Okay I'm calling Bob Lenarduzzi out on this story. He has been claiming that the Retractable Roof is a done deal, it'll get done, no worries, yiddie yiddie yada as they say in Texas. Now we have this revelation from the Minister yesterday that the Retractable Roof won't be paid for through taxes and won't get done without Private money being kicked in. And that the Government is willing to replace with another dome. At what point in this process did the Whitecaps ever mention they'd be paying for this roof? Obviously if the Government has been soliciting private money all along, the Whitecaps must have known this for many months. Why is the Government revealing this now and not the Whitecaps earlier? Fact is, the Retractable Roof is not a done deal. But of course Bill is not worried. From 24 Hours Sports: No taxes for roof Private money could rescue the planned retractable roof for B.C. Place Stadium, said the minister responsible. "We won't be paying the extra out of taxpayers' funds," Kevin Krueger told 24 hours yesterday. "People are working together to find a way with a private sector partnership, potentially including the bidders, perhaps including the unions." The $365 million project is under review by treasury board because of rising cost estimates. Completion is planned for 2011. "We don't have to do it, if government had to we could just replace the existing roof," Krueger said. "A lot of people want a retractable roof and they're willing to partner to get it. I believe we'll have partners and we'll get it done." Krueger denied technical issues have driven up costs for the pioneering project. "No one has expressed any concerns at all about the engineering or ability to construct it," he said.
now look everyone playball is a TFC fan just stirring crap up piss off already and concentrate on your own mess of a stadium BMO, we don't need or want your help, this is getting tedious dunno how many more times people have to hint at you to piss off before you will get it but I guess you will never get it. you can act like you know everything about BC place but we see right through you.
The critical quote is: "We don't have to do it, if government had to we could just replace the existing roof,". That flies in the face of their election promises. It also flies in the face of everything Bob Lenarduzzi has been saying to the media and fans to this date.
I doubt he is VanCityRed...he was a troll on the Southsiders board, but he seemed to be an actual football fan. His IP address also didn't match "Spiral"'s (Yes...we know the IP's you post from). However, playball2 is a person with a notorious, strange agenda. From his past patterns, he is definitely the person known as "Spiral" on the Voyageurs board, "vancouvermls" from this board (who was previously banned...btw, try doing a search on vancouvermls' past posts...do you actually see ONE post related to the game of soccer? What you'll find is a bunch of panicked posts on the BC Place stadium and MLS expansion to everywhere, except Vancouver.). He was also known as "towerguy3" on a local forum that discussed development projects in Vancouver (his favourite theory was that the BC Place roof would either collapse or implode when the torch was lit for the opening ceremony of the Olympics). He tried floating the same theory on a board for B.C. Lions fans, but was quickly banned and told to pi$$ off. http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=151228 Finally, just do a quick search on his past 28 posts on BigSoccer...does one of them involve his "beloved" Aberdeen, or even one of the thousands of football matches that have been played since he started posting his drivel? And btw, my answer to his slanderous question was answered a long time ago (Try Page 1)
That's none of your business. This is a forum for soccer fans. As such, you do not qualify. STFU, Spiral.
May I suggest people take the tried and true method of "Do not feed the troll." Best way to get a troll to stop coming around is to stop responding to their posts.
Just to let people here know, playball2 has been trolling over at the Red Patch Boys forums, under one of his old usernames here, Vancouver MLS, with this same crap. This dope seems to have a death wish.
Because the Whitecaps will sell the next round of season tickets for 2010, and they are still selling 2009 Whitecap season tickets, which give the buyer first dibs for buying 2010 season tickets. Think of it from a business perspective: 1) Whitecaps and Lenarduzzi continue their claims. However, retractable roof deal collapses and MLS gives Vancouver expansion spot to another city. Whitecaps simply refund the 2010 season ticket deposits. 2009 Whitecap season ticket holders who largely intended to get first dibs for 2010 season tickets are half screwed but they still get to see 2009 Whitecaps in USL though. This maximizes Whitecaps revenue. 2) Whitecaps scare the public into thinking retractable roof may not happen, and the Whitecaps' expansion spot is at risk. This is a very bad business move as more people will refrain from buying 2009 Whitecaps season tickets. Also, the Whitecaps will not have a successful 2nd round of 2010 season ticket deposits. There is little incentive for the Whitecaps to publicly doubt the status of the retractable roof as that is not positive for their bottom line.
