The Next Obstacles

It seems that with every passing month there is another obstacle added to the list of things Jeff Hunt and Co. need to tackle in order to get football back in the nation's capital. Frustration in the front office must be at an all time high, as this week it was announced that the soil within the Lansdowne Park was contaminated (Soil contamination article). This now has to be all removed before they even start to think of replacing the field. Though the 2014 schedule is still on track, you have to think with developments like this what else is there (though I remain fully optimistic that the project will get done on time)!

The other hurdle that Hunt still needs to get through is the nagging case with the "Friends of Lansdowne" (FOL). This organization came into the Ottawa football scene months ago, as they see the contract Hunt was awarded by Ottawa city council as illegitimate due to improper procurement procedures. Months ago they lost their case against city council. However, they've decided they don't think this issue is dead yet. The FOL now have an appeal hearing on November 28th, where they will state their case... again... on why the Jeff Hunt's team should not have won the redevelopment of Lansdowne contract (Ottawa Citizen article). This to me feels like they are beating around a dead horse.

Unfortunately, this organization seems to be garnering a lot more public interest these days as recent FOL meetings have brought in hundreds of Ottawa citizens to hear out their case. Though getting lots of people doesn't necessarily equal public support, it at least is getting their name out there. As the old adage goes, there is no such thing as "bad" publicity, and I'm sure the FOL will take anything they can get. The FOL from their meetings have listed how much in terms of donations they have been receiving. Their last meeting they managed to raise $5000... though that seems like a lot of dough, in the legal lawyer world, that sum would be swallowed up within a couple days work. Which begs the true question, where are the FOL getting most of their cash support? Are the chair people funding most of their aims through their own pockets? What’s in it for them? Questions to think about.

On a positive note the renewing of Lansdowne field will truly start to commence on November 7th! The department of Public Affairs for the City of Ottawa most recently announced they had selected a company to complete the demolishment of the South Side stands of Frank Clair Stadium (They were half removed in 2008). This is at least one less obstacle Hunt needs to worry about. What's more is that the contract awarded was won on a budget of close to $1 million less than expected (City of Ottawa Presser). For people who know government... this is almost unheard of, hopefully this bid stays true to its original pricing scope!

There still seems like there is a rocky road ahead on seeing football in Ottawa again. However, there is still buzz on the project. People and fans are still interested and excited to see what's going to come in the short months ahead. Will the soil contamination be a bigger deal? Will FOL win their appeal and cause more havoc? To me, if I were running the upcoming franchise, I would try to install confidence. Give the fans a tidbit for things to come. Why not have a name/logo contest? Or a Rough Riders/ Renegades alumni party? Just something to give back to the fans to let them know that things are being taken care of and not to worry!

CFL in Ottawa for 2014! I still believe... let's get it "done" (right)!

A More Perfect Union... on the field

On June 20th, Ottawa and the OSEG were awarded the rights to a new soccer team that would play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) (see news article here). This deal has the potential to provide a MASSIVE boost financially to the next Ottawa CFL team, as Lansdowne field will have two anchor tenants to help share in the maintenance/upkeep costs of the field. Also Frank Clair will have another team to fill it's schedule! Synergy is what they call it in the business world.

I feel this new Ottawa soccer team maybe coming in at the exact right time as well. If the team begins play in 2014 or 2015 that is just around the time Canada is hosting the FIFA women's world cup! The soccer buzz will be going even more insane if the city of Ottawa gets approval to be one of the host cities for this tournament. Whatsmore, Ottawa's bid is increasingly more likely to be accepted due to the fact that Toronto will be unable to host any games due to over committing themselves to the Pan American games that summer!

However, I will be cautiously optimistic with this. The NASL has folded before and just recently got on the go again. Who's to say this league will exist in another couple years... especially if the Montreal Impact (one of the league's better attended teams) plays on moving up to the premier Major League Soccer division by 2012.

