Not calling anyone out, but here’s the problem when one side decides to fight their case in the media and one won’t:

October 8, 2007
Dear Mr. Pecor and Lynx organization:I’m a longtime Lynx fan, hoping, like many others in this City, that there will be a quick and smooth transition from Triple A baseball to a good try at Can-Am ball.I have been impatient with City Hall and Council because they have appeared to be reticent to enable the switch while the opportunity (and Can-Am offer) still exists. Generally I’ve thought that mostly the City was the one playing hard ball. It seems it would be reasonable for the City to agree to handing over the keys to Mr. Wolff’s organization, drop or moderate the claim about debts owed by the Lynx organization, and avoid a costly retaliatory court case related to the parking issue and other contractual obligations.However, I also expect the Lynx organization to engage in this discussion in good faith. The LeHigh Valley Iron Pigs organization currently is linking their team statistics to the Ottawa Lynx statistics page. [ See: http://ironpigsbaseball.com/ironpigs/statistics/ ] That’s a pretty clear indication to me that the Triple A League has officially passed the baton from Ottawa to the IronPigs organization. That’s more or less what the City of Ottawa is also saying, and a reason for issuing their most recent ultimatum. I think there is frustration at the Council level that the Lynx are not being entirely transparent.So if the transition has happened in everything but a public statement, then the only thing to be lost by further delay is baseball continuing in Ottawa at the Can-Am level. If the Lynx have moved on, then make it official and then negotiate the conditions of transfer with the City of Ottawa. If you wait until spring, what is gained? Certainly the chances of Can-Am ball in Ottawa in 2008 are more than likely dashed. Come on, you guys are baseball fans, so let’s get this moving.Robin Collins
Ottawa                                                                                                              [Posted to Facebook group, October 8]

Remember what Miles Wolff said in his letter that was posted over on The Team 1200’s website:

In a meeting in April with the Mayor and City attorney, the Lynx, represented by Ray Pecor and Kyle Bostwick, promised to drop the lawsuit immediately if the city dropped their claim of $2,770,000 for the promissory note. The Can-Am League was present at that meeting to state that they were ready to take over the Lynx’s lease and fulfilling all obligations of the lease other than the promissory note.                                                                                                                   [The Team 1200, September 26]

So don’t think the Mayor and the rest of City council aren’t aware of what’s going on.  And an admission by the Lynx that they are leaving won’t help the Can Am League bid - quite the opposite: 

IT WILL KILL IT.

According to the Mayor’s office’s email to my family:

“Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the future of the Lynx Stadium.

Presently the Ottawa Lynx have two years remaining on their lease at the Coventry Road facility and despite recent media reports we have not been officially informed that they intend to breach their contract at this time.

Until such time as the Lynx breach their contract, discussions regarding the future of this facility would be premature yet we continue to review our options for the long term use of this facility.

The Mayor’s goal is to ensure that we protect the interests of the taxpayers while continuing to make this facility available for the enjoyment of the citizens of Ottawa. I continue to follow the developments and hope that we may find a solution that fulfills both of those goals.

Sincerely,

Lynne Manion
Administrative Services Coordinator
Mayor’s Office, City of Ottawa”     [emphasis added]

If the Lynx declare they are going to leave, the City has made it very clear that they will consider that a breach of the operating agreement.  I posted up on this subject here, but I’ll reiterate: if the operating agreement is breached or lost, it’s open season down at Lynx Stadium - they’ll hang out a sign saying “Come one, come all” like they are they should be with Landsdowne Park.

To paraphrase, oh what the hell - to quote uber-blogger Neate Sager:

“The highlights (or lowlights, if you pay taxes in this city) of the letter’s claims (and thanks again to Carl Kiiffner at Ottawa Lynx Blog for the heads-up):

• The Lynx, with Can-Am reps in tow, went to the city last April and promised to drop its $11-million lawsuit against the city over the selling off of Lynx Stadium parking spaces “if the city dropped their claim of $2,770,000 for (a) promissory note” owner Ray Pecor signed when he bought the team in 2000.That sounds like a fair compromise — but the city apparently dragged its feet.
• About that $2.77-million note or “leaving town tax”: The Lynx says it’s interest on the money the city borrowed from the old city of Nepean in the early ’90s to build the ballpark.How can anyone owe money to a lender that now longer exists? Better yet, why would this city hold someone over the coals when it might even cost taxpayers even more for the city’s lawyers to do the examination for discovery, the research, the preparation and court time to fight the Lynx lawsuit. That’s before any potential award that a judge might give to Pecor, who appears to have a fairly strong case.
• As previously noted, the stadium would become home offices and home field for Baseball Canada, which currently has no such facility (bloody scandalous for a country that played for a medal in baseball at the last Olympics and has close to two dozen major leaguers.) How can the local government in the nation’s capital not bend over backwards to help a sport so many Canadians have played and enjoyed for more than a century, especially when it costs them nothing?Try being Miles Wolff. He’s a man from North Carolina appealing to us on grounds of Canadian patriotism, and he’s getting the response, “Well, emmmmmm, maybe, I don’t know.”
• The Lynx offered to turn over “nearly $1 million in assets in the stadium” to the Can-Am League team. It could have been a “turnkey operation,” to borrow the phrasing Wolff used when he was here to meet with city councillors on Sept. 13. Instead, this is dragging out and that equipment — office furnitures, concessions — might have to be liquidated if the Can-Am League isn’t here in May 2008.
• We now understand why general manager Kyle Bostwick has had to play it so coy up until now with whether the Lynx are leaving — they can’t risk that $2.77-million leaving town tax:”The Lynx are prepared to notify the city if the city will assure them that the interest payments are no longer due. The city will not make these assurances. Therefore, the stalemate will drag on, and it will be April when the first game should be scheduled before the Lynx are officially in violation of their lease.”

                                                                                                                  [Out of Left Field, September 26]

The real question in my opinion?  What happened between April and August, when things went from an 80-90% certainty of the Can Am League coming here, to less than 50%? 

Please don’t lose sight of the ball here, and don’t put pressure on the wrong people or lose sight of who the “Friends of Can Am Ball” are.