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Hunt faces challenges in CFL venture

ALLAN MAKI

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 6:47 PM EST 25/03/08

Group of local investors will try to make Ottawa work as a franchise where others failed ...Read the full article

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  1. The Middle Finger ..I.. from Canada writes: Again? Maybe the team name should be the Ottawa 69's.
  2. L. W. from Greener Pastures, Canada writes: Does this mean that the Peg is going to get bounced around again? Pretty tough when you are smack dab in the middle of the country. Neither east nor west. (no man's land)
  3. Sean O'Reilly from Canada writes: Some just never learn.......
  4. Travis Sellar from Canada writes: Why not put a team out East? Surely our friends out there will be more supportive of a team than those putzes in Ottawa who've had one ... how many times now? The CFL has to get it together. Such bad decision making.
  5. Chris B from Ottawa, Canada writes: It seems a bit unfair to saddle Ottawans with the failure of the Renegades. Sure support was lacking (somewhat - they got almost as many fans per game as Montreal), but look at the team in front of them. The owners had such limited funding that they could not afford scouts. They cut back on the number of trainers. It was a stupid move allowing the team in with the owners it had (and then letting the Gliebermans have a second crack? ay yi yi).

    Jeff Hunt is a credible front face, and with the way the City of Ottawa bends over backwards for developers, the other thre will never be short of a few bucks.
  6. Allan Martel from Canada writes: Beginning play in the 2010 season indeed!

    Why not in 2009? Not enough time to mount the season's ticket campaign? Outside the City of Ottawa budget cycle?

    Another two or three-year postponement of the redevelopment of an eyesore in the heart of the city.

    The Ottawa Lynx AAA ballpark now sits empty and will be used by some non affiliated Canada - US league with teams in New England, Quebec City and Ottawa. The Ottawa team didn't have a home and rode busses constantly to away games.

    Cue the tax increases to rebuild the stands at my expense and bring back the product that not enough people want for this, hopefully last, try.
  7. Hungry Weimaraner from Canada writes: No one under 40 cares about this amateur football league...
  8. J. Bergin from Canada writes: The CFL is on it's way out and once Toronto gets an NFL team the CFL slide will be unstoppable.
  9. Daniel Roy from Toronto, Canada writes: As Travis Sellar said, why not a team east? I'm sure there would be way more support for a team in Halifax or Quebec City than in Ottawa.
  10. Mitch Sprague from Ottawa, Canada writes: What an incredible waste of time and money.
  11. Spencer C from Canada writes: Anyone who criticizes Ottawa football fans clearly has absolutely no clue what they are talking about. Do a little research before you open your mouth.
  12. Jake ---- from Canada writes: I give this franchise 2 seasons before it leaves town. Why wont the CFL give another city a chance because Ottawa does not support the CFL.

    Halifax would be a great place for a franchise. hopefully this will be the 3rd and final time this joke of a city gets a team.
  13. WC Dieno from Canada writes: Lot of history in Ottawa ........ crazy dealings there in the past though ..... kind of like what those monkeys on Parliament Hill give us year in year out.
    Let them back in but at the same time make a team for Quebec City or Halifax ......... let's have our ten teams and even it up ......... for the naysayers who predict a move to the overbuilt, oversteroided NFL give us a break .................. WE ARE CANADIAN ......... and it's good enough for me and the rest of us who populate the hinderlands .......... one other thing .... make it manditory to have a Canadian at quarterback for all the games or at least half of the schedule ......... can you imagine what would happen to our already great college games ..... LONG LIVE CANADIAN BALL
  14. Piet F from Canada writes: Well if someone can make it work - it's definitely Jeff Hunt. Good luck!!
  15. J Snow Clone from O-town, Canada writes: I would love to have the CFL here in town. Although I'll probably just go to cheer for the Roughriders!
  16. The Middle Finger ..I.. from Canada writes: To Chris B from Ottawa, Canada who wrote: It seems a bit unfair to saddle Ottawans with the failure of the Renegades

    To Spencer C from Canada who wrote: Anyone who criticizes Ottawa football fans clearly has absolutely no clue what they are talking about. Do a little research before you open your mouth.

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Why not. Ottawa fans have had about 3 kicks at the cat.
  17. Spencer C from Canada writes: Well Middle Finger, first of all fan support was never the main issue.

