The UFC 96 odds go this weekend, but Don Cherry and Ovechkin are making headlines as the biggest bout of the week.
Well, NHL betting fans, I’m pissed at Donald S. Cherry. Believe it or not, that’s a first. I never would’ve bet at the sportsbook on this emotional 180.
I’ve always been a huge Cheery fan — I own every one of his DVDs and, even when his rants got a bit out of hand, I wrote him off as a wily old guy with old-fashioned views. On Saturday, though, he just went too far, ripping European players as usual and sounding off on the best player in the game, Alexander Ovechkin. Cherry shocked online betting fans by saying kids should act like Jason Strudwick (and fight) rather than celebrate goals like Alexander Ovechkin.
Grapes, the NHL, not to mention the world, is passing you by. There’s nothing wrong with what Ovie is doing. It’s not like he’s going crazy and taunting the other team like Ilya Kovalchuk did in the past; Alex just loves to play hockey. There’s no one better for the game right now than a dynamic young sniper who can’t contain his joy night in, night out.
In a way, I blame the CBC more than I blame Cherry…it’s a public broadcaster — Canada’s answer to PBS. Why would it allow Cherry to keep pushing the same agenda?
Online betting fans should support what Ovechkin does (not just on the ice, but for you at the sportsbook…let’s be honest). And for the silly detractors chirping him, saying stuff like “he shoots too much”…go find another sport, ’cause you clearly don’t follow hockey. Asking a pure goal scorer — who gets paid to shoot as often as he can, whenever he’s open — is like complaining that Tim Lincecum “throws too much.”
