Bob McCown takes a shot, sort of, at Bob Young

Yes, do you know how much drinking, illegal yes but man everybody did it, at JW Little Stadium in London on private property and area before Mustang games way back when? Man we had cases of beer, in the car of course, but no problem. And I've been to Ann Arbor with 100,000 and very little comotion with drunks. Of course, it's not permitted, and shouldn't be, but then when I was at the Convention centre for the Sam Roberts concert and The Stills (great group) and had about 6 brews first, there were no cops outside waiting to arrest me. Get with the program people! And I'm going to see Metric (great group), Emily Haines yes, and The Stills again, yes, in October and it'll be the same great time! If anyone here is going, let's have a brew at the Convention Centre and meet!

We have to get away from this mentality of everything must be in the downtown core.
The worst thing the idiots of Toronto did was build the Skydome and ACC in the downtown and while we are at it the BMO field is still in the city core per say.
What all these three have in common is the difficulty and or impossibility for the vast majority to drive to same.
Please people of the Hammer build it with plenty of parking and big enough in the 30,000 range so like Calgary, there is the ability to do some tailgating.

The Grey Cup in Montreal was great and the stadium was far from downtown albeit on the subway. I'm not saying don't build it at the harborfront, but just that there are pluses and minuses to any location of course. One Grey Cup every 6 years or so doesn't justify building the stadium in one specific location. It's a complicated issue but at the end of it all, if it's about the TiCats 90 percent, then build it on the mountain.

McCown is on record about this, I’ve heard him. The answer is no. It doesn’t matter which games you are talking about, they have never shown to be a fiscal boone to who holds them.

McCown is completely against using tax payers dollars to build facilities for ANY games

I listened to that interview and at no time thought Bobcat took a shot at our beloved owner. From what I've heard on Primetime Sports, Bob Young is held in quite high esteem. Perhaps you misunderstood his intentions Earl. Frankly, I agree with Bobcat's position: if a professional sports team owner wants a new stadium then he should finance it without burdening the taxpayer. That's not to say it can't be a joint venture, but the notion that the little guy should fork over all the cash required to build these arenas has always been flawed - even more so during a recession.

McCown had Scott Mitchell on his show on Tuesday and he was giving him the gears about Bob funding the stadium himself.

We need a new stadium. We haven't had a new stadium in 80 years. It's our turn.

If our city can build an arena with no tennant, then we can build a stadium with a team already.

I don't like the downtown location. A riverfront stadium is kool, Cleveland's is awesome but the best location is at the airport.

You will be able to tailgate. The Ticats will be able to charge for parking. You could put in all of the restaurants that you want. You can drive up property values. You have easy access to the airport. It's easy to get to off of the 403.

I like Bobcat.. .but he is anti-anything-not-toronto related.. he does work for a Toronto based radio station after all, owned by a Toronto based company

Not this schit again.

Give it up already. Talk about beating a dead horse.

?Build a stadium near the water? Bay street is 1 lane both ways..... with no room for widening. I
stopped going to Aquafest because of the congestion and the 45 minutes just to get out.
Everyone knows the hardcore fans that inhabit Ivor Wynne live within walking distance. A
mountain stadium, especially by the airport would take 2 buses. You can discount thousands of
current fans from doing that 9 games a season. A white elephant built on the cheap with a track
around it is what you’ll be left with. Give the Pan Am games to Columbia and allocate any
necessary taxpayer funds to upgrade IWS. Don’t give me this stuff about IWS being 80 years old. Half
the stadium was built in the 1970's. McMahon Stadium is older that IWS... yet they are hosting
this years Grey Cup.

There are countless stadiums near the water. Pittsburgh, Cincinatti, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Chicago, off the top of my head.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jacksonville_Municipal_Stadium.JPG]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jacks ... tadium.JPG[/url] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cincinnati-paul-brown-stadium2.jpg]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cinci ... adium2.jpg[/url] [url=http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/image/vbig/sights/BrownsStadium.jpg]http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/image/vbig/sig ... tadium.jpg[/url] http://mediaroom.visitpa.com/files/heinzfield.jpg [url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Soldier_Field_east_side_and_marina.JPG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... marina.JPG[/url]
Bay street is 1 lane both ways..... with no room for widening.
What are you talking about? That is so wrong. Bay st N is 4 lanes between Cannon and Barton, and anything north of Barton along Bay street is what would be redeveloped with PLENTY of room for widening.

To think it would be inaccessablie is ridiculous. It’ll certainly be much more accessable than IWS is now.

McCown has to be taken with a grain of salt. He loves to stir the pot but he's pretty consistent in his views. He's always been against using tax dollars to support private businesses and that included the TO Olympic bid. And give him his due when it comes to the CFL. Apart from Mike Hogan, he's one of the few at the FAN590 who actually promotes the CFL on his show.

An Argo-Cat fan

Have a closer look at the area that they are talking about. They need 20 acres to build a stadium and parking lot. They are talking about north of Barton and West of Bay St. It’s a 2 lane roadway north of Barton all the way to Leander Drive. Along Bay St. notrht of Barton you have the following streets intersecting before you reach Leander Drive: Murray , Stewart, Strachan, Simcoe, Ferrie, Picton, and Macauley streets. But, even if they only go as far as Murray and Stuart Streets…all the houses and buildings along Bay are already very close to Bay St. What are they going to do? Widen the road right up to the front porches? Have a look on Google Maps if you don’t believe me. They can’t widen the road without ripping down houses and buildings. IWS offers tons of parking offsite with close distance to walking. Unfortunately, that is the infrastructure that we are left with when our town was planned in the early 1900’s. A 10 mintue walk and I’m in my car driving home from IWS with close to proximity to multiple lane roads like Main and King. With a bayfront stadium you have nothing but congestions just like the 45 minutes it takes just to get a few minutes from the former Aquafest.

