Bewerbungen » AT&T Field, one of the most elaborate

At a press scrum last Thursday, the day before the Redblacks were to play their season home opener and officially open the new TD Place Stadium, one of the owners, Roger Greenburg, was asked why he decided to become the co-owner of a football team. His answer just may be the best example of why football will work this time, when it didnt on two previous occasions in Ottawa. Im paraphrasing, but the chairman/CEO of Minto Developments said that he believes there are four pillars that make up a strong community. The first is the medical system. Second, is the education system. The third is the arts and the final one is the sports culture. He went on to say that the Senators have contributed to the sports culture, but it was time to add to that with the return of professional football to the city and the addition of professional soccer. Greenburg and his partners John Ruddy, William Shenkman and Jeff Hunt wanted to be part of building and strengthening one of the pillars of a strong community. In other words, this ownership group has done all of this for the right reason - to strengthen the community that they live in and they were rewarded on Friday night for all their hard work and perseverance. Fridays home opener was an unforgettable experience and, hopefully, showed one of our other major cities in the country, that happens to be only about four hours away, just what is possible. The Redblacks didnt score a touchdown on the field, but they did in the stands and that is what mattered most. Jeff Hunt said the team could have sold another 15,000 tickets to the game and that will translate into demand. Based on the in-game experience on Friday night, nobody should be surprised to hear that the next home game will be sold out soon. The atmosphere was electric. It was a young energetic crowd, who partied like they were attending a rock concert. In fact, in what was an ingenious move, there was also a rock concert going on before the game to get people pumped up for kick-off at what was a Canadian-style tailgate party. TD Place Stadium is fantastic with great sightlines and a design that not only looks outstanding, but is designed to enhance the fan experience for soccer and football, specifically. It doesnt feel like an all-purpose facility that accommodates many, but pleases none. The game itself was not a masterpiece, but it had an exciting finish when, down by two, Redblacks QB Henry Burris hit Kerrie Johnson on a deep ball to set up the game winning field goal. It wasnt a walk-off winner by Brett Maher, but when Ricky Ray was intercepted in the dying seconds, it was game over and the crowd erupted. The games MVP was the crowd, that included Prime Minister Steven Harper, who sat beside CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon and Rough Rider great, Russ Jackson. In fact, one of the highlights of the night was when our TSN cameraa caught a fan walking by the PM and the commish to shake hands with Jackson. It was not a slight to our country leader or the leagues top man, but a show of respect for history of football in Ottawa. And speaking of the telecast, I owe the football fans in Ottawa an apology for mistakenly saying that the five Grey Cup teams in the 60s and 70s were all coached by Frank Clair. My intention was to say that all the Cup teams in the 60s were coached by Clair. Jack Gotta was the coach from 1970-1973 and George Brancato was the coach when the Rough Riders beat Saskatchewan to win in 1976. The telecast wasnt perfect and neither was the night - apparently, some of the concessions ran out of beer and the traffic was a bit tricky, which, of course, was pointed out by some sportswriters...I swear some people would complain that their ice cream is too cold. I recently went to a George Strait concert in Dallas at AT&T Field, one of the most elaborate and state-of-the-art stadiums in the world and it had traffic issues, as well. In fact, it was so jammed up, I ended up tailgating in the parking lot for almost two hours after the event waiting for it to clear. On Friday night, the small issue were just that - small - and didnt, in any way, take away from the success of the event. It was a look at what is possible, even in Ontario ,when it comes to CFL football. The capacity of TD Place Stadium is 24,000, which just may be the perfect number and a blueprint for a possible stadium in Toronto. Our country has great football fans, but just not the volume to consistently fill a 40-to-50,000-seat stadium and at 24,000 in the stands, owners are making money. For those who would say that, if the NFL were in Toronto, they would sell out the old SkyDome, I would remind those people that the NFL regular season games played in Toronto were not sell-outs and not even close. In fact, sources have said that upwards of 20,000 tickets to the games in the Buffalo Bills series were freebies, handed to people on the street. No, 25-30,000-seat stadiums are the perfect size for CFL football, professional soccer and summer concerts