Should the city buy the Tiger-Cats?

The Skydome cost $570,000,000 to build.More than half of that was taxpayers money.It was later sold to the Blue Jays for $25,000,000. Think it can't happen here? There are some chumps down at city hall that would like to sell off the Linc,to get rid of the headache.WHAT HEADACHE? I can see it now,the stadium gets built,Bob Young pulls the plug,and you end up with a brand new stadium,with nobody in it. Stadium ,"headache",gets sold to a group of investors for a bargain basement price.

deerhunter wrote: " .....more insults from City Hall ? "

         Given your intense dislike for the Mayor that is apparent almost every one of your posts,I can understand why anything that comes from the Mayor or City hall is seen by you as an insult. You are making this way too personal.....just disagree and leave it at that. It's not life threatening stuff we are dealing with here.
         I'm not sure everyone will see the comment from Merulla the way you do.
         What you should be worried about regarding Merulla's comment, is the reaction from other councillors and the public. If it's apathy or opposition, and if nothing is resolved by July 8th, then I would say that pretty well ends it for the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton. 
         Without the wholehearted support from the majority of City Council, why would he want to continue losing money for another minute? 
         Bob wanted to be a Caretaker....not a sucker.
         That July 8th deadline seems to become more crucial to the future this team as each day passes by.

VOTE THESE IDIOTS OUT OF THEIR JOBS!

I Agree 200%

Lafarge slag site is Best Location Close to Hwy Access
Close to the Beach It better Answer then Current Location
I Rather it be there then Where bob Can’t make money

All the drama and extremism on this site became laughable quite a while ago, and it just continues.

Do you include yourself in that observation?

Just those that spew the fear mongering about the 'slums" of donwtown, the personal attacks against various posaters and elected officials (in spite of caretaker repeated attmepts to temper that with words of repsect for what they do) and the Tiger-Cats moving etc.

If you hadn’t noticed, I’m pro Hamilton, pro downtown and firmly believe the Tiger-Cats will have a new stadium in Hamilton and will continue to play here. Oski Wee Wee!

You may now resume the usual 'sky is falling" drama and insults and slams against our city.

pot, meet kettle :wink:

(sorry, but that’s the biggest “rise” you’ll get out of me these days)

:rockin:

That’s the only solution. Not all are such as you say, but those that are keep getting voted in. It’s obvious that change needs to start at the ballot box… IF people want that.

In a sense, should we really blast Merulla for using this as another platform for putting his blather and his name out there, even if it adds little to nothing to the core issue? Really, he’s just doing what his constituents have come to expect. :wink:

It’s been a while since he’s had an email exchange with Bratina or another councilor where he cc’s the national press. Perhaps next week? :lol:

I’m still scratching my head over this thread.
Three pages now and not ONE mention of why Merulla’s suggestion would not work as an option…albeit a last ditch one …to keep the team in Hamilton.
All I have read so far is a contest to see who can use the biggest letters and insults to heap scorn city council and Sam Merulla.
Are you all saying:

  • Green Bay City councillors are a bunch of idiots for continuing to run the Packers like a utility?

  • The City of Hamilton has NOT invested tens of millions into the Tiger-Cats through subsidies at the stadium etc?

  • The Caretaker will NOT lose money (we can quibble over the 7 million if you want) on the West Harbour site?

  • The Caretaker HAS contributed money and it IS clear where the money is coming from?

    I would assume you are not saying all these things…so would someone kindly explain what is wrong with Merulla’s suggestion…other than it came from HIM and he is a councillor?
    The only thing I would take issue with is Merulla’s last quote about being taken for a ride.
    We can all blame whoever we want for this stalemate…there is enough to go around. But this thread is about a possible solution to keeping the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton if all else fails.
    Can we debate this with some legitmate criticism of the points that have been raised?
    Thanks.

The dilemma continues. Those for and those against. We're all in the same boat here; devout Ticat supporters
on opposite sides of the fence. I happen to agree that our city council is an exercise in futility with the mayor
and Eisenberger leading the way.

