Nasty Nate

You make it sound like it's been falling apart from the start. What are the other black eyes again? The traffic issues that they managed to pretty much solve within a week? Or the *gasp* handrails that had to be replaced?!?!? Or maybe the open-air press box that no fans will ever use, that will be enclosed in time for the Grey Cup and Winter Classics. I guess if you add those up you have half a black eye, maybe. What are the black eyes? Sure, just overlook the year delay, the open press box, having to winterize the plumbing, handrails, cost overruns, the denial by Buchko that the Bombers would never play at Canada Inns Stadium again when everybody with 2 good eyes could see they would & then did & the traffic problem the first exhibition game. If you conveniently ignore those then it's been peaches & cream. Hey, I love the new stadium & hopefully everything gets fixed right from now on but c'mon, man. I'm a big stadium booster & think it was money well spent. We got a great bang for the buck & I'm proud of that facility which makes it tougher for me to take what is going on but I just believe that Miller should have been more open with the damage... My take is that the Bombers don't own that stadium... They haven't made a single payment on their share of the debt so Miller really doesn't have the right to keep the media out. It should be the Province calling the shots with the media not Miller but Sellinger isn't stupid. He just saw Miller take a shot to the chest for his government so as a typical politician why should he or his government say or do anything? When you get a loan from a bank to buy a car or a house and that car or house gets damaged, is it your responsibility to decide who and how the damage is going to be repaired or does the bank get to step in and tell you how to do it. Doesn't matter if a payment hasn't been made yet, the terms of the loan specify that they haven't had to make a payment yet (yes its been renegotiated but it still has been agreed upon). The Bombers haven't defaulted on any payments yet. You can't compare a car loan to a commercial structure that is publicly funded. Sure, the insurance will kick in & fix the damage. Truth is, the province owns the building. They should have final say who goes in & who doesn't. Not Miller. I agree that Selinger is quite delighted Wade took the hit for him. Selinger hasn't exactly been up front about stadium damage cuz he knows the final destination of all the bills. His office. And he knows that if cameras are allowed on the premises most people will be able to make their own fairly accurate estimate as to whether its small, medium or excessive damage. In situations like this the government of the day (Selinger currently, others after Selinger flees in a few months) will just do the same thing they do with all mega-projects. They'll try to amortize it off into an indeterminate future. The 208 million is locked. But if it takes another 50 or 70 million to finish the thing - then do it in stages, 10 million every couple years - and do it via hazy government grants or more long-term loans. IN essence, bury the money into the longest and most future period possible.

Ironically this entire mess might end up in the law courts!

If Trouba starts putting up monster numbers like 15 to 20 goals, 60 to 70 pts, huge time on ice, shut-down like +/- he'll garner a mega offer sheet. Only time it won't happen is if there's Lemieux, Gretzky, Crosby like players in the draft. If its just guys in the #10 to #20 spots then its a no-brainer. Get a sterling silver young pro in Trouba for a collection of mystery meats. The only thing Trouba has to work a bit harder on is his meanness in front of his own net. He's a bit meek, not a psycho like Weber or Chara when protecting his net-minder.

The only thing that remains to see is if Obby can convince him to open a Shawarma Hage....

Chevy goes by the book and follows the old Chicago model. Trouble is Chicago got a swack of good draft picks when they were awful (worse even than Jets) with Toews, P-Kane, Sharp, Crawford not to mention some all-star d-men. Of the 14 teams that don't make NHL playoffs the Jets are Top 5 of the bunch, meaning they don't get much prime choice in the draft. Plus, they traded their 2nd rd pick for Setogucci, a nobody. Don't expect too much in the way of blockbuster trades from Chevy. Just a steady plodder who'll keep drafting and try to outsmart other GMs for mid-round talent. Jets get a Top 12 goalie next year, they might move up to 88 points (still short of playoffs) If Chevy had blown up the atrocious Atlanta Golf & Country Club group he might have crashed the Jets for a year or 2 but we'd have a chance for McDavid.

Flames played hard last night. They've had tremendous fan support all year with an overachieving hockey club & they really wanted to go out with a win. That game wasn't meaningless to Calgary. The last few minutes were intense. The crowd was really into it. For the Flames & Jets. Boston was playing for the Presidents Trophy, they wanted that game. Guess thats why they put Rask and Chara in the press box, huh?

