Why Leaf Fans Should Support Balsillie

The man of the moment in the NHL seems to be RIM CEO Jim Balsillie. His plans to move the Phoenix Coyotes to Southern Ontario (recent reports suggest Hamilton is the number one candidate) have been gaining momentum over the last few days and it is looking more likely than ever. As they should be most hockey fans are excited about this potential move. Taking a struggling team to a thriving hockey area. The only people who seem to be upset about the way things are panning out are, Gary Bettman, all seventeen Phoenix Coyote fans, and Toronto Maple Leaf owners MLSE.

Of course anything that takes the game away from a struggling market in the United States and moves it to what is sure to be a successful market in Canada is a bad thing for Bettman. This time however it looks like Bettman will have no alternative other than to let the deal go through.

On the other side of things MLSE has to be very disappointed about the possible competition another team in Southern Ontario would bring, but to all you Leaf fans out there don't panic. In fact for the Leafs there really is nothing better for the organization than a little bit of competition.

For years MLSE has been content with a very poor product on the ice as long as the money keeps coming through. Of course with the Leafs being such an major brand it's been a pretty easy sell, especially pre-lockout when Toronto was a consistent playoff team.

This meant that Leaf fans had to put up with five years of the John Ferguson Jr. era. Since Ferguson's firing in 2008 things are starting to look up with the hiring of Burke. Even with Burke at the helm, MLSE still cares very little about the product the Leafs are putting out on the ice, as long as they continue to rack up the cash.

A new team in the area would change that. With the threat of losing bandwagon fans (which in Toronto tends to be most of the city, just look at Raptors attendances this year vs. last year) MLSE will be forced to make sure they do everything they can to improve the team. If this new Hamilton/ Southern Ontario team makes the playoffs before the Leafs do you can be more than sure that the GTA would get behind this local team and several fans would inevitably be swayed to follow the new, more successful team.

Leaf fans wallets may also be considerably fuller if Balsillie brings a team to the Toronto area. Leaf tickets are not only very difficult to get, but also extremely expensive. For many people getting to games is impossible. Balsillie has already shown support to hockey bloggers, and his commitment to making this a fan accessible team has been outlined. He will be sure not only to offer significantly reduced ticket prices, but also make them more available to the general public. In a city with two major universities, filled with students livinig on limited budgets this would be very good news to many.

Now it is naive to think that anything would stop the Leafs from continuing to sell out every game, but MLSE wants to make sure that the Leafs continue to make revenue through paraphernalia, TV deals and sponsorship deals. If fans are leaving to go watch a more accessible team in the area, then there will undoubtedly be a major revenue loss. In order to keep the fans they have MLSE may have to change a few things up on the business side of things as well.

However inadvertently, Balsillie could force major improvements in the Leafs organization, so Leaf fans out there should welcome him with open arms into Southern Ontario.

Doug Smith's wishful thinking for Raptors season tickets

As Neate pointed out earlier on in the week it truly is getting harder to write on the Toronto Raptors in a way that isn't just really an act of redundancy. The play on the court has not changed in a while, and even the TSN2 debacle is beyond frustrating. Unless Chris Bosh is given other gigs around town to match his weatherman appearance on CTV last night it pretty much is just looking forward for this squad.

But today the Toronto Star's Doug Smith, conjuring up a conversation that he hopes goes down in the MLSE boardroom. I too wish it would take place this way, but have my doubts it would be given consideration:

Wanna know what happens in my perfect world?

Wait, I take that back.

Wanna know what happens in my perfect world regarding one facet of basketball that I have to write about every day?

Here’s what happens:

The bean counters and tall foreheads over at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment are sitting around deciding when to spring the full season ticket renewal thing on the unsuspecting customers.

They call this guy, let’s say Mr. Grunt, and invite his input.

Them: “Mr. Grunt, oh wise one, what should we do?”

Grunt: “Sit down, folks, and listen closely.

