Comment 81761

By Vod_Kann (registered) | Posted October 16, 2012 at 15:36:35

Before I begin full disclosure:

-Lifelong Ticats ticket holder probably been to 200 games (with plans for 200 more)

-Resident of Bronte and not a Hamilton taxpayer (but a Provincial and Federal one)

-I am not an architect, stadium designer or sports manager, nor do I pretend to be.

Now in defense of the design.....

I don't know how many times I have sat at IWS and thought "If only my seat was bigger, had more legroom and an armrest and I didn't miss a quarter of football to buy a pretzel, this place would be perfect. I think they were simply trying to keep the sightlines, coziness and intimacy that makes IWS as good as it is.

I guess I am not the only one- During the location debate the Spec took an informal poll of fans at a Ticats game as to which location they liked and there was a large contingent that answered "doesn't matter where but don't mess with the sightlines". (Now I realize that for the sake of player safety we will never be as close in the new place but the effort to get it close as possible is there).

The other thing I love is everybody is there to watch football. There's no corporate deals being made by suits, nobody goes to a Ticats game "to be seen". When the cats are doing well, the place is euphoric, when they struggle, it oozes with angst and frustration (There's a reason why I haven't been to a Leafs or Jays game in many years).

I have this worry that the new place will become too (I hate using this word because it is labelling) "yuppy-ish". Too much of the trendy "place to be". That could still happen but the design makes me hope that we will still have that Ivor Wynne feel when I sit in my seat. When this started 3 years ago I never thought we get remotely close to that.

You probably think I'm crazy and don't get where I'm coming from and I'm fine with that. I just don't think everybody realizes what a special place IWS is to many of us (and that's OK because I'm sure there are buildings in this city others hold dear that I don't think twice about).

If you don't like the design blame me- I'm the one who e-mailed the cats and told them "Don't mess with a design that works". Blame people who told the spec that sightlines mattered more than anything else. Blame the sports announcers who state that Ivor Wynne is the best place to watch a football game in Canada.

Comment edited by Vod_Kann on 2012-10-16 15:41:03

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