I Agree with Bob The money could be spend Fixing IWS and Pot Holes and Sewer Problems

Of course you do… you have made that point repeatedly

I, too, watched the McCown show in question. Everything that’s been said about his consistent attitude towards 'Games" is correct. But, I would make one point.
During the whole session, he mentioned ‘Games’ sites by name, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver.
When he made the point we’re discussing here, he could easily have said, “If Hamilton wants a new stadium…”

I thought he went out of his way to mention Bob Young by name. It struck a sour note with me.
He didn’t have to say, “If Bob Young wants a new stadium…”

At the risk of hijacking this thread, I’ll respond one more time here re: the waterfront stadium site, and then,perhaps, we can ressurrect an old thread or start a new one AGAIN.

I did look at Google maps. Bay st. from Barton to Stuart will be stadium land. There is all kinds of room to widen that stretch of Bay st. to as wide as can be. All buildings on the west side will be gone for stadium redevelopment.

Everything north of Stuart st., that you detailed perfectly in you post is north of the stadium and there is no need to widen any of the roads there at all. That is a residential area, and will remain so. There is no need for stadium access along Bay between Leander Dr/Guise st. to Stuart st…

I’m assuming all access will be from downtonwn, and east and west along Barton, York and Cannon and even the oft proposed perirmter road which would link up Burlington st. express to Wellington, westerly along the rail lands to the stadium site. Even without the new perimeter rd, there is more road access to that area than IWS currently has.

But, even if they only go as far as Murray and Stuart Streets....all the houses and buildings along Bay are already very close to Bay St. What are they going to do? Widen the road right up to the front porches? Have a look on Google Maps if you don’t believe me. They can’t widen the road without ripping down houses and buildings.
Well yes, I fully expect all buildings on the current stadium site to be torn down. That's what you do when you redevelop a site. That includes buildings on the west side of Bay st. between Barton and Stuart.
IWS offers tons of parking offsite with close distance to walking. Unfortunately, that is the infrastructure that we are left with when our town was planned in the early 1900's. A 10 mintue walk and I'm in my car driving home from IWS with close to proximity to multiple lane roads like Main and King. With a bayfront stadium you have nothing but congestions just like the 45 minutes it takes just to get a few minutes from the former Aquafest.
Disagree again. There is way more parking available downtown than at the IWS area. There are more buses serving downtown than the IWS area.. There will be more parking and roads widened in this plan.

BTW you talk about a 10 minute walk now for the IWS Trek, a Spec writer reported a 6 minute walk, IIRC, from the proposed metrolinx rapid transit stop at King and Hess to the proposed stadium site.

I think McCown is an A** Clown. I can't stand that guy.

Folks, the government has already set aside the funding
the 'bread not circuses crowd and Bob Mc Cown lost.

And to you naysayers on stadium location
that has also been decided and guess what?

It is likely that no parking will be allowed
on the streets around the Pan Am Stadium

when sporting events are being held there.

Locals will have to take light rail rapid transit,

Fans from outside the city limits
will have to take the GO train.

P.S.

I used to go by car to the Rogers Centre
and get stuck in traffic for many years.

I take the GO train now and I can't figure out
why I didn't start taking the GO train sooner.

Bob McCown has always been consistent in his opinion against public spending for professional sports facilities. He has also repeatedly stated that there should be a second NHL team in Toronto rather than relocating or expanding to Hamilton.

Ronfromtigertown is "on the money" with his post. The municipal, provincial and federal governments have already committed $114 Million to the construction of a 15,000 seat Pan Am Stadium and Velodrome if the 2015 Pan Am Games are awarded to the Toronto-Golden Horseshoe area. This article titled "Decisions, decisions...transformation of city's fortunes, image on the line" on the Hamilton Spectator website today summarizes three major decisions to be made within the next two months which will impact, either positively or negatively, on the future development of the City of Hamilton: an NHL hockey team (decision could be made as early as September 10, 2009), the 2015 Pan Am Games (decision to be made on November 4, 2009), and the light rail transit system (decision to be made by November, 2009).

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/629342

I just want to be sure people realize I'm not advocating for tailgating with drinking and all that. Yes, I've had fun doing it in the past and people continue to have fun doing it now when going to football games. I'm just saying that a stadium on the mountain by the airport probably benefits the TiCats more in the long run than a stadium by the harbourfront even though a harbourfront stadium is more more esthetically pleasing for the city and to the eye on the TV and that. But let's face it, the Bills don't have a problem getting people to their 70,000 seater way out of town with no subway and that so I don't think it's a big problem here with a 25,000-30,000 seater. But whatever is best for the city in the long run and TiCats and that, it's very complicated for sure.

And yes, I wouldn't say McCown was taking a shot directly at Bob Young, not at all. Just pro sports owners period maybe to build their own stadiums without taxpayer money at all. But if that's the case as I say, there will be few stadiums built in this country and not many upgrades to existing stadiums so that would be a problem. And many arenas as well.