“First, do not – I repeat DO NOT – even contemplate as much as a one penny increase in a single seat in your arena.

“In fact, you need to freeze the prices of every seat in the bottom half of the lower bowl and you have to reduce the price of the top half of the lower bowl by about three per cent.

“You need to reduce the price of seats in most of the upper bowl by five per cent and you cut the cost of seats in the corners by seven per cent.

“These are horrible economic times, people are losing jobs left and right, the amount of disposable income is drying up rapidly and if you want casual fans to augment your season-ticket base, those tickets have to be affordable.

“The Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, Charlotte Bobcats and Detroit Pistons have already announced they’ll reduce or freeze ticket prices so there is precedent in the league today.

“Oh, and one other thing, if season ticket holders want to pay over time, you allow them right now to make seven or eight equal monthly payments – with no interest charges – and if they want to pay it all up front, you give them another two per cent off.”

“You’ve put a substandard product on the court this season, you’ve been party to one of the all-time fan screw jobs in history with this Rogers, TSN2 mess you got yourself into and, trust me, you don’t have a lot of goodwill with the people.”

Them: “Are you out of your frickin’ mind!”

Mr. Grunt: “Power to the people, baby!”

Boy do I wish Mr. Grunt wouldn't get shouted out the Office...wishful thinking, of course. With other teams freezing their ticket prices who knows, maybe the MLSE will learn a thing or two!

Maybe...?

I Be-Leaf! Oh yes I do!!

FREDERICTON—Seeing that I’m writing this from beautiful Fredericton, New Brunswick it’s only fitting that I talk about Toronto sports. What? Yes, I do think my current hometown is the Centre of the Universe ™, what’s your point?

Anyway…before I left the province at some ungodly time this morning I noted that the T.O. sports media was already working itself into a frenzy over Larry Tanenbaum’s comments a couple days ago that the Leafs would rather build a team that was good for the long run, rather than winning the Stanley Cup once then sucking for a bunch of years.

Tanenbaum suggested that MLSE would like the Leafs to be like the Detroit Red Wings. That’s great. I’d like to have Stephen Brunt’s job too.

Ok, here is the thing. As the grumpiest hockey writer on the planet, Damien Cox, pointed out today this latest proclamation from Leaf Land should be taken with an ample helping of salt. Sea salt even. MLSE says whatever MLSE thinks it should say to convince the delusional masses that this time they know what they are doing. Found that GM yet?

But, even if you do think that Tanenbaum and company are in this for the long haul and have finally figured out that the way to consistently win hockey games is to consistently develop good hockey players, one overriding thought has got to keep popping into even the most stupidly loyal Leaf lover:

No sh crap. That’s some deep thinking there. It’s better to be always in a position to win a championship than to mostly be awful but to win one once.

You know what else is good?

WINNING A BLOODY CHAMPIONSHIP MORE THAN ONCE EVERY 41 YEARS.

I think I speak for most of Leaf Nation (of which I’m a landed immigrant rather than a full citizen) when I suggest that the “deal with the devil” approach would be fine if it ended with a joyous parade up Young Street. That get as good as the Red Wings thing is a good idea too, but, you know…crawl before walking and all that.

In the meantime I’ve recently learned that the Leafs are in fact going to have to play in the NHL this season. There was some hope that they may have been relegated to the ECHL, but evidently they don’t do that in North America. So, we’re stuck with this mess. But, as I sit back and observe the activity at the ACC I can’t shake a funny feeling about this team. Maybe I’ve been slipped some Kool-Aid, but I can’t help but think that Ron Wilson’s humourless, systems-driven coaching combined with some of the gritty, bound to feature prominently on coach's corner “talent” the Leafs have brought in is going to mean two things.

1) – Toronto is going to be a God awful, trapping disaster that’s less entertaining than Bob Saget. And…

2) Against all odds they are going to grind their way into an eighth place finish and first round loss to Pittsburgh (in five. But, that game four OT win will cause riots on the street).

