From orphans to the most wanted kids on the block, that could be the new saga of professional football fans in Ottawa.
Jilted just as training camps were going to begin, the long suffering Ottawa football fan is probably just a little jaded about it all. But yet, the signs are all quite hopeful for a rebirth (again) for football in Bytown.
Three different groups advised the CFL on Friday that they were interested in bringing football back, and all three seem to be well stocked in that key ingredient for success, financing.
A group of Capital investors from Toronto fronted by Ottawa 67 owner Jeff Hunt, would seem to be the front runners at the moment. Known as Golden Gate Capital, they have the financing in place and Hunt provides local knowledge of a market that has for too long been subjected to outside owners who arrived and departed with the frequency of an Air Canada shuttle.
Frank D’Angelo of Steelback beer and cheesy TV commercial fame, is another financially sound option. Though his over the top way of self promotion, might remind the locals of the Gleiberman era, which is not something good for a hopeful franchise. He was however the first in line to try and resucitate the football corpse in Ottawa. It's though however, that his brashness has turned off a number of the CFL owners.
The third group involves a number of American investors with Bill Palmer as their point man. A former Ottawa Rough Rider and the father of Jesse Palmer currently of the San Francisco 49ers camp, he too has some ties to the Ottawa area and might be capable of making a return of football a success.
His group has already negotiated a deal with that old Rider name of Horn Chen, to purchase that old Rider name. Mr. Chen apparently cognizant of the law of diminishing returns, will apparently pocket 100,000 dollars for the Rough Rider name should the Palmer group succeed.
The early line on a potential successful candidate though, probably is the Hunt group. With the money coming from Toronto, Hunt who has run one of the most successful junior hockey franchises in the country could put his marketing skills to work for the new CFL franchise. He has a certain flair for getting the most out of his product that is certain, despite a professional team playing out of Scotiabank Place and another Junior team in Gatineau (formerly known as Hull for those with old atlases), and a number of tier two junior teams playing in the suburbs, he still regularly attracts huge crowds to the Ottawa Civic Centre to see the 67’s.
It’s thought that with Hunt onboard, a combined ticket selling and promotional department would bring success to both operations. Hunt has been a fixture on the Ottawa scene for a number of years, and offers that one thing that all successful CFL franchises must have solid and believable local involvement.
It would seem to be a match made in heaven for the CFL, but in the end we guess it will be who has the most ability to provide a stable source of financing for a number of years that will get the nod.
Of course success will only be guaranteed if the team is competitive. And while nobody expects are reborn Ottawa (fill in your team name here) to win a Grey Cup in year one, they need to be competitive from the get go. The Renegades were on the cusp of becoming contenders with Kerry Joseph, Josh Ranek and a number of other players that have since gone on to other CFL teams. They slipped back in the year before their demise, but that seemed more due to office politics than on field dynamics.
It’s doubtful that the current eight teams will now willingly give up many of the players they claimed in the vulture draft earlier this year. But the CFL must make sure that the Ottawa franchise is stocked with a fair share of quality players and provided with early draft choices to quickly rebuild the CFL brand in the capital.
However it shakes out though, it’s great to be talking about football in Ottawa again. Let’s hope the CFL doesn’t fumble the ball on this project and that those long suffering Southsider and Northside stand dwellers at Frank Clair Stadium, soon have a team to cheer on.
The above posting first appeared on my Twelve Men on the Field blog, for more items about Canadian football check it out!
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