City council may be eager to extend a conciliatory hand, but the Hamilton Tiger-Cats aren't willing to take it.
No, no and no again was how club president Scott Mitchell responded when asked if the team is willing to come back to the table to talk about playing at the west harbour. He says there is nothing the city can offer that will change the club's mind about returning to negotiations.
"When you ask if we'll come back to the table, for what?" he said last night. "Nothing has changed of any substance since their initial offer to us way back in February of a 15,000-seat stadium in the west harbour."
Mitchell says it doesn't matter if the provincial and federal governments come up with the money to bridge the gap for building a full-size 25,000- to 30,000-seat venue.
He says the west harbour site simply still won't work for the team from a business perspective.
"At the end of the day, whether it's Bob Young or anybody else, no owner is going to own a team that they're convinced they're going to lose millions of dollars on. Nobody."
That a Boy Scott show them we Mean Business this time..
I support you and Bob 155%
I wish that Scotty would show up and provide us with is business case as to how, and who, is going to cover the additional expenses at the EM. Something he must have overlooked when he was shooting his mouth off earlier in these proceedings – then became ever so silent when push came to shove.
Yeah, you showed us all Scotty!!! First by looking down his nose at half of the paying customers, then by being first to high-tail it to safety when the going got a little rough for him.
Well played. Again, the response might be more receptive if he actually stepped out of the ambiguity and connected a few dots.
I am just one fan but I supported Bob cause he and His Staff have been good to me.
They let me run my Blog till I closed it on my own last Dec.
They Been there for me when lost my dog Last year.
I been invited to many Parties and Ive been treated like I mattered.
I would Do what ever I could to support Bob
100 % is not enough to show my Graduate to this man and the Team he owns.
everyone heard of 110^&
I will do more 155% is how I am stating that …
He did not want to be Quite on the Subject but this had to be done …
what Bob said was no one will Talk (see his letter) and Scott did his job in that matter .
You don't stand around when you know the arrow is coming right for your heart to watch the revellers laugh at you and mock you. You get the heck outta there and fast if you have any respect for yourself.
There was no point to defending any position at council yesterday. The fix was in against the Cats worst than if Jake Ireland was involved. The stadium money will evaporate, and the Ti-Cats will have one last shot with the new mayor and council. Hail Mary's sometimes work.
Last time I checked the City was landlord and the Cats were tentants.Who’s pitchin to who ??? You know, hey I got this great building for you, wanna rent it??? hhhum No thanks. Simple isnt it.
Last time someone came to me to sell me something, I didnt have to open my books or hand them money with no promise of return. I am confused by how this is viewed overall.
The FF money is to clean a brownfield, last night council decided to spend it on an empty stadium to clean a brownfield.
Why cant we all see how unrelated the two are,
He said The Team don't want Leave the GHA OR GTA.
Cause of the Future fund money for Stadium.
They love the area and want to stay im it but Hamilton is Non Starter now..
To Me that Means Burlington or Somewhere in the GTA..
You’re still making no sense with your rant about Scott Mitchell’s absence from the City Council meeeting last night. Read Bob Young’s letter to Fred Eisenburger again and come back to this thead with the parts you’re confused about - we’ll try to help you understand it.
Last I checked, the team has their hands out looking for $100 million in public money. Not sure where you grew up, but when I asked my old man for more than $20, he’d generally ask “what for?” If it was for a pair of shoes, I’d probably get it. If it was for a speedball, I probably wouldn’t.
What we learned last night was that the EM stadium had a few more budget pitfalls than what had been presented. But, there was no one to answer those concerns. So, hanging in the balance was the probability that it was going to take, at least, an additional $20 million to even get the place up and functioning. And, at last check, the team was offering $15 million contingent on some ambiguous control over the surrounding lands.
Would’ve been nice to hear someone (ie. Mr. Mitchell) say, “Don’t worry about that fellas, the Osmington guys are gonna kick in any of the overages and amortize the up front lending over 25 years.”
Then council would’ve said, “Hmmmm, you raise a very good point, Mr. Mitchell. We had been looking at the Harbour, but given your proposal to help us see that initiative through, and your committment to being long term tenants, we can probably work with this whole East Mountain thing. And it will assure us of getting federal and provincial funding. This changes things…this changes things…a…lot.” (…read that in the voice of Peter Griffin, it’s hella funny!)
Anyway, I did not hear that last night. And just because you may have to deal with a hostile crowd doesn’t mean you stay home. There were some great points presented – especially by the Carmen’s guy – and they seemed decently received. But, it’s pretty hard to vote in favour of ghosts.
I understand it fully. What I don’t understand is capturing the momentum that was generated at the Carmen’s rally. Many of you guys were there and it left a fantastic impression on you all. Now, if that same presentation was made in front of council, moments before the vote (obviously, compacted into a 5 minute window) it would sure give people a lot more to think about before voting. But no, council had to vote based on the Ticats not being at the table with anything.
That’s what bothers me. If you believe you’re doing the right thing, you stick with it and see it through. It felt to me like they gave up.
Good grief. In the business pitches I’ve been involved with you only get potential customers in the room if they are interested. If the Tiger Cats aren’t interested in the WH location which was clearly the only option on the table then why waste Scott Mitchell’s time? I listened to most of yesterday’s proceedings which were clearly staged in favour of Mayor Fred’s WH dream. That was a waste of taxpayer money and that is an institutional epic fail.
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>He did not want to be Quite on the Subject but this had to be done ..
what Bob said was no one will Talk (see his letter) and Scott did his job in that matter .</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
Smart move. I know whenever I’ve been involved in business pitches, the homework gets done AND we show up to the actual pitch. Epic fail, Scotty.
You’re still making no sense with your rant about Scott Mitchell’s absence from the City Council meeeting last night. Read Bob Young’s letter to Fred Eisenburger again and come back to this thead with the parts you’re confused about - we’ll try to help you understand it.
[/quote]
I understand it fully. What I don’t understand is capturing the momentum that was generated at the Carmen’s rally. Many of you guys were there and it left a fantastic impression on you all. Now, if that same presentation was made in front of council, moments before the vote (obviously, compacted into a 5 minute window) it would sure give people a lot more to think about before voting. But no, council had to vote based on the Ticats not being at the table with anything.
That’s what bothers me. If you believe you’re doing the right thing, you stick with it and see it through. It felt to me like they gave up.
[/quote]
Bob Gave up Cause of the advanced Polls he got
He was told it was over the vote would go WH
no How much he tired so he left this battle
He start a new one soon called Plan B..
Sometimes it better to retreat then play a hopeless Battle
Those who Fight and run a way live to fight another day .
Exactly. If someone tries to sell you a property the onus is on them to prove to you it is in your best interests. You as a customer do not have to spend time and money putting a business case together proving it isn’t in your best interests. This fundamental of business is lost among the mayor, councillors, and vast majority of delegates because they are not in business. They spend other people’s money where risk and accountability do not exist.
The smart move is to take that $100M, clean up the brownfields and attract new business and developments to revitalize the city. A ten event per year football stadium is not going to transform the North End. By the time the voters and taxpayers figure that out Mayor Fred will have a nice Board of Govenors gig with one of his corporate influencers.