It looks bad for the possibility to use the Big O

[the biologist]

Here's an article (in french) written by Jeremy Filosa on the site of CKAC Sports which is the french sports radio in Montreal (where you can also find an audio file related to the article):

http://www.corussports.com/impact/pas_rapport_pas_match-20081023-1240923.html

No report, no games at the Big O

It says that each year since 1999, the contract that stipulates the Big O must stay closed from 12/01 to 04/01 is renewed automatically because the BirdAir company still doesn't have produced any report about the possible causes of the roof tearing.

Louise Tremblay from the management of the Montreal Fire Department states that it's "impossible" (WTF ???) to give their OK to use the field as long as there's no concrete reasons as to why the incident happened.

She also said that the rumor of clearing the snow from the rooftop just moments before the game in order to get the OK from the Fire Department people to play the game at the Big O is kinda false, adding: "For no other event this option was proposed".

She finally added: "For now, our position won't change. If there's something new about this topic, the situation could still change. We absolutely (WTF #2 ???????) must get this report (from BirdAir & the RIO). Our priority must remain safety."

Richard Legendre is still hopeful nevertheless. He says the Impact organization will try everything they can to overrule this. He adds they're willing to postpone the game to the day after if there's any trace of snow on the rooftop. Fortunetaly for us, Legendre sounded determined when he was interviewed and they really want to play at the Big O.

Finally, it looks like the possible dates are now official: February 25th or 26th (can't play on the 24th since the Habs will play at the Bell Centre). Here comes the funny part (sic): they also can't use the Big O the week after (for the second leg) because it's already scheduled to host another event in the "halls".

HOW IS ALL OF THAT POSSIBLE !!!!!!! Hey, it's Montreal here, not Tombouctou. Why all this overexaggeration about safety ??? The incident happened 10 YEARS AGO and we're still waiting for the report thinking it will appear suddenly, just like that, on the desks of these $?%%!$?$!&$? people in charge of our "safety" ?????? 4 months X 10 years = 40 months (3 1/3 years) of uselessness for the Big O !!!!! And what are they waiting for to challenge BirdAir directors ???

:(

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by the biologist

Le 24 devenait impossible car le Canadiens joue à domicile.

What does the habs home game have to do with anything?

That quote troubles me more than anything I saw in that write up. I would ask why a Habs home game in February should even matter? Its February!!. February hockey means something like hockey game number 53 or 57 on the 82 game endless schedule. When/if the habs end up playing a game seven in the play offs who will be thinking about that game in febrary.

February is the dead month on the North american sports calendar. there is no big event of any kind going on. If the Impact cant garner attention and capture the spotlight ( over an NHL game in Feb), then they have bigger things to worry about in regards to soccer in Montreal.

[MastaK]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

What does the habs home game have to do with anything?

That quote troubles me more than anything I saw in that write up. I would ask why a Habs home game in February should even matter? Its February!!. February hockey means something like hockey game number 53 or 57 on the 82 game endless schedule. When/if the habs end up playing a game seven in the play offs who will be thinking about that game in febrary.

February is the dead month on the North american sports calendar. there is no big event of any kind going on. If the Impact cant garner attention and capture the spotlight ( over an NHL game in Feb), then they have bigger things to worry about in regards to soccer in Montreal.

It's not a question of garnering attention, for that, I don't think it'll be too much of a problem..it's a question of getting as much people as we can to the Big O. If there's a hockey game the same night in Montreal, maybe 5 or 6 thousand people who would've come to the Impact match won't be able to do so. So instead of having 30 000 in the stands, there would be 24 000.

It's not too bad but if you have the choice, of course 30 000 is better.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by MastaK

Well thats what I was getting at. And you are kind of re affirming my concerns. Newsflash, there are a great many cities in North america with sports teams in more than one league and multiple amounts of the competing sports events. Why on earth would anybody not go to see this event ( CCL ¼ finals) only because there is a february Habs game on. Were it a play off game, I could understand. But february hockey? It should be the Habs who should be worried, because they have a meaningless game up against an important event.

Why should it matter or even enter into the equation?

