SAVING OTTAWA SPORTS: VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR CITY'S FOOTBALL FUTURE

So in the name of Tommy Clements, some time in the next 48 hours, we're going to learn what the chances are of the Canadian Football League being revived here in Ottawa between now and the next federal election. (Given our country's politicians, that might not be too big a window, but that's another column.)

Honestly, the CFL's Friday deadline for hearing from prospective owners for the revived Ottawa CFL franchise -- which was mothballed in March after four unsuccessful seasons -- caught yours truly off-guard. The best this newcomer to the city can manage is to try to sort out a jumble of thoughts that have been swirling about over the last few weeks what can be done to make the CFL and minor-league baseball viable once again in the capital. For now, let's stick with football.

Unfairly or not, Ottawa has a rep as a poor sports town. There's no disputing that the perception exists, but it always seems like if you ask someone why that's the case, you never get much of an answer beyond, It just is.

That leads one to believe that the capital simply gets a bum rap. In the mind of many Canadians, Ottawa has a rep as The City That Fun Forgot, but it probably only persists since it's easier to play to a stereotype than debunk it. As far sports goes, yes, two CFL teams have failed, but in both cases it all started with bad management and worse football, generally speaking.

Slagging Ottawa's passion for sports persists since it's easy to be cynical and people in this divided country like to poke fun at the nation's capital.

If Ottawa CFL Team Version 3.0, or whatever it will be called, has people in charge who really take the time to learn the market, promote the hell out of it, assemble a good team that represents the city well, and gets a more of a safety cushion from the other eight CFL franchises, something that wasn't afforded the Ottawa Renegades, then by all means football could thrive here again.

Those are some big ifs to contemplate. However, Ottawa 67's owner Jeff Hunt, who's slotted in as the leader of the sales team for Golden Gate Capital, one of the competing groups, seems uniquely suited to the task of trying to convince people here to give the CFL another chance. (How many chances is that, anyway? Seventeen, 18?)

Hunt bought the 67s in the late '90s when that junior hockey club was getting lost in the hoopla over the still-new Senators, and in eight years, has improved average attendance from 2,200 to 8,800, mostly by marketing junior hockey as family-friendly entertainment, and offering ticket pricing strategies that made families want to come to the games. Sure, that's a little boring to us cool kids, but at the same time it's a hell of a lot better than the Lonie Glieberman's lame attempts to be edgy last season, like when he staged his infamous Mardi Gras promotion.

Well thought out will beat reckless and stupid every time, no matter what you're selling.

Suffice it to say that Hunt is, with the possible exception of Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, the most credible person who could be involved a CFL reclamation effort. Whichever group gets the nod to try and do this should have him involved.

(Digression: On the subject of credible, there's a certain publicity-loving brewery owner who made a big show earlier in the year of coming to Ottawa and talking about reviving the team. The Universal Cynic says it was nothing more than a publicity stunt. Thought you might like to know.)

Everyone's probably going to have a million-and-one ideas of how this can be pulled off, but for now, here's seven ideas for promoting a football franchise I don't own and spending money I don't have:

• This is a bilingual city. Market the team as such. With the success the Montreal Alouettes have, it's inexcusable not to try to tap into a market of about 300,000 Francophones in the region.
• Minor football is booming in this area. There's no reason not to form partnerships with the various youth leagues and start building loyalty at the grassroots. (Can't speak for every CFL team, but the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Alouettes are very into this.)
• Sweat the small stuff around the stadium. Check out what the Blue Jays have done with Rogers Centre -- newer video screens, wider variety of food and drinks at the concession stands. During Bob Young's first year as owner (2004), the Ticats apparently put planters filled with flowers in the women's washrooms at Ivor Wynne Stadium. Sounds inconsequential, but Hamilton has drawn good crowds the past two seasons, even with a lousy team.
• Be liquid enough to withstand financial losses for the first 3-4 seasons. The moment players see signs of austerity and scrimping, everyone will be ready to take a trip to Negative Town.
• Think regionally. Time was, the Riders' appeal stretched into western Quebec and deep into the Ottawa Valley. Offer to charter buses from the outlying communities.
• Spare no expense with the front office and the coaching staff. (CFL assistant coaches' salaries are so low as to be bloody scandalous.) Happy coaches equal coaches who will be teachers and get more out of their players.
• Convince the CFL that Ottawa is going to need more favourable terms for stocking its roster than it did when the Renegades entered the league. It's one thing to have a team in Ottawa; it's another to have a competitive franchise in Ottawa.
  
  This is a potential deal-breaker, since if you know anything about the CFL, it's that the commissioner can never convince the owners to put their own interests aside for the greater good of the league. (Actually, that should read "get the Edmonton Eskimos to put their own interests aside for the greater good of the league," but that's neither here nor there.)
  
  How do you accomplish this? A simple dollars-and-sense argument about the merits of having a winning team in Canada's fourth-largest TV market. Also, point out that the league should be prepared to spread some of the player talent around, since it will have to do so if it ever puts a team in Atlantic Canada.

So to sum up, is it's a long road to get the CFL living and breathing in Ottawa again, but as Bruce Cockburn once sang, nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight. Believe you me, Ottawa being in the CFL is worth having.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.