Let us be very clear on one thing... The Vancouver Whitecaps will be kicking off in MLS in 2011. The MLS team is not going to be moved or re-awarded to Montreal, St.Louis, or any other city. All of this has been made very clear by the Whitecaps and MLS. The only place this is doubted is through the total bull$hit spewed on this board.
[QUOTE: 2) Whitecaps scare the public into thinking retractable roof may not happen, and the Whitecaps' expansion spot is at risk. This is a very bad business move as more people will refrain from buying 2009 Whitecaps season tickets. Also, the Whitecaps will not have a successful 2nd round of 2010 season ticket deposits.[/QUOTE] Refrain from buying 2009 season tickets? This is 2009. I do agree it will adversely affect 2010 deposits. vancouversoccerman, I realize you have hostile feelings and don't like facing the truth, but when are you going to start being realistic about prospects of this roof instead of trying to protect the team? I'm not spewing garbage. That article quotes the Minister of Tourism. If you can't trust the words of the Minister of Tourism, who can you trust? I'll take the Minister's words over Lenarduzzi's claims any day. If the Whitecaps want a Retractable Roof, they can pay for that crapp themselves. Why the hell should TAXPAYERS foot the bill for Billionaire Kerfoot?
I agree completely...especially since it's in violation of the moderator's policy on baseless rumours. (Btw...wasn't this roof thingy supposed to have been cancelled LAST TUESDAY? And now we see it's BEING WORKED OUT? Great source you got, Spiral) https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=968404
Some people just like to stir the pot. THey invent these pie-in-the-sky rumours (rumors) and run with it like its the gospel truth. That guy Fenerbache did that awhile back. Claiming inside information about Atlanta and NYC2 as MLS next expansion teams. They just like to see there posts on the internet. Its like the idiots behind home plate in a baseball game waving everytime there is a pitch knowing he'll be on tv.
I haven't seen any quote from Garber yet regarding the possible cancellation of the retractable roof. If you have a link to Garber's statements about the cancellation, please post it as I would like to read it as well. The only thing I've read from MLS regarding the retractable roof situation is the quote from senior vice president Dan Courtemanche: 'All of the renovations to BC Place were key in Major League Soccer awarding Vancouver an expansion team," MLS senior vice-president Dan Courtemanche said from the league's New York headquarters.' - http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Place+roof+falls+under+cloud+uncertainty/1934266/story.html
Both Lenarduzzi & a representative from MLS were on CKNW almost two weeks ago. Both of them made very clear that MLS is not at any risk in Vancouver. Instead of reading blogs and articles based on rumours and conjecture, you should try listening to the actual fans who follow the club closely, and talk with club officials. If BC Place or MLS was really in any danger, don't you think fans like the Southsiders or Voyageurs would be going ballistic with worry on their forums? Well, guess what? THEY'RE NOT. That's because there's nothing to be worried about. BC Place is not going to be torn down. It's very clear that it's not going to remain as is. It's also very clear that the government is looking for a solution to the roof, which they wouldn't be doing if their intent was to cancel the project (something they could have easily done two weeks ago to score political points). BTW, there is a great, well-researched article in today's Vancouver Sun that talks about Seattle's success, and how the Whitecaps are learning from them as they prepare for MLS in 2011: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Seattle+Sounders+strike+right+note+with+fans/1985763/story.html
The troll isn't even a soccer fan. By his own admission, he hasn't watched or attended a single match. He's a construction junkie. Most of his nonsense starts on forums relating to buildings and developments in Vancouver. And oh yeah: We exposed him cruising for tickle partners on fetish websites. I'm deadly effin' serious. Back on point: Vancouversoccerman is absolutely 100% correct in what he's saying about BC Place.
I sure hope anyone didn't track that down whilst at work either. Sadly if you did it at home you probably have more malware and virus' than you can shake a stick at. Good work though. I'm more a lurker than a poster on this board but I always listen to CBC Vancouver on my iphone while walking my dog at night. So one night, about 4-5 weeks ago they had a show about how a large number of construction workers were bent out of shape about possible drug testing for guys on the 2010 Olympic bids as well as other projects. One guy was basically saying "I'm the only guy in the city who can do my job and if they found anyone else, it wouldn't matter because they'd be doing drugs too" then he started on about the roof on BC Place and how he "heard" they were gonna kill the project and the 'Caps wouldn't be joining MLS. Because the story was about drugs and construction workers it faded off whilst the announcer started to talk about another relevant point. So as I was walking down a road in Smithfield RI, with my dog late one night about 4 weeks ago I thought to myself, "I wonder if that guy on the radio is Vancouver MLS and Playball2 from the bigsoccer board???"...........