[Daniel]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

Well thats what I was getting at. And you are kind of re affirming my concerns. Newsflash, there are a great many cities in North america with sports teams in more than one league and multiple amounts of the competing sports events. Why on earth would anybody not go to see this event ( CCL ¼ finals) only because there is a february Habs game on. Were it a play off game, I could understand. But february hockey? It should be the Habs who should be worried, because they have a meaningless game up against an important event.

Why should it matter or even enter into the equation?

People care about the Habs. People don't care about the Impact. If the Impact game is an event (and people don't have conflicting activities), people will show up. Why make it harder? It's not like there's a difference between playing the 24th or the 25th.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

Wouldn't Montreal get the 2nd leg as a #1 seed?

[MegasAlexandros1555362277]

Ok, for the record, I really think the Habs game is a non-issue for a very simple reason. At this point in time there are virtually no tickets left for ANY Habs game. So it's not like there are potentially 1000-2000 people who will choose to get tickets to the Habs over the Impact simply because they can't! And generally speaking, Montreal is good at showing up for events. And a CCL quarter-final is definitely an event. If the Impact do a good job of marketing the game, I don't see why they can't draw OVER 30,000 people for the game.

[the biologist]

quote:Originally posted by CanadianSoccerFan

Wouldn't Montreal get the 2nd leg as a #1 seed?

If they manage to get a result in Cancun and are awarded the 2nd leg, they just WON'T be able to use the Big O (already reserved for this week, isn't clear what it is), so it looks like they simply have no choice but to host the 1st leg.

[the biologist]

As for the Habs game problem, I agree with MastaK and Daniel. You all must understand that all 82 games are already sold out. There are MANY people, like me, who gets the chance to see them only once a year. I waited in line outside the Bell Center for hours to get my precious pair of tickets. To ONE game. So if the game I'm gonna attend is THAT game on Feb. 24th, I'd be mad as hell.

There's also the TV (or Internet streaming) factor. I know that many people here are interested in soccer and the Impact but they're also Habs fans, if they must choose between the Habs and the Impact, well, you know the answer (we're talking about the REAL Hockeytown, not Detroit ). So people who want to watch it live (at least for the benefit of the 50% Québécois who live too far away from Montreal) won't get to choose between 2 beloved teams. And guess who's coming in town on the 24th: yeah, the 'nucks. So both the people of the 2nd and 3rd largest cities will be watching hockey this night against an old canadian rival.

[Keano]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

Your comments make absolute logical sense: a quality however which does not apply to Montrealers' relationship with the Habs. I won't give you a huge song and dance about it but suffice it to say: A regular season Habs game will draw sportsfans away from the most important soccer match in Quebec history. It's the truth. I can't even call it a "sad" truth or an "unfortunate" truth because it's simply a neutral fact. To miss a Habs game, even on TV, is a sin for many Montrealers, and it really isn't a sin to miss a match of any other sport no matter how important. It'd be like having an Impact CL match on the night of an election. Except in Montreal there are 82 elections a year.

[the biologist]

quote:Originally posted by Keano

It'd be like having an Impact CL match on the night of an election. Except in Montreal there are 82 elections a year.

Yeah, and Larry Smith (President of the Alouttes and in charge of the Grey Cup game to be played at the Big O) understood that. The Grey Cup game is on Nov. 23, the day after the night the Habs will retire Patrick Roy's jersey.

Everyone who has some interest in the CFL KNOWS we gonna draw at least 60,000 people at the Big O for the Grey Cup game. Every newspaper will talk about it and every other media will do so. That's THE BIG GAME that only happens once a year. But Smith is still 'cause the habs scheduled the ceremonial night AFTER the date for the GC game was determined and well-known. Bottom line is: HE FEARS THAT THIS CEREMONY COULD PUT SOME SHADOWS OVER THIS BIG EVENT !!! And that media here forget to promote this event. They want the front page to be theirs, not the Habs'.

[Kurosawa1555362267]

You have to understand that every Habs game is watched by over 1 000 000 viewers in a province of something over 6 000 000. That's a lot of people for hockey and the majority of the rest are people who don't care about sports in general.

Also when they're is a Habs game on RDS you simply don't hear about the rest. Let's say the Impact game is on the same night, then you would get maybe 25 min for the Habs and 5 for the Impact, if the Habs don't play it could go up to half and half. And that's normal, RDS is showing the Habs game and RDS is not showing the Impact, they give better press to their product.

