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Garber lists Vancouver as MLS Expansion Candidate


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Guest Jeffery S.
quote:Originally posted by Richard

Have you ever spent any time at the Whitecaps offices on Waterfront street and met the people who form the heart of organisation? If you haven't then you know not of what you speak with such supercilious confidence.

Richard, you shall know them by their works. The Whitecaps do not have the capacity of a top level pro sport franchise. They have no experience, are one sport, have weak links over the continent, and the person funding is not on top of the organization. The community ties are tenuous, their committment to developing players questionable. They do not move their players on to bigger and better things, they are a dead end in development. They are deceptive about the product on the field, and participate in manipulative doings with the BCSA which have had a damaging effect at the CSA and in the national programs, Bobby at the helm.

And yes, I have had contact with a few Whitecaps middle management types, the ones I guess are your drinking buddies. They are friendly, some are quite considerate and dedicated. That means nothing.

As a Vancouverite I know how totally un self-critical and provincial BCers in general can be, they have no interest in making simple comparisons between themselves and others in anything, they are like boon dock mavericks. So they tend to be self-flattering, self-deceptive, and manipulative. BC politics is the same, totally freaky.

The biggest problem with having an MLS team in Vancouver is the team currently led by the likes of Lenarduzzi, you would probably want to trash him and hire a whole new set of professionals so that the current ones don't have to prove the Peter Principle right en masse.

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quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

Richard, you shall know them by their works. The Whitecaps do not have the capacity of a top level pro sport franchise. They have no experience, are one sport, have weak links over the continent, and the person funding is not on top of the organization. The community ties are tenuous, their committment to developing players questionable. They do not move their players on to bigger and better things, they are a dead end in development. They are deceptive about the product on the field, and participate in manipulative doings with the BCSA which have had a damaging effect at the CSA and in the national programs, Bobby at the helm.

Same with the Saputo's? I think that the owning of one sport should be a none-issue. I know it helps, but if that is a knock against the ownership, then that's not right. The Whitecaps are running themselves well as a USL club. Very well I'd say. And like any minor leaguer, they shown they deserve a shot in the 'show.' If MLS is looking at them, and they are interested, they should be given the first opportunity to have a spot.

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quote:Originally posted by Macksam

The rivalry between Toronto and Vancouver would be something else. The games would probably be able to sell out the Sky Dome.

of course they would, that's why there's a Canadian national league that we all support and love. :D

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quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

Richard, you shall know them by their works. The Whitecaps do not have the capacity of a top level pro sport franchise. They have no experience, are one sport, have weak links over the continent, and the person funding is not on top of the organization. The community ties are tenuous, their committment to developing players questionable. They do not move their players on to bigger and better things, they are a dead end in development. They are deceptive about the product on the field, and participate in manipulative doings with the BCSA which have had a damaging effect at the CSA and in the national programs, Bobby at the helm.

It's not like the Caps are jumping into MLS willy-nilly, hell I don't think they have even publicly stated interest in MLS. Maybe vague associations but that's it. You don't think they'll research the MLSE franchise and have talks with the Hog Town crown before proceeding? Plus they've got a stadium issue to resolve first. Knowing how to get that thing up and running and filling it up will go a long way in making a viable MLS franchise.

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quote:Originally posted by Reza

I may have missed as I was not following the new closely for a few months, but why isn't Montreal being targeted considering they are already in the process of building a stadium?

I don't think it's a matter of them being targeted rather the lack of Saputo's interest if I'm not mistaken.

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quote:Originally posted by Danny Boy

of course they would, that's why there's a Canadian national league that we all support and love. :D

*Laughs* Well, I mean that if Toronto faces Canadian opposition in the MLS, I think it would be worth putting it in a bigger venue as it might be a bigger draw.

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quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

Richard, you shall know them by their works. The Whitecaps do not have the capacity of a top level pro sport franchise. They have no experience, are one sport, have weak links over the continent, and the person funding is not on top of the organization. The community ties are tenuous, their committment to developing players questionable. They do not move their players on to bigger and better things, they are a dead end in development. They are deceptive about the product on the field, and participate in manipulative doings with the BCSA which have had a damaging effect at the CSA and in the national programs, Bobby at the helm.

