deal. Mayoral text messages are a big deal.

It's an absolute joke to call Detroit hockeytown. Fine, the lockout and the economy hurt attendance there.

But, here is the thing, attendance is up throughout the league from pre-lockout days. Teams are actually making money. I can accept Detroit not selling out regular season games, but not selling out a playoff game is outrageous.

Plenty of US cities are suffering economically and still selling out games. Case in point: Buffalo. They have sold out nearly every game the last three years and last year in the playoffs, there were 10,000 people watching a home game outside of the arena on a big screen.

@anonymous 4:28 P.m.

What the rest of the nation is now experiencing in this down turn of the economy we here in Michigan have had for the past few years. It's not an all of a sudden thing. And I totally agree with you to not sell out a playoff game is crazy.

I just did an experiment. I tried to see if I could get tickets for tonights game. No dice. None available right now. So I tried the next game. Game 3.(Which is a week away.....that is nuts a week between playoff games???) Cheapest tickets available are $75 a piece. So if you take your son to a game you are looking at $150 just to get in the door. That doesn't include parking. Which is probably about $20 if you can find a good spot. In case you don't know there isn't stadium parking for the Joe. You have to find parking at lots throughout the downtown area.

Scratch my whole comment about the games. Game 3 is in Dallas. The next home game (if necessary) is game 5. I don't know where ticketmaster got those numbers. In any event the lowest price for a ticket is indeed $75. Compare that to the $12-$13 bleacher seats at Commerica park. Granted regular season Tigers games are nothing compared to playoff Wings games. But you get my point.

As a Detroiter, I'm actually not that offended. I don't think he has any idea what he's talking about Redneck wise

Don Cherry must have been to the Downtown Hoedown before, that's going on this weekend, at Hart Plaza. Or driven through Taylor. "Hockeytown" was a clever marketing campaign in the mid 90s that fit at the time because Red Wings games was the place to be seen. That's not the case anymore. High prices & early playoff exits have turned the Red Wings into the Atlanta Braves.

To anon at 3:46, I was born in the South, bred and the South, and in all likelihood will die in the South, so I wouldn't get all defensive if I were in your shoes.

Justin...Ticketmaster is right...Game 5 of the Western Conf. Finals ARE the third game...at the Joe!
It's always this wayon Ticketmaster. When I went to Carolina for the Cup Finals Game 4 in 2002, the ticket was labeled: Stanley Cup Finals - Carolina Game 2...
Plus, what kind of sports fan doesn't understand the concept of a seven-game series? Games 3/4 are ALWAYS hosted by the lower seeded team.

There is hockey in America? Where?

Cherry came on CBC today and said that to him "redneck" means someone who works hard and he wasn't aware that in the US it was a derogatory term. So he was going for "blue collar" ...

you idiots -- it's called schtick!
he just says it to get people riled up so they either love him or hate him, but they'll definitely want to hear what he says NEXT.
talk radio was built on the formula!
how stupid are you people?
if you don't like it - turn ESPN OFF!

Adding to the Red Wings attendance issues:

All the previous points raised I absolutely agree with, and I would like to add another factor that I don't often here and that's the concept of the VIP fan.

During the late 90's the Wings started up the Hockeytown theme and it fit (it still does) because of the large hockey-passionate fan base in Michigan (the only other place in the US that compares is the state of Minnesota). But with the influx of HOF's in 2002 and the rise in prices, having Red Wings tickets became less of a fan issue and more a status issue. These tickets were expensive and impossible to get, if you had them, you were somebody important.

What this did was price out the hockey-passionate fan and replaced them with the better financed casual sports fan. As the Pistons and then Tigers got better, the better financed casual sports fan went elsewhere, but the prices didn't come down, and the passionate-hockey fan had already discovered new ways to enjoy Wings hockey without getting season tickets.

That should be hear not here...fuck I'm tired!

Anon @ 1:53: I think you're being too kind to Michigan hockey fans by putting them in the same category as Minnesota's. The Minnesota high school tournament regularly sells out the Xcel Center (at least for Class AA games); in fact, the only way for the general public to get tickets for the AA games is to either get on the waiting list or hope one of the schools involved doesn't sell out their allotment (which isn't likely). And the Wild have yet to have a single non-sellout.

cock. balls.

for all you getting bent out of shape with this, please remember: THIS IS HOCKEY, DUMBASSES who gives a shit?

I don't understand some things here. Who is Don Cherry? and- wearing that coat doesn't make HIM a redneck? I don't understand some things here.

Bottom line: Say the word "redneck" and you won't offend people, only make them confused on what you meant.

1 Tommy Douglas
2 Terry Fox
3 Pierre Elliott Trudeau
4 Sir Frederick Banting
5 David Suzuki
6 Lester B. Pearson
7 Don Cherry
8 Sir John A. Macdonald
9 Alexander Graham Bell
10 Wayne Gretzky

How canada voted our greatest canadians. Don Cherry a greater canadian then our first prime minister or the guy who invented the phone or the greatest Hockey player of all time.

too bad AA doesn't keep track of his wardrobe. His saint Patty's day outfit was priceless.

Hockey >>> Football >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Other Sports

Spartandan:

Totally agree and am fully aware of Minnesota's love for hockey (I live in state now). Xcel's concourse is adorned with high school jerseys from all over the state (I think everyone of them is there, but I could be wrong).

But I would say the passion is somewhat different. Minnesota is more of a hockey-purist state, there passion is for the game, not a team. Remember, the North Stars were not selling out when they left for Dallas. That wasn't because Minnesota didn't care for hockey as much, they just didn't care for the North Stars (and especially management, essentially they did what Lions' fans can't).

I think in Michigan, the attachment to the Wings is stronger than Minnesota's attachment to the Wild.

Once again, their not there. And again...fuck I'm tired!

My Grandma called. She wants her Curtains back.