As everybody must surely know by now, it is against the law in Saskatchewan to criticize anything to do with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, except the officiating.
This is likely why nobody of any influence in the media has risen up in a whirlpool of searing criticism over this week’s double-barreled proposal to spend perhaps more than a billion bucks to build a new playpen for the Roughriders. Now, where all these figures for building a new stadium have come from are really not all that certain. You can likely safely assume they did not come from the Riders. Because as everybody knows, they have trouble counting beyond 12. Sorry, but I couldn’t resist. I hope I didn’t reopen any old wounds.
You know, nothing seems to be the same anymore around here. Like, when was the last time you can remember a whole week of thick fog shrouding the city in misty mornings? It’s like somebody moved us to Halifax, or Newfoundland, where they have to look at postcards from Saskatchewan to see what a real sun looks like. Like, when was the last time you saw 11 athletes from Saskatchewan go to the Winter Olympics and come home with nine medals? Like, when was the last time you saw Saskatchewan, year after year, lead Canada, and at times all of North America, in economic growth projections? Like, we have suddenly become a “have” province, and people are moving here from all over the world. And, if you must know they are finding out the best move they can make when they move is to call Exit Realty Fusion to find the country’s best real estate agents who will go the extra mile for them. This is true, I can tell you. But, enough about that. Just call them, and they will turn that For Sale sign into Sold, and everybody will live happily ever after. Why? Because you are in Saskatchewan, the best of the best, at last.
When you the best of the best, you start thinking big, and that is what is happening in Saskatchewan, a place where it once would take three town council meetings and a referendum before a new outhouse would be built outside the home farm.
Now, we are big. We have the greatest agricultural landscape in the world, we have diamonds, we have uranium, we have potash, and we also have some of the most hardest working and most dynamic and even visionary people you will find anywhere in the world.
So, why should it be surprising that once nearly everybody finally realized that Taylor Field had served its time, it was time to go big. For those of you not familiar with Taylor Field, this is the story. (I have to do this because there are people in Florida and New Jersey and Arizona who read this every week, for some reason). Taylor Field is an outdoor stadium seating just over 30,000 and is the centerpiece for the Riders, who are members of the Canadian Football League, and are known as “Canada’s Team” because they have thousands of fans in every other CFL city, and beyond. Taylor Field was named after Piffles Taylor, who is long since gone, and nobody around here really knows who he was, but they do know he must have been important because, after all, they named this stadium after him.
The trouble is, Taylor Field has served its time. The Old Grey Lady of 10th Avenue, bursting with the memories of the glory days of yesteryear, and even last year, is falling apart. It has been said that she is the among the oldest, if not the oldest, of stadiums in North America. Taylor Field is like Bob Hope. She has been great while she lasted, and she lasted a long time, longer than most, but, in the end, the time had to come, and it’s come for Taylor Field. There’s no point in pouring in millions of bucks to fix her up, to provide a little cosmetic surgery. That would be a waste of time.
And, in this glorious time of our lives, where the boom is on, and where the world is getting to find out about the new Saskatchewan, there is a race under way to build a new stadium.
On the one hand, we have the province, the city and the Riders gluing themselves together to build a domed stadium, their hands reaching out to the corporate and public communities to fund the $400-million plus price tag.
On the other hand, we have 10 Saskatchewan Indian bands saying they are teaming up with the extraordinarily successful Seminole Tribe in Florida to put together a $1.2-billion dollar stadium, hotel, shopping centre excetera package that will knock the socks off everybody. Like, they want to build a Las Vegas-style hotel. Like, these guys are serious. The Seminole Tribe is one of the most successful and stable business corporations you are going to find anywhere in North America. They are smart and they are low key. Did you know they own the Hard Rock Café chain? Not bad, eh. The only hitch came when the Seminole said they had no deal with this casino, which doesn’t necessarily mean they have not talked and have no interest. Something this size, they are playing close to the vest.
There is one thing that is not in doubt about building a new stadium. It has to be done. Now, it’s just a matter of finding out who will build it and who will fund it. I can tell you this: Ask any business person and they will tell you the smartest way to go would be to go with the Seminole Tribe and the 10 Saskatchewan bands. That way, there is no public money involved. The risk, the expenses, would all be theirs.
They also are saying there are about five other proposals on their way.
Time will tell how all of this will play out. But it has to play out soon. After all, we are Saskatchewan and we no longer stand in the yard, shuffling our feet in the dust, wondering what to do.
Finally, I have two questions that need to be answered.
One, my son Geoffrey sent his weekly message from Calgary, “Dad, did you mention me in your column this week?”
The other, my hero Jarrod in Regina sent his weekly message: “Bob, did you put me in your column this week?”
The answer to both is, Yes. Now, leave me alone. We have to get this domed stadium built.