Yes, the Leafs are going to make the playoffs. Barely, and tragically. You read it here first.

NOTES: nothing to do with the topic at hand, but as I picked up the local rag here in Fredericton I couldn’t help but notice that the hockey heroes from a certain university located in south-eastern Ontario are here to play STU. In the advance story on the game, writer Bill Hunt informs his readers that said team’s nickname is…wait for it…the Golden Gaels.

I’m just sayin’

(Insert "got what they paid for" joke here)

Really, this is too easy. MLSE tries to give away tickets to an exhibition game (that is taking place two--TWO!--days after training camp started) and a good quarter of the people don't bother to show up.

You can almost hear the snickering in Moose Jaw from here. Leafs fans are so bad...

Richard Peddie claimed that the empty seats were because the free seats "devalued" the product. That people don't prioritize going to something they didn't pay for. He's probably partly right. A lot of folks likely grabbed free seats back in the summer with the idea that they would wait and see what was going on in their life on game day. If they didn't go, it wasn't as if they were out any coin.

But, you have to wonder. Are the empty seats not also an ever so slight example of how the mighty, mighty Leafs hold on T.O. is slipping just a little bit. It's mostly anecdotal evidence, but you don't get the feeling that the city is living and dying with this hockey club anymore. Sure, it's still the most popular team in the city, but it's not the default choice of the new generation, or of new Canadians living in Toronto.

You wouldn’t necessarily notice any change if you looked at media coverage of T.O's teams. The city's hockey writers and broadcasters still obsessed over every (non) move of Mats Sundin this summer and Leafs talk is still choice one, two and three on the Fan590 and AM640. It's just not clear if as many people care. Is it possible that the entirety of Leafs Nation wasn't desperately seeking the latest David Shoalts offering to read with their morning coffee? Perhaps the cafes on College weren't alive with debates over Nick Kypreos' latest "scoop."

Just last month Peddie was quoted as saying that internal research is showing that the amount of season ticket holders that consider themselves "diehard" fans has slipped to 51 per cent from about two-thirds. And, that's the season ticket holders.

Bay Street will ensure that the seats are full for every game for some time, but Bay Street can't make Cabbagetown (or Newmarket, or Oakville, or Markham, or Ajax, or...) care. An entire generation has grown up to only know the Leafs as losers. The Raptors are a 416 fixture now and even soccer has made inroads. MLSE has said that it needs to do more to ensure that the Leafs are still the Leafs in 20 years. Outreaches such as yesterday's free game are part of that effort. So, as much as he wants to spin it otherwise, Peddie has to be just a little bit worried about those 4,000 empty seats.

TFC Fans agree: Grass would make the Reds easier to watch

"Long term we'd like to consider going to natural grass. That is what authentic soccer is all about."
Tom Anselmi on Prime Time Sports
Aug 12, 2008

"It's not something that's hot on the radar. It's something we've thought about only because we're asked the question."
Tom Anselmi in the Toronto Star
Sept 18, 2008

It can be difficult to defend MLSE sometimes. Especially when its COO is so adept at talking out of both sides of his mouth. When the concept is abstract it’s OK to wax poetic about the authentic nature of a grass pitch. The Mayor of Toronto makes one candid statement and suddenly its time back waaaaaaay off.

TFC fans are not reacting well to the idea that MLSE is “only” started to think about it because they were asked. It's’ difficult to stomach the idea that the owner of your favourite team could possibly be so clueless about the single biggest obstacle to getting better that the team faces. Of course, why would the owner of your team care when you lead the league in in-stadium spending per ticket holder at $15 a game.

The possibility exists, of course, that Anselmi is exercising the default reaction of a sports executive to being asked a question—lie. Maybe MLSE understands the issue and is prepared to deal with it. With season ticket holders facing a 40 per cent increase from the first season, MLSE had better understand that having them absorb the $2 million-ish they gained from Mo Edu’s sale won’t sit well with the increasingly grumpy fan base.