IMHO, finding the right stadium site isn't the problem. The problem is us. Councilors, media and Ticat brass are
watching this site on a daily basis. They see whats going on here in that we can't agree. This confuses them to
a point where they truly don't know what would be a satisfactory arrangement for subscribers to this site, which is a
pretty good representation of the general football public.

As I see it, the best thing that good happen now, is for the city and the Ticats to sit down in a locked room with the
promise to remain there until a site is agreed upon.

Both sides need to swallow some pride and get down to the task of providing all of us with the ultimate site; not a
proposal, but THE SITE!

I find that even the media can't agree on a site and this reinforces my theory of the two battle combatants fighting it
out in a locked room until they come up with an answer. Go ahead boys! Let the blood flow, if necessary, but give us
an answer and above all, don't lose this football team.

Spike:
Good post.
The combatants need to play a revised game if anything is to be settled.
Let's hope some new parameters are drawn up so new solutions can be found.
The Pan-Am Committee is being totally irresponsible by standing back and saying the city and the Tiger-Cats HAVE to solve this on their own.
The Committee created an unworkable plan at the outset. They hold all the cards and the money, so they need to be fully involved in this now to find a way to make their plan work.

I’m not sure the site is the issue either Spike. I believe its about he lack of funding for a viable stadium and the business plan proposed that sees the Ticats lose income streams they currently have. Restoring the income streams would be a minimum the city must accept and full funding of a 25,000 seater is something HOSTCO must accept before any talks will achieve anything. I’m not hopeful of either but the shortfall on funding has me the most worried. Frankly in spite of any opposition I may have on any site if its fully funded and revenue streams are available to the Cats to be better off than they are at IWS I’m willing to take a bad site

I'd say this stadium issue has ALWAYS been about the site! Assuming you guys mean a Hamilton site.
The Province, Pan-Am Committee and City Council always wanted the West Harbour site.
That site has been the plan since day 1.
The Caretaker has not studied any other site despite his recent announcement that he does not like the West Harbour.
He has mused about Aldershot (Burlington) and a shared stadium near Oakville but up until the start of the talks with Michael Fenn there has been no serious discussion about any other Hamilton site and no studies done by the City on any other site.
It's been the West Harbour site all along in this process .....and here we are at the 11th hour still looking for a solution.
Maybe the two sides are discussing a new site now but based on the public pronouncements made so far, neither side has done their homework on an alternative site.
It looks as if there is not enough time left to start looking around for a new site and that's why I suspect the talk is about revenue sharing at the West Harbour site only.
Mr Fenn needs to be a miracle worker.

who owns the Green Riders? They seem to be doing OK.

And Edmonton..one of the most successful CFL franchises. They are owned by local shareholders but the city owns the stadium.
Edmonton provides a great model for how the Pan-Am Games Committee should have handled this stadium deal.
Local sporting groups and others raised the money needed first before they joined the City and Province in a project to build Commonwealth Stadium. In Ontario the Pan-Am Committee got the Fed, Provincial and City funding...and then bet the farm on the assumption that the Tiger-Cats would come up with 50 million. And when the going got rough they just sat back and watched.
Just look at the support (fans and business) that these western teams have. Makes Hamilton ( and Toronto) and a storied team like the Tiger-Cats look bad.
Thank goodness the Caretaker bought the team when he did.
But if the fan support continues the way it is now, I can't see this team surviving. Only 20-25 thousand a game on a good day? Sad.

Sams been playing with the chemistry set a little bit too much lately! Hows the white powder doing Sammy boy..... :twisted:

Most people like Bob Young,and are appreciative of what he has done so far with the team.Could you imagine, these clowns down at city hall trying to organize some type of community ownership? Even when they agree with each other,they disagree for political reasons.I would much rather have Bob Young own the team,with help from the community.He could offer shares,in small ,medium or large amounts.It could work.The city could give him some of the revenue made from Municipal parking downtown,and Central Park(just south of the stadium site)could be used for pregame activities(beer tents,live music,kids activities,food,etc.) And the cycling center could be moved to Dundas(Olympic Park),where the cyclists want it,and that area could be used for any number of things(additional parking,bayfront highrise condos,casino),just a thought.