Sports in Canadian culture

[Oilkountry]

I must have been out of the loop i didn't even know this was happening. Really surprised the whitecaps didn't just work with the cpl and Langley to get something really nice built. This looks like a mini empire stadium though perfect for the cpl

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vanc...y-park-langley

In other Vancouver stadia news. Looks like BC place adding suites for WC 2026, My question would be why not do something a little more legacy friendly than more suites?? Something along the lines of rogers centre? replace the entire upper deck endzones with vip clubs, build a rogers place style 3 floor towers on each end. And the top 10-15 rows of the rest of the upper deck with loge seats and patios and then put in some more suites if you feel they are needed? I'm all for shrinking the place, its way too big for its main tenants and the 55k capacity is rarely needed I would love to see BC place between 40-45,000 seats. The renovation was great! don't get me wrong but for the price of 3 Investor group fields you essentially got a fancy roof and new seats. At that price point you would expect some structural changes to bring the building to todays standards. And now they are making the same mistake twice. These suites will essentially serve a purpose once a year or so and do nothing to create a fun atmosphere for lions and Caps who i'm sure haven't been asked what they would like to see.

https://biv.com/article/2023/02/bc-p...2026-world-cup

[Denscity]

Lots of opinion from Alberta on BC again.

[savevp]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...puck-1.6752011

Maple Creek makes national headlines at last! Though this is very neat and the uniforms are awesome. A modern day Canadian version of cowboys and Indians.

[blueandgoldguy]

It seems like a smart move on Vancouver's part to build a modular soccer-specific stadium for the PCL. It's a cost-efficient way to provide a right-sized facility for the PCL team as the league hopefully grows into something that is financially self-sustainable. If the league continues to struggle and gain traction in Canada over the next 5 - 10 years, the city/ownership will not have invested significant capital in the stadium anyways.

[svlt]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

It seems like a smart move on Vancouver's part to build a modular soccer-specific stadium for the PCL. It's a cost-efficient way to provide a right-sized facility for the PCL team as the league hopefully grows into something that is financially self-sustainable. If the league continues to struggle and gain traction in Canada over the next 5 - 10 years, the city/ownership will not have invested significant capital in the stadium anyways.

Yeah that type of stadium should be the playbook for the league for expansion going forward, it's how they can get any franchise off the ground and quickly. CFL should take note honestly.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by svlt

Yeah that type of stadium should be the playbook for the league for expansion going forward, it's how they can get any franchise off the ground and quickly. CFL should take note honestly.

CanPL has exposed the folly of the CFL maintaining a massive capital expense hurdle that has prevented any domestic expansion for 70 years now. Maybe in the 70s it made sense to demand a huge new stadium, but the league has to find a way to make it work with a small facility that a team can grow into without insisting that they dump hundreds of millions of dollars into a facility that is useless if the CFL team fails.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

CanPL has exposed the folly of the CFL maintaining a massive capital expense hurdle that has prevented any domestic expansion for 70 years now. Maybe in the 70s it made sense to demand a huge new stadium, but the league has to find a way to make it work with a small facility that a team can grow into without insisting that they dump hundreds of millions of dollars into a facility that is useless if the CFL team fails.

I've come along to this way of thinking as well. As long as basic creature comforts are provided, how lavish the stadium is is not really going to be a make-or-break as far going or not going to a CFL game is concerned for the average person.

The CFL at one point in the 1980s thought nice stadiums were the key to bringing in more fans who were looking for a big time experience.

I think we're long past that now, and if you look at attendance it's all over the map in terms of the stadiums teams are playing in, and a fancy stadium does not necessarily correlate with big crowds (anymore).

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I've come along to this way of thinking as well. As long as basic creature comforts are provided, how lavish the stadium is is not really going to be a make-or-break as far going or not going to a CFL game is concerned for the average person.

The CFL at one point in the 1980s thought nice stadiums were the key to bringing in more fans who were looking for a big time experience.

I think we're long past that now, and if you look at attendance it's all over the map in terms of the stadiums teams are playing in, and a fancy stadium does not necessarily correlate with big crowds (anymore).

The Riders are seeing this now. I think they've only had a couple of sellouts since the opening of the new stadium. A lot of this also has to do with the way the team's executive suite have been treating the fans. Many people are pissed and are voting with their feet.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

The Riders are seeing this now. I think they've only had a couple of sellouts since the opening of the new stadium. A lot of this also has to do with the way the team's executive suite have been treating the fans. Many people are pissed and are voting with their feet.