    The issue always has been poor ownership, lousy support from the municipal government and lack of commitment from the CFL.

    Add to that a team that hasn't had a winning season in MORE THAN 25 YEARS, and yes there is plenty of blame to go around.

    A lot of people seem to forget that EVERY CFL TEAM has had to be bailed out at one point or another in its history.

    Hell the CFL bankrolled Toronto AND HAMILTON at the same time a few years back, did Ottawa get any similar bailout? No.

    No CFL city is immune to ownership problems, don't put the blame on Ottawa fans when you can't go to any city in the league where there wasn't once a "save the X" campaign, mounds of debt and fan issues.
  18. JawBone Hamilton from Canada writes: I'm thrilled that CFL football is coming back to Ottawa and even more thrilled that Jeff Hunt is leading the way.

    I'd also like to see a team in Quebec City. The way the Laval Rouge et Or have been playing for the last decade, there seems to be a real hotbed of interest in that town.
  19. John LoGiudice from New York, United States writes: I think the CFL can support a team in Ottawa and all parties will do well. They will once again be natural rivals with Montreal and Toronto (and a lesser one to Hamilton). With the dollar being much stronger than in the era of Renegades, the team can likely support itself and will probably not need the CFL to step in anytime soon. I think that the capital can support the CFL and the whole CFL will be stronger for it. I am also glad for the people in Winnepeg, for not having to scratch their heads and wonder why the Bombers are in the Eastern Conference.
  20. Ned Chiwalski from Canada writes: They couldn't make it work before, what makes them think it will work this time? Halifax would be a better fit for the CFL.
  21. Biggest Redneck from United States writes: J. Bergin from Canada writes: The CFL is on it's way out and once Toronto gets an NFL team the CFL slide will be unstoppable.

    I don't think you will be seeing an NFL team in Toronto anytime soon. L.A. is still waiting as are are several American cities that would love to have an NFL team.

    The CFL is a fine league that plays a unique brand of entertaining football. It is unfortunate that in some of the larger centers it is taken for granted.
    The CFL could do better if they marketed themselves a bit better . I like the Canadian quarterback suggestion and above poster had.
  22. Biggest Redneck from United States writes: Ned Chiwalski from Canada writes: They couldn't make it work before, what makes them think it will work this time? Halifax would be a better fit for the CFL.

    What's the stadium situation in Halifax. Could they play at the university or would they have to build a new stadium from scratch?
    I haven't been there in many years and don't recall.
  23. Allen Vernon from Vancouver, Canada writes: They don't deserve a team. Twice now they have shown they will not support one so to hell with them. Put the team in Halifax where they will get great support and make it a country wide game.
  24. EJ Ravensbud from Canada writes: Those who think the NFL is coming to TO please update us how the ticket sales are going for the Buffalo exhibition, token league games are going. Sold out yet?
  25. Spencer C from Canada writes: My God some of you are ignorant.
  26. Erick Langlais from Canada writes: "Biggest Redneck from United States writes: Ned Chiwalski from Canada writes: They couldn't make it work before, what makes them think it will work this time? Halifax would be a better fit for the CFL."

    Not really, Quebec is the perfect fit. Come on, Quebec city is twice the size of Halifax.

    Halifax... backwater.
  27. Hap Stokes from Canada writes: Hungry Weimaraner from Canada writes: No one under 40 cares about this amateur football league..

    And nobody over 40 (in your country) gives a fat rats a$$ over the glitzy and over blown Dog Fighters you think are so great. Take a good look at the ratings when both leagues are on TV at the same time.

    The NFL is the most over rated sports league on this planet.
    Boring, boring, and more boring. While the CFL is wildly exciting.
  28. Sal Gillespie from Canada writes: Why bother to make this announcement before they have buy-in on the development plan for Lansdowne? Its a no-brainer that this would all happen IF they get city council backing- but that IF is no smaller today than a year ago! And those Little Castros on council will NOT like this public show of pressure.
    Bad move that will leave Cohon looking stupid if it doesn't come off.
    If they DO pull it off... WICKED!
  29. Hap Stokes from Canada writes: The Middle Finger ..I.. from Canada writes: Again? Maybe the team name should be the Ottawa 69's.

