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The stereotypes are true: We really are a nation of shallow, narrow-minded, beer-swilling, puck-chasing hosers.

Proud of it, too.

Confirmation comes in the high-collared, low-browed form of Don Cherry making the CBC's list of "The Ten Greatest Canadians" of all time, as voted upon by some 140,000 citizens of the Great White North.

Oh Canada, woe Canada, you have spoken. You have accorded Cherry a place in the pantheon, alongside Tommy Douglas, Sir John A. Macdonald, Terry Fox, Frederick Banting, Lester Pearson, Alexander Graham Bell, David Suzuki, Pierre Trudeau and Wayne Gretzky.

In the next few weeks, Cherry has a chance — outside, but anything's possible — of emerging as our nation's choice, our No.1 go-to guy, our face, our "greatest," whatever that might mean.

There is much, obviously, to like about Cherry. Underneath the bombast resides a man of considerable charity and charm. Many Canadians view him as the voice of the common man, the Average Joe who tells it like it is, unafraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and the maple leaf over his heart.

But there is much not to like about him, too. He has skirted the edges of racism in his anti-European and anti-Quebec rants, and there are many in hockey who believe he has single-handedly retarded true progress in our game.

To some, he is a dangerous, hidebound dinosaur fighting to protect his dwindling turf, with the CBC complicit in the continuing offence.

To some, his act is quintessential warts-and-all Canadiana. To others, he's an embarrassing buffoon.

Speak Out: Greatest Canadian

There are some parents who won't allow their kids to watch Coach's Corner. There are others who actually use him as a role model, beyond hockey.

"Controversial and contentious, whatever some may think of Don Cherry," says The Greatest Canadian website, "he has earned himself an indelible place as a Canadian icon."

Think about it, though. He wasn't a Hall of Fame player or coach but owes his popularity — which is hardly a synonym for "greatness" — to a Saturday night TV podium that a politician or preacher, pundit or punk would die for.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., the people's network, as much as Cherry himself, created this seven-second-delay monster/cash cow.

Gretzky makes the Top 10 on merit. Hockey is us and he is the best of us, The Great One.

The CBC's final 50 included Bobby Orr at No. 19, Maurice (the Rocket) Richard at No. 23 and Mario Lemieux at No. 38 — but how did Gordie Howe not make the cut?

Pro wrestler Bret (the Hitman) Hart made it at No. 39 and is among the list of advocates who will plump for their nominees among the final 10 in coming days and weeks. His man — Cherry, naturally.

Douglas, the father of medicare, got the first advocacy treatment last night, with broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos making the case, and will be followed by Gretzky tomorrow, former MP Deborah Grey doing the supportive honours. Hart makes his pitch for Cherry next Monday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m.

Viewers can vote throughout the series at http://www.cbc.ca/greatest, or at 1-866-303-8683, as it progresses through all 10 candidates, leading up to the grand finale Monday, Nov. 29.

We Canadians like to laugh at ourselves, at each other and with each other — on the list are John Candy, Rick Mercer, Jim Carrey and Mike Myers. We are family and we are funny.

Maybe Cherry is really more about our capacity for fun, in all its masquerades, than the often life-and-death business of hockey.

Maybe a 70-year-old man who dresses up in garish outfits, makes outrageous and often insensitive comments, huffs and puffs and apologizes for nothing, maybe that person, in a nutshell, is who we want to see ourselves as and — evidently — how we want to be seen.

Similar "greatest" polls have been conducted, or are under way, elsewhere. The British made Winston Churchill their choice, the Germans voted for Konrad Adenauer. Nelson Mandela is favoured in South Africa. The smart money is on Vincent van Gogh in the Netherlands, Antonin Dvorak in the Czech Republic.

Statesmen, leaders, painters, composers, geniuses all, a who's who of "greatness."

You're in some fine company, Grapes.

Get the players and owners back on the same page, Coach's Corner back on the air, and you might actually deserve it.

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Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.

I saw the Tommy Douglas one yesterday and it was quite informative. But, Don Cherry.... something must be wrong in the way they chose the top 10.

I watched the same programme in UK in 2002 and it was quite good. The thing which I really liked about was how they presented the information about the person and the quality of people who made their case for their hero.

I guess these kind of programmes are one way to know more about Canada.

Daks