Another fact that should be highlight is that the renovated Frank Clair Stadium will hold around 24,000 people in max capacity. So far, attendance for NASL games will not even come close to filling this stadium! This maybe an issue for the "Fan Experience", as the new Frank Clair could just be too BIG a stadium for Ottawa Soccer to survive in.

So for now... though I love soccer (2nd to football), I will wait and see how this partnership develops! It has all the ground workings to be great, let's just hope the NASL is still around for another 3 years.

Fingers crossed!!!

Part II- What's in the name?

So what should the new CFL Ottawa team have to represent themselves in the greatest league in North America?!

I'm big into animal groupings, it's kinda my weird fun knowledge that I love to know. Ottawa is Canada's capital city and is especially known for their Parliament buildings where all the MPs of Canada come together to fight out issues on how to make the nation better (though sometimes this is a slower process unfortunately). Do you guys know what a Parliament is as an animal grouping? Well it's a group of Owls. At first even to me this name seemed somewhat lame, just another animal name based team, but then it started to grow on me more. Being named the Ottawa Owls is a little clever in my mind, and Jeff Hunt and his marketing team could definitely market the franchise easily with "Parliament" in mind!

So does this name work for you?! Could you see yourself being a fan of a CFL team named the Ottawa Owls? Would you give a hoot for that name (sorry for the lame crack)? Would love your feedback and comments on this issue. As in the end, this is Ottawa's team and for it to truly take off for the new/ old fans Hunt should engage himself with them. Let the fans decide on what to call this team for that's the way ALL business is going these days!

Part I - What's in the name?

The third CFL team is about to break ground within the next couple years. In addition, the new grounds at Lansdowne Park should hopefully be started within the next 6 months to a year (pending Friends of Lansdowne's court case).

Be it as it may I have no rumblings really of possible names to the new CFL team. Some Ottawa super fans would want to keep up with the old school tradition and name the team the Ottawa Rough Riders. This would be a BIG joke to the league unfortunately, as Saskatchewan already has laid claim to that name for years. The CFL would never agree to allowing two Rough Rider franchises anyway, and Saskatchewan won't be changing their name to something new just to appease the fans in Ottawa.

Another possibility could be to continue with the last franchise name, the Ottawa Renegades. This name holds great significance to me, as it was this franchise that truly got me hooked on the CFL, and more importantly football in the Canadian capital! Going into its final years of operation this franchise was really going places on the field. They had a core group of players who were capable of winning: Kerry Joseph, Josh Ranek, Pat Woodcock, Jason Armstead, etc. The Renegades were getting especially good at winning games within the eastern division, games they needed more to help their playoff chances. There's no doubt in my mind that if they had lasted another year they would have made the playoffs in their 5th season in the league.

This name to many non-hardcore Ottawa football fans will forever be associated with failure, therefore the new franchise should not incorporate the Renegades into their team. Even though it was entirely the Glieberman's fault that caused the Renegades to fold, most Ottawa citizens do not get this and probably won't attend new CFL Ottawa games because of it.

So just what should the new CFL Ottawa team now be? It needs to be something that represents the city, and not to sound corny, but the country. As Ottawa is the capital city of Canada they need to represent a little bit more in my mind. The first thought that came to my mind was to name the new team something to do with the Rideau Canal. The Canal is a big part of the city, and the stadium will be right along side of it. Alas, the Toronto Argonauts (Ottawa's most despised rival) are known as the "Boatmen" and already have long established ties with water.

So what could these options for a new name be...
Stay tuned!

CFL Ottawa's Draft Plans

Back in February 2002, the Ottawa Renegades expansion draft took place. Within this draft Ottawa was allowed to take up eight imports (Non-Canadian players) in the first round from other CFL teams, and eight Non-imports (Canadian players) in the second round from CFL teams. In total they selected 32 players from this draft process, with 16 of them already having CFL experience on their resume.

