OTTAWA'S CFL HOPES SPRING ANEW

It's not much, but it's something for the true football fans in Ottawa-Gatineau: the Citizen's Matthew Sekeres reports that Bill Palmer's ownership group and the CFL are believed to have "agreed on a franchise fee and a letter of credit" for a team in the capital.

There's still a lot to settle -- the terms of an expansion draft and dealing with City Hall to get a lease on Frank Clair Stadium -- before three-down football is back in the capital. This creates a political football for rookie Mayor Larry O'Brien. Having come from the private sector, Mayor Lare might be inclined to give Ottawa CFL Team 3.0 lease terms that will make it easier for the team to get through the early financial rough patches. However, he is also trying to deliver a budget that calls for a 0% tax increase, and while he's said it won't mean cutting city programs and services, it's a little hard to see how it won't.

It's not hard to see the possible fallout... what are the usual suspects on council going to say if he helps out the investors in a football team (beer and circus) the same time the city is cutting back elsewhere? The City of Ottawa is kind of infamous for being reluctant to do anything that might be perceived as helping an entertainment venture avoid going bust. (I might have this wrong, but weren't the promoters of one outdoor music festival charged a fee for the parking meters that couldn't be used while the show was on?)

O'Brien could pull this off, though. There's three-plus years until another election, people have short memories and on the off-chance that this team doesn't go bust, Mayor Lare could spin this to his benefit as the man who helped restore the CFL in Ottawa.

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