Thanks for the memories

Well that was an anti-climatic end to Milt Stegall's career. Thanks for the memories, Turtle Man, even if they don't include a Grey Cup.

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Kevin Glenn has to go. He's ok, but that's not good enough. Sure, maybe the Bombers would have won last year if Glenn hadn't broken his arm, but with our talent we could have won with just about any QB with experience. The fact is Glenn is not good enough. He has his good games, but he has too many bad ones. It's time to move on to the post-Glenn era, and find a starting QB who is more mobile and has a better arm. Could it be Randall? Maybe. Let's give him a try.

Beyond Asperdome: Urban Goliath

I suspect that those who were upset that a real estate agent and urban sprawl advocate became head of Winnipeg's Property Planning and Development department will also not be impressed that a Federal bean counter is now telling us where to build a new stadium.

Well, that's not exactly what's happening, but pretty close. The Polo Park location was the best part of the old deal. Now it appears that the Polo location is out of the picture because Vic Toews has made funding contingent on the stadium being in a downtown location. Now, if there were a logical place to put it near down town, then OK. But that's not the case. The options are:

• Point Douglas, where an under-sized stadium will be shoe-horned in between rail way tracks and the river, with only three small roads (including one that goes through a residential neighbourhood) available to carry traffic to and from the games
• South of the convention center, where an under-sized stadium will sit empty for 350* days a year, doing nothing to make downtown more vibrant.

My message to Vic:

Vic: let us put our damned stadium where we want to put the damned stadium. If you want to fund it, fine. Don't force us to compromise by squeezing in a stadium that's too small in a location where it's not appropriate. If you want to fund a 24,000 seat stadium, give the money to Halifax!

*it will be used more often if it is domed, but it won't be domed because that would be crazy expensive and would also involve a big payoff to True North/Chipman who have a negotiated monopoly on large indoor events in Winnipeg.

related commentary from the peanut gallery:
Policy Frog one and two
Progressive Graham
Marginalized Action Dino
The Hack
Pissing on the Stadium
Rise and Sprawl
did I miss you? Let me know.

The Turtle Man is back!!

In November I wrote that it would be a crime against humanity if Milt Stegall retires without holding up the Grey Cup. Happily, we may be able to avoid that terrible injustice. Milt is back for one more year!

Now let's get another QB with CFL experience, and get focused. There's absolutely NO reason why we can't take this thing home.

Montreal 2008, Baby. Get your tickets now!

New Stadium for Halifax

Another thing ... Halifax needs a new stadium more then we do. I know that somebody from Halifax visits this blog. Whoever you are, you should spread the word that the Feds are chipping in $30 mil for a new stadium here. Maybe that will put some pressure on somebody out there to get the ball rolling on a stadium for the Schooners again. It's high time Nova Scotia had a team in the CFL.

Do I hear $45 Million?

There must be an election coming or something. Or maybe Vic Toews is taking the advice of the CCPA and trying to spend our way out of a recession. I don't know what's going on, but in a matter of days we went from "not bloody likely" to $15m-$20m to $30m in possible funding for a new Winnipeg football stadium (I'll call it the "Asper Dome" even though it doesn't have a roof, just 'cause it has a nice ring to it.) With a little more sweet-talking from David, he just might get the 40 mil he's looking for.

There are other bloggers out there who are doing some great commentary on this subject, so I'll keep it short. I am torn on the issue, to be honest. There is a lot of public money at stake, and David Asper could potentially make out like a bandit. He probably has a good chuckle (or possibly an evil laugh) every time his proposal gets one step closer to reality. However, I am a Bomber fan, and I do not like the seating at the current stadium at all. It's way too cramped. If it takes $80 million of tax payer money to make me more comfortable watching a football game, well then, I'm tempted to support it.

I'm just not sure it should take that much money. Policy Frog questioned the price tag a few days ago here, (but keep in mind the project involves concurrently building the new stadium and tearing down the old one on the same site, which has to add cost.) There has also been some questions about the process that selected the Asper Dome. Nobody seems to know what the decision-making criteria was in selecting that option over the Ledohowski vision. So all I'm trying to say here is, if we're going to dump a bunch of tax dollars into this project, give us details and make the process transparent so that we we have some idea if we're getting decent value for our money.

Damn ...

Well, what can you do?

The Sask Roughriders brought home the cup. I really wanted to believe that we could win it with our back-up QB ... that Glenn was overrated and that we would be just about as good with NCAA star Dinwiddie running the offence. Sadly, that proved not to be the case. He didn't have a terrible game, but he didn't have the poise and play reading abilities that we needed. Case in point, the game ending play was a 2nd and 1 where Dinwiddie broke out of the pass rush and could have easily ran for the first down, but instead threw into a tight coverage situation, giving up his 3rd interception of the game. Johnson and Chick (who the hell is this Chick guy anyhow?) both had outstanding games for the Sask D, making life miserable for our would-be hero, and all Bomber fans.

After all that, I only have one thing to say: One more year, Milt!

The Atlantic Schooners need a home!

Tomorrow I will likely be writing about the Bombers amazing win over the Saskatewan Banjo-Pickers in the Grey Cup. Today, I am writing about the Schooners. As a CFL fan, I truly believe that we need a team in the Altantic provinces, and I am equally sure that they have the support to make it successful. All they need is a stadium!

I am reminded of this because this time last year, I was having a blast at the Down East Kitchen Party here in Winnipeg .. possibly the best of the Grey Cup parties. There is no question that East Coasters know how to have a good time. They are passionate people who are starved for a professional sports team to rally behind. Consider that Halifax/Dartmouth has a population of about half a million, in a province of 900,000 -- roughly equivalent to Manitoba or Saskatewan, and I think it's obvious that it will be a success. New rivalries will be borne and many kegs of Keiths will be drank. All good stuff.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, if they want it so bad, why doesn't somebody step forward to build a stadium? And then we get into that whole argument of public money funding stadiums and all that. Look, the reality in the sports world is that stadiums are rarely built with only private money. Look at all these stadiums that are on the drawing boards. Do you think that these are all being built with private bucks only? I mean, there's a freakin' 80,000 seat stadium in Baghdad fer chryssakes! Who the hell is paying for that?? Professional sports is a quality of life factor and an economic generator that the government should have an interest in promoting. Build the damn ball park! Steal the plans for Waterfront Stadium in Vancouver and save the cost of design if you have to.

Win it for the Turtle Man

In all likelihood, this Sunday will Winnipegger's last chance to see Milt Stegall catch a football. It's the end of an era, boys and girls. The Stegall era. Throughout all of those crumby years of losing records and playoff disappointments Milt suck with us and gave us hope. He was a beacon of light in a dark and cloudy time. He sacrificed himself for our sins. Okay, maybe not that, but he certainly did catch touchdown passes .. more than anybody in CFL history.

And now we approach his last game in Winnipeg. Possibly (but hopefully not!) his last game as a Bomber. I for one am grateful that he committed so much to this team and this city, and it would be a crime against humanity if he retires without holding up the Grey Cup. So DAMMIT win this bloody game! And the one after that and the one after that!

I have noticed that there have been uncharacteristic dropped passes these past few games, Milt included. I think the knowledge that this is the end of an era is putting extra pressure on everybody. I hope that they regain their focus and crush their opposition in all three playoff games so we can put a big happy stamp on the end of Milt's career.