Raise the Hammer

The name of this city is "Hamilton" not "Youngstown." Those are in Ohio and New York and were not established upon sport franchises. How about Bob goes and creates the Raleigh Redhats? Then, as a few RTH writers pointed out, we can take a cue from the Saskatchewan Roughriders, buy the team, and run it responsibly and transparently. No mediators needed then.

How has a situation that started out so productively, progressively and positively for Hamilton's future, turned into an issue about nothing else but the Ticats? I actually love the Ticats being a part of the Hamilton fabric, and I go to games whenever I can, but WTF? What city in their right mind gears their economic development to the whims of an unsuccesful football team owner? A prided team, but financially propped up, none-the-less.

We can barely fill Copps Coliseum during concerts now because of our proximity to Toronto. What in the hell are we going to do with 45,000 empty seats (more than double Copps' seating capacity) 355 days a year? The lifespan of a stadium is what...25 years? That's three Grey Cups (seven other teams to host). I don't believe that three Grey Cups and 10 home games a year are worth the investment (at a loss to other much-need projects), the maintenance, the environmental damage and financial loss of this misguided EM stadium.

And what of the extra platoon of police that will be needed to patrol the exits after Ticat games and keep the DUI "driveway to driveway" drivers from killing someone? Oh, wait...Mercanti offered free hotel rooms to post-game drunkers right? That's gotta be a big hotel.

Anyone out there working in stadium building? Can a WH stadium be built to accommodate 15,000-20,000 temporary seats for Grey Cup bids? And is 45,000 even enough? Cohon states that it's the minimum seating needed for a Grey Cup - but even Regina (population less than 200,000 in 2003) had over 50,000. What's to say that we would even win Grey Cup bids?

Bullying and spin doctoring aside, I have tried to see both sides of the economic argument, short-term and long-term, desipte being a firm believer in the WH plan. I have given Bob Young every proverbial benefit of the doubt, but this Cohon letter is SO inappropriate (and not even accurate). We are not the City of Bob Young, we are the City of Hamilton.

Seven years of losses? Bob Young is not doing this out of philanthropy. Maybe it's written off against his other profits, I don't know. But no one runs a company in the red for seven years. And I no longer trust his judgment, motivation or actions.

I want Hamilton to include the Ticats. But my desire for Hamilton to be successful overall over-rides a football franchise, particularly an unprofitable one. Jeez, it's not like they employ thousands of people and provide millions of dollars of economic spin-off. Essentially, they're a cultural asset, like waterfalls and conservation areas. But a whole lot more fun.

Can we please get back to pre-Bob Young shenanigans? In fact, let's skip the whole stadium thing (they're not sustainable, anyway, and besides - I've heard that they really stir things up), fix up IWS including improved parking and shuttles, build a beautiful WH Velodrome and Amphitheatre in time for the Pan Am Games, and let things unfold from there.