Quote:
Originally Posted by realcity
dennis1, I like your participation. Keep it up. It doesn't matter if people agree, this is to discuss things. SSP can be inspirational and nitemarishinal.
Is Hamilton a stand alone city? If you can look back on this forum *I'm serious* 8 years ago, that same question was being asked. I'm going to answer that question based on the last ten years.
Sooner than we think... No.
Not at this rate. Hamilton used to rival Toronto, Kingston and Stratford for importance. In the history of Stelco, Toronto went against Hamilton for their expanded relocation from Montreal to become a full fledged steel producer.. the first in Canada. At the time we were the last 'developed' country without its own steel production. So for Hamilton to have the Steel Company of Canada made Hamilton pretty much near #1 or top 3 cities in Canada. While Stratford, Kingston *once the capital of Canada* and Toronto whining.
Present Day: In about 10 more years we will be just another stop on the GO Train that the announcer calls out, "Aldershot, Hamilton, Grimsby...Niagara Falls".
The further the call from Union the further you are relevant. Think of Grand Central Terminal in NYC. NJ and Long Island.. same thing. *Except when you get super far on Long Island Expressway you become super rich *but that is your 'country home', and NYC is your "townhouse", but you still need the Robert Moses *I mean* Long Island Expressway to exist.
Note: I always found it interesting how a "TownHouse" in Canada meant, someone who can't afford a full house and in NYC, London etc. to own a "Townhouse" meant you were uberich, enough to own urban dwelling and a "townhouse" in the city. In Canada it frigs me up to think that marketing has turned the meaning of term the 'townhouse' absolutely backwards.
Look... I bleed black and yellow *whatever Hamilton's colours would be*, bring back the Black and yellow busses, *damn Dave Kuric for his grey/blue design* *you know I love ya Dave*.
I really hate to say it. But I'm getting tired of the fight. It's been too long. 2003, since the founding of RTH 2004. I'm getting tired of the disappointments. I'm getting tired of hearing about the "potential" and never seeing it realized.
I've cheerleaded long enough. To know that this city does not need cheerleaders. *Mayor Fred.. but something more* I always believed that we were our own worst enemies. We still are. But we are so divided on what a city should be. Ergo this latest spam of circumstances.
I really don't know dennis1. i really don't know.
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Hi realcity
I hear despair in your voice and this is the same thing I heard in Bob Young's voice and it saddens me a bit.
Bob Young's vision - or lack of - was fueled by other interested parties. This is what often happens to "caretakers" or benefactors. A person steps up with an offering to financially back a close to heart venture and, before you know it, that person is being manipulated and their money funnelled for ulterior motives, usually driven by greed.
What we have witnessed is Cohon, Mitchell and other vested parties drive Bob Young into a position where he truly believed that the team could not possibly turn a profit or even break even at any location downtown. The manipulation was so strong from these vested parties, that Bob Young truly believed this. Now I ask you, id this the mindset of a winning sports team owner? Is this the mindset of a successful business owner?
Let me tell you a little something about winning attitudes. There are scores and scores of books and videos on the subject. There are droves of motivational speakers who charge big bucks to give seminars on the subject around the world; for companies and employees, as well as for private citizens. Why is that? Because all success starts with a winning attitude. Where has Bob Young's winning attitude gone.
When the Ticats go to Calgary, does Bob Young tell the team, "Oh drats, guys. We're going to Calgary. You all know what that means. There's no way we're going to win there. Absolutely no way possible to win there."?
Does Cohon or Mitchell step up and echo, "Shoot, you guys! Calgary, eh? Why are you even going there. You can't win there. No way, no how!"?
A successful team owner tells the team exactly the opposite; that they can and will win, regardless of where they set foot. A successful business entrepreneur becomes successful by believing that nothing is impossible. Friends may tell that entrepreneur that they will likely fail; banks will tell the entrepreneur that they can't lend them the money, that they will likely fail. The entrepreneur still pushes on, however, believing fully in his/her idea, believing fully in the success of that idea.
"If you didn't believe it was impossible, what would you do?"
That is the question Bob Young should have been asked repeatedly, not the poisonous drivel spewed by other parties with a broader hidden agenda.
Mr Young needs to apologise to his team. For the past few months, he has been telling his team, "We can't! We cannot! We can't!" far too much. As a representative of a winning team, those words should never escape your mouth. Oh wait. See where it starts?
Mr Cohon needs to apologise to Mr Young. He has used his position of power to divide rather than unite. Ditto Mr Mitchell.
The city of Hamilton should apologise to the Ticats. We have allowed outside parties with alterior motives to come in and drive a wedge between the city and our Tabbies. Whenever a family member goes outside the family for help, that always causes extra tension within the family. We should have told Cohon and Mitchell very early on, "Take a hike. We've got this one", and then sat down with our Ticats and kept working at it one on one.
There are two ways out of every no-way-out situation. Bob Young can take the Ticats out of Hamilton, or he can work with the city and get his team enthusiastic about playing in a new stadium. Bob Young also has to ask himself, what of the vested interests who are driving this and to what end? Who benefits, really, if the team moves out and was this their plan all along? Anything is possible. Nothing is too far fetched where money is concerned.
I'll conclude with a short story here.
I worked in Burlington fifteen years ago. In the course of a day, I interacted with many people. Whenever someone used to give me their phone number and I recognised it as a Hamilton exchange, I used to point that out. To a 521 exchange, I'd say "Oh, you're from Hamilton!" and they would respond, "Yes, how did you know?", always with a smile. To a 387 exchange, I would note, likewise, that they must be from Hamilton, but their response would be different, eight times out of ten. "No, I'm from the mountain", they would invariably say.
That was fifteen years ago and things haven't changed one bit. Do you think that their response would be the same if the "mountain" was attached to Burlington? Would they still call it the mountain, or would they be proud enough to call the whole city, top and bottom, by the same name?
I hear the same veiled discrimination today. I wonder if anyone else has noticed it in the language, both on-line and off-line, during this stadium debate. You can flip through the past pages of posts here and on other blogs and sites to see for yourself. Whenever the East Mountain proponents spoke of property development, in relation to the stadium development, in their preferred neighbourhood, they would say "residential". Whenever they referred to the equivalent developments downtown, they would say "housing". Very telling, in my opinion, since "housing" is usually used in reference to income assisted residential properties.
We tell our brothers, our sisters, our friends and acquaintances to stand up for themselves. Well, it's time for Hamilton to stand up for itself. It's time for Hamilton to say, "Hey, this is Hamilton. All of it! You pick on one part of us, you pick on us all!". It's time for Hamilton to rise up, shake off the dust, "sh1t, shower and shave", as they say, and step on out into the world again. Go out and attract new industry for the new millennium - solar. Go out and attract more sporting and entertainment events. Go out and attract business like Hazel (McCallion). Go out and Win!
Ticats, you're coming with us. We're family! Bob (Young), you *can* win in Hamilton!
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