I drive by Frank Clair stadium every morning and I can't help but wonder, is this city done with CFL football for good?
Surely there has to be someone from the capital with hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank and a love for the game. I was too busy during my days at Algonquin drinking beer at the old Berts Bar to have taken a business course but I'm pretty sure that you can make money with a team in this city, providing it's done right.
For starters...more then one owner is bad news. Owners with kids are bad news. Ideally the ad in the paper should read as follows:
FTN (football team needed) Rich owner with some money to lose, must have passion for the game, must be able to repair stadium with new seats, sound system etc...must be able to deal with a league that is still trying to find it's way, must be able to deal with local fans and business who've been burned by the previous team(s), must be willing to step up the plate and become the hero who FINALLY returned class to the CFL with a team from Bytown.
Or, in other words...can we clone Eugene Melnyk?
I moved to Ottawa in the fall of '94 and missed the glory days of the Riders. I sat through a few games the following 2 seasons and worked for the Renegades for the 3 of 4 seasons they were here. I went to the Grey Cups in Edmonton (02), Regina (03) and worked the sidelines in '04 and love the game. Selfishly I hope to get some rich guy's attention with this blog so I can take my son to a game when he's 3 years old and have the bug hit him, because my wife won't allow me to drive down to Boston every week to see my Patriots.
But somehow despite the pleas from this city's die hard fans, something tells me some developer is going to show up at Uncle Larry's office with a re-development plan that will make the city a ton of cash, and before you know it we'll be hearing about "beautiful condo views of the canal starting from only $239,900". Hey, if the legendary Montreal Forum can be gutted for a movie theatre, don't think were immune to the demolition here either.
Go to a game in Montreal where 20,000 fans pack McGill's stadium and the experience is second to none. (With respect to Hamilton, Calgary, BC, Winnipeg as I haven't been to a game there).
Maybe Ottawa is done with football after all...
And all were going to remember 100 years from now is how some doofus playboy thought women showing off their tatas for $1000 was a great idea.
