For better or worse, the Expos are back in the headlines. Best for baseball fans still hoping to see great baseball in Montreal again. Bad news for opponents who say: “I can't imagine the government of Quebec and the city of Montreal investing a penny of my taxes to build a new stadium.”
• Also read: A documentary about the Expos' departure is airing on Netflix
What is it about this time?
To mark the 20th anniversary of the Expos' disappearance, Montreal production company Attraction will produce a documentary for the Netflix channel that recounts the steps that led to our former baseball team's move to Washington.
It will hurt every time we remember this sad story, just like that of the Nordiques' departure to Colorado. It's like rubbing salt in the wound.
A sociological study would have to be carried out on this.
The Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles after the 1957 season and are still on everyone's lips there. The blue Dodgers cap with the letter B, like the Expos', is still in style.
As the saying goes, it's when you lose something that you learn to appreciate it the most.
Expansion process until 2029
Montreal is also discussed in an article that can be read on the website of the sