It doesn't seem to matter very much what Don Cherry says because he seems to be as popular as ever. A poll I conducted recently indicates that 77% of respondents either liked that he spoke his mind, felt he was one of the most knowledgeable people in hockey or didn't necessarily agree with him but found him entertaining. Only 15% of people thought the CBC should fire him.
I guess I must be in the minority. I think if an NBC basketball analyst trashed European NBA players he would be history. Can you imagine a Fox analyst making negative comments about Puerto Rican baseball players? Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder got fired in 1988 for saying that blacks were "bred to be the better athlete because ... the slave owner would breed his big woman so that he would have a big black kid."
But Don Cherry keeps getting away with it year after year. He cleverly wraps his xenophobic views around our national sport and the flag. But it's still wrong and the CBC tolerates it because he makes them so much money.