    Yeeeh---Hey Finger what a sexy name.
  30. A Leading Edge Boomer from Canada writes: At last some local guys who have deep pockets and a vested interested in this city. Greenberg, Schenkman and Ruddy are the three biggest developers and real estate tycoons in the area. They have made hundreds of millions and have donated millions to Ottawa institutions as well. Watch for a deal made, where they pick up the cost of refurbishing Frank Clair stadium.

    Jeff Hunt knows what appeals in Ottawa. He understands Ottawans nd knows how to market to theme National Capital Region is the fourth largest market in the nation; after the GTA, Montreal and Vancouver.
    Good pickings for people who know what they are doing, which the last couple of Ottawa CFL franchise owners did not, and I believe hunt does.

    Halifax can have a franchise sometime in the future as well. All they need is for someone to build a 25,000 seat stadium--the one at ST Mary's U seats 4,000----and some owners with deep pockets to approach the CFL head office with a proposal.
  31. Tetchy Citizen from Canada writes: One way or another, Ottawa taxpayers are going to get screwed again.

    Every time there's a macho, football-loving mayor in office it's the same story.

    We don't need a football team -- third time -- and we don't need to pour millions into re-building the decrepit stadium.

    How can the mayor continue to put tax money behind sports when the arts are going begging? At least theatre, dance and music have reputable management and appreciative audiences.
  32. Simon Bevan from Canada writes: The developers (all except Hunt) are only in this so they can redevelop Landsdowne Park with Condos and commercial buildings. Once they finish construction their interest in running a CFL will mysteriously disappear and taxpayers will be on the hook.
  33. Joe Gopher from Canada writes: May I suggest a name?
    The Ottawa Boomerangs?
  34. Jake ---- from Canada writes: Spencer C from Canada writes: My God some of you are ignorant.

    What don't know? I can tell you what I do know is that Ottawa has had two chances at a franchise. They are better places the CFL can invest there time and money.

    example: The Casino
  35. The Middle Finger ..I.. from Canada writes: To Hap Stokes from Canada who wrote: The Middle Finger ..I.. from Canada writes: Again? Maybe the team name should be the Ottawa 69's.

    Yeeeh---Hey Finger what a sexy name.

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Good one. You got the pun.
  36. A Leading Edge Boomer from Canada writes: As Tetchy or Armand mentions the arts are as important to our culture as sports. I imagine that is why this group has donated millions to Ottawa arts such as for the Great Canadian Theater company housed in the Irving Greenberg Center, or the Shenkman Arts Center being built in the Orleans section of Ottawa. Now these same people will risk money to bring CFL football back to Ottawa.
  37. Spencer C from Canada writes: Actually Tetchy Citizen, the arts community had $9.5 million on the table for a new concert hall and they blew it, they couldn't come up with matching funds from the well-heeled artsy set to help build it.

    Why is it always ok to spend money on arts but not on sports?

    And who are you to say whose fans are more appreciative, it seems to me if the arts community were any good they wouldn't have let the concert hall idea die.

    Any large city needs a stadium, even without a CFL team, this city could never have hosted an event like the FIFA Under 17 championships without a stadium, it only makes sense to fix it up regardless of the presence of a football team.
  38. The Middle Finger ..I.. from Canada writes: To Spencer C from Canada who wrote: My God some of you are ignorant.

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Just yanking your chain. I hope that Ottawa gets a team.

    Re: Ignorance, name the Ottawa QBs for the 1960 Grey Cup team?
  39. Hap Stokes from Canada writes: Erick Langlais from Canada writes: (referring to Quebec v Halifax) in the CFL

    Not really, Quebec is the perfect fit. Come on, Quebec city is twice the size of Halifax.

    Halifax... backwater. Backwater huh Erik?--Maybe so but it is a damn boiling hot water pool baby! So is Regina in the CFL and Green Bay in the NFL! Ever seen a Rough Rider game that wasn't sold out? Folks in Saskatoon get off work at 4PM drive like demons 165 miles to Regina and never miss the opening kick-off. When the game is finished they grab some hamburgers in Regina and drive like hells-bells 165 back home so they can go to work at 7AM. A game in Regina has people from all over that huge Province shaking fists at the opposing teams
    Maybe that's why the team is not called Regina, but instead the Saskatchewan Rough Riders (shud change name to Speeding Riders)

    The Bluenosers are sports crazy. Any sport will do. Baseball, hockey, college football (a mad house) and especially pro boxing. You could sell out all four sports the same day if you had some beer and music.
    Novies would drive for hundreds of miles to see a CFL game.

