mike_desare Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 There is no doubt that MLS and Don Garber will reconsider the Whitecaps' bid to join the MLS if the BC Place Retractable Roof and Renovations are cancelled. Please voice your concerns to the Premier and Liberal party yourself: Premier Campbell: premier@gov.bc.ca gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca Minister of Tourism Kevin Krueger: kevin.krueger.mla@leg.bc.ca If their staffers get enough e-mails and we hit critical mass, the message WILL GET THROUGH to Campbell and Krueger and they will think twice about cancelling the BC Place Renovations and Retractable Roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownbear Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by mike_desare There is no doubt that MLS and Don Garber will reconsider the Whitecaps' bid to join the MLS if the BC Place Retractable Roof and Renovations are cancelled. Please voice your concerns to the Premier and Liberal party yourself: Premier Campbell: premier@gov.bc.ca gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca Minister of Tourism Kevin Krueger: kevin.krueger.mla@leg.bc.ca If their staffers get enough e-mails and we hit critical mass, the message WILL GET THROUGH to Campbell and Krueger and they will think twice about cancelling the BC Place Renovations and Retractable Roof. Absolutely not true; the MLS plans on being around a long time and won't make knee-jerk reactions regarding what will become--almost from day one--one of their premier franchises (if Toronto (Canadian team) and Seattle (Pacific NW team) are any indication. Roof or not, the Whitecaps are in MLS. I wish everyone would stop getting their panties in a knot. I, for one, would be delighted were the retractable roof not to go ahead as I'd like a true open-air stadium (with grass) for the Whitecaps to play in. Set up a temporary facility at the PNE until Kerfoot's ttadium (waterfront or somewhere else) is built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_desare Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by brownbear Roof or not, the Whitecaps are in MLS. I wish everyone would stop getting their panties in a knot. You must not remember San Jose then. They were and still are a great soccer city, but that did not stop the MLS and Garber from pulling their franchise from MLS because their venue was deemed insufficient by MLS & Garber. The Vancouver bid and Whitecap bid is in jeopardy if the BC Place renovations and retractable roof are cancelled, whatever you imagine. I'll take Bob Lenarduzzi's words over yours: '"We haven't talked to MLS, but [the renovation] is a very important part of our submission</u>," Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi said.' - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bc-place-retractable-roof-plans-in-limbo/article1266316/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_desare Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Senior Vice President of Major League Soccer speaks: 'All of the renovations to BC Place were key in Major League Soccer awarding Vancouver an expansion team," MLS senior vice-president Dan Courtemanche said from the league's New York headquarters. "If things change, we'd have to address that. Clearly it's something that would be addressed by our commissioner and the league's board of governors," Courtemanche said.' http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Place+roof+falls+under+cloud+uncertainty/1934266/story.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Wouldn't the logical thing for the Liberals to do be cancel the roof project, over rule the city over the Waterfront Stadium, let Kerfoot build it with his own money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Impact Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Macksam Wouldn't the logical thing for the Liberals to do be cancel the roof project, over rule the city over the Waterfront Stadium, let Kerfoot build it with his own money? Seems to LOGICAL for any government to cosider. 65 million should get you a very nice SS stadium indeed, all in saving the tax payers $300 million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiral Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 San Jose is in MLS are they not? Didn't the MLS pull out the two franchises in Florida? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownbear Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by mike_desare Senior Vice President of Major League Soccer speaks: 'All of the renovations to BC Place were key in Major League Soccer awarding Vancouver an expansion team," MLS senior vice-president Dan Courtemanche said from the league's New York headquarters. "If things change, we'd have to address that. Clearly it's something that would be addressed by our commissioner and the league's board of governors," Courtemanche said.' http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Place+roof+falls+under+cloud+uncertainty/1934266/story.html Public pronouncements are always to be interpreted carefully. You have to ask yourselves how the public statement affects the objective interests of each of the players in question. Don't you think it's possible that the Whitecaps and the MLS hold the stronger hand here? Gordon Campbell does not want to be known as the guy who killed Vancouver's chances. The Whitecaps and the MLS want Campbell to believe that it the BC Place renovations are cancelled, the team's MLS chances are imperiled. Hell, if you can get a pretty decent facility without putting in a penny of the cost, wouldn't you do as much as possible to produce that outcome. If I were the MLS right now, I'd be calling up every single newspaper/TV station in Vancouver guaranteeing that the Whitecaps are gone without BC Place renos. Putting in a couple of days work for a 365 million stadium is not a bad return on your investment of time. (Remember that the MLS effectively "owns" the clubs.) So, it can't hurt to try and scare the government into believing that if they don't pay up, the Whitecaps are gone. The truth of the matter is that the Whitecaps are in, they'll get a decent stadium (wherever) within a couple of years, and they'll be one of the MLS's top franchises. Lenarduzzi knows its, the MLS knows it, and I suspect Campbell knows it. As it is, Kansas City is currently playing in a 10,000 seat baseball stadium. Should the BC Place renovation be shelved, having the Whitecaps play a year or two at a 15,000-20,000 seat temporary facility at the PNE is not the end of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 The major renovations to BC Place are already underway and will be completed in time for the 2010 Olympics. If the new roof is delayed for whatever reason (it cannot be cancelled entirely because the old roof has reached the end of its design life) the stadium will still meet the majority of MLS's requirements, just sans retractable roof. I think there is vast over reaction to the possible delay with the roof. Take a pill guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancouversoccerman Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Richard's correct. The key for now is that neither the Whitecaps or MLS are sounding any alarms about this, and are waiting for something concrete to happen before they react. It makes no sense to get worked up into a lather over BC Place until we know for sure what's going to happen and what it will mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnie Monster Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 And furthermore, I just wanted to add.... STFU Spiral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_desare Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by