And yes, I have had contact with a few Whitecaps middle management types, the ones I guess are your drinking buddies. They are friendly, some are quite considerate and dedicated. That means nothing.

As a Vancouverite I know how totally un self-critical and provincial BCers in general can be, they have no interest in making simple comparisons between themselves and others in anything, they are like boon dock mavericks. So they tend to be self-flattering, self-deceptive, and manipulative. BC politics is the same, totally freaky.

The biggest problem with having an MLS team in Vancouver is the team currently led by the likes of Lenarduzzi, you would probably want to trash him and hire a whole new set of professionals so that the current ones don't have to prove the Peter Principle right en masse.

The Whitecaps FC are years away from playing in the MLS. The club executive and their multi-millionaire entrepeneur owner are well aware of what will be required of the organisation to operate their own stadium and step up to MLS standards. Why would they need an MLS capable organisation now in order to play for the next several years in USL-1? If they did you would probably condemn them for being top-heavy for a mere USL-1 club, typical BC provincialism and cluelessness right?

And you still haven't answered my question about how well you really know and understand the Whitecaps management team other than your personal perception of and obvious dislike for Bob Lenarduzzi?

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Bill, go for it!

For the sake of greater understanding of what is at stake, could you please, in a few bullets, state -- with as little patience and as little restraint as you can muster -- the big reasons that a soccer stadium would be worthwhile for Vancouver?

You may know that what motivates soccer fans is not necessarily the stuff that moves the local authorities. What has been missing or what has impeded progress on getting the stadium done? In a nutshell, where is the disconnect between the popular support for the stadium (four times the people have said yes) and the green light on startup? Does it come down to sheer political will, hence your call for pressure from outside of Vancouver?

Keep fighting the good fight, Bill.

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They're still trying to find a way to fit the stadium into the downtown waterfront district. The planners have now moved onto a third option, having given up on the first two.

Plans for a Vancouver waterfront stadium not dead yet

Latest location east of Seabus Terminal

Terry Bell, The Province

Published: Friday, July 20, 2007

The idea of building a soccer stadium on the Vancouver waterfront is still alive and kicking.

The city's planning department is studying the feasibility of a third potential site that, if approved, would be re-zoned for a stadium to be constructed east of the Seabus Terminal about where the Helijet landing area is located.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/story.html?id=04eb5e6c-86cb-4d16-8ae3-c27911bfd6dd

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quote:Originally posted by Richard

They're still trying to find a way to fit the stadium into the downtown waterfront district. The planners have now moved onto a third option, having given up on the first two.

Plans for a Vancouver waterfront stadium not dead yet

Latest location east of Seabus Terminal

Terry Bell, The Province

Published: Friday, July 20, 2007

The idea of building a soccer stadium on the Vancouver waterfront is still alive and kicking.

The city's planning department is studying the feasibility of a third potential site that, if approved, would be re-zoned for a stadium to be constructed east of the Seabus Terminal about where the Helijet landing area is located.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/story.html?id=04eb5e6c-86cb-4d16-8ae3-c27911bfd6dd

Whatever, just get it done.

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Guest Jeffery S.
quote:Originally posted by Richard

The Whitecaps FC are years away from playing in the MLS. The club executive and their multi-millionaire entrepeneur owner are well aware of what will be required of the organisation to operate their own stadium and step up to MLS standards. Why would they need an MLS capable organisation now in order to play for the next several years in USL-1? If they did you would probably condemn them for being top-heavy for a mere USL-1 club, typical BC provincialism and cluelessness right?

And you still haven't answered my question about how well you really know and understand the Whitecaps management team other than your personal perception of and obvious dislike for Bob Lenarduzzi?

Why don't you tell us how well you know them, Richard? Pub crawls and the like?

Why don't you also tell us if you are allowed to say anything nasty about them, or anything even minimally critical, without losing your job. I have no vested in interest in criticizing them or praising them, you seem to have a huge personal and professional vested interest in defending them.

