Rob Ford's Toronto

[cutlass]

I probably don't follow hockey enough to see how this deal works right wing SUV. It just seems like there a ties to corruption everywhere right now.
Organized crime, construction etc, why not hockey? Seems there was a large rabbit hole in Toronto.

 

[freshcutgrass]

So, this 'Rogers Total Hockey Thing' happens on Tuesday. CBC are now token players. TSN is cut out.

Remember when the games, HNIC and the theme song were all in the same place?

Yet another reason not to gut the national public broadcaster. What a disgrace.

 

[k10ery]

Speaking of Bruno, is there anything significant about the date of the impromptu prison visit? Was anything really big going on around that time?

The jail visit was March 25th @ 7 p.m.. The Star published their story the next day about Ford at the Garrison Ball and Anthony Smith was killed two days later.

Scott McIntyre was beaten up in the same jail a few days earlier. According to a judge this was because he was a "bother" to Rob Ford. Bellissimo is Ford's buddy, Ford was paying him off regularly. I'd bet Rob wanted to talk to Bruno about what happened to his ex-brother-in-law.

 

[hper]

Not that weird, just the wacky world of business. I don't see this connecting in any way with the RoFo story.

Just business, for sure. The only reason it was brought up is the recurring rumour of a 'prominent hockey analyst' being implicated in Fordian Times n' Tapes and the subsequent speculation regarding the identity thereof. It comes up over n' over again. It's evasive. A speculative prospect. One thing is certain: high-priced media personalities are either profitable assets or red-lining liabilities. So, speculation ho! Maybe Steve Laduranteye (sp?) is ON IT!

If I may be allowed to speculate hper, the whole hockey thing did seem odd. CBC has historical value with Hockey as well. Odd that it was tossed aside.
If the prominent hockey figure has some embarrassment to bring upon hockey world, perhaps the CBC was "asked" to bow out for the sake of the game.
So, they allow Rogers to up the stakes dramatically. I am sure Bell could have come up with that amount too.

FTR, the idea of 'DC' being that 'prominent hockey analyst' is a non-starter. Furthermore, Bell = Rogers. Just, one is blue. Each owns a portion of the most profitable sports enterprise in N.A., if not the world. Speculated reality is, CBC, under their current fiscal restraint and political scrutinization was monetarily handcuffed from the get-go. Yet, it was reported they had sealed the deal as late as Tuesday a.m. (Damned sources!). It's more likely BGM was asked 'not to participate' (after they might have done).

But, yeah, a world without some form of HNIC (whether, Hewitt, Hodge, McClean and Cherry or 'them other guys') is an alien landscape.

 

[newearthling]

People still watch hockey?

 

[Kat_YYZ]

You know whose presence has really been missing in this drawn out circus? Howard Moscoe. He was like a left-wing version of Rob/Doug Ford. Can you just imagine the over-the-top verbal barbs that would have been traded between them?? It's a pity that he didn't stick around for one more term!

From what little I remember, Moscoe was witty and literate. There wouldn't so much be trading of barbs as Doug yelling back "you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar" or some other well-worn gem.

 

[Honest Ed has a posse]

What follows is wild speculation, to be sure.

The 'prominent hockey analyst' thing has always been a nagging thing. So, this 'Rogers Total Hockey Thing' happens on Tuesday. CBC are now token players. TSN is cut out. Could the revelations of Fordian debauchery, possibly hanging over someone's head, have been the thing that made Rogers up the $ and seal/force the deal? With a little BG info on the DL thrown in, either as wedge or cover? Crazy, for sure. After all, as ol' Occam might say, $480M per year gets a dick like Bettman hard. Fast. So, yeah, nothing to it. Obviously, CBC can't throw that kind of money around. And, surely, BellMedia doesn't have that kind of dough or the many platforms Rogers can offer.

Oh, wait. They do.

Know zip-squid-all about these negotiations. Or if BGM was involved. But, the G&M was reporting as late as Tuesday a.m., that CBC had it all sewn up. Then, zing! The ground shifts. Rogers offers more than twice the amount the reported frontrunner (CBC) was apparently offering. And hockey, or the watching thereof, will never be the same henceforth. Weird, eh?

