Tag Archives: Toronto Argos

Another Crazy Week in the Trenches

It’s sometimes hard to believe how dumb people can be, but then you watch the news media and you realize that, well, they are.

We were treated to a beauty this past week. Seems the Canadian Pediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics believe that amateur boxing,  not professional boxing, but amateur boxing, is a major cause of head injuries in children and should be discouraged. They didn’t quite go so far as to say “banned,” but to them, “discouraged” seemed to be an appropriate stance.

At first, the report was simply thought to be “laughable,” by people who have worked so hard to make amateur boxing safe, enjoyable and socially important. After all, if you talk to boxers and MMA fighters who got into the gym and off the street, most will tell you: ”Boxing saved my life.”

“Knowing what we know about head injuries, I would hope that parents and the kids themselves would think long and hard about participating in a sport where blows to the head are rewarded,” Dr. Claire LeBlanc told the Canadian Press last Monday afternoon.

LeBlanc is co-author of the Pediatric physicians’ statement on boxing and one certainly understands where the good doctor is coming from — a world of rich, white, entitled people.

“The CPS and AAP are calling on pediatricians and other health professionals to strongly discourage boxing participation among their patients and guide them toward alternative sport and recreational activities that do not encourage intentional head injuries,” the report says.

“Canadian and American boxing agencies do not track injuries of participants, but the report says based on hospital reports, amateur boxers are at serious risk of face and brain injuries, including concussions.”

Huh? Are they at risk or have the hospitals been treating an inordinate number of amateur boxers? The answer is: neither.

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Kent Brown (left) Coaching Team Manitoba

It is those sorts of blanket statements without any definitive proof that have driven boxing coaches – especially aboriginal and African-American boxing coaches – around the bend.

“When I heard it, I was so angry I couldn’t speak,” said Team Manitoba boxing coach Kent Brown, who is about to open a new amateur boxing gym in Winnipeg.

“These people know nothing. They don’t know how safe amateur boxing is. They don’t know that amateur boxers get better medical attention than football or hockey players. The world knows that there is a greater risk of head injury in football and hockey than there is in amateur boxing. I wish these people would do some research.

“But I also wish that the national media would have ignored a statement that is so ridiculous. Amateur boxing and the gyms that serve the sport, save the lives of young men and women at risk.

The most frightening remark that LeBlanc made, however, had nothing to do with the alleged dangers of amateur boxing.

LeBlanc and her colleagues stated: “Other sports, like tennis, basketball and swimming, can build fitness and character without requiring anyone to be struck in the head.”

You can take basketball out of the argument because getting hit in the head under the basket, fighting for rebounds, is a right of passage for any player. But swimming and tennis? Tennis?

“Tennis is a great sport but do you know how much it costs to play tennis?” said Brown. “There aren’t many kids in my neighborhood buying memberships to tennis clubs. Of course, there aren’t ANY tennis clubs in my neighborhood.”

And that’s the problem with the report. Even though hockey and football are much more dangerous sports for young people to play, boxing has been scapegoated once again by wealthy white doctors who have no idea what the sport has done for inner-city youngsters and kids at risk. Boxing has been an important part of the social fabric of Aboriginal and Asian communities in Canada and African-American and Latino communities in the United States.

“That report was laughable,” said Winnipeg-based Marc-Andre Drolet, columnist and editorial director with fightnetwork.com. “For one thing, amateur boxing – and remember, we’re talking about amateur boxing, not professional boxing — is a lot safer than football or hockey. For another thing, boxing has virtually saved the lives of at-risk, inner-city kids. These people have no idea what they’re talking about. They’re trying to blame boxing because they don’t have the guts to blame hockey or football.”

While the boxing report from otherwise very intelligent people was the dumbest thing we saw all week, there were others…

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Miguel Cabrera Hits Walk-Off Winner

1) I love it when sports announcers get it so wrong you have to laugh just so you don’t cry.

Matt Vasgersian and Mitch Williams were going off about how sensational Chicago White Sox closer Sergio Santos had been since the all-star break. Williams went so far as to suggest that the Detroit Tigers would be lucky to get a sniff against him. After all, said Williams, “Nobody hits this guy. Right now, he’s the best closer in baseball.”

Of course, when Santos struck out lead off man Wilson Betemit in the ninth, his legend grew exponentially.