You nailed it. Trying to hide the problem invokes suspicion of something very, very ominous. If its not then let the media in. If it is something that could potentially suspend operations its only a matter of time. And as they say - time is valuable!

Jets will try to go with the PK Subban model of bridge contract w/ Jacob. Really depends on whether someone comes a knockin' a that someone is a Cup contender vs. a playoff pretender.

Jim Ross did some Big 10 football (Oklahoma, where else) before he was culled into the wrestling biz. I remember Ron Maurier and Bernie doing the wrestling out of Vancouver. Gene Kiniski was the classic interview. Learned years later that Gene owned most of that promotion and hired a Wpg turd named Al Tomko to run it for him. Larry 'The Preacher' Updike (citi fm) did some TV wrestling in the late 80s and 90s. His classic catchphrases were "My lord!" and "O, the humanity!" Tony Chevani was a pro sports announcer before going to NWA/WCW The Coach, Jonathan Coachman did some professional sports announcing before Vince brought him to WWE. Coach left WWE a few years ago and became a show host on ESPN radio. Now, I'm told he's prepping for a WWE comeback. But the greatest wrestling announcer of all time, imho was Rodger Kent of AWA fame, based out of Minneapolis. This guy had more classic phrases than just about anyone I've seen. He was my hero.

Olli is a good player - 3rd or 4th liner but he doesn't play with grinding intensity and like many Jets his meanness level is fairly low, taking the odd bad penalty to hope fans decipher that as intensity. I think Chevy might shoot for a 2 million discount on a one year contract - approx. 2.5 mill. a year but Ollie will probably instruct his agent to bluff up Chevy and go for 3.5. Maybe the answer lies in giving Jokinen two more years at 2.75 per year. Thats about what I'd give him to continue. But there's always a chance a desperate franchise gives him over 3 million. ie. Toronto, Buffalo, NYI or Edmonton. Maurice likes him but we need more grit "n grind on this team, not just guys who are good in the room and who fess up when the going gets tough and a spokesman is needed for media interviews. I understand Chevy's dilemma - he lets Jokinen walk he's still got to field an equivalent player. The way Chevy is he'd be rolling dice with a waiver wire pickup or pray he'll have a junior or Ice cap player ready.

This time they managed to shoot all three feet and both groins!

The one group Miller can't work stiff against is the city of winnipeg building inspectors. If there's a hint of damage to the stands or even the rich folks booths, they'll demand to see the damaged areas. If they don't they're negligent and that makes the entire City of Winnipeg negligent. If Miller refused to have an inspection he'd be negligent of duty as chief caretaker of the facility.

I think they'll return Hutch to the Ice Caps - see how he does vs. the better AHL team(s) in the playoffs. Cormier, Klingberg, couple others should be returned, too.

Tajiri was awesome. 5'7", 168 lb. guy chopping down giants like Mike Awesome, etc. I still remember Bulldog Bob Brown when he was a trainee in Vern Gagne's AWA group in the late 60s

From what you read? Well, since we can't see the damage your take means nothing as the media hasn't been allowed in to verify whether there's a foot or an inch of water in the suites or visitor's locker room. I was referring to what that poster at RiderFans said. Trusting some posters at Riderfans is like entrusting me with Lyle Bauer & Mike Kelly's fate. Its not gonna end well. Iso is 100% spot on when he goes to Gorbachev's old phrase about doing business with Reagan. "Trust, but with verification!" What is clear is that taxpayers are no longer stake-holders in the football club. Funders only. A stake-holder deserves an explanation. All others just get a stand-off.

The 2nd Flame goal was a 5 on 3 power play. Jets best defenders were out. Trouba got himself injured in the first period and Shotblocker Stuart was in the box. Jets didn't have much left to defend. A feeble midget named Toby Enstrom and an offensive defensman named Paul Postma. Hutch was in trouble from the getgo. In fact, the Flames 3rd and tying goal was scored on the same power play. 5 on 4. Pavelec looks great on the 90% of shots he manages to stop but he looks stupid and out of control on the 10% which go thru him. His stop average is barely 90% and he usually faces 30 to 35 shots nightly due to the Jets being not exactly a shut-down defensive team. Thus he's always letting in 3 to 4 a night.

Brodbeck hates perceived freeloaders who are on government handouts. He portrays the Charles Adler of print journalism. In no particular order he hates - The CBC, Manitoba NDP, Bombers. He had a veritable field day last week when he had the Bombers in a P.R. nightmare, Erin Selby & Greg Selinger by the short hairs in a couple mini-scandals. He didn't even have time to print-bomb the CBC when they were forced to ditch 650 jobs due to govt. cutbacks. Adler got carried away with putting the whip on Miller until Irving reminded him that CJOB is a servant of the bombers and serves at their whim.

You can't play AHL the year of your draft. It's either NHL or back to junior. I don't believe that's true? JC Lipon and Brenden Kichton were both drafted this year and played in St. John's.... They're different b/c they're older. I was referring to 18 year olds. Doesn't the league refuse minor league demotion if the draftee still has eligible years left in juniors? Guess thats why Taylor Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov all went straight into the Oilers lineup?

Mr. Dee - I like your even-handed approach but the fact is this matter is little about Mr. Freeze or Bart Kives. Even Charles Adler (CJOB) hopped aboard and started to whipsaw Miller like a house on fire. However, it suddenly stopped, apparently at the same time Bob Irving walked into Adler's studio and told him to cease lambasting Miller. Cripes, we're all at play in the fields of the lord. Friesen taking a kicking from certain posters. Kives getting props for using less confrontational language. Me taking a kicking cuz I support open transparency and accountability. Adler getting the hush signal from Irving. Irving taking orders from Bomber control. Here's whats important. A poorly designed economy stadium has suffered some serious damage. Bomber management is defensive about providing information because it may reflect poorly upon season ticket sales. A real public relations pro gets in front of small disasters and does it via magic formulas and alchemy also known as - THE TRUTH.... Nobody would begrudge Miller for letting in a few cameras and reporters with hard-hats for a quick survey of the damage scene. The money required to fix the problem is unimportant. The fix is all-important. Idiots like myself will just spew about how Miller now owns Selingers fat arse and can pump money out of it on a whim. I think Friesen, Kives and the rest of the media would be better served investigating fully why the stadium construction went sour, when it went sour, who's gonna pay for upgrades and what other maladies will pop up as time goes by. Blaming the sidemen accomplishes nothing! Even Curley Neal in Olds, Alberta knows this!

Guys who would have benefited from a stint in the minors: 1. Evander Kane, 2. Bogosian, 3. Yakupov, 4. Taylor Hall, 5. Hopkins Trouba would NOT have benefited from minors. Schiefele may have benefited but he would have gotten himself butchered in the minors, being all of 6'2" and 180 lbs at time of drafting. Did nicely playing an extra year in juniors, putting on at least 10 lbs. He'll be even better when he reaches 200 lbs. and starts putting up a better fight against bullies.

Bauer's roots are deep with the bombers. Although he certainly left under dubious circumstances and has not been welcomed back to the CFL since fleeing Calgary. The NDP are in so deep with the bombers now that the PCs can't suddenly work stiff against the bombers. Even Charles Adler who was going full steam on Miller and his monkeys this a.m. was told to cut bait and switch - probably by Bob Irving. Adler suddenly started sewing legalisms like the bombers aren't owner by the community and they have full right to treat the stadium as their own. My opinion and its only an opinion is that Irving waltzed into Adler's studio and told him to kill the heat on the bombers. I suspect Miller asked Irving to do him a favour. One minute Adler was hackin' and slashing Miller, even had G.Mack - Greg Mackling on with him. The next segment, Adler was almost apologizing!

Trudeau yet. Selinger NO

Looks like Wild Rose will soon run things in Alberta!

WOW - didn't realize that. And they never approached Radford. Imagine that?

I asked you about the Saddledome getting flooded to make a point. Imagine if the powers to be hadn't allowed cameras into the arena to document the damage? Public furor, perhaps? As for builder warranty and insurance in Wpg. - lets hope! Stuart Olson Dominion had never built a stadium so I suspect they bare-boned it thru the entire process. If they have to warranty damage without a third parter insurance company to back them they will simply bankrupt themselves and enter long-term lititgation with our local authority. Having to pay 10s of millions in extras simply isn't part of their balance sheet. As for insurance thats a good question. One I'm sure Mr. Miller will also avoid if asked. Miller always seems on the verge of a panic attack when confronted by media. btw Al, wasn't Saddledome covered by insurance?