blueandgoldguy

Ian Wild?

New stadium location and all the inherent problems with it dictates that the walk up will be much lower than the old Canad Inns site. I think they will get a crowd around 25,000 - 26,000.

Stadium looks great! Wouldn't have minded if they had added an extra 4 - 5 rows in the lower deck to bring it up another 1000 - 2000 seats or so and bring it closer in scale to the size of the opposing stands. But that's quibbling over minor details. Saw an article a few weeks ago regarding Ottawa's historical support of pro and amateur sports. Stated that due to the large number of government offices in the region compared with cities of similar size like Edmonton and Calgary that Ottawa tends to draw lower numbers for live events. The government can't buy season tickets nor can they purchase the suites. Since there are fewer corporate head offices (even less than Winnipeg) in the city they have to rely on the general public to buy the majority of the seats or at least moreso than in comparably sized cities. Public obviously won't have as much disposable income for those high end seats and suites and as a result you get empty seats. It doesn't help that the arena is way out in Kanata and is too big for the team - 20,000 capacity with 150 suites. I'm sure if they built something in downtown Ottawa with 18,000 seats and 75 or so suites and a bunch of loges (more appropriate for the market size) it would sellout on a consistent basis. I would love to see AA baseball in Winnipeg. We could easily support it and the quality of play is a step up from the American Association - an added benefit. Thing is, it's a bus league and there are no teams even remotely close to Winnipeg. So unless there is a move to establish AA teams in places like Fargo, Regina, Saskatoon, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, St. Cloud then it's a pipedream.

We sucked in the preseason last year. People were worried and it turned out they had every right to be worried.

If I get a chance I will have to go back and watch the entire game, but from what I saw I was completely underwhelmed by the tackling or like thereof. Couldn't believe the ease with which the running backs ran the ball..right through the interior of the line too. Seemed the Qb or running back would gain 5 yards minimum before even being touched by a D-Lineman or linebacker. Also surprised how small our the Bomber d looks out there..well OK, not really this is an Etcheverry defense after all. I would be surprised if he was outright fired before the season ended, but I wouldn't be surprised if he received "help" during some point in the season which really means he no longer gets to call the plays and is a dead man walking. We've seen this happen recently around the league. I could see this team being at the bottom or at least in the bottom-2 for running yards against per game and average yards per carry against. Etch probably won't make it to 2015.

Pallister is also the wrong guy to win them votes in Winnipeg, where they need to win votes, but they don't have a lot of options. Yes, I'm beginning to think the NDP has a reasonably good chance at winning the next provincial election. Pallister and co. can only beat that %8 PST horse for so long. They haven't really haven't communicated an effective strategy as to how to improve the Manitoba's fortunes. Their vision must include more than simple cutbacks.

IF this is how you feel, why did you say Steven Harper is the only choice for the next federal election? He lied to us as well (accountability and appointing Conservatives to the Senate) and many would consider the conservatives have stolen from the taxpayer as well. It was well-known before the election that Hudak was going to lose and lose handily. Ran a terrible campaign. Yes, let's publicly state that we will cut 100,000 civil servant jobs with no plans on retraining these laid off workers for new jobs - that will get them to vote for us! Liberals did a great job of changing the public's (or at least a good portion of the public's) perception of the party. Wynne is still a relatively new leader of the Libs and thus is not viewed as mixed up in the scandals of the previous regime. They campaigned on change even though it is the same party and they won handily - brilliant!

Not all that knowledgeable about the process but generally doesn't it take quite awhile to get Canadian citizenship, like at least a few years? A lot of these players who come up here from the U.S. might be out of the league by the time they get their Canadian citizenship.

Wow, those off-the-board early round picks by Mack really paid off - Etienne, Pencer and now Robertson. Boom or bust prospects? More like all bust.

