There is unrest in the forest There is trouble with the trees For Ottawa wants more sunlight And Toronto ignores its pleas The trouble with Ottawa (And it's quite convinced it's right) They say Toronto are just too lofty And it grabs up all the light But Toronto can't help its feelings If it likes the way it's made And it wonders why Ottawa Can't be happy in its shade Now I finally know what that song is about. You're welcome.
I've lived in both Toronto and Ottawa and I've never really understood the inferiority complex of Ottawa. I know WHY, but it doesn't do any good for anyone in Ottawa. They are both cities with some great qualities. All someone in Ottawa can do is make Ottawa the best they can.
The real version is a Rush song - The Trees [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHEcIbhDiw"]YouTube - Rush - The Trees[/ame]
There is another poll in progress on the location of Ottawa's new stadium. Please vote for Kanata if you want MLS in Ottawa: http://www.cfra.com/
There was a good column by Richard Starnes in today's Ottawa Citizen. His basic suggestion is that with all the planned infrastructure spending, we might be able to get both Landsdowne refurbished and a soccer-specific stadium in Kanata. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Sports/Paralysis+stadium+analysis/1313933/story.html If you can't decide which to buy - get both!!
Miami bid in jeopardy??? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/02/20/barca.mls/ Not clear if this is a serious risk to their bid or just a negotiating ploy. Either way, it would help Ottawa, if we could only get agreement on a SSS...
The perfect storm (ownership, stadium plan, weak US economy, federal infrastructure money and Montreal low-balling their MLS bid) just got more perfect. I had almost believed the hype that Ottawa were fighting for one spot alongside Miami, but now there may be two again. If only we could persuade the council that a quick decision in favour of MLS in Kanata is the best way to go...
I think it is April 20th-ish. But given Ottawa City Council, I am sure they will just vote to hold more studies or consultations.
Dates are as follows: March 11: Council will deal with the list of all possible sites for a stadium across the city. March 25: Business models from Lansdowne Live and the Melnyk group will be presented to council. April 11: A joint meeting of corporated services and economical development committees will hear public comment. No doubt everyone from Glebeites to Kanatans, sports fans to retailers, will come rushing forward. April 22: Full council decision day at which, Hume suggests, we taxpayers will find out if the vote goes to Lansdowne Live or Melnyk
Isn't MLS planning to make an annoucement before then? Last I heard, the announcement was coming in mid-March.
Here is some audio from Jan 27, 2009: http://www.bringtheworldtoottawa.ca/audio/090127_Garber_TEAM.mp3
So based on that, the new "deadline" for the annoucement is April 19th? They are really dragging this out. Especially in this economy, doesn't MLS realize that they need to give teams all the time possible to be ready and get the government funds/approvals needed?
The Ottawa city council has been very politicaly astute so far! They know that 45% of the people want MLS, 45% want CFL, 10% want neither, and they won't be able to have both MLS & CFL in two distinct stadiums and the two groups won't work together on the stadium issue. So whatever decision they make, a majority of people will be against them (45% of the other sport + 10% of neither). So by delaying the decision, they are hoping one of them will drop out. Both MLS & CFL set a march deadline, the council will vote in April. They are hoping one of them will drop out. Ottawa City council is facing two issues, 1- it has to deal with Lansdowne no matter what, 2- Soccer is a growing sport (professionaly) in Canada. I believe that at this time there would be more support (read: paid customers) for the CFL over MLS in Ottawa. But the Soccer side is growing fast. Football however is exploding in nearby Quebec. I think if MLS announces a *conditional* franchise for Ottawa, that city council will cave in and go with MLS in Kanata. If however MLS decides that Ottawa is a gamble due to the insecurity around the stadium and picks two other cities, city council will go ahead with Lansdowne+CFL and wash their hands of any blame saying that it's not their fault MLS did not pick Ottawa. As anything with citi council, the political side is always the most important. If you have to do something stupid to help your reelection, you will do it.