First off, the blog’s going incredibly well - it’s attracting more “hits” now than at any previous point in it’s brief history. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks to everyone who’s taking the time to comment and do some of the heavy lifting - the links, articles and references are all much appreciated; I just don’t have enough time to track all of this stuff down.
Second. Many people have emailed me asking what they can do to get a Can Am team here - the short answer is that I hope to have a better answer for you in the next few days. We’re working on it.
Third, with permission from Neate Sager, I’m reposting his entire post from last Sunday. In my request to Neate last week, I noted that many people just won’t click on links and his post was far too important to risk leaving it unread. Here it is:
Sunday, September 02, 2007
SAVING OTTAWA SPORTS: BASEBALL’S NECESSARY NICHE
It was hard to feel too upset at seeing the Lynx blow a four-run ninth-inning lead in losing 8-6 in 12 innings (boxscore, play-by-play) to the Syracuse Chiefs in my final visit to the Stadium as a home for Triple-A baseball.
Deep down, there was hope for extra innings when the Chiefs’ bats started to stir vs. Anderson Garcia in the ninth inning since it meant seeing quote, unquote “free baseball” alongside baseball-blogging friends Carl Kiiffner of Ottawa Lynx Blog and Pete Toms of A Baseball Geek before the Lynx become the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs next season. It was a game full of bits of baseball arcania that would sail over the head of the holders of the public pursestrings like the ball Joe Thurston lined off the first-base bag in the ninth inning, which shot 20 feet into the air for a freak double, enabling him to get his batting average up to .300 with one day left in the season.
Hopefully City Hall types took notice of the turnout of 4,425 and realized (see yesterday’s Lynx post) there’s a constituency that needs baseball in Bytown. Sorry, but I’m not rooting for another big-box store, condominiums, or weekend tennis hackers.
Minor-league ball, as argued previously, is needed here as a sobering yin to the raging yang of the Ottawa region’s obsessiveness with all things Senators. That’s one of the best reasons it should stay around, plus real, living, breathing families can actually attend a game together. It’s a chance to see semi-skilled pros do something relatively well for a mere $9 ticket and $2 scorecard. There’s no elitism at those prices and no one has to be talked off a ledge by the local radio station hosts if the team drops two in a row. (Thank god for that, considering the Lynx are 55-87.)
The game is a reminder not too get too high, not to get too low. It’s like life. It’s real. The Ottawa Lynx embody What Is. Not to knock the Senators as individuals… but between the unspoken mindset that they have to win to validate the city’s worth and being part of the NHL’s money-grubbing culture are What Should Be.
Well, there is no such thing as What Should Be no matter how many people try to live up to that unreality (hat tip to Lenny Bruce) by sheepesquely showing up in the middle of the summer to pay 300 bucks for a hockey jersey (remember when they were called sweaters?) that’s pretty much the same as the old one. That’s lost on too many decision-makers and opinion-moulders in this city and in Canada with respect to baseball, the game that (aside from the CFL) is always first to be called an athletic atavism, a relic of the past.
They overlook that the grand old game survives since it jibes with a certain kind of person. You know who: The man or woman who doesn’t follow the trends, goes off on an individual path, might live in the past, maybe is quiet in a room of 15 people but will blow your mind chatting one-on-one. He or she knows sports are experienced best when it comes in a package that’s scuffed and nicked-up worse than the balls Mike Scott threw past New York Mets hitters in the 1986 National League playoffs. It’s a chance to feel a connection to something that doesn’t come through a digital cable box.
It’s never come more scuffed or nicked-up than in the Lynx’s final seasons. Please try to remember that 90 per cent of that is on the heads of people other than the players and owners. The culprits, among others, are major-league baseball for killing off the Montreal Expos and the city bureaucracy for, as Lynx owner Ray Pecor hopes to prove in civil court, hurting the team’s chance to survive by reducing parking around the ballpark.
To the end, some kept showing up for however long Triple-A ball would last. They knew it was a can’t-win, but can’t-win is part of What Is. Those who live with that come closest to being a true sports fan. There’s a sad, sad irony that those who on a per-capita basis have shown the most devotion could end up getting the back of the hand if the stadium site is re-purposed and baseball, the Can-Am League, whatever, does not get a chance.
3 comments:
- Carl said…
- Neate,Thanks for summing up in one post what I never accomplished in the last twelve months.
- Pete Toms said…
- FYI there is an editorial in the Citizen’s City section today critical of Councillor Legendre’s idea to turn the stadium into a domed soccer / tennis facility. I don’t think this idea has any potential and I think most people in the region will agree.Contact your Councillor and the Mayor’s office, preserve the stadium as a baseball only facility!
- sager said…
- Carl,You’re welcome, but the gratitude is all on this end… not to be all cornball, but hopefully that was you, Pete, Carl, anyone who likes going to a game speaking through those fingertips.
Where did fans go?
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Sunday, September 09, 2007
As a veteran Ottawa area supporter of triple A baseball (both the old Ottawa Athletics and the Lynx) I was at once heartened and saddened to see the large turnout for what was very likely the team’s last home game.
Paraphrasing the old song, my plea is: “Where did all the good fans go?”
The baseball calibre has been consistently good, (witness the number of ex-Lynx players in the major leagues) with the product value-priced for both families and individuals. The city’s large cutback of available parking spots was clearly not helpful, but visitors always enjoyed convenient road access to the clean and well maintained stadium.
Fans have had a good run since the Lynx arrived. From here, it seems as if Ottawa’s loss is Allentown, Pennsylvania’s gain.
Richard Fisher, Osgoode Village
Weather, parking, food woes doomed the Lynx
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Sunday, September 09, 2007
I was pleased at the good turnout for the Ottawa Lynx’s last home game, culminating in an announced attendance on Monday of 7,468. There’s nothing like a crowd that’s big enough to create the atmosphere needed to make a baseball game enjoyable for both the fans and the players.
As the crowd gave an ovation at the end of the game, my friend referred to them as hypocrites. I had wanted to put a big sign on the scoreboard that said, “Where have you all been?”
Hypocrites? Yes, but there were many mitigating factors:
-Ottawa’s often chilly weather in April and May;
- The Lynx got caught up in the fate of the Montreal Expos, who, unable to afford to keep their stars, called up players from the minors prematurely, in turn affecting the quality of the teams the Lynx could put on the field;
- Giving over most of the parking space to other uses by the city (the bus service from downtown and in between is good enough, but people aren’t going to come from all over Ottawa and Gatineau if there’s nowhere to park);
- Severing of the affiliation with the Expos even before they left Montreal (fans could relate to the farm team for the Expos, but didn’t care about Baltimore or Philadelphia);
-Poor decisions by the Lynx, such as the 175-per-cent increase in parking fees from $2 to $5.50 (later reduced again to $2 and then $3, but people didn’t know about it) and the infamous Oh Henry! chocolate bar confiscation.
- Declining selection of food at the ballpark.
Some things were done because people had stopped coming, but they sure discouraged people from coming back.
The owner, Ray Pecor, and his staff are to be commended for their patience and their efforts to keep it going. But, in the end, not enough people cared. If the Senators fall on hard times, hypocrites will show up for their last game, too. But if another baseball team comes to Lynx Stadium, I’ll buy a season ticket in a second!
Bob Thomas, Ottawa
