Thanks to everyone for taking the time to stop by and comment  -the blog’s never been busier, and for a change, it’s a good kind of busy.  I spoke with Bruce this morning, and he agreed that it’s nice to be able to relax a little and enjoy all of this.

I appreciate the kind words and compliments, and while it wasn’t always fun, having a front row seat to everything that has gone on has been, well, interesting.  It’s cliche, but the experience was very much like a roller coaster - each and every time things seemed to be finally coming together, they would just as quickly start to unravel.  But in the end, well, you know the story.  Yesterday was many things, but from my corner it was a massive relief; like Bruce, I’d held off telling Zak about the Rapids until I was sure it was going to happen.  That was back in November.   I’m enormously grateful that things have worked out.

I’m very pleased to tell you that Miles Wolff is someone you should have great confidence in.  Jim Baba said it best when he told councillors, “my money’s on him“.  When Kyle and Ray Pecor left town, we lost two very special people - to quote a certain reporter, “they were just good dudes”.  And while I had hoped to have people of the same character take over, I wasn’t holding my breath.  How fortunate we are.  Ottawa’s been granted a mulligan; we’ve got another quality owner, but more importantly, a quality person running things on Coventry Road.

The voice in the wilderness through all of this has been Neate Sager.  Neate was behind the idea of Can-AM baseball from before the get-go.  Mr. Sager was also a person I could talk openly with, and not have to worry about it being leaked.  His work, writing, ideas and creativity deserve a great deal of credit.

Finally, for now, two others are important to mention.  Eric Lamoureux and Pat Uguccioni.  Eric is the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, and Pat the communications director.  Both were integral parts in the Rapids eventual success.  Thank you both.

Thank you all.