Published on August 4, 2012 8:48 PM by dbo.
Another month gone by, another stadium update on Ottawa, Hamilton, Regina and Halifax (and Moncton).
As construction work begins on the Lansdowne Park site, some trees were spared when a nesting bird was found, but only briefly as the bird moved on to a better neighbourhood. The bird would not stop constriction work on the site. Work on the parking garage resulted in vibrations. The Coliseum building was scheduled to come down, and so it did (video).
Update: Searching for the robin nester.
The battle for a generation of fans in Ottawa was also raised at the start of the season, with an actual Ottawa team launch date still years off. A return in 2014 will be an absence of 3 years longer than the first break. Battling for those minds 40 years and younger, who have no ties to Ottawa football, will be a challenge. Calling the game quirky for 12-men and a wide field and crazy for punt returns and single points is not the way to capture them, no matter the good intentions. Referring to baseball as quirky for its 9-players and 9 innings or hockey as crazy for the blades on the feet would not be tolerated, and the comparisons are about the same.
The University of Guelph was not able to make the logistics work to bring any Hamilton Tiger-Cat games to the city in 2013. This leaves London and the University of Western Ontario as the odds-on favourite to get the majority of the games, with Moncton still a possibility for one or two games, depending on their desire to bid with their own temporary stadium infrastructure.
Regina city council approved a memorandum of understanding with the province and Saskatchewan Roughriders on funding for a new $278 million outdoor, roof ready stadium. There was some opposition to the agreement, with a belief the proposal should go to a referendum or wait until after the fall’s elections before being approved.
Chris Cochrane, Halifax Chronicle Herald sports columnist, makes a pitch for Halifax to get behind Moncton in an effort to build a stadium and attract a CFL franchise. A simple argument: Halifax has failed to show any leadership or interest to do what is necessary to bring a stadium and team to the city so why not throw their support in a very low-cost way behind Moncton? Together they have a much better chance than either alone and pitted against each other.
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