The draft was criticized, as it allowed the eight CFL teams to protect two of their quarterbacks (QB) from Ottawa in their expansion draft. Teams were also allowed to protect up to seven non-imports on their team as well. This meant that Ottawa was dealt the shaft in many ways, as they ended up having to choose from a plethora of 3rd string or practice roster type players. In the end, Ottawa’s starting QB ended up being Dan Crowley, a 3rd stringer from the Edmonton Eskimos. Crowley would eventually end up being outplayed by up and comer Kerry Joseph in 2003 (This was met by much fan approval as Crowley just could not get the job done).

CBC story on 2002 Ottawa Expansion Draft

Though many media “experts” say the Renegades were never competitive, I would wholeheartedly disagree with them. In their fourth season, if cross over rules were not in effect, the Renegades would have made the playoffs. If you were a true fan, and saw the Renegades game in and game out, you would know that the players had passion and were building something. Either way, maybe if the expansion draft was more in Ottawa’s favour from the get go they would not be rebuilding again (Though I still think it was an ownership problem over anything else… Gliebermans…).

A couple months ago, plans for the new CFL Ottawa team’s expansion draft were laid out. The big changes were: the addition of another round of non-imports (equally a total of one import round and two non import rounds), the current CFL teams can now only protect one QB, CFL Ottawa can only take two QBs within the first three rounds,and Ottawa can only choose one kicker/punter within the first three rounds. CFL teams in addition to protecting one QB will be allowed to protect ten imports from the import round, and six non imports in the non import rounds.

Outside the expansion draft, Ottawa can take up to four 2012 underclassmen from the NCAA and will get the 1st pick in each round of the official 2013 CFL draft. All these plans will help Ottawa fight and become the “Beast in the East” right from the beginning.

I know it’s super early to predict much, but one player I would be interested in Ottawa picking up is Justin Palardy, the kicker from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He had a lot of success in university as he kicked the third most field goals (65) and scored the fifth most points (320) in CIS history. For the Bombers last year he converted 26/30 FG for a 86.7 conversion percentage. This was the second best FG percentage only behind B.C.’s McCallum. Having the full time gig next season should help Palardy to improve upon his numbers even more.

All in all, I'm excited about the draft plans as Mark Cohon clearly wants to see Ottawa succeed in its third CFL attempt!

The Meeting

(Jeff Hunt must be getting tired with Friends of Lansdowne)


On Thursday March 24th, the Friends of Lansdowne (FOL) combined forces with the Council of Canadians to riot on the renovations to public space becoming privatized. The meeting largely squared upon the issue of Ottawa City Council giving OSEG the rights to redevelop the park the best way they see fit.

The meeting detailed can be more so followed through this media story.
(click here)


From what I gather a bit more than 100 people showed up to this meeting even though it was open to all the public of Ottawa. Ottawa is a city close to a million people; I feel the FOL should take this as a major hint that the citizens of Ottawa frankly don't care what they're doing. In addition they raised $2000 to help cover their legal expenses. Their Lawyer, and FOL member, is Steven Shrybman. The FOL must be expecting a big discount price off legal fees in the coming months if $2000 is all they can raise for this cause. Lawyers are expensive!!

Remember the MAJOR court date will be happening in June. This is when the courts will decide if the City Council of Ottawa got their decision ethically right when they award the reno project to OSEG.

Their full legal challenge can be seen here

Other than that it was a rather slow news week in terms of CFL in Ottawa stories. Blogging on FOL is becoming a bit boring. Next Sunday I will look into the new CFL expansion draft that is set to occur in 2012!

Friends of Lansdowne Park Antics

This past Monday, Friends of Lansdowne (a group against the current renovation project to Lansdowne Park) won a minor victory in getting the courts to delay legal proceedings in the ongoing legal battle over the Lansdowne renovations. FLP Park as mentioned in previous blog postings are arguing that the city council of Ottawa did not act appropriately in the bid process for the Lansdowne renovations. In their opinion because there was only one bid submitted, the City Council of Ottawa acted in bad faith in allowing the sole bid to go through without competition. As mentioned (again) before this to me is ludicrous as EVERY company was given ample time to bid on the renovations, just most every company but ONE chose not to. In addition, FLP is also arguing that Lansdowne Park should be a heritage site, and the renovation bid will not be taking that into consideration. My question to them, have they seen the proposal? The new Frank Clair looks amazing! The hearing is now scheduled for sometime in June, which will give FLP enough time to check over all the documents the bid company had sent in their submission.

