Raise the Hammer

Wow, wow, and wow. Good gawd, but you are a bevy of great minds! Yesterday's COW presentations were ASTOUNDING.

I am of the age (45) where I have never known Hamilton to be without the Tiger Cats. Myriad fond memories - understatement. So, yes, it is bitterswet to think of Hamilton not having them as part of the family. And if they do move to Burlington (which was probably the first choice, anyway; EM was just a hail mary at getting a really, really sweet deal, i.e. taking advantage of our sentimenality), we won't see another CFL team. If the Cats go elsewhere, I'm hopeful that Katz or some other lucrative business person could secure another expansion team. Or, the Regina model. Presumably, when the Stadium is built (I don't want to type "if" - I realize that we still have Troop and GTA hurdles to jump)it will be built with the capacity to add seating for a CFL team. Retractable roof would be grand, too.

I hope that Council isn't hanging their heads in doubt, thinking that they sent the Ticats away. They didn't. What if they had have built the EM stadium, purely because of the "tenant" issue, ignoring city building priorities, only to have Young complain in two years that he's still losing money, and fold the team? Then...we look for a new owner...and potential new owners say they would have to be crazy to invest in a suburban stadium and environment?

Young/Mitchell were under-handed and back-stabbing, pulling any and all strings that they could to get 7,000 parking spaces built over prime land that will provide millions in City revenue and good jobs (not part-time parking attendants). I truly wish that he hadn't bought the team, or hadn't heeded someone's horrible advice (maybe his own?) in his negotiating style with the City. It's painful to think of losing the Ticats - but my City, and kids' future come first.

Insofar as buying lots of Ticat tickets between now and the time Young plans to take the Cats away from us, great idea. LOADS of fun. Let's do it! But, to my knowledge, ticket sales haven't been a problem. If I'm wrong, and he sees his bottom line improving, then maybe he will re-consider, and take into account that ticket sales will be even higher at WH. THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. But has attendance been a problem? Young's marketing team was miles ahead of previous owners (of coures it costs LARGE to effectively advertise).

And if the Pan Am games are taken away from us for whatever reasons, any reason why we can't earmark some of the Future Fund monies to begin the WH vision? Rheem remediation? Amphitheatre? LRT? That's what the investors are interested in, and that's what our vision is.

p.s. - sorry 'bout the piece of a post above - must have hit an incorrect key

Comment edited by goin'downtown on 2010-08-11 09:23:36