November 03, 2005

Unread

Everyone these days is coming out of the closet- as illiterate. First it was "American Idol" champ Fantasia Barrino, and now it's former NHL coach Jacques Demers, who admits in a new book that he has never known how to read or write- though it didn't stop him from coaching five different NHL teams, serving as general manager of another, and even winning a Stanley Cup. But unlike Fantasia, Demers did not actually write the book in which he admits he can't read.

The NHL is back from its year-long work stoppage and seems to be doing quite well. But it doesn't say a lot for those arguing for the primacy of hockey as a sport that Demers was able to thrive as a coach without actually being literate, much less that no one else in the game caught on in all that time. It sort of reminds me of that awful Woody Allen movie where he plays a director who suddenly goes blind, yet gets through the film, improbably, without anyone noticing.

I mean, it's hard to imagine a football coach handling the intricacies of an NFL playbook without being able to write or read, although Mike Tice has attempted to do so in Minnesota for the past four years.

Posted by Stephen Silver at November 3, 2005 09:28 PM
Comments

I had to say it:

"Me, fail English? But that's unpossible!"

Posted by: Esther at November 3, 2005 11:47 PM
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