MONTREAL (AP) -- Jacques Demers, who coached the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup in 1993 and was later a general manager in the NHL, admits in a newly released biography that he is illiterate.
Amazing that he was able to cover up for so many years and be a success in the NHL.
I had respect before, and even more so now. Takes a brave man to admit those kind of things, and makes his accomplishments all the more great. If I were a team who needs a new bench boss, I'd try to give him a job behind bench STAT. And if you make him a GM, he'll hire guys like Fletcher and Feister (you can't argue with what the latter has done in Tampa).
'93....THAT was a fun series (but I'm biased).
When we've been here ten thousand years... Bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise... Then when we've first begun.
You wanted the best, you got... Out of Context Quote of the Week.
"I have no reason left to live. Now where the hell does this 7 go?" (Spank E)
The ESPN version, although it's the same story (well, it's AP) had a sidebar listing literacy rates in the US and Canada, as well as different levels. I was amazed at just how low they were, but disappointed more than anything else. I tip my cap to Demers, and it makes what he did even more impressive.
This must be pretty embarrassing to all the teams who employed Demers all these years. How stringent is a hiring process when a functional illiterate can be hired several times?
On a fun note, Claude Julien noted that his players had a writing capacity test ready for him at practice last week, so he had a good laugh about it.
On the flip side, congrats to ABC for hiring Tim McGraw to tailor the lyrics to "I like it, I love it" for every halftime highlight show throughout the "Monday Night Football" season. Just last week, my buddy House and I were discussing Cosell's classic highlight narratives in the '70s, and how nobody had approached them since, and I told House, "Only one thing could ever come close, and I know it's a long shot, but what if ABC hired Tim McGraw to tailor the lyrics to 'I Like it, I Love It' for each week of NFL highlights throughout the season?" And wouldn't you know, it happened! See, dreams can come true. --- Bill Simmons, www.sportsguy.net
Originally posted by Big BadThis must be pretty embarrassing to all the teams who employed Demers all these years. How stringent is a hiring process when a functional illiterate can be hired several times?
On a fun note, Claude Julien noted that his players had a writing capacity test ready for him at practice last week, so he had a good laugh about it.
Embarrassing, I dunno. I don't think they should feel embarrassed that they hired a qualified coach/GM who did his job well and won lots of games and even cups.
I guess since he was a known name and commodity he didn't have to fill in any job application forms really. I bet they hardly use those in the pro-sports for that kind of stuff anyways. And since you can always say you take the contract proposal to your lawyer I don't think that would have been a problem. So again, I don't think it's embarrassing at all.
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Lecavalier, Richards, and St. Louis are flashes in the pan? I doubt it. They're all top level players and have been for a few years. And calling Roberto Luongo and Jose Theodore "weak" is just not true, especially in Luongo's case.
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