The first thing that occurs while observing the Ron MacLean-9/11 train wreck is, what would possess him to even go there? Why? What manner of thought process would so propel a person? The point, Ron? Trying to be creative, or something? Are you serious?
Watch the clip and he even says 'it's crazy to compare...". Yet, he does!!
Comparing real-life people (whether it be 9/11 or otherwise) to athletes on the field (or ice) of play??
What an amazing lack of judgment, tact and simple common sense. And no 'clarifications' will undo the damage. He said what he said. In fact, if you read the clarification, it makes things worse, reinforcing the merits of asking the question: why?
There is no answer unless one wants to engage in name-calling and labelling of an individual. He's someone I met and did a story on, years ago (we were both located in Oakville at the time) and at that point, the late 1980s and in subsequent occasional meetings seemed and was a warm, class act and perhaps still is. But he apparently has the fatal flaw of lacking tactful instincts, a sense of perspective or, even, a level of intelligence and depth of thought that would prevent a person from making an allusion of this nature.
We're talking life and death and equating it with . . . hockey playoffs??
All of this not surprising for the master of silly, juvenile and, increasingly, often in poor taste puns, a more than competent show host who over time (perhaps due to his own recognition of being seen as merely the straight man for Don Cherry) has become more and more opinionated - to his own detriment and embarrassment. You would never have, for instance, seen his Hockey Night In Canada (and now alas sometimes forgotten) predecessor Dave Hodge - now on TSN - make such remarks.
Bottom line: if you don't know what you're talking about, if you can't pick more realistic analogies, shut up.