Funny isn’t it, how legends die so quickly on the ball field?

Austin Jackson doubled, Ryan Raburn homered and then, on the next pitch, Miguel Cabrera homered. In just two pitches from Sergio Santos, the Tigers went from a 5.5-game lead in the AL Central to a 7.5-game lead in the AL Central.

The White Sox had an 8-1 lead over Detroit and blew it. The unhittable Sergio Santos gave up three runs in the ninth to take the loss.

Meanwhile, Vasgersian and Williams  are national broadcasters. They should know by now that in Major League Baseball, nobody is unhittable and when you suggest that someone is, you’ll probably get burned.

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Blue suit on a blue field.

2) Let us assume that the NCAA is correct in its decision to ban the Boise State Broncos from wearing their blue uniforms on their blue football field.

Let us assume that the uniform color is too close to the field color and therefore it’s hard to see the Boise State players at home.

Let us assume that it’s a good decision.

In that case, why does the NCAA allow Oregon to wear their green uniforms on their green field? The Ducks’ dark uniforms are exactly the same color as the field on which they play.

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Green suits on a green field.

One of the biggest problems facing the NCAA and all their football scandals is that the rules appear to be different for everybody. In the case of the Boise State uniform controversy (one created by the NCAA, by the way), it’s wrong to penalize Boise and let Oregon get away with it.

I’m not sure that the original decision to ban Boise’s blues on Boise’s field is a good one, but if it is, then the same rule should apply to Oregon.

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B.C. Runs Over the Argos

3) It’s Sunday, two days after the B.C. Lions went into Toronto and whipped the Argos 29-16.

Toronto is now 2-7 on the season. They’ve lost to a team that was 2-6 — in their own building, no less — and only 19,593 people bought tickets (they might have purchased tickets but they weren’t in the building) to watch it.

Barker, the team’s head coach, has already scapegoated his defensive co-ordinator, Chip Garber, and replaced him with Orlondo Steinauer, who was a great player, but is obviously not much of a defensive coordinator. It’s a mess and it’s pretty obvious that Barker has to go (yeah, just nine games after he was named coach of the year for 2010).

The Argos are awful at a time when the CFL needs a good team in Toronto. Sadly, the only thing the Argos are doing is making people in Ontario pine for an NFL team of the their own. That’s not good.

(We’ll be back later to talk Bombers-Riders)

No Booze at Bomber Game in Toronto This Summer.

Hey Bomber fans, we know how much you love the Appleton’s Rum Shack at Canada Inns Stadium. We know how much the East Side revels in its ability to drink more and cheer louder than any other gathering of fans in the CFL.

 

Well, if you’re among “The Proud, The Many, The Drunks,” at Bomber games, you’ll probably want to avoid the airplane to Toronto on Aug. 1. 

 

Winnipeg fans love to head to T.O. every summer to watch the Bombers face their arch-rivals, the Toronto Argos. It’s a nice weekend and it’s always loads of fun. This year, however, there will be no beer at the ball yard.  

 

In a statement issued on Friday night, Rogers Centre officials admitted that provincial liquor licensing inspectors, citing “drinking infractions at several unnamed past events,” will close down liquor sales at three sporting events this year.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario advised the Rogers Centre’s Food and Beverage Dept., last week that it would suspend liquor licences for the April 7th game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Detroit Tigers, the Jays’ April 21st game with the Texas Rangers and the Argo-Bomber game on Aug. 1.

So, Bomber fans, ahh, wear a big coat and BYOB?

Week 4 in the CFL is over. So what did we learn?

Indeed, what did we learn?

 

We learned that the West has dominated the East for two straight weeks and will continue to do so.

 

We learned that Eric Tillman might be the best general manager in the CFL.

 

We learned that when the Calgary Stampeders bring their A game, there aren’t many teams better.

 

We learned that a Montreal-Saskatchewan game in Regina is as exciting as it gets.

 

We learned that if you can run the football in the CFL, you’ll usually win — and the Western teams can run the football.

 

And we learned that when Blue Bomber tackle Doug Brown wrote, “If you aren’t getting better, you’re getting worse,” he was right.