and, for proof of that, look no further than Friday night in Ottawa. It can work in Toronto, as well, with a stadium at a realistic capacity and one built for football and soccer, specifically. It worked in Montreal, it is working in a big way in Winnipeg and, after Game One in Ottawa, it looks like it will be a huge hit there, as well. The answer may be BMO Field, which seems to still be part of the plan for the Argos. On our TSN set in Ottawa, Commissioner Mark Cohon had this to say when asked what it would take to replicate the Ottawa plan in Toronto: "The answer is a smaller stadium like BMO," said Cohon. "We know that they have a four-year deal left with Rogers Centre. Were talking to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, were talking to the city of Toronto and were working to see if we can move [the Argos] into BMO Field and replicate what we have [in Ottawa.]" The blueprint for the correct business model has now been created and now all that is needed in Toronto is for David Braley, or whomever buys the Argos, to start building the fourth pillar in that community. Congratulations again to the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group and, on behalf of the football fans in our country, thank you. At the end of the night in Ottawa, the scoreboard read Redblacks 18 - Argonauts 17, but the true winners were the fans and the community in our nations capital. Jamel Dean Jersey . Make the extra pass, take care of the ball, play defence and get more out of his bench. Wholesale Buccaneers Jerseys . Napoli beat high-flying Hellas Verona 3-0 to keep up the pressure on the top two while AC Milan had another disappointing night as four goals from teenage forward Domenico Berardi saw relegation-threatened Sassuolo come back from two goals down to win 4-3. http://www.cheapbuccaneersjerseysauthent...e-barber-jersey. UEFA said Wednesday that the champions of England and France only have to include five home-trained players in their 21-man squads next season instead of the expected eight. Only one of the five players needs to be trained by the club itself. Mike Alstott Jersey . She still remembers the massive roar of the home crowd when the Canadians walked out on the pitch before 47,784 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002. Lang expects a similar reception for the Canadian team as the host nation at this years tournament, which begins Tuesday. Sean Bunting Jersey .Y. - Islanders forward Anders Lee has been fined $2,286 by the NHL for elbowing St.Igrid Kaveelaars knew.The wife of Edmonton Oilers coach Dallas Eakins could see her husband was ready to return to work shortly after last season ended.A 28th place finish will do that.A week to 10 days go by and my wife said, Youre ready to go back to the rink now, Eakins said, I am. You want to get back in there and get back in the fight.Edmonton hasnt qualified for the playoffs since the 2005-06 season, but Eakins believes there a positives heading into the upcoming campaign.Weve added size, weve added depth and weve added some people who can make plays. You start putting your lineup on the board and these are established NHL players that give you some comfort, Eakins said. With the additions of those players and then with all of our other guys getting another year of experience, its a step in the right direction.Here are some things to keep in mind before Edmontons season begins with game against Calgary on Oct. 9:NOT STATISTICAL ANOMALIES: The debate that has ceaselessly raged between advocates for hockey analytics and those that disbelieve can be distilled to one fundamental question: Are these numbers fact or fiction? In the case of the Oilers, though, the numbers cannot be parsed into anything other than hard evidence of a woefully subpar squad. At the end of the 2013-14 season, the Oilers ranked last in goals-against average (3.26), and were tied for 22nd, 16th and 13th, respectively, in goals per game (2.43), power-play success rate (17 per cent) and penalty-kill success rate (82.1 per cent).NET LOSS: The Oilers employedd a revolving door in goal last season, as Richard Bachman, Ilya Bryzgalov, Devan Dubnyk, Viktor Fasth, Jason Labarbera and Ben Scrivens each stated their case to be Edmontons top goaltender.dddddddddddd. In a combined 90 games with the Oilers, the sextet combined for 29-44-9 record and 2.85 goals-against average.BOLSTERED BACK END: In an attempt to address the defensive decencies, Edmonton traded for--and subsequently signed to a two-year, $9 million deal-Nikita Nikitin, and signed free agents Mark Fayne (four years, $14.5 million) and Keith Aulie (one year, $800,000).FORWARD REFORMATION: General manager Craig MacTavish added forward depth in the off-season by trading for Tampa Bay right wing Teddy Purcell, and signing New York Rangers left wing Benoit Pouliot. Purcell and Pouliot add size a€” both are 6-foot-3 a€” and some offensive production. Purcell recorded 42 points in 81 games, while Pouliot finished with 36 points in 80 games.WHOS ON SECOND?: In a division and conference i