[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't think you are a parasite but yes you lack the pride in this city that longtime Calgarians have.

Ha! I'm a born and raised Calgarian and I think spending one cent of city money on a football or hockey stadium would be an absolute joke. And actually I have a ton of pride in this city like many others who agree with me (Nenshi..?), it's just that some of us don't see the correlation of amazing new stadium(s) = awesome city.

To argue that a new rink or football stadium would "add" anything of value to the city that isn't already realized by McMahon and the Dome is a complete joke. Sorry but a couple of extra pop concerts per year really doesn't help the city nor (most of) the residents. The only thing it adds to is the experience of attending Flames and Stamps games, which probably 70-80% of the cities population never do, either by choice or because they simply cannot afford it.

If the Flames/Stamps want new facilities then their owners and (possibly) their ticket holders should be the ones fitting the bill. You may dislike the Peace Bridge, but any one resident of this city can walk back and forth across the thing whenever they'd like and for as long as they want. The Peace Bridge is accessible to and can be used by everyone. These new stadiums would basically be built specifically for the middle-upper classes (and not all of them, a sub set of them that like to attend live sporting events) and the average citizen will have to fork out good money just to see inside the darn buildings, let alone actually enjoy them like they can the bridge.

So in closing, no, wanting the government to build new facilities for your favourite sports teams does not make you a prideful Calgarian, simply short sighted Calgarian.