 

Let’s take a closer look at Week 4…

 

1. Once again, the West owned the East and despite Toronto’s brilliant 35-31 come-from-behind victory over Edmonton at Rogers Centre on Sunday afternoon, the football played in Western Canada is far superior — and far more entertaining — than the football played East of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. After two weeks of crossover games, the West leads the East 7-1. On the bright side for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, even at 0-4, you’re still only two wins, or four points, out of first place.

 

2. When Eric Tillman dealt quarterback Kerry Joseph to the Toronto Argos during the off-season, most of the country’s football scribes thought the Roughriders GM was crazy. Tillman said, “Kerry wanted $450,000 a year to play quarterback for us and I’m not giving up 10 per cent of my salary cap to one player.” Tillman also knew Joseph played lousy football in the 2007 Grey Cup game and was lucky to beat a Blue Bomber team that didn’t have its No. 1 signal caller, Kevin Glenn. However, before the 2008 season began, not many thought Marcus Crandell had the goods to make the Riders a threat. But not only did Tillman have faith in his No. 1 guy, he also liked his No. 2 and No. 3 guys. Right now, his No. 3 guy, Derian Durant, is the most exciting young quarterback to come into the league since Joseph first played in Ottawa. Tillman has always been a great judge of talent. He might be even better than we think.

 

3. The Calgary Stampeders pounded on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this week. Granted, the ‘Cats played without the talented Jesse Lumsden who is sadly starting to appear, once again, to be a very fragile back. However, the Stampeders played a brilliant football game and the 43-16 score might have flattered a Ticats team that just couldn’t get anything going without their power back in the lineup. Henry Burris went 26-for-33 for 345 yards and two touchdowns while Joffrey Reynolds carried 11 times for 99 yards. Without Barrin Simpson, one wonders how the Bombers will shut down the Stamps this coming Thursday.

 

4. Watched a Montreal-Saskatchewan game on Saturday night that was just about as entertaining as a football game can get. Once again, Anthony Calvillo played like the best quarterback in the East while Derian Durant just made one exciting play after another for the Roughriders. The 41-33 score was indicative of the brilliance of the two offences while Wes Cates proved once again how important a solid running game is to a successful CFL offence. Right now, Ken Miller is CFL coach of the year while Eric Tillman is CFL executive of the year.

 

5. When teams run the football, they win. In the pass-crazy CFL, a running game might not seem to be too important to some coaches (see Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator, Kit Cartwright), but clearly people such as Wes Cates, Joffrey Reynolds and Jesse Lumsden are proof that great running games create even greater passing attacks. When Lumsden runs the football, Hamilton wins. Watching Cates and Reynolds help their teams put up 41 and 47 points respectively this week was a clear indication that running the football in the CFL is just as important now as it was when George Reed, Johnny Bright, Normie Kwong, Earl Lunsford, Leo Lewis and Ronny Stewart ran the ball 40-odd years ago.

 

6. On Friday night, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were beaten 27-18 at B.C. Place Stadium by a Lions team that didn’t seem to have the same commitment to excellence as it did a week earlier at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg. Still, the Lions were good enough to beat a Blue Bomber team that is banged-up, beaten-down and as close to imploding as any Bombers’ team in recent memory. As a result of Friday night’s loss, the 0-4 Bombers benched quarterback Kevin Glenn and replaced him with Ryan Dinwiddie. Sadly, head coach Doug Berry is running out of scapegoats. He ran Troy Westwood off the team and his players responded with a “Well, if the coach can humiliate that guy after 17 years, it’s likely he’ll do the same to me,” attitude. The Bombers, who did not improve in the off-season — in fact with the loss of safety Kyries Hebert and cornerback Juran Bolden, they got significantly worse on defence — are now winless in four tries and yet not out of it in the talent-starved Eastern Conference. However, the Bombers plight might not be the fault of Kevin Glenn (see my Monday column in the National Post). The league’s best runningback, Charles Roberts has only 161 yards on 39 carries and if Roberts isn’t running the football, the Bombers aren’t winning. Since Kevin Glenn doesn’t call his own plays, the Bombers coaching staff must take responsibility for the team’s offensive woes. Of course, with middle linebacker Barrin Simpson now out indefinitely with a pectoral-muscle-tear, the team’s real problem might be on defence, not offence.  

 

Week 3 in the CFL: So what did we learn this week?

