Whitecapsfanblog

Now the Caps are in the MLS, one could not be faulted for asking “what happened to Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium?”   The Caps signed a 5 year commitment to play in a refurbished BC Place stadium. Does this mean the dream of a soccer specific waterfront stadium is dead?   Certainly it is not.   Part of the issue with the Caps political difficulties with the city and the federal government (and the Federal Port of Vancouver) was that the Caps were playing in a small league with little public profile.  Even still, public support for Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium was still high.   The fact that the Whitecaps will be in the big league MLS will certainly give the team much more political pull with both the City of Vancouver and the Federal Government, with whom the Caps must  make a deal in order to swap land for a stadium.   

In any event, there is plenty of time to build up good will and to win over fans in the city, province, and country to rally the new stadium effort.   Toronto is already talking of expanding their new stadium to a capacity of 30,000 or so.   

So many of our dreams have been answered recently.  It seems greedy to ask for more.  For now, it is BC Place, but five years from now perhaps it will be in a Soccer specific stadium with a beautiful grass pitch…

Vision Vancouver swept into power with Gregor Robertson as Mayor of Vancouver.  The NPA only have one counsellor and COPE have two.   People on the east side actually showed up and voted for once, and I am convinced that this is the Obama effect at work.  The President elect has convinced many people in the States and, I believe, in the world, who did not usually bother to vote that voting is important and worth doing.    This is a positive development for democracy around the world.  

I hope that Robertson leads in the manner of Larry Campbell, who created Vision Vancouver.  Larry was a Liberal-lefty who was for the people, but he knew when a flaky idea was a flaky idea and had the balls to say no to it when it was not going to work.  Vancouver is one of the craziest municipalities in the world,  and loony ideas which would rightfully be laughed out of the room in any other municipality somehow have currency here (such as closing down a lane of the Burrard Street bridge to traffic creating huge traffic snarls so that the odd bicycle might cross the bridge every half hour or so-a proposal Robertson worryingly seems to agree with).  

Larry Campbell approached the Whitecaps with the idea of building a mid-sized soccer stadium when he was Mayor.  The Whitecaps responded by proposing Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium.  Robertson should stop being influenced by those who oppose it and make this brilliant proposal work for everyone, as it undoubtedly can.  Gastown needs it, and so does the long suffering downtown Eastside.  It is time that neighbourhood had some good news for once.