At 80, Don Cherry still hasnt run out of stories, as his new book Straight Up & Personal shows. But he doesnt get to share them with Ron MacLean as much these days.The two are spending less time together, with MacLean busy with his Hometown Hockey duties.In his book, subtitled The World According to Grapes, Cherry fondly reminisces about their road trips and bucket of beer, six apiece, on ice after Hockey Night in Canada sessions.When things went wrong on the set of Hockey Night in Canada, and it happens a lot, when I would be in a tantrum, Ron would hold up six fingers, meaning six cold ones waiting in the (hotel) room, and I would say, Youre right and calm down, Cherry writes.Popcorn for MacLean, peanuts for Cherry, a game on the TV and a chin wag. Sometimes heated, mostly fun times.Such social time is at a premium now.We do Coachs Corner and then hes gone, Cherry said in a recent interview. So it has changed, I must admit.Before we used to sit together and watch every game ... every Saturday wed sit together for three hours. Sometimes now we dont sit together for two minutes, he added.Traditionally the two have shared Saturday nights and the playoffs together.We dont know what were going to do in the playoffs this year, Cherry said. But in the playoffs, were together from April 8 until June 19 every other day. You do get close, you cant help but get close.Otherwise, Cherry says not much has changed under the new Rogers broadcast regime although he doesnt see the other fellow hockey analysts because they are on a separate set.Its not quite the same because we were all together there before. But I have to admit theyve never told me what to do. I dont think they quite understand me quite the same but theyre never come and said You cant do this, you cant do that.I had a problem with them at the start about the time, as you saw ... They were a little upset over that.Its Cherrys fourth book, but first that he has written alone. Grapes: A Vintage View of Hockey, was written with Stan Fischler while he collaborated with Al Strachan on Don Cherrys Hockey Stories and Stuff and Don Cherrys Hockey Stories, Part II.Cherry wrote this one longhand, often in the middle of the night, starting last fall. An irregular sleeper, he would find himself up at 3:30 in the morning and start writing.I had a grand time doing it, he said.Straight Up & Personal covers a lot of ground, including a painful gout-ridden expedition to Afghanistan (he credits comedian Jimmy Mac for getting him through it) and his stint in Sochi, which left him praising the Russians.It opens with a near-death experience two years ago in the St. Lawrence River when Cherry had to be rescued after his canoe tipped over.I often wake up at night thinking of that water pouring into the canoe, said Cherry, who says he will never go on the water again without a life jacket.It also lays out Cherrys peripatetic minor-league career with special attention on his time under Eddie Shore in the American Hockey Leagues Springfield — the Alcatraz of Hockey.Years later, Brian Kilrea told Cherrys daughter Cindy what Shore had said when he was asked about the animosity.Cherry never said a word back, but that look of insolence on his face said it all, said Kilrea, quoting Shore.Cherry paid dearly for that expression. He says he was singled out and harassed on and off the ice, calling his time in Springfield torture.I went from Lord Fauntleroy and left, I think, as Attila the Hun, he said. I really toughed up in those three years. I found out the world is very cruel.And I had an attitude for almost the rest of my life after that — youre not going to get me. I walked in there as a babe in the woods. It taught me what life is really about. Youve got to be tough.Viewers may not know that Cherry spent time in camp with the Leafs. As a minor leaguer, we were treated terrible in Toronto, he recalled. Really bad.Cherry also relates how he got his start in coaching. Retired from playing, he worked construction for two years until he was laid off. A friend, Bob Clarke, asked him to coach a high school team in Rochester.He didnt want to do it, but accepted after realizing he had nothing else to do.Thats where I learned to change lines, he said. That eventually led to a coaching job with the Rochester Americans, where Clarke was a co-owner, and Cherry was on his way.Cherry remains a Canadian icon, with a 1993 Ford F-150 pickup and a 1983 Lincoln in his modest garage. Today he cannot walk through an airport without being stopped for pictures and autographs.But he remembers when times were tough. Once asked what his greatest fear was, he replied unemployment.The feeling when youre unemployed, you think everybodys against you. You start thinking that youre less than a man because everybody else is working ... Dark clouds come into your mind when you cant get a job, I tell you.I often wonder, boy, how lucky I was. Cherry says he had fun writing this book but it will be his last.I like to leave it having a lot of fun. Thats the big thing. Its like Coachs Corner. As soon as Coachs Corner is not a lot of fun, then I wont do it.So far so good, on that score.They leave me alone and thats why its fun, he said. As soon as people start telling me what to do and stuff like that, then it wont be fun.— Straight Up & Personal, by Don Cherry, Doubleday Canada, 195 pages, $29.95---Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter Air Force 1 07 Norge .2 million in 2012, according to tax returns the league has submitted. Air Force 1 Hvit Norge . The alleged sexual assault is believed to have happened over the weekend of Feb. 1, when the hockey team was in Thunder Bay for two games against Lakehead University. The criminal investigation branch of the Thunder Bay Police Service is leading the investigation with help from Ottawa police. http://www.airforce1norge.com/nike-juvenate-norge.html. The lightning strike was in the parking lot of Crew Stadium on Saturday night, but its not known if the off-duty lieutenant was struck directly, Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said. The firefighter, identified as Lt. Nike Tanjun Norge .J. Ellis have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year contract. Air Force 1 Norge .