Raise the Hammer

I sent this to TSN in response to their coverage of this evening's Ticat football game. I told them I'd post it online.

The "Great Stadium Debate" in Hamilton is a complex matter which involves 10s of millions of taxpayer dollars and the private interests of the Hamilton Tiger Cats, a local institution. You presented one side of that controversy through you half time interview with Ticat's owner Bob Young. You also allowed your on air personalities (Dunigan, Shultz et al) to present the same point of view as Mr. Young but with little or no understanding of the complicated nature of the discussion. I understand that TSN has a vested interest in keeping the Ticats in Hamilton and, as a long time supporter and frequent patron of the team at Ivor Wynne, I too sincerely hope that the team remains in our fair city. However, you are doing no service by misleading the Canadian pubic outside of Hamilton that there is but one legitimate point of view on this matter and that the Mayor and city council are somehow incompetent (which was the clear inference to be drawn from what your panel had to say) for not jumping at the opportunity to spend money developing a stadium at a site which is so clearly against the direction which council has taken and is, in fact, the contrary to the platform upon which they were elected i.e. to avoid further urban sprawl and to infill the existing city boundaries. For example, Mr. Dunigan (I believe it was him) mentioned that 10 sites were vetted by the team and the West Harbour was the least suitable from their point of view. However, only the West Harbour and East Mountain Earlobe sites were ever considered and nobody, aside from the Ticats, has ever seen the survey. Much of the money, which would make up the city's contribution to stadium development, will come from the Future Fund, a civic legacy from the sale of a city owned utility, monies which are overseen by a citizen's committee which directed that it could not be spent in support of the East Mountain site. I trust this message will make its way to the appropriate programmers and producers.

p.s. I also listened to some of the phone in on CHML and was appalled.