This ruling has me very irritated as now the renovation process to Lansdowne will have to be put on hold until an even further date. CFL in Ottawa is still scheduled to go by 2013, but you have to wonder when they will begin the physical process of the renovations. Time is money, and time is dwindling!

FLP have a website, http://www.letsgetitright.ca. Please note that they have scheduled meeting times on their website to discuss Lansdowne Park and its future. Specifically on March 24th, the Council of Canadians are holding a public meeting at 7 p.m at the Knox Presbyterian Church on 120 Lisgar (at Elgin). At this meeting they will be discussing the privatization of public spaces. I’m sure FLP will be there, and if I was around Ottawa at this time I would definitely go! Unfortunately, I’m way over in Newfoundland at the present, so I urge anyone and everyone who would love to see CFL in Ottawa again to go out to this meeting and fight for the current bid to the renovations of Lansdowne Park!

Let’s get these renovations started ASAP!

Jeff Hunt vs The Gliebermans

Much has been said about the Glieberman's (Dad Bernard and Son Lonie) failed CFL attempts over the past two decades. If you are in the CFL know, than Ottawa can be considered a laughing stock whenever this father-son combo laid their hands on the proud Rough Rider and Renegade franchises. This born into wealth family from Detroit truly had no idea the heritage and prestige they were getting themselves into in the early 90s and mid 2000s.

The biggest mistake they made was getting the league to agree to split the 90s Rough Riders into two separate sports franchises, with one going to Shreveport, Louisiana. This was a massive failure on both the CFL and the Gliebermans. The CFL hadn’t even been heard of in the southern states, and it had to compete with the intensely popular New Orleans Saints and the LSU Tigers. Seriously, was a market study even done on this before hand, for it would have certainly reported this was a no brainer NOT to get into.

Lonie, Lonie, Lonie… the appoint of this Glieberman only makes sense if your Bernard Glieberman. Hiring a person with no CFL experience or background is a recipe for disaster. Better recruiting for the General Manager position should have been orchestrated. What makes matters worse was his quid pro quo status of dating Ottawa Cheerleaders, and terrible signings of drug addicted athletes.

What I dislike most about their tenure with the Renegades was the fact they just gave up. Average attendance was dwindling as the 2005 season progressed. The Renegades last home game brought about 16,504 fans (a depressing statistic). Instead of reaching into their wallets, or coming up with a new strategic direction, they just held their hands out to the CFL and demanded the league pay them money to continue operating the Renegades. I’m pretty sure Business 1000 teaches you that this is not the way a successful business model works. Making demands, when you have the power to change something to me seems extremely selfish.

Enter Jeff Hunt a self made millionnaire and long time CFL fan. Hunt should be seen as the “White Knight” to CFL Ottawa. His resume, character, and determination speak volumes on the type of owner the city of Ottawa should expect when their new football franchise opens again in 2013. Looking at his resume, he started his own carpet company and made millions. Then Hunt in the late 90s took over the near brink Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Ottawa 67s. He knew he had to spend marketing $ to get people interested in minor league hockey again, so he did. The attendance, and the on ice team quickly improved after his investment. Not only is he OK with splashing cash when necessary, he also gets what it takes to build a proper sports franchise. In the service industry, customer service and interaction is key! Are you likely to go back to a restaurant that served you bad food or had poor customer service… NO. The sports industry should be treated no differently. All it takes is one bad experience, and then the customer will NEVER return.

Hunt wants to keep the Ottawa 67s in Lansdowne Park with the CFL team. This I feel is genius as the two diverse sports teams will synergize together in getting more people and more buzz to Lansdowne Park. It will become the MECA of the sports industry in Ottawa.