    Right ain't Eye Micheal Sharp?
  40. The Middle Finger ..I.. from Canada writes: To Spencer C from Canada who wrote: Why is it always ok to spend money on arts but not on sports?

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    If the playing facility is owned by the folks paying for the fix up and a proper lease is in place, no problem. I'll even give the CFL a break here as well. As for the other major leagues, its the player salaries that alienate the public.
  41. Chris B from Ottawa, Canada writes: Is the answer Russ Jackson?
  42. CD W from Canada writes: Ottawa is the town fun forgot. The football fans there are legendary, there just is not too many of them left. Underpaid coaches, crappy stadium, the city is dead in the summer as all of the government employees are away at their cottages and the MP's are doing the summer rubber chicken routine back the ridings. There is no parking near the stadium, traffic is a bugger, transit non existent. If you go back to horse and buggy, and 1976, this would be a great place and a great team. Can you let me set fire to one of your barrels of money? I need a new hobby.
  43. Matt O from Canada writes: Amongst all these ignorant and hatred for Ottawa (come on, we're not all politicians), allow me to add a bit of truth to the mix… I inherited a love for CFL football from my Dad, a transplanted Hamiltonian. We'd go to Rough Riders games in the late 80s and early 90s, and, despite the fact that the team was so awful, and the ownership situation so chaotic, the atmosphere at the games was great. The crowds could be small, but not that small…and the people there knew their football. It was a good mix…folks from the city and outlying towns. After the games, we'd put on the radio and great on-air discussions would get going after almost every game. However, that was a long time ago, and even then things were changing. I was a fan both of the CFL and NFL (let's not get too jingoistic here, btw, both leagues have their pluses and minuses), but at school I would be routinely mocked for following the Canadian game. Those who liked football like the American brand, period. Already, CFL support in the city was dying, and people like my baby boomer Dad were amongst the last generations to truly follow the game. Since the Senators arrived, Ottawa is a fully-entrenched hockey town. 90% of the kids here today could care less about CFL football…those who follow it are mostly football players themselves, and that ain't a lot of people. What I'm trying to say is that Ottawa's days as a football city are over…sad for some, but true. Any new venture is bound to fail.
  44. The Middle Finger ..I.. from Canada writes: To Chris B from Ottawa, Canada who wrote: Is the answer Russ Jackson?

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Jackson was one of them. I saids QBs. Who was the other?
  45. Erik D. from Canada writes: Ron Lancaster, his rookie year as a matter of fact...
  46. smilin smiler from tbay, Canada writes: TO is getting one NFL game a year. This is to give Buffalo leverage in getting a new stadium. This will be built in Buffalo unless TO wants to build an 80 000 seat stadium. It is unlikely TO will get an NFL team unless it comes up with a stadium to give to the Bills owners.
  47. sam themacman from Waterloo, Canada writes: I guess the CFL does not learn from the past. CFL will not work in Ottawa. If they really wanted to do something innovative that captures the imagination, and actually makes the CFL a national treasure, a league worth having, why can't this league get it right? Why have they not explored having a team in Halifax? An Atlantic regional team that would get support from NS, PEI, and NB, and the occassional NF/LB who comes on the mainland. Why? Have they even bothered to try? CIAU football is huge in this region, why has the CFL not responded to the clear fan base of the Canadian game that already exists here? It is beyond comprehension. I am an Ontarian. I have no qualms with seeing the CFL expand to the east, but I really cannot believe another shot with Ottawa. It shows no imagination, and really no innovation as to how to grow the Canadian game in Canada. Too bad. Very sad. You can't count on me to be a supporter of another flop in the Capital Region. What a screw up by the league!
  48. The Middle Finger ..I.. from Canada writes: To Erik D. from Canada who wrote: Ron Lancaster, his rookie year as a matter of fact...

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Very good. We have Ottawa to thank for bringing such talent. I'll go along with Ottawa and Halifax. Anything to put Winnipeg in the West.
  49. M Poland from Calgary, Canada writes: Hungry: you should come to a game in Calgary, at McMahon Stadium. Lots of people under 40, not all of them from Saskabush, either. I want to wish Ottawa's new team well; welcome Winnipeg back to the West, and denigrate nobody [well, it IS tempting to have another go at the Big Onion .... ,but we'll leave that for another day] Go, Stamps, go!

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