Beyond Asperdome: bottom line

After writing my last eloquent post about the tight fit of a stadium in Point Douglas, I have since heard that Asper is in fact planning a 30-40,000 seat stadium. I suppose it might work if it were more of a bowl design, with smaller side grandstands and more end zone seating.

But really, who the hell knows what's going on? There are so many theories and suggestions out there on the internet that I don't even want to try to keep track, or add further speculation to the pile of speculation that's already filling up cyberspace. Instead, I'm going to lie low on this issue for a while, except to say this:

Whatever the plan is, it should not be forced on us. We shouldn't compromise for the sake of getting a deal done or compelling David Asper to quit smoking. If the terms and conditions are not right -- if the stadium is not what we need it to be, or if Asper ("Asker" as they're saying on NewWinnipeg) makes out like a bandit while the tax payers get screwed -- then there needs to be a way to stop the deal. Unfortunately I am not confident that we'll see that. Doer, while pretending to be responsible with the purse strings, will ultimately cave in to anything; Sammy would love nothing more than to leave a stadium as a legacy, especially as he has done very little else to be remembered by; David wants his empire; and Vic Toews ... I don't know if we can count on Vic.

There is only one entity that can give this proposal -- whatever it ends up being -- the sanity check it needs: you and me - the people of Winnipeg.