Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainYooh
Nenshi meets with a lot of people having incomparably lower business and influence stature than Bettman. I thought that not giving Bettman the time of the day was aggravating and deliberate on his part. Commenting further about "rich people from New York" was also bad. I watched Bettman's CBC interview in the evening news and Bettman's comments were a lot more reserved, professional and diplomatic than Nenshi's.
To be clear, I labelled CalgaryNEXT proposal terrible from the very beginning, so I am not supporting Bettman's pitch. Nenshi should have used the opportunity to meet with Bettman to discuss some of the concerns and, perhaps, other possibilities of cooperation.
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It's true, he meets with many different people with many different plans and motives. It sounds like he has already met with Bettman on this issue before (from what he said in the scrum).
But Bettman isn't a party to the negotiation. He does not have authority to bind the Flames to anything, he is not an agent to the Flames in a legal sense. The only people that can truly negotiate and consult with Nenshi over the project is CSE. Bettman is no more than a mouth piece with little sway on either side.
No doubt Nenshi will/has raised concerns and discussed other possibilities with the Flames, so I think he was right in saying if you don't have anything new, then don't was your (and my) time.
Like most have said, the comment in the scrum might have been a bit over the top, but that's Nenshi, and some (the majority) like it. Especially considering Bettman's comments over the past two days have not been well received!