Rider tickets are pretty expensive relative to the rest of the league. That probably didn't help the situation.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

CanPL has exposed the folly of the CFL maintaining a massive capital expense hurdle that has prevented any domestic expansion for 70 years now. Maybe in the 70s it made sense to demand a huge new stadium, but the league has to find a way to make it work with a small facility that a team can grow into without insisting that they dump hundreds of millions of dollars into a facility that is useless if the CFL team fails.

Made this point years ago during all of the CFL-to-Halifax commotion and why it doesn't make any economic sense for CFL teams, or anyone else, to build the stadiums they require to warrant expansion in the first place. CPL is still in a stage where they can make modular stadiums work - CFL needs to figure out what they're going to do with their facility requirements and revenue streams.

[EpicPonyTime]

The weird thing about the CFL is that modular stadiums are proven to work in the League. Empire Field was a great example. Build something basic and develop from there. If the team can't drum up interest with a stadium like that, I doubt there's enough interest to support the team in the first place.

[esquire]

Winnipeg is not known as a huge basketball city but last night it had top billing in town as the University of Manitoba Bisons hosted the University of Winnipeg Wesmen in the Canada West Conference semifinal.

The Bisons lost a heartbreaker to the Wesmen who move on to the finals and also secured a berth to the USports nationals in Halifax (we won't get into the Bisons going an awful 2-28 on three-pointers).

From a cultural standpoint, it was a pretty interesting evening out as it was one of the rare times that university sports took centre stage in Winnipeg. I was there with my son and a couple of his pals, and I have to admit, I was impressed. The arena was packed with a capacity crowd and there was so much energy and passion from the fans of both teams, many of whom were students. I'm going to see the Jets/Islanders today and I'm positive the crowd won't be anywhere near as lively. It certainly would liven up the campus experience if basketball games were like that every week.

[blueandgoldguy]

All Manitoba final at the Scotties! Jennifer Jones vs. 3-time defending Scotties champion Kerri Einarson.

Manitoba produces the best female curlers in the world!

[esquire]

Congratulations Kerri E., the pride of Gimli, on the four-peat win!

Originally Posted by esquire

I'm going to see the Jets/Islanders today and I'm positive the crowd won't be anywhere near as lively.

Postscript: The Jets game sucked, as predicted, and the arena was like a giant morgue. The Bison basketball game was probably about 20 times as exciting and entertaining for a fraction of the cost of the Jets game. University sports are so badly underrated.

[Hawrylyshyn]

What are people's thoughts on the new pitch clock for MLB? As someone who's never liked baseball and found it incredibly boring/slow, it seems to have really made a difference and actually made it more tolerable to watch! I can see the change drawing in a new crowd of people who otherwise wouldn't have bothered to watch baseball in the slightest.

Curious to see if actual baseball fans have a different or similar perspective.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Hawrylyshyn

What are people's thoughts on the new pitch clock for MLB? As someone who's never liked baseball and found it incredibly boring/slow, it seems to have really made a difference and actually made it more tolerable to watch! I can see the change drawing in a new crowd of people who otherwise wouldn't have bothered to watch baseball in the slightest.

Curious to see if actual baseball fans have a different or similar perspective.

The Northern League that Winnipeg Goldeyes originally played in had a pitch clock in the 90s (can't remember when they did away with it, maybe the early 00s?) but I think it was acknowledged at some point that it had become very loosely enforced and was therefore of very little consequence.

[JHikka]

I think it's interesting that cricket was able to create and institute a shorter, faster version of its more drawn-out sport but baseball has been mostly unable, or unwilling, to reimagine itself. If MLB were to do something similar they'd be trialling pitch count maximums for innings and other rule changes to speed games up. Not only are baseball games too long but there's far too many of them. Interested to see where they go in the next few years.

That said, i'm looking forward to the World Baseball Classic next week.

[Acajack]

Gilles Courteau resigning as commissioner of the LHJMQ. He's been there since I was a kid.

Said some stupid things about hazing and initiations recently.

[elly63]

Montreal Alouettes’ interim president Mario Cecchini has been appointed as commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, according to a report from Kevin Dubé of Le Journal de Quebec.

[JHikka]

Nunavut won their first ever match at the Brier this week, defeating Newfoundland 7-4. Nunavut had lost 43 consecutive matches at the Brier dating back to 2015 prior to this tournament.