So here were the scores in Week 2:

Calgary 23 Montreal 19

Edmonton 47 Toronto 28

B.C. 42 Winnipeg 24

Saskatchewan 33 Hamilton 28

Notice a trend?

As we pointed out in yesterday’s item, the West is dominating the East. In the first week of West vs. East crossover football, the Western teams won all four matchups. Two of them were three-touchdown blowouts.

It’s pretty clear what we’ve learned, but let’s go a little deeper.

1. The Saskatchewan Roughriders don’t need Michael Bishop, the Toronto Argos  do. I talked with Joe Aiello on 92-CITI-FM in Winnipeg and with Mike Richards on the FAN 960 in Calgary this week about where Michael Bishop might end up. Earlier in the week, the Toronto Argos put their former No. 1 quarterback on recallable waivers to see if there was any interest in a trade. All of us thought  that with the Riders down to their No. 3 quarterback, Bishop would probably look good in Riderville. Guess not. Darian Durant was outstanding in leading Saskatchewan to a 33-28 win in Hamilton and  after Toronto’s evisceration in Edmonton, it’s pretty obvious the Argos need Bishop more than they want to believe. In fact, the Argos need Bishop more than they need Kerry Joseph.

2. There seems to be less talk about firing Edmonton Eskimos head coach Danny Maciocia now. Over the last two weeks, the Eskimos have won 34-31 and 47-28. Things are still shaky in Edmonton despite two home wins, but at least Ricky Ray is once again getting the ball into the end zone. Still, the Esks have a problem on defence. Allowing 34 points to Saskatchewan, 31 to Calgary and 28 to Toronto is, at least, an improvement every week, but if the holes aren’t plugged soon, trips to Toronto and Hamilton over the next two weeks might leave the Esks at 2-3 before they can blink. Unless, of course, the West is so dominant, defences are no longer important.

3. You just gotta love offence – and defence and special teams — and on Friday night, we had a game that actually looked like it took place during the league’s Golden Era of scoring back in the late 80s and early 90s. Behind the brilliance of 22-year-old Tristan Jackson who returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown and then returned a punt for another 61-yard major (oh, so maybe it’s not offence), the Edmonton Eskimos beat the Toronto Argonauts 47-28. After two weeks of 22-16-type scores it was nice to see every aspect of the game of football represented on the scorebord. And it was nice to be excited about a non-Bombers CFL game again.

4. Memo to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers: Run the freakin’ football. Hamilton’s Jesse Lumsden carried 19 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns before the ‘Cats fell 33-28 to the defending Grey Cup champs — and now 3-0 Saskatchewan Roughriders — in the dying seconds. The Bombers, on the other hand, gave Charles Roberts the ball eight times for 23 yards in a 42-24 shellacking at the hands of the previously 0-2 B.C. Lions (by the way B.C. took a 42-8 lead while the Bombers were ignoring Roberts). In three games, Roberts has a measly 110 rushing yards and the Bombers are 0-3. There is a correlation.

5. Speaking of the Bombers, despite their 42-24 home loss to B.C. this week, it was the first time in seven games (dating back to last year’s Eastern semifinal) that the Bombers offence put up at least 20 points in a game. That’s the good news. The bad news — for Kevin Glenn, at least — is that No. 2 quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie was responsible for 16 of those points. There are some in Winnipeg who think Glenn might be the next Troy Westwood — a well-liked veteran (in the room) who is treated like crap until he’s finally released and then never heard from again. Oh, by the way, after three weeks and an 0-3 record, Glenn is the No. 4 passer (by yardage) in the CFL, ahead of Casey Printers, Jarious Jackson and Kerry Joseph. However, his passer’s rating is a near rock-bottom 67.2.

6. Back to Roberts for just a second. Last year’s rushing champion is now seventh in rushing after three weeks, 252 yards behind leader Jesse Lumsden. Roberts is averaging only nine carries per game and has two touchdowns and no fumbles. He trails a quarterback, Calgary’s Henry Burris, in the rushing race. Despite what head coach Doug Berry would have you believe, the Bombers don’t have a “player” problem, they have a “coach” problem. 