But it would be inaccurate to suggest that the fans are holding out much hope.

All we are saying is give us some grass

Yesterday’s posted clip of David Miller talking about his desire to see grass installed at BMO Field has been picked up by a couple different so-called MSM sites, including the National Post’s Posted Sports and the Globe and Mail’s On Soccer blogs. Whereas I appreciate the links and, in the Globe’s case, direct mention, full credit deserves to go to the Red Patch Boys videographer (Mike ?—“Parkdale” I believe. Correct me in the comments if you wish). He showed the instincts to grab on to Miller’s statements and force him to give a clear answer. That’s some good journamalism there. So, hats off.

Predictably the mayor's office was quick to qualify the statement yesterday.

Posting on the Red Patch message board, Mayor’s office flack Stuart Green—the “other guy in the video”--made sure it was understood that Miller wasn’t marching down Dufferin with sod in his hand today. In case we didn’t understand, there were other parties involved.

He wrote:

“Hold up, y'all....this grass thing is on the wish list for next season. You all are savvy enough about the ways of the stadium to know it's not our call. We'd all love to see grass next season...but it's just not as simple as all that. (The) Mayor was expressing a similar desire to all of us on here but the terms of the stadium construction and the Letter of Intent specify turf so keep that in mind...”

For those new to this discussion, what Green is referencing is the requirement for “year round community use” that was attached to the building of the stadium. Since it’s difficult to grow grass in Toronto in February, that pretty much means FieldTurf is required.

If MLSE wants grass in the stadium—and it seems like they do. Tom Anselmi said just that on Prime Time Sports on Aug 12—it’s going to have to pony up some coin to make it happen. Paying for the renovations are obvious, but what some may not realize is that they would also have to built a facility that could be used by the community in the winter months.

Thanks to Mo Edu, they have some money to burn. The arcane MLS transfer rules prohibit MLSE from spending all the money they received for Edu's sale to Rangers on replacement players. Only $500,000 of the about $2.5 million they got in the deal can be used for that purpose. The rest has to be used on "soccer infrastructure"

So, there is about $2 million sitting around to build the Mo Edu Memorial Plastic Training Pitch in the parking lot between BMO and Ricoh.

But, to do that the company will need to have all the political people in line. It’s here that Miller’s statements are making soccer people excited. There is no greater stakeholder in the community use of BMO issue than the City of Toronto. That the Mayor seems OK with putting down some sod in the stadium is a good thing to those that are sick of the FieldTurf.

However, those that understand municipal politics realize that Miller is just one voice (or, more importantly, one vote). Getting grass into BMO will require the support of the entire council, and gaining consensus at City Hall in T.O. is slightly more difficult than herding cats.

Still, it’s better to have the mayor on your side than as an enemy.

As for what any of this matters at all…the reason MLSE and TFC season ticket holder David Miller are so desperate to get the plastic out of the stadium is simple. No one wants to play on it. TFC can’t attract players because of the FieldTurf. There is a reason Toronto, despite being the second most profitable team in the league (only LA makes more), hasn’t utilized the so-called Beckham rule. And it’s not because MLSE is cheap (bring in a marquee guy would make the team more money, not less. Even if they still lose).

Another, less articulated, reason for grass instead of plastic is that it would likely spell the end of the Argos to BMO talk. If the two teams shared the facility there is no way that a grass pitch would be feasible.

Although Miller’s “next year” claim seems like a stretch, this story is only going to get bigger in the next couple months.

Yeah, but have you re-signed Sundin yet?

MLSE is an easy target--they are rich, only interested in the bottom line, evil, whatever. Even here we have been known to do a little MLSE bashing from time to time.

So, I think, it's only fair that the critics take the time to point out when the company does something worthwhile.

It's easy to be cynical about the motivations of MLSE and Home Depot. However you have to be careful not to cross the line from cynical to bitter. Cynicism can be confused with wisdom, whereas bitterness is just kinda ugly.