I worry that people might become fed up with this new arrangement not so much for the price having to be paid for the transportation, but moreso in the manner the money is collected. For those who only use park n'ride occasionally and forego the $40 yearly pass, choosing instead to pay the $2.55 fee, how long will this hold up the buses at each stop along every park n' ride? 50 or so people (times 150 or however many school buses are utilized on gameday) scrounging around in their pockets for change and giving it to the bus driver which I'm sure will add several more minutes to an already long commute. And will they retrofit each school buses with some sort of coin collection box? Something that can be secured to the interior of the bus in such a manner that it cannot be easily stolen, but at the same time may be easily removed when the buses are used for primary purposes - transporting students? If it turns out to be as slow and cumbersome as I suspect, people may forego the bus in favour of their vehicles adding more congestion and wear and tear on the roads (ironically, in the end this may cost the city more taxpayer dollars than the negated transportation subsidy) exacerbating what is already a less than ideal commute. I wonder if many ticket buyers choose to stay at home and watch the game rather than deal with a worsening traffic situation.

Honestly, this is the best Bomber-related news over the past several months.

Hope they do something about this. Wasn't there supposed to be a Bomber Hall of Fame at the new stadium? Seemed to remember that announcement when the stadium first started construction back in 2010. Another cut from the stadium design?

Sellinger is indeed the worst piece of human vermin ever to grace the premier's office in Manitoba. Followed closely by Garry Filmon, Sir Rodmund Roblin & Howard Pawley. He's currently piecing together his exit plan and will not run in the next election. That big huge stork lady Teresa Oswald will be confronting Andrew Swan and Hunchback Howard for the NDP leadership fairly soon. Roblin brought us Duff's Ditch & Winnipeggers should be thanking him every spring. I think he was a very good Premier. Now, Walter Weir, the ex Highways Minister who replaced him& called a snap election in 69 because the NDP had just elected Ed Schreyer as leader & he thought was going to catch them flat footed. Weir was a hapless moron. Nate is talking about Duff's grandfather though. He was premier from 1900 - 1915.

Sellinger is indeed the worst piece of human vermin ever to grace the premier's office in Manitoba. Followed closely by Garry Filmon, Sir Rodmund Roblin & Howard Pawley. He's currently piecing together his exit plan and will not run in the next election. That big huge stork lady Teresa Oswald will be confronting Andrew Swan and Hunchback Howard for the NDP leadership fairly soon. Filmon was OK. I wouldn't rank him with those others as one of the worst premiers of the province. He balanced the budget on a consistent basis in the face of declining federal tranfers in the 90s - his biggest strength. Wasn't much of a visionary though. That Roblin guy was a piece of work though. I'd say he was the worst premier ever just based on one incident alone. I think he and and a few others committed fraud with regards to contract arrangements during the construction of the legislative building. Think it worked out to $500,000 or 1 million at the time which doesn't sound like much, but would be tens of millions of dollars today, maybe even more than $100 million. So as impressive as the legislature is, there were several things cut from the design due to the corruption of the Conservative government of the time. Strange thing is, I had no idea about this until I read the Hermetic Code (great book by the way) and I suspect many Manitobans know little about it as well.

What? I just mean hes a known liar. He publicly flip flopped on putting the Goldeyes into a blind trust. Thus he lied. Thats all i meant. Right? ;-) Just sayin', man. 17to85 feels anyone on the internet can say what they want about anyone with impunity. I happen to think there's a line & if it's crossed could be trouble. Not saying you did cross the line but why take the risk? Maybe because I was threatened once with a lawsuit about 10 years ago. Not worth the worry or hassle. A very good point. A few months ago Brian Burke was taking a couple of posters on some Maple Leafs site to court for libel when they claimed he had an affair with a well-known media personality in Toronto.

Seems to be a little bit of tunnel vision going on here with regards to the reason for the city's about-face in providing the Bombers with gameday transit - BOD's refusal to select Katz friend Rabb as a member of the board. Kives looks at it from a different angle - Sam's reluctance to provide funding to both the Football Club and True North in the past. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/fish-owner-needs-to-be-careful-what-he-says-260878741.html From the article: The mayor is correct when he says the city offers the Bombers a lot of moolah. The non-profit football club is entitled to a rebate on all the entertainment taxes it collects -- estimated at $1.25 million this season -- plus a property-tax exemption. The city also contributed $7.5 million in cold cash toward the construction of Investors Group Field and will forgo slightly less than half of the first $75 million in property taxes it collects from new developments at the Canad Inns Stadium site to help pay back a $160-million provincial stadium-building loan. But is the mayor pleased about this? Over the years, he hasn't exactly been enthusiastic about city-provincial funding for both the Winnipeg Football Club and True North Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Winnipeg Jets.