7. My players of the Week: No doubt about it, Geroy Simon and Jason Clermont of the B.C. Lions. In case you needed to be reminded, these guys are big-time receivers who each played a major role in B.C.’s 42-24 shellacking of the Bombers in Winnipeg. Simon caught seven passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns while Clermont caught three passes in traffic for 71 yards. In fact, TSN made a big deal out of a Jason Nugent hit on Clermont on Friday night, but the fact is, Clermont got right back up while Nugent almost didn’t. They’re both big and fast and they have great hands and they’re both part of the reason that, when it’s right, CFL football is wonderful to watch.

 

Won’t wait for the Riders and Hamilton. I’ll do some “splainin’” now…

Saturday, July 12, 2008, 10:15 a.m.

 

I was wrong about Montreal and I was wrong about Winnipeg, but one thing I won’t allow myself to do: Be wrong about the West.

 

Clearly — and we’re only three weeks into the CFL season — the West is a dominant force and might just make the Eastern champion look pretty mediocre when Grey Cup time rolls around.

 

It became quite obvious on Thursday night, when the Calgary Stampeders went on the road, fell behind 11-0 after the first quarter, and then quietly and methodically altered their game plan and came back to beat what most people thought was a pretty good Montreal Alouettes team, 23-19.

 

Later on Thursday, the new-look Edmonton Eskimos, a team that improved dramatically in the off-season, eviscerated the Toronto Argos 47-28 and left the bumbling Argos stumbling out of Northern Alberta.

 

Friday night, came the old coup de grace. The B.C. Lions arrived at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg and demolished the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 42-24. It was actually 42-8 before B.C. went into prevent and let Ryan Dinwiddie come off the bench to fool the Winnipeg fans into thinking he was some kind of saviour (Troy Kopp did that once, too). 

 

Evidently, Winnipeg is awful. Who knew? It’s a team that didn’t get better in the off-season, made some bad decisions in the pre-season (Where are you now, Troy Westwood?) and has a head coach who believes it’s everybody else’s fault but his own. Doug Berry has lost his room and after Frday night’s debacle, it doesn’t look like he’s getting it back.

 

Of course, it hasn’t helped that he ignores Charles Roberts in the offensive scheme, allows Kit Cartwright to call the plays and couldn’t replace Juran Bolden on the corner or Kyries Hebert at safety. Forget the punting game (Serna had a shaky 36.1 yard average), that horse has left the barn. Two things have contributed to Winnipeg’s 0-3 start — the team did not get better in the off-season and the head coach tends to throw the people who work for him under the bus — with far too much ease.

 

Let’s be honest, people are generally horrible to each other and coaches of sports teams tend to be more horrible than most, but when you need somebody to go to war for you, respect is a much better motivator than blame. 

 

In the meantime, the West is quite superior to the East in the CFL and only Hamilton, at home this afternoon, has a chance to stop what could be a most impressive Week 3 sweep. 

Winnipeg’s new football stadium: Why are we starting over to build consensus when everyone already agreed?

The following letter arrived on Canada Day. Fred Morris has been a longtime letter writer in my hometown of River City, Man., and while we’ve often disagreed, we’ve often agreed, as well. Fred tends to start intelligent debates exactly at about the time we need an intelligent debate. 

 

To the Sun, the Free Press, Canstar and Scott Taylor:

 

As a proud Blue Bomber season ticket holder, it has been a difficult week. 

The head coach needlessly conceded the winning points. Certain politicians conceded our chance for a new state of the art stadium. 

After  years of debate, we seemed to have chosen the Polo Park site. Every other serious proposal involved the use of vacant land. Suddenly, the complex Point Douglas proposal emerged. 

Expropriations, bridge construction, and road relocations would delay this project for years. IS THERE A DESIRE TO USE THESE DELAYS TO KILL THE ENTIRE PROJECT?  

The Federal Conservatives do not seem to understand that urban renewal consists  of new construction and the preservation of functional existing buildings. It makes no sense to evict people from their homes to build a football stadium. It is no wonder that the Conservatives do so poorly in the inner city.

Winnipeg has a chance  to build a modern stadium that will be the envy of the entire country. We should quickly proceed with the Polo Park proposal. 

Fred Morris, Winnipeg

Fred’s beloved football team lost its season opener, not so much because Doug Berry conceded the eventual winning points, but because the offence couldn’t score in a women’s prison with a handful of pardons and if Berry and Co. don’t get that offence fixed this week, they’ll get blown out of Montreal on Friday night. 