[Cyrus]

I for one, am not worried about attendance, or going head-to-head with the Habs. This is not about TV ratings, setting records, or trying to set the perfect storm of a soccer event for Montreal. I'd be happy to have a place to play. Period. If the city fire department says it isn't safe, you're looking at it being extremely difficult to even think of having the event. Insurance, liability, permits all go out the window. And given the government 'culture' of Quebec, I don't see the fire marshall being overriden for a single event, that would require somebody sticking their neck out, and I just don't see that happening. It's not personal, it's bureaucracy.

And reference the emphasis on 'security' -- the French word is 'securite', better translated as 'safety'. A bit of a magic word in a semi-nanny state like Canada.

So, unless the mayor or the province can get the Montreal Fire Department to change their minds, where else can we have the event Skydome, I guess... Although New York City is about the same distance from Montreal. Can we play at Giants Stadium? I'd rather see that than Florida. Although I've got enough vacation time coming to me that I can road trip almost anywhere.

[the biologist]

quote:Originally posted by Cyrus

And reference the emphasis on 'security' -- the French word is 'securite', better translated as 'safety'. A bit of a magic word in a semi-nanny state like Canada.

Yeah. It's now corrected.

[BrennanFan]

Can someone remind me why its such an utter impossibility to play at Saputo?

Is there some FIFA rule against playing in -10 weather on mostly frozen grass?

Pass out some toques and just play. what the hell.

[Keano]

quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan

Can someone remind me why its such an utter impossibility to play at Saputo?

Is there some FIFA rule against playing in -10 weather on mostly frozen grass?

Pass out some toques and just play. what the hell.

Yes. There is a FIFA rule against playing on a hard frost. Aparently.

[BrennanFan]

So how did these games get played? Surface looks frozen to me.

[piltdownman]

The more I think about it, if there is a will their must be a way to play at Saputo.

[jonovision]

There is a difference between snow on the pitch and a frozen pitch. The first video in BrennanFan's post was from a game played on Nov 11. I don't know much about Ukrainian climate, but I doubt it's colder than Winnipeg. And most years the ground isn't frozen by then.

The second match is in late March in Tallinn. Average daytime high temps in Tallinn are +1 C, probably higher late in the month when this match was played (26 March).

The ground at Saputo would have been frozen for a full 3 months, at least, by the time a late February matchday would come around.

[Cyrus]

quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan

Can someone remind me why its such an utter impossibility to play at Saputo?

Is there some FIFA rule against playing in -10 weather on mostly frozen grass?

Pass out some toques and just play. what the hell.

The actual laws of the game says 'natural surfaces'. Ice is natural. So is snow, sand, and magma for that matter. So it's not so much a specific hard and fast rule, but the fact that the match referee has the authority to make

"A decision that the condition of the field of play or its surrounds or that the weather conditions are such as to allow or not to allow a

match to take place"

And the general opinion is that any CONCACAF ref would consider a solid block of permafrost enough to not allow the match to start.

[BrennanFan]

if there is no deep blanket of snow, and there are a few heaters placed around the grounds, and it's not a lot colder than -10, the game could and should be played at Saputo.

Maybe they can throw a bubble up over the pitch and fire up some heaters to un-freeze the grass the week prior to the match. like Pilt said, where there's a will theres a way.

[BrennanFan]

if there is no deep blanket of snow, and there are a few heaters placed around the grounds, and it's not a lot colder than -10, the game could and should be played at Saputo.

Maybe they can throw a bubble up over the pitch and fire up some heaters to un-freeze the grass the week prior to the match. like Pilt said, where there's a will theres a way.

[Tuscan]

Well, personally I'd rather see this played at SkyDome if it sadly comes down to it. For one thing it'll make my plane tickets cheaper, if only by that little bit. Question is, how much attendance would they lose by moving the game out of Montreal? What about Ottawa, any options there?

[Grizzly]

quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan

So how did these games get played? Surface looks frozen to me.

The first video is of a Ukrainian league match while the second is of a friendly. Neither are required to uphold FIFA standards. Continental championships are FIFA sanctioned events and are held to a higher standard.

[Guest speedmonk42]

The field will be frozen. Snow is not the issue.

You can have snow and field that is not frozen.