brownbear The truth of the matter is that the Whitecaps are in, they'll get a decent stadium (wherever) within a couple of years, and they'll be one of the MLS's top franchises. The truth of the matter is MLS & Garber yanked a franchise from San Jose before because the stadium was deemed insufficient. Sorry pal, you have no basis for your reasoning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 ^And they went back to San Jose and play in an insufficient stadium. What exactly is your point again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_desare Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Richard The major renovations to BC Place are already underway and will be completed in time for the 2010 Olympics. If the new roof is delayed for whatever reason (it cannot be cancelled entirely because the old roof has reached the end of its design life) the stadium will still meet the majority of MLS's requirements, just sans retractable roof. I think there is vast over reaction to the possible delay with the roof. Take a pill guys! What rennovations? The Olympic rennovations that everybody knew about, or the rennovations to make the lower bowl into a more soccer friendly atmosphere? "Changes in the domed stadium, which will seat 20,000 spectators for the MLS team in its lower bowl, will be based along those found at the home venue of Eintracht Frankfurt of the German Bundesliga." http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gV-PiiZMQVLuZUuuI4lZlZhtVivA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_desare Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Vancouversoccerman Richard's correct. The key for now is that neither the Whitecaps or MLS are sounding any alarms about this Because they are selling season tickets dude! You want them to scare off the potential season ticket base by saying the Whitecaps won't be in the MLS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 They're not yet selling season tickets, they took a limited number of $100 deposits on season tickets as a promo when the franchise was announced. They won't be selling any tickets, season or otherwise, for some time yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_desare Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by masster ^And they went back to San Jose and play in an insufficient stadium. What exactly is your point again? And they haven't been able to get back to Miami for 8 years, even though MLS wants to go back to Miami and the Florida market: http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090303&content_id=221343 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_desare Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Richard They're not yet selling season tickets, they took a limited number of $100 deposits on season tickets as a promo when the franchise was announced. They won't be selling any tickets, season or otherwise, for some time yet. They are still selling season tickets for the Whitecaps 2010 season, which give Whitecaps 2010 season ticket holders priority to purchase 2011 MLS season tickets. So yes they are. It makes no business sense for them to set off the alarm publicly, although internally, they may be feeling the heat right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiral Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Richard, they can put on another dome, a new one. They don't HAVE to put on a retractable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_desare Posted August 28, 2009 Author Share Posted August 28, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Vancouversoccerman It makes no sense to get worked up into a lather over BC Place until we know for sure what's going to happen and what it will mean. When we know what's going to happen - the Liberal government cutting the budget for the retractable roof and renovations - it will be too late</u>. If the Liberal government announces the cancellation of the retractable roof and renovations in their budget, there is little that you and I can do at that point because it becomes an issue for Garber and MLS to decide. Once it becomes an issue for Garber and MLS to decide, we can do nothing about it. The point is, while you and I can do something about this, just send an e-mail to the addresses posted above to voice your concern as a voter. It takes less than 5 minutes of your time to type up a short e-mail and send it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiral Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 What exactly will be announced on Budget Day? Exactly what programs are going ahead and which ones are cancelled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancouversoccerman Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 If you feel the need to send an e-mail to let the premier or a MLA know the importance of the BC Place renos or having MLS in Vancouver, then do it. It's helpful. What I'm saying is that none of the people who have the biggest stake in this are in panic mode. Not the Caps...not the Lions (who are hosting a GREY CUP at BC Place, btw)...& not PavCo. There's a lot of money in this game and there are certainly conditions all sides are aware of. And there are a ton of things that everyone can do if the worse happens. It will hardly be "too late". The government has made a huge effort in the last year and a half to help the Caps secure MLS. They ran an election campaign lauding the achievement and slamming their opponents over it. I assure you, they're WELL AWARE of the immediate and long term consequences if they screw that up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancouversoccerman Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 And could a mod please take care of Spiral's spam... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_desare Posted August 28, 2009 Author Share Posted August 28, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Vancouversoccerman And there are a ton of things that everyone can do if the worse happens. It will hardly be "too late". I agree to disagree with you. What people of this board and community can do is only before the government cancels the BC Place retractable roof and renovations. Once they cancel it, they will not do a U-Turn (it's bad enough for them to do one U-Turn, they won't do two) and then it becomes an issue for MLS & Garber, where we have practically no say or influence. I would hope the voters of BC that read this and want the Whitecaps in the MLS, realize our window to make a difference is closing. Past that window, you can yell, scream, and make all the noise you want, but your influence on MLS & Garber when they make their decision is practically NIL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 The renovations to BC Place are already well underway and will be completed before the 2010 Olympics. The roof is a completely separate project and will either be a delayed retractable roof, a replacement dome (or possibly a renovated existing dome to squeeze a few more years of life out of it) or even no roof although that is unlikely considering the range of uses to which BC Place is put that are critical to generating the necessary operating revenue. The pitch surface will be FieldTurf no matter what so it really doesn't matter what kind of roof it is (or no roof) other than from an esthetic viewpoint. It will still be a much improved BC Place and one of the better stadiums within MLS so I really can't see Don Garber pulling Vancouver's MLS franchise because of the roof issue despite the noise the media is making. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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