Ultimately I doubt the kids that are playing hockey on the refurbished rinks next winter are going to care one bit that the two companies want to sell their mom a 10-game Raptors flex pack and their dad some new kitchen cabinets.

There is little doubt that MLSE understands how to make money and enjoys doing just that. So what? They aren't any different than any other big company and, the last I checked, we are still living in a capitalist society.

As a sports fan all you should care about is whether the suits are trying to put a winning product on the pitch/court/ice. There is no evidence MLSE isn't doing that.

Let me just repeat that:
There is no evidence that MLSE isn't trying to put a winning product on the pitch/court/ice.

Note that the suggestion here isn't that MLSE is any good at putting a winning product on the field. No, no one could possibly make that argument. But, they are trying. The Leafs have always spent a ton of money. The Raptors are $1,500 below the cap (I suppose you could argue that they should move into luxury tax zone, but we don't know that they won't if the Raps ever get close enough to make it worth their while). TFC, for all its faults, spends.

MLSE is not cheap. It's incompetent, but not particularly cheap.

But, none of that takes away from the fact that fixing up hockey rinks for kids is a nice thing to do. So, good on MLSE and Home Depot.

MLSE is evil, part 5000: The Fans vs. The Al-ighty Ollar

Once again, not at all surprisingly, MLSE rears its disfigured, ugly head...

At one point you could buy tickets to Raptors games at Shoppers Drug Mart, when that changed there were still affordable tickets that could be bought up for the "Sprite Zone". The Sprite Zone being a more family - and cost efficient- area of the ACC to catch a game, with special in-game promotions just for that section and people walking the aisles to pump up the crowd in that section specifically.

After that they introduced "flex packs" where you could reserve 15 games in the same seat, it included 3 preseason games however it still allowed you to catch a lot of action on the year. Now the 15 game flex pack has been removed, replaced by a 10 game pack (with a fair hike!), and the lower portion of the Sprite Zone - once part of the Sprite Zone - is now a prime seating balcony area.

It never ceases to amaze when I see the efforts the MLSE brass makes to ensure that major sporting events in Toronto become even less accessible to the average person, and more filled with suits as far as the eye can see. My friend, who has had a season ticket for a couple years now, even said she was amazed with the price increase in her tickets just from last season. Apparently, the ticket price has grown by 20% over the past 2 seasons!

Over at the AltRaps blog one poster earlier in the offseason lamented the fact that, despite following the team since back in the days of the 'Dome, MLSE has priced him out of continuing on with following the team live at games:

I seriously now have to question the direction of management, both on the floor and off. If MLSE is looking at this as purely a money making machine, fine, come out and say it. If, however, you are looking to use this franchise as a seed, as a starting point of growing this product and game in Canada, then you need to seriously consider not pricing yourself out of the market. It pains me to say that once I receive my renewal, I too will be ripping it up.

It’s the end of an era for me. I will continue to support this team, but I’ll be
doing so from the comfort of my home.

This was posted back in March, around the time my season ticket holding friend was griping about yet another increase too. I was prepared for a hit with the price of my own flex pack tickets, never expected they'd be wiped clean entirely though. It's going to take a little while before I come to any admittance that I won't be buying into any Raptors ticket packages as I love the environment and atmosphere at the games - especially as of late, as they've been getting rowdier, smarter, and more involved!

But then again, an MLSE product IS an MLSE product, and when push comes to shove a good thing can only last until there's an option for more than a quick buck to be made from it. In my opinion the less ventures the MLSE have any control over the better for EVERYONE in Toronto! Time to dissolve the worst partnership this world has seen since...well, this!

Hopefully the Raptors are stopped short of the Maple Leaf syndrome. However I'm getting the feeling that path has already been paved and there's no turning back.

Snark break...

• This is how far former Vikings star Daunte Culpepper has fallen off the radar screen, four years after he had the fifth-best passer rating in NFL history. 
  