Also, anyone heard anything about goings-on at some place called Muzik? It's been told that something unseemly involving an 'embattled' public figure went down there. Possibly for prosperity.

Speculation, of course.

The hockey douchebag is Kypreos. It's irrelevant.

Stay focused please.

 

[One Nut Kruk]

People still watch hockey?

Yes, Tiger Woods.

Ah, I forgot about Kypreos. He could very well be the analyst that has been hinted at.

 

[DD13]

The hockey douchebag is Kypreos. It's irrelevant.

Stay focused please.

I believe Metroman confirmed the initials DC.

I wondered the same thing when I read earlier than Cherry's future with the game was in jeopardy. I'm sure the rumours here have been discussed elsewhere.

Yes, it could easily be a coincidence, but I don't think it's among the more far-fetched theories to have been posited here.

 

[syn]

Meanwhile...

Doug Ford has 'zero respect' for Norm Kelly

See Toronto Sun at this link.

Kelly seems to handle them pretty well, though I'd like him to respond with some actual real facts. For example, when Doug Ford complains about TTC costs increasing, perhaps Kelly should point out they raised other fares and user fees and cut services at the same time.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Why does DoFo get to speak on RoFo's behalf so much? Did other councillors pipe up up for previous mayors? If not, why doesn't the media tell him to fuck off? Is this a playground or what? Is there no embarrassment for all grown up RoFo having someone fight his battles all the time?

Yes, thank you! That has drove me crazy, especially since May. Why would the media not demand answers and scrums from the Mayor instead of rubbish from brother Doug. Why haven't Council and the media not made a huge issue out of Doug not only speaking on behalf of the Mayor, but spending so much time with him? He has his own Ward that he was elected to look after, which he appears not to be doing. He was not appointed or elected spokesperson for the Mayor.

We all know Rob Ford buys drugs. But we don't know the frequency or quantity of his buys. To hear him tell it, he's used crack once, and marijuana in the distant past. Hard to take seriously, yes, but nobody has proof.

I'm pretty sure Ford admitted to being a regular user of marijuana, which, frankly, I could care less about so long as it's after work and he's not driving high. He said something to the effect "...I smoke it all the time, I've smoked tons of it". Recreationally using crack, cocaine (I honestly don't even know what the difference is), Oxy, meth, etc. - I'm definitely not OK with.

 

[GeekGirl]

Now the question is, which drug was Ford soliciting from Lisi. People will let it slide if it's pot but if it's coke then that's possibly a different story.

You underestimate Ford Nayshun. They don't care that he's a coke head. They don't care that he abuses his wife. They don't care that he is a bad father. They would not care if he kills a kitten on live TV. They will stand by Ford no matter what he does. They are the Gold medalists of the Mental Gymnastics.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Is this the entire ITO set to be released on the 6th or "most" of it? In the beginning there was the matter of an additional 200'ish pages which the judge didn't release at all (the last 200 pages?)

OK, I found the answer to my post above by casually reading this morning and came by it quite by chance. "Nearly all" of the ITO is set to be released on the 6th, so there's more we have to wait on. I'm dying to know why the remaining portion is being held back. My source, NP - http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/1...p-information-ordered-released-to-the-public/

 

[NoCleverName]

I'm dying to know why the remaining portion is being held back. My source, NP - http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/1...p-information-ordered-released-to-the-public/

What I had read in the Star yesterday is portions relating to police investigative techniques and registered police informants will remain redacted.

 

[zang]

They don't care that he abuses his wife. They don't care that he is a bad father.

I think you're wrong on this. I think if it's proven that he beats his wife or kids, he'd lose a lot more of the Nation. I grew up around the type of people who favour Ford; and while they themselves may abuse their partners or kids, they do so in secret, and that community in general frowns upon the ideas of damage to a family. I've found it's mostly superficial (many of the people I knew cheated on their partners, were lousy parents, etc.), but violation comes with massive amounts of community shame.