By the way, the Bombers haven’t scored 20 points in a game since they beat Montreal 24-22 in the Eastern semifinal. In the last three games that mattered — with almost the same lineup — they beat Toronto 19-9 in last year’s Eastern semi, lost 23-19 to Saskatchewan in the Grey Cup and lost 23-16 to Toronto in this year’s season opener. Throw in two 2008 pre-season games that they lost 12-10 and won 19-16 and they haven’t scored 20 points in five straight games.

As for the Point Douglas Stadium Project? Well, that’s a whole new pigskin right there.

For those from outside Manitoba, here’s the deal. David Asper, our resident billionaire, philanthropist, newspaper chairman, hail fellow well met and Bomber fan, brought an idea to the Bomber board in January of 2007, saying he would build a new stadium and take over ownership of the financially-troubled football club (and despite what some mainstream media outlets will try to tell you, it’s still financially troubled). He would build the new stadium on its current site at a commercial hub known as Polo Park. 

Now since David delivered his original plan, back in January of 2007, it took him almost 18 months to convince a city of skeptics — and a city filled with people who don’t want Winnipeg to do anything at all to change or improve — that a stadium built on the same land where the current stadium now sits, was not only appropriate, but also a financially feasible thing to do. Even people who didn’t want a new stadium (even though the existing stadium is 54 years old and crumbling), seemed to agree that a stadium at Polo Park seemed reasonable and intelligent.

Now, I must admit, I talked with David more than 20 months ago and he very much wanted to take a shot at Point Douglas. There was a certain Pittsburgh/Baltimore riverfront-type renewal synergy there that didn’t exist at Polo Park, but David also knew that Polo Park was an easier sell.

So he sold it. If you go to blueandgold.ca, you’ll see that David has discussed, in one form or another, the Polo Park project with nearly 10,000 people. He sold the concept and most Manitobans had bought in. 

But then, almost immediately after a meeting with Premier Gary Doer and Mayor Sam Katz (I say “almost immediately” because almost immediately after the meeting, someone — and it wasn’t likely Katz or Asper — had leaked the information to the Free Press), the Point Douglas concept was back in play. There is nothing inherently wrong with the idea, it’s just that it will take years to raise the money to pay for the land and buildings in the area, then more years to assemble the land and then even more years to convince the people who think Point Douglas is a crazy place to put a football stadium (and most people who have approached me about it think it’s crazy), to accept that it’s a good place to build a football stadium.

Frankly, I don’t care where it goes. There are good and bad points to both sites. I actually think it should be built in the Kenaston-Taylor-Sterling Lyon Parkway area so the rich folks in town won’t be far from their new stadium. My problem with all of it, however, is how suddenly political it has become.

Because the idea was leaked to the media, it instantly made it almost impossible to acquire the land. At least, at a price that’s reasonable. Suddenly, broken down old warehouses and one-time factories became extremely expensive and then the word, “expropriation,” was uttered.

Because it was leaked to the media — a potentially nasty group of people who are always looking for someone to blame if something they like fails — the success of the concept was almost instantly dropped in the lap of the mayor, a guy who thought it might be feasible, but knew he had to sell it to his councillors and the people of Point Douglas first. The media ran around calling it the mayor’s idea and the mayor HAD to do this and he HAD to do that, and suddenly it was his project, not David’s.

And then the media dumped all over anybody who didn’t like the idea, which quite frankly, is absolutely everyone who ever talked to me about it and that list is long considering I meet with Winnipeg Goldeyes patrons every night on the concourse at Canwest Park (it’s my National Post promotion) before almost every game. And don’t think for a second that Goldeyes fans aren’t Bomber fans. They are and they all have opinions.

This whole Point Douglas argument is a mess. If Mayor Katz makes it happen, he’ll be the greatest politician this province has seen since Duff Roblin. If he fails, well, so what? Nobody seems to want it there anyway. 

The trouble is, if he fails (and here I am suggesting the failure or success of the project is up to Mayor Katz and that’s neither fair nor correct), the current stadium becomes the future stadium and that’s not good. We’ve already had a sink hole and a sewer break this year and at some point, the upper deck is going to fall on the lower deck. I don’t think I’d want to be mayor or premier when that happens.