  A column that's sympathetic to the unemployed QB, refers to how his college team, Central Florida, would "love to unfurl his ol' No. 9 jersey and invite him back to campus for 'Daunte Day.' " One problem: Culpepper wore No. 8 in college.
• The CBC's new channel, CBC Sports Plus, will have an "emphasis on amateurs." Doesn't Hockey Night in Canada already do that enough with the Leafs?
  
• White people aren't very fast, unless they're pointing out that a Jamaican track and field gold medallist is showboating, eh Bob Costas?
• Ken Griffey Jr. finally hit his first homer as a Chisox today, and he rounded the bases all by himself. (Does it count if it's against the Mariners?)
• It's been almost 6 hours since Duane put the question out there and no one has nominated how J.P. Ricciardi has managed to keep his job as the greatest sporting accomplishment they've ever seen? Disappointing doesn't begin to describe the feeling.
• Zinger via Windsor columnist Bob Duff: "Don’t tell Gary Bettman this, but I haven’t seen a single sign of any National Hockey League paraphernalia anywhere in Beijing. It appears the NHL is just as popular in China as it is in the United States."

The stuff you might have missed:

• Rollins' Belleville Bulls have signed a member of the U.S. under-17 national team development program, Bjorn Krupp, a defenceman just like his old man, Uwe Krupp, the long-time NHL defender. So he's got a Scandinavian first name, a German last name, and he's going to play for the Frontenacs' geographical rivals...
• Word is that Six Nations lacrosse star Cody Jacobs is going to play for the reigning NCAA champion Syracuse Orange.
• Raptors coach Sam Mitchell is a fashion plate.
• Canadian ballers Junior Cadougan and Mangisto Arop are both in the Rivals.com top 100.

(Seriously, if CBC Sports is looking for a young it-getter — OK, not that young — who knows the CIS cold, they know how to call. 

New feature alert: Snark break

Getting the stupid and ugly out of one's system by lunch hour ...

Mats Sundin still hasn't decided. Prediction: He's going to drag this out past July 31, Chuck Swirsky's last day at the FAN 590.

The one Friday Night Lights spoiler you haven't heard about: The writers plan to introduce a character named "Brett." He graduated from Dillon High in 1987, but his friends keep dropping hints that he plans to get off his lawn tractor and show up for two-a-day practices in August, even though he wasn't invited.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have named Ryan Dinwiddie their starting quarterback. Unfortunately, they couldn't trade with Saskatchewan to get his favourite receiver, James Johnson. (Johnson plays defence for the 'Riders and Dinwiddie threw three INTs to him in the Grey Cup. To quote Rainier Wolfcastle, That's the joke.)

The Raptors lost Carlos Delfino to a deal in Russia, but when an American NBAer, Josh Childress, talks about getting a better deal in Greece than he can in the NBA, people start noticing.

Most of the Senators are participating in Jason Spezza's celebrity golf tournament. Brian McGrattan is a healthy scratch — they're making him watch from the clubhouse. 

How long before people can start making "what time can you be here?" jokes about calling the Ottawa Rapidz' office to ask when the game starts? Attendance was 1,106 last night. It's heartbreaking.

Speaking of the Buds ... the Leafs are playing at home on Thanksgiving Monday, October 13. It’s appropriate, since for 13 years, they surrounded Mats Sundin with a lot of turkeys.

Note to Chris Bosh: You're an early adopter. We get it.



Last but not least, please click through to see the "Brokeback Centre" logo SooToday.com has posted alongside an item announcing that the fine city of Sault Ste. Marie, will have a new corporate name on their hockey arena. Careful, SooToday.com -- you could get sued for that!

("Snark Break," which is literally the lazy man's alternative to those Body Break PSAs that a generation of Canadians know and love, will be a recurring feature at OOLF. Yes, yes, just like the "Zen Dayley," which has seldom been daily. It's one outlet for the glib, smartalecky comments that we like to think better of making.)

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