I recognize they may be a step ahead of most USL Div 1 teams, they have more experience and continuity. But the step from USL Div 1 to MLS actually does not exist, it is not a simple step up. It is another planet altogether. Financially speaking it is not the jump from a 2nd division to a 1st, it is a jump that is well over ten-fold. You can't take the existing guys with no experience in top level pro sport and expect them to perform at the higher level, especially if deluded, manipulative Lenarduzzi with his totally archaic ideas about the game itself is at the helm and Kerfoot insists on giving him the lead.

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quote:Originally posted by JPB

Bill, go for it!

For the sake of greater understanding of what is at stake, could you please, in a few bullets, state -- with as little patience and as little restraint as you can muster -- the big reasons that a soccer stadium would be worthwhile for Vancouver?

You may know that what motivates soccer fans is not necessarily the stuff that moves the local authorities. What has been missing or what has impeded progress on getting the stadium done? In a nutshell, where is the disconnect between the popular support for the stadium (four times the people have said yes) and the green light on startup? Does it come down to sheer political will, hence your call for pressure from outside of Vancouver?

Keep fighting the good fight, Bill.

Thanks for the support, JPB. I'll try to sum it up best I can.

The benefits of the stadium for the city beyond just soccer have been pointed out to City Council a million times and for the most part, they agree. I'm convinced that if we can ever get a final site and stadium design to a vote in front of this Council, we will win unanimously as long as we keep up the pressure and show up en masse.

But, in Council's eyes, it's not a priority. And what we've learned with other issues in this City is that they won't take any action on any issue that isn't a pet project of their's unless it becomes a crisis. I'm writing about this in another thread, but beyond the negotiations between the Whitecaps & the Port (which I'm told both by the Whitecaps & the City are very positive), I think the biggest issue holding this up is not having Councillors actively pushing for progress on the stadium internally.

We have strong supporters on council, but we don't have champions willing to put themselves on the line for it yet. That's why it's up to all of us to show council that ultimately, there's more for them to gain politically by pushing for the stadium, and a huge political price to pay, and embarrassment for the city if it's delayed further.

The stadium is being treated by city planning as though it were a private condo or office development. Although it will be privately owned, it needs to treated like the desirable public amenity it is. It needs a fastrack procedure similar to what GM Place went through. We already know that when the City of Vancouver has it's sights on a project, it gets done both quickly and well. That's the type of attention we need from City Hall. We need City Council to stop being a spectator and to get into the game.

As you can understand, when people like myself and Stadium Now talk directly city hall about the stadium, we need to use a lot of patience and restraint. We've worked very hard to make sure that this issue doesn't become a partisan struggle between the three parties that make up council. And we've also gone out our way to make sure that Council, City Planners and the process as a whole aren't treated to the appalling disrespect shown to them by our opponents.

I truly believe that your letters and phone calls, and especially taking the high road, will ultimately get us there.

Thanks again,

Bill Currie

Friends of Soccer

www.friendsofsoccer.org

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quote:Originally posted by Macksam

The rivalry between Toronto and Vancouver would be something else. The games would probably be able to sell out the Sky Dome.

Naah, no offence to VanCity, but a rivaly with Montreal would be a bigger draw, especially as you could have big groups of visiting supporters pumping up the atmosphere.

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Jeffery S., on what basis are you convinced that the owner of the Whitecaps FC would try to manage a Waterfront stadium and run an MLS operation with USL-1 level staff? I think I have more confidence in Greg Kerfoot's ability to prepare for such a change and to build an appropriate team over time than I have in your apparently rather ill-informed opinion of anything in that regard.

And my question of you was how familiar are you with the Whitecaps FC organisation, the management team and its forward planning, not how you know them or if you go on pub crawls with them. That kind of statement by you speaks volumes about you personally.

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Bill

I wish you and the Caps the best of luck with your quest to land a stadium for vancouver. From some of the renderings of stadium concepts I have seen, the stadium would be fantastic and would fit into the portlands wonderfully.

keep up the good work and let the rest of us up to date with whatever we can do to help (as far as letter writing is concerned).

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Bill

I wish you and the Caps the best of luck with your quest to land a stadium for vancouver. From some of the renderings of stadium concepts I have seen, the stadium would be fantastic and would fit into the portlands wonderfully.

keep up the good work and let the rest of us up to date with whatever we can do to help (as far as letter writing is concerned).

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