This comment is for the so called expert on business Marvin Ryder from Mac. Ryder was on chml this morning stating studies of teams that bluff to get their way and leverage, during negotiations.
. He was basically saying that studies show 90% of teams that threaten to leave are just bluffing to gain some advantage. In a round about way Ryder was re to Cat's bluffing their way to get the EM site. Ryder did not state the business case that the Cat's had made re how the WH just does not make business sense to them just that they were bluffing. He also came on stating previously on ml that the Cat's were no more important than some "mom and pop" shop in terms of financial impact on this region. Now this guy is a business expert? He thinks a team should set up shop in a area that is not financially feasible to its survival. Maybe Ryder should move his office down in the middle of the WH toxic waste because what he spews is subtle toxic waste. :cowboy:
Guess Mr. Ryder never heard of the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, LA Rams, Oakland Raiders (twice) Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts, Vancouver Grizzlies, Montreal Expos, anybody join in.
Teams do move for many reasons and they aren't always bluffing!
That's my point matelock...this guy comes on like some hot shot expert basically saying the Cats are bluffing the city and that the city should call their bluff. :cowboy: ...these so called egghead professors my me puke :x
Buckwheat, that is true. In reality many of the teams (franchises) that have moved were loosing money, tried to get agreements from the city or league to alleviate the problems. Yes, some tried threats as leverage, but they weren't indeed always bluffing. Some teams have moved because other municipalities and big business have offered them huge incentives to relocate . So in the Cats case, no stadium down the road, no place to play, another city comes up with an offer that can't be refused and voila! Bob sells the franchise and stops loosing money.
Houston Oilers, St. Louis (Football) Cardinals, Charlotte Hornets, Seattle SuperSonics, Kansas City Kings, San Diego Clippers, New Orleans Jazz, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota North Stars, Atlanta Flames, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers. Aside from the ones you posted, those are all that I remember.
Blogskee, at least the Toledo Mud Hens never re-located 
Plain and simple.......Ryder is a moron ! remember these words,..........those who "can't", always "teach" 
Hey, go easy deerhunter, I enjoy my 12 weeks of vacation every year and only working till 3:20, Oh sorry I am not a teacher,!
Everytime CHML and CHCH needs a financial voice they contact Marvin Ryder. Is there NO ONE ELSE? Heck , they could call me and can call myself an expert as well. I have a business degree and 28 years experience.
Oh, well back to work....honest I am not a teacher !
Bob came in here and took the team over. He wanted to run it and build it as a franchise that would be self-sustainable down the road. He was willing to take the initial hit financially to save the Cats. He has been insulted, vilified in the media, trashed and basically spit on by this city council and the Hamilton Spectator for his efforts. It's appalling to me to see how he has been treated. Then to add insult (or piling on if you want), you get some empty suit like Marvin Ryder making demeaning comments downplaying the benefits that the Cats have on the community. This so called business expert seems to have no problem dissing businessmen and chasing them out of town. :cowboy:
I heard the interview. Ryder didn't say that Bob was bluffing. What he did say was that most owners in situations like this are bluffing. The fact that you can name ten to twenty situations where teams moved doesn't contradict his statement.
As for being an academic rather than an entrepreneur: Bob himself always like to talk about surrounding himself with smart people, and tried to do that by hiring consultants who know about stadium management. Guess what? One of Ryder's areas of expertise is sport marketing. It is his job as an academic to keep on top of the latest research in his field, and that includes reading all available reports like those that were drafted for Bob. And that means that he has access to the thoughts of a lot of smart people, both those who would agree with the Ticats and those who wouldn't. That's probably why CHML tags him for comments on the Cats.
If you want to argue with his comments, I'm all ears. The personal insults, though, diminish only you.
Ryder isn't saying anything new, I've read that most pro sports teams are not major employers in regions and their main impact is giving regions a psychological boost of spirit and togetherness. But he's right, pro sports teams are minor in terms of employing large numbers of people and generating a lot of money for a region or city. I was reading an article recently describing the Buffalo Bills as exactly that, a small time business in Western New York.
So we shouldn't shoot the man nor shoot him because he likes a downtown or near downtown location. He is simply regurgitating most of the academic political business literature out there stating that stadiums generally speaking should be located near downtown or downtown fringe areas for the greatest impact to a city for renewal etc.
I think if he was to come across even smarter though, he could say that every city is different with different needs and situations and players and each environment has it's own uniqueness.
But I don't know anything about him and who his friends are in the area. Don't know him.
Hey Kooblahdee, it sure sounds like you want to be a teacher. If so,I suggest that you go and get a second degree and then sit on the "waiting list" to get on to the "waiting list" for supply teaching. Times have changed my friend in this new economy and to suggest that teachers today have it easy suggests a lack of insight. To quote Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption -"How can you be so obtuse? Is it deliberate?"
Pat Lynch(the old teacher in section 7)
Also, Ryder is a university prof, not a high school or grade school teacher. Some profs never stop working (I suspect the same is true of grade school and high school teachers, based on what some of my teacher friends say). Eat, sleep, work. My girlfriend gets work related emails emails from her academic supervisor at 1:00 in the morning sometimes. Profs (like teachers) are not done work when they're done classes. A 9 to 5 job would feel like summer vacation. Teaching is only one part of their duties, and one that is not usually given a lot of weight by the department. There is a lot of pressure to publish papers, so during their "summer vacations", they spend their time working on papers and research, so they can actually keep their jobs and maybe get promoted. It's a very competitive environment. They don't sit around living the life of Riley. (It also doesn't pay very well to be a prof, despite the number of years it takes to get a PhD. Newly minted PhD's can hope to make about as much as a rookie CFL player, and rarely would a prof have an opportunity to make as much as a veteran CFLer).
This is not to say that I defend what Ryder has to say about the Cats, or that he's good at what he does. He does seem to be a bit ignorant about the team and what Bob Young's motivations are as the owner of the team. But whether or not he's good, he probably works hard.
He works hard I’m sure but from what I’ve read from him in the newspapers and bit I saw on TV, he sounds like he’s just reading an academic script from a journal. He just doesn’t sound like he’s actually thought about the uniqueness of the CFL or Hamilton geography, situation, players, history etc.
Sort of like a practice guideline without actually realizing that you have an individual patient in front of you with their own unique set of circumstances even if the disease they have fits in with the guidelines.
That type of communication just doesn’t come across genuine in my books regardless of how intelligent someone is or how many degrees they have behind their name.
and he couldnt do it so he cant afford a new building for his team.
It's great and all to accuse the Ti-Cats of bluffing and saying that you don't need them or that another team will come back.
But that's incredibly naive. People said the same thing in Montreal with the expos, Vancouver with the Grizzlies, Winnipeg with the Jets, Quebec City with the Nordiques, etc.
That's just in Canada.
This is not something I'd be playing around with. The threat is serious.
Goodbye Ti-Cats, goodbye Hamilton.