If we need to keep the NI ratio for replacement players no prob. Just bring back the likes of Brock Ralph and Troy Westwood.

It will be Hillary's election to lose. Can't see the Republicans reign of error from 2000-08 being so quickly forgotten even with Obama's rather mediocre run as president.. which was no doubt hindered by not having control of the house and senate thus making it rather difficult to affect any real change. Funny how Republican leaders like John McCain would publicly urge the party to "work together with the Dems to find a middle ground" or saying something like that, but in practice the party did anything but - see the shutdown of government in 2013. Absolutely childish. Jeb Bush, from all accounts is the "smart one" in the family and not nearly as conservative (in some respects) as his brother but that probably won't sway the several million voters in America who aren't predisposed to voting for any one particular party, to swing towards the Republicans. Then you have the GOP, which primarily consists of white elderly men many of whom are very vocal and rigid about their socially conservative views..as in no equality for homosexuals, anti-abortionist and yes, racist although not as overtly as in the past; their outmoded ideas regarding crime and punishment (how is having the highest percentage of any OECD country's population in jail and still having the highest rates of crime, both violent and overall, of any OECD country working out for you USA?) and gun control (highest rates of gun-related deaths of any OECD country). They have just grown more out of touch with the majority of voters as time has passed and the party is not at all representative of the voting population (over 50% women and nearly 40% hispanic and african-american). Unfortunately for the GOP, it's doubtful anything will change despite losing two elections in a row quite handily. Too many members in the party not willing to or capable of change. Stubborn...arrogant....religious nutjobs. Need to be reigned in or kicked out of the party for them to have a chance in a socially progressive world. Assuming it's Jeb, not sure if he is up to the task. Even if he is he has to contend with his brothers legacy..widely considered to be the worst president in US history - see Iraq War, subprime mortgage crisis, Katrina debacle, taking Clinton's surplus and turning it into a the worst deficit in US history all the while lowering taxes. Other than deficit and employment issues that have continued on from the previous administration, Obama and the Dems haven't had scandals even remotely on the level as the previous Bush Admin which will work in their favour. Early estimates for 2016 - Dems take 52% of the popular vote with 70 million votes and at least 340 seats.

MPI lot by the Superstore is $10 although I think it fills up at least 1/2 an hour before the game so that might not be an option for you. It's a 20 minute walk from the there to the stadium but the times I parked there it took only 5 - 10 minutes to get out of the lot.

TV revenue increases by more than $2 million per team per season for 5 seasons. New stadiums online with new revenue streams like club seats and suites and the best the league can do is increase the cap by $350,000 by year 5. What a joke.

no but their owners, True North, were here..the ones who financed most of the arena and who subsequently negotiated a deal with the province and the city upon the Jets arrival..a deal that made sense. No coming back to the city saying hey our business plan didn't work and was completely unrealistic, we didn't foresee these extra costs due to the location of our facility so we're gonna need more subsidies. Bombers didn't choose the location of the stadium. Location was dictated by the Feds on a condition of funding. The Bombers did have a choice though. They and the province could have said no to the feds and and picked a better spot. As it is the transport subsidies the Bombers are getting from the the city will end up being more than the $15 million they received from the feds.

no but their owners, True North, were here..the ones who financed most of the arena and who subsequently negotiated a deal with the province and the city upon the Jets arrival..a deal that made sense. No coming back to the city saying hey our business plan didn't work and was completely unrealistic, we didn't foresee these extra costs due to the location of our facility so we're gonna need more subsidies.