Determination is one of the best assets I see in people, and Hunt has it. In 2006, he was part of a failed bid to take over the suspended Ottawa Renegades. A lot of business people would say, well that was a waste of time, and never bid again. Hunt defied this mold. In some ways I’m glad it was a failure, as I think this new Ottawa model, with a new draft scheme, renovated Frank Clair stadium, and new attitude will be make CFL Ottawa a much better team.

My last plug for Jeff Hunt is simple. He is a Memorial University of Newfoundland Commerce grad back in the 80s. This is a stellar business program… How do I know this? Well I’m graduating from it in a couple months and its been great to me! Newfoundland and Memorial University Rocks (Pun intended)!

Dear Jeff Hunt… YOU GOT THIS!

Ottawa's Coaching Opportunities

There is a growing trend amongst CFL teams to promote and grow former star players to high coaching roles. In the coming year three former stars, Dave Dickenson, Marcus Crandell, and Khari Jones will become Offensive coordinators for Calgary, Edmonton, and Hamilton respectively.

All these players have worked for it, starting from bottom coaching levels within organizations and working their way up. Dickenson last year was the Stampeders QB coach and look what he did with Henry Burris. Most of all Burris's stats from 2009 to 2010 improved (Highlights- 22TDs to 38TDs, QB rating 88 to 102, and completion pct 59 to 66) and Oh he happened to win the CFL's most coveted award, the league’s "Most Outstanding Player" award. You can also see the improvement in Kevin Glenn's game under the tutelage of Jones. Teams willing to take the chance on player coaches are not only investing in proven winners, but they are creating a unique marketing opportunity. Fans love to see their former fav CFL players back on the sidelines!

Enter Ottawa in 2013, who should they have as their head coach? Well that's still up in the air and I'm sure Jeff Hunt is working on it. However, the players I'd love to see back on the sidelines helping the next Ottawa team are Kerry Joseph and Pat Woodcock. During their time as Renegades they were fan favourites, so why not bring them back to help create a little more buzz for the new Canadian team? Seems like a no brainer. The point I'm neglecting is whether or not Joseph and Woodcock would even be interested in a coaching role. Turns out they are!

Take it for what it's worth but in a recent twitter conversation I had with Kerry Joseph I asked if he'd ever be interested in a coaching position for the new Ottawa team? He answered with "I would have to see where things are in my life when that time comes. It wouldn't be a bad idea to coach where I started". I also asked Woodcock and he said he would definitely be interested in a strength and condition coach job!

Dear Jeff Hunt, sign these guys!

The Lansdowne Development Saga

(Proposed game rendition of Frank Clair)

On Tuesday June 29th Ottawa city council voted 15-9 in favour of redeveloping Lansdowne Park with the bid proposed by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG). The OSEG is the consortium business group that has the CFL rights to Ottawa's next team. The new Lansdowne Park plan includes renovations to Frank Clair Stadium (where the new CFL Ottawa team will play), the building of 350,000 square feet of commercial retail space at the site (i.e. a new mall), 250 housing units, and the development of an urban park on Lansdowne's front lawn.

Many Ottawa citizens are upset with the outcome of city council. In particular, a protest group self proclaimed as "Friends of Lansdowne Park" (FLP) are the primary instigators in the fight against Lansdowne re-development. In the council decision it is outlined that the city of Ottawa (aka Ottawa taxpayers) will be paying $173 million towards the LP redevelopment, with OSEG forking out $117 million for their bit. The protesters have fought hard, even launching an application for appeal to Ontario's supreme court this past November to get the bid overturned. In February  FLP got a small victory, in that the Ontario courts ruled the city and OSEG had to open up their financial books to FLP so they could see where money was being allocated. Project redevelopment is still slated to occur soon barring more legal set backs.

The $173 taxpayer allocation breakdown looks like this:

• $124 million for the stadium renovation and parking
• $35 million for the urban park (including $5 million for moving the Horticulture building)
• $8.5 million for the new trade show and exhibition hall at Albion Road
• $3.8 million to relocate the sports Dome
• $1.2 million for life cycle renewal. 