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday.CALGARY - Players on both sides of the football look to either establish or re-establish themselves as impact players in the CFL when the Calgary Stampeders host the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday. Calgarys Bo Levi Mitchell and Montreals Troy Smith will be the starting quarterbacks in a CFL season-opener for the first time in their careers. Both want to reinforce their No. 1 status. You can watch the game live in the first half of a doubleheader on TSN and TSN GO at 3:00pm et/Noon pt. or listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 Montreal. Former NFL star Chad Johnson will begin the revival of his football career as an Alouettes receiver. Prominent Stampeder receiver Nik Lewis is back after missing over half of last season with a broken leg. The 32-year-old slotback feels he has something to prove. The sentiment can also apply to Tom Higgins, who returns as a CFL head coach with Montreal after six years working as the leagues director of officiating. His last coaching stint was with the Stampeders from 2005 to 2007 and Calgarys record in his final season was 7-10-1. Its serendipitous his first game back will be at McMahon. "When you think about, why not?" Higgins said Friday. "I knew how to get here. The bus driver went the wrong way and I said no, no, you make a right here." Theres also players still feeling out their new teams such as Josh Bell, a former Lion who will make his Stampeder debut at starting safety Saturday. "I want to see how we adjust really when we have success and when we dont have success," Bell said. "How do we adjust? Thats the biggest thing in football." The Stampeders topped the CFL with a 14-4 record last season, but were upset 35-13 at home in the West Division final by the eventual Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Montreal Alouettes went 8-10 and lost 19-16 in the East semifinal to Hamilton. Star quarterback Anthony Calvillo missed the final 10 games of the season with a concussion and subsequently retired in the off-season. Smith, a former Heisman Trophy winner with Ohio State, got a crash course in CFL football going 2-1 to conclude the season. "What you do know about Troy is he brings a level of leadership, he has a very strong arm and hopefully he has a cast around him that he doesnt have to carry the football team," Higgins said. "If we do our job properly, hopefully we can spread that football around enough that he doesnt always feel he has to be on top of his game for us to win." Mitchell won his three starts and came off the bench to win another in 2014. Stampeders coach and general manager John Hufnagel handed the 24-year-old the ball for the opener, but indicated he could have just as easily given it to Drew Tate. "It was a photo finish between he and Drew," Hufnagel said. "I said earlier in the week when I made the decision both quarterbacks will play football for us this year. It just so happens Bo is getting the first start." "He has earned the oopportunity to play.dddddddddddd Hes won every game hes played as a Calgary Stampeder, so thats not a bad track record." Both Mitchell and Smith recognize opportunities to be a CFL starter are limited and they must perform to earn more. "Every game, every play, every snap, every rep is concreting or cementing who you are," Smith said. Added Mitchell: "Now that Ive been given the job, Im going to make sure I keep it, run with it and have a lot of fun." Lewis broke his fibula Aug. 17 and did not play again in 2013. It was the first time in a decade as a Stampeder he was unable to produce over 1,000 receiving yards. Lewis was annoyed Friday that hed been made a designated international for Saturday, which could limit the slotbacks playing time because he cant replace a Canadian on the field. "I dont make these decisions. I just play football," Lewis said. "In this business, its what have you done lately. Last year, I wasnt able to play, so Ive got to continue to go out and get better and prove that I can play. "Ive never had an injury like I had last year, so I am so motivated to get back on the field and just show it is possible. Maybe Week 1, well unleash the beast." Stampeder offensive lineman Dan Federkeil will sit out Saturdays game. He took a hit to the neck in practice this week and has had a concussion before. Hufnagel wants to be cautious with the Medicine Hat, Alta., native. So with internationals Stanley Bryant and Edwin Harrison both suiting up on the offensive line, Hufnagel said "it disrupted our ratio a little bit." "I had to make one of our receivers the DI," Hufnagel explained. "Nik will be the DI, but were still going to have three on the field and they all are going to have their roles. Its not like Nik wont be playing the game." Lewis is considered one of the CFLs colourful, and at times controversial, players. Montreals Johnson could join him in that category. The six-time Pro Bowler and one-time "Dancing With the Stars" contestants Twitter posts often include "sensitive material" warnings. He changed surname to Ochocinco in 2008 only to return to Chad Johnson in 2012. He spent 10 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, but hasnt played a game since 2011. The 36-year-old wide receiver wasnt among the handful of Alouettes available to the media at McMahon on Friday. Smith indicated Johnson is still adjusting to the Canadian game. "Chads OK, man hes done great," the quarterback said. "Hes accepting the different nuances of the game and tried to perfect them the best he could, but his backbone and his foundation will be guys like S.J. Green, guys like Duron Carter and guys like Brandon Whitaker who can give him the ins and outs . . . on things he can do during the game if hes not feeling too up to par with whats going on. "We have an incredible group of veteran guys who do nothing but help tremendously and Ive relied on them also." ' ' '