No Tweed day...

Summer in Ottawa and not much going on...

Not so fast.

Senators star Dany Heatley wants out of the city and now your elected council members don't want to declare next Wednesday Shannon Tweed day. Acting mayor Doug Thompson probably saw a great opportunity to drum up some publicity for the city and since Shannon was "Miss Ottawa Valley" in the late 70's and once worked at a bar on Bank street, how could he go wrong.

But this is Ottawa. The town that wants more greenspace at Landsdowne Park and a has a bit of a sewage problem.

Now, we're likely going to look like a bunch of hicks on the world stage, which plays perfectly for the producers of "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" (who according to one report) will follow Shannon around when she comes to town. Is it that big of a deal to hand out a proclamation? So she didn't build a hospital or save a kitten from a tree, it's all about promoting your brand as a city which leads to tourism. When I worked at the Bear and U2 came to town we approached then Mayor Bob Chiarelli to declare the day they came to town as "U2 day in Ottawa" and while Bono has done a few more things then Shannon (OK way more) it was a publicity stunt for the radio station and good PR for the city.

Before you start with the "Stu is biased" emails, I'll save you the time. I'm a big of the Gene's reality show, but were talking about a proclamation. Were not erecting a Shannon Tweed statue or re-naming Bronson street after her.

What to do with that Heatley jersey...

I took some heat (no pun intended) for putting my own name on my jersey last year. All the typical comments came in:

"What, are you 5 years old?"
"Only a loser puts his name on the back of a jersey"

So, with a closet full of "Stuntman", last fall I bought an Alfredsson 3rd jersey. I was asked by a few people, why not Heatley or Spezza? I figured Alfie will likely retire as a Senator and it was a safe bet.

Heatley doesn't want to play in Ottawa, fine. Before you leave though, maybe Bryan Murray should have #15 work the Sens store for a week so the thousands who did buy his jerseys can trade them in for a guy who wants to stay here.

Sens games

Last spring I approached the Senators with a new twist in how I announced goals at Scotiabank Place. Given the hang time on a Dany Heatley goal call I thought, wouldn't it be neat if I just say his first name and 20,000 fans say Heeeeeeaaatley.

After a long off season, we got the approval and tried it at the home opener against Detroit.

It bombed....failed...just plain stunk.

We ran a pre-taped intro prior to the game, where I gave the instruction on what to do and most...no, all in attendance looked up and gave the old "whatever" and we went on with the game.

Fast forward a week later and we tried a live shot from the pressbox where I did a mock goal call with the crowd and gave the simple instruction that when Ottawa scores, you do the players last name with me when I announce the goal.

Jarkko Ruutu scored twice that night and the capacity crowd yells out Ruuuuuuuuutuuuu!

I have to admit even I was surprised the Scotiabank Place crowd took to it quicker then I expected. Sure, some fans don't want to be told what to do at a hockey game, but this is something that could add to the experience of seeing a Sens game (especially when a big rival comes to town like Montreal or Toronto).

So whether you're a season ticket holder and have to listen to me yap all year or just making it to one game this year, yell out the Sens players last name with me and let's shake the stigma that fans in Ottawa aren't a good crowd.