The main thing the breakdown doesn't include is interest on the $173 million! That interest could be HUGE considering City council expects to be paying this over the course of 30 years. 

(Proposed inside of Frank Clair)

Another reason of FLP's fight comes down to business ethics. OSEG was the only bid that the city council of Ottawa had to choose from. Some see this as unfair, as you would like to see more bids and more competition to get the financial costs down and quality of bids improve. I feel this is completely fair as other companies were given ample notice to bid on the LP redevelopment, they just chose not to.

Many Ottawa residents feel the new redevelopments will cause an eye sore right along the Rideau canal. The proposed architect renditions say otherwise however. The new Frank Clair Stadium will be designed with a wood focus. All the exterior designs show elegant wood styles covering the stadium, creating a nice picture for any person strolling along the Rideau canal trails.

 

 

(Proposed Frank Clair renos at night by the Rideau Canal)

 

 

I feel the city of Ottawa and OSEG are heading in the right direction. They know what the public wants and are willing to give it to them! I truly hope they start the renovations soon however, as if the aim is to get the CFL franchise in Ottawa back up and running by 2013 they need to start NOW!

Next Sunday I will be posting an article on potential coaching staff for the new Ottawa team, stay tuned!

3rd Time's a Charm

Jeff Hunt (Head of the development group for the new Ottawa franchise- 2nd left) with Mark Cohon (CFL Commissioner- middle) and the rest of the development group.

On March 28, 2008 Ottawa was given the go ahead for their third professional CFL franchise. The move was greeted with high phrase but cautious optimism. On one hand, the rambunctious fans of Ottawa were getting a new CFL team! However, on the other hand hesitation was apparent as CFL had lived and died twice already in the nation's capital! What would make this third time any different?! Well there are many things that make this third attempt stand out in my mind: 1) The new owners led by Jeff Hunt, 2) The renovations of Lansdowne Park, and 3) The newly structure expansion draft.

Jeff Hunt is a self made millionaire and huge CFL fan. This bodes well from an ownership perspective, as to be truly successful in any sports league you need a passionate owner that is willing to open his pocketbook (or business "knowledge-book") and help the team in any way shape or form. Hunt has already proven to be highly successful in the sports leagues. In 1998 he bought the Ottawa 67s (an Ontario Hockey League team), the impact was felt instantly. Seemingly over night the attendance to the 67s near quadruple, and Hunt spent an average $25,000 on marketing for the first couple of weeks to promote the team (a significant number considering the 67s budget for promotion marketing was $25000/year in 1997). This shows that Hunt knows how to run a successful sports franchise and is willing to do what it takes for it be a winner!

There is much debate in the social media world on whether or not Frank Clair stadium should be renovated. Some feel a complete change of scenery could go along way in getting this franchise off the ground. Call me old fashion but I'd rather see Frank Clair and Lansdowne Park be adjusted to fit the needs of the fans. I remember being at a game at Frank Clair in 2004, Montreal Alouettes vs the Ottawa Renegades. The atmosphere for that game was phenomenal, and the crowd I felt truly energized the Renegades to a massive upset 43-38! When building a new stadium it's sometimes hard to capture the old building's atmosphere again. Fans may have been loyal specifically to the old stadium itself!

Finally, the expansion draft plans for the new Ottawa team are much better than the 2002. The expansion draft is set for sometime in December of 2012, rules and regulations can be read here Ottawa CFL Expansion Draft- Rules and regulations. In addition to the expansion draft the new Ottawa franchise will get the top pick of the 2013 CFL draft! This will allow the 3rd Ottawa to hit the ground running with a truly competitive team!


Though the team is 2 years away from "being", I'm really excited for the CFL! More details will come in coming blog posts on Lansdowne Park development issues (as there are still many kinks becoming worked out with the city and development group), potential draft prospects, branding, and more!