No I'm comparing the business people in charge of these respective pro teams and how they negotiate with the province and city. I'm not sure how the business people on the board would fail to account for the extra costs associated with bus transport and negotiate accordingly. Did they not realize more people would have to take the bus to get to the Bomber games and thus they would have to rent more buses and pay more drivers to accomodate those people? Apparently not, as they came to the province nearly one year later asking for a discount on bus transportation. It doesn't matter. You're comparing two different entities that have no common bond and entirely different issues. Can't be done. And you say the Bomber mgmt. could have foreseen something happening when it had never been tried before? I find that interesting. The sheer volume of traffic and tie-ups? It is only then that the solution to charter more and more buses was brought in…and of course, at the going rate. Why would they have committed to dozens and dozens of buses if they might have gone unused? This year, they are doing what is necessary to negotiate a better deal, something everybody wants. They are both professional sports teams. I don't think they are that different at all. Given the limited parking available on site (5300 spots) and limited parking available within a 25-30 minute walk, yes, the Bombers should have been more thorough with their research for bus transit needs. The bombers themselves estimated over 10,000 people would be taking the bus to the stadium each game and yet they failed to provide the appropriate transporation for the first few games and thus failed to consider this cost in their initial business plan. What, did they think they could magically transport 75-100 people per bus given the limited buses they were using and everything would turn out hunky-dory? If they had over-estimated the number of buses needed in the first few games, they could have simply rented fewer for the following games. Anyways, a good business plan has contingencies built in for unexpected costs. Something the Bombers failed to do given they came to the city asking for more subsidies recently.

Your projections are overly optimistic. How so? Are you disputing the reported numbers? We made a $3M profit in a year where we had transition costs to a new stadium, severance packages to pay, increased transit costs. It is a fact TV revenues are going up. We also had a horrible on field product. And while season ticket numbers were up, I believe we only had 2 sellouts last year. When is the last time this team made $3M in a year where we didn't host the Grey Cup? Show me your math. Well for starters, the severance packages aren't a one-time cost. Do they not have to pay for Burke's, Mack's and Buchko's contracts over a number of years? Even if they don't, do you believe the organization will never have to pay out the remainder of contracts to coaches and players who are fired prior to the final years of their contracts in the future. It's the cost of doing business in sports. I seem to remember the Bombers paying a million plus back in 2009/10 for Mike Kelly and his assistants offhand... $2 million in additional tv revenues does not mean $2 million in additional profits for the Bombers. I think by the end of the 5 year tv agreement the Bombers will be paying half of that to the players. Attendance will fall this year mostly due to the decline in season ticket sales and it will not be completely compensated by walkups. Many people went to check out the new stadium and won't be back..at least as season ticketholders..too time-consuming given the location, too expensive for some. I could see average attendance decreasing to 28000 per game this year so loss of 2500*$50 per ticket on average * ten games = $1.25 million lost at the gate. Even the modest price increases of 2 - 3%(with the exception of the 25% increase in the P7 section) won't come close to offsetting that ..maybe a few hundred thousand at most. And I haven't even begun to account for lost revenues in concessions and merchandise. Labour costs increase as the years go by and so will maintaining the stadium as it ages so that will cut into their increased revenues from tv, gate and advertising revenues. How much do you think the Bombers receive from concert revenues? Back in 2010 there were 3 concerts at the old stadium - The Eagles, Rock on the Range and Bon Jovi and according to the Bombers' financial report they received an additional $700,000 from those events - a decent number but nothing amazing. I doubt Bomber revenue from the soccer game is all that significant considering how cheap the tickets were. Top ticket price was only $50. For the other concerts the Bombers have to share revenue with True North considering they are the ones bringing in the acts. As for the NHL Heritage Classic, I'm pretty sure the Bombers are just renting out the facility to the Jets. True North and the NHL will be the true benefactors of that event. I agree with you on the Grey Cup although that's once every 8- 10 years Outside of the years hosting the Grey Cup I think this team will struggle to make $4.5 million in profits and thus, meet their annual debt obligations. Maybe in 5 years if we see another increase in tv revenues similar to the new contract (increase 2-3 times the $40 million current deal) will it become easier for the Bombers to meet their debt obligations.

Your projections are overly optimistic.