[News] Ken King: Flames' owners no longer pursuing new arena with City of Calgary

[saillias]

http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/i...read-the-shot/

A large portion of the Calgary populace will view ceding the arena-building race to Edmonton not as a loss, but as a win

I liked this article from Jason Markusoff. I think he gets it. The "But Edmonton" angle is just never gonna win me over.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Ah yes, the good old Bronco days of getting things done....as long as those things were done for your developer friends and interests.

But he was so straight-forward. Not like that scheming Nenshi and his, you know, agenda.

[JFK]

Deals are a numbers game, it's not the quality of the deals but the amount you make.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Ah yes, the good old Bronco days of getting things done....as long as those things were done for your developer friends and interests.

Never mind the public interest, let's take the wayback machine and get us some tasty crony capitalism!

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by saillias

The "But Edmonton" angle is just never gonna win me over.

Edmonton is the last place I look for inspiration...and I think over the last decade or two, we as a City have moved onto bigger fish to compare ourselves to. No need to go backwards.

[Gaudfather]

Gary Bettman Gets Huffy While Defending The Stadium Financing Scam#

http://deadspin.com/gary-bettman-get...nci-1752554428

Aside from successfully getting under Bettman’s skin, Gray does a fantastic job of surfacing the mound of bull#### that all publicly financed stadiums are built on. After patiently listening to Bettman explain how the citizens of Calgary need to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars in order to maintain the Flames’ “competitiveness,” Gray asks Bettman point-blank if the Flames are a profitable franchise. Bettman’s response:
That’s for you to ask the Flames... I don’t comment on a club’s economics, and frankly the question’s irrelevant to the discussion we’re having.
And there’s the misdirection that keeps pro sports so crooked. Owner-friendly CBA proposals, hard salary caps, stadiums built with public money—they’re all buttressed by people like Bettman casually dismissing the idea that pro franchises should have to open their books before asking for handouts. It’s a nice scam, if you can swing it.

Never change Gary...never change!

[RM14]

Rogers arena sucks and I hope ours is nothing like that one.

Edit: All arenas with Rogers suck. Especially Edmonton's distant sight lines and long washroom lines for the cheap seats.

[RM14]

Bettman casually dismissing the idea that pro franchises should have to open their books before asking for handouts.

I thought that the Flames did open their books to the city as part of the negotiation.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Makarov

But he was so straight-forward. Not like that scheming Nenshi and his, you know, agenda.

Are you suggesting Nenshi doesn't have an agenda?

[Ruttiger]

Originally Posted by RM14

Rogers arena sucks and I hope ours is nothing like that one.

Agreed. Rogers Place, however, is beautiful.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Are you suggesting Nenshi doesn't have an agenda?

What's his agenda? Getting re-elected so he can continue to do what he thinks is best for the city? Do you simply disagree with exactly what that means, or what ulterior agenda do you think he has?

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Are you suggesting Nenshi doesn't have an agenda?

Yes, I'm suggesting that Nenshi does not have a hidden agenda. I think that he has been remarkably transparent about his vision for Calgary.

[DiracSpike]

I really don't think anyone can question that Nenshi's grating leadership style has ground a lot of things to a halt in council. Think what you will about Bronconnier but this seems to be a new development with Nenshi and one of the reasons why I probably won't vote for him after having done so twice.

Colley Urq has said it, other people have said it, I really don't think Nenshi wants a new arena or particularly cares about sports infrastructure. His priorities are more towards arts, which is fine, but that's what he is.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Edmonton is the last place I look for inspiration...and I think over the last decade or two, we as a City have moved onto bigger fish to compare ourselves to. No need to go backwards.

savage

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

I really don't think anyone can question that Nenshi's grating leadership style has ground a lot of things to a halt in council. Think what you will about Bronconnier but this seems to be a new development with Nenshi and one of the reasons why I probably won't vote for him after having done so twice.

Colley Urq has said it, other people have said it, I really don't think Nenshi wants a new arena or particularly cares about sports infrastructure. His priorities are more towards arts, which is fine, but that's what he is.

Who cares what she says? She sounds like a complete and utter moron and a shill for the Flames in that article.

Her quote about there being "no evidence" Nenshi wants an arena is based on the fact that he won't just "ger 'er done" like Bronc did. Ugh. . I get second hand embarrassment just reading that crap.

I think it is pretty obvious Nenshi wants a deal where the Flames pay for most of it and keeps the city's investment in the Flames to a minimum.

That doesn't make him anti-arena. That makes him pro-Flames paid arena and anti-taxpayer funded arena.

[transplant99]

I would hope he does have an agenda or he might be the worst choice for a leader that ever even ran for council/mayor.

It seems i was wrong in believing the inference from this statement

Not like that scheming Nenshi and his, you know, agenda

was that he didnt have one at all.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Are you suggesting Nenshi doesn't have an agenda?

Yes, I'm suggesting that Nenshi does not have a hidden agenda. I think that he has been remarkably transparent about his vision for Calgary.

[JFK]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I would hope he does have an agenda or he might be the worst choice for a leader that ever even ran for council/mayor.

It seems i was wrong in believing the inference from this statement

was that he didnt have one at all.

My god.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Ice_Weasel

"pockets of business owners" - and just who do you think own the businesses along 17th avenue? (hint: Calgarians...who live here, and pay taxes here).

There is not some magical pool of capital that the City draws from to pay for public services. The city needs a tax base, or the pool runs dry. How do you maintain a tax base? You invest in it. Build things that promote business, not turn it away. Invest and create a city that is pro-business and incents mid-high income earners to want to live here. Like it or not, this is what creates money for public services...the money does not create itself.

What makes you think those restaurants wouldn't have been just as busy if Garth Brooks wasn't in town?

17th is always busy, so the claim that GB "pumped millions into the city" is suspect.

= substitution

[Flash Walken]

I think there actually is a lot to this notion that business as usual does not exist anymore at city hall, and that businessmen used to having a very favourable ear at city hall and the provincial legislature are finding it increasingly frustrating to deal with public politicians set on building their respectability on substance rather than on their ability to arouse support of the business community.

That Nenshi likely doesn't have much if any interest in a career in the private sector that needs preserving is doubly frustrating for a group of business men used to getting their way. I've seen this to some extent personally.

This looks like less of a negotiating tactic and more of the type of tantrum I have seen in the boardroom as the rest of us look on dismayed that our boss would walk away from a profitable relationship because the other side had the audacity to push back on what they wanted out of the negotiation.

The flames have acted entitled this entire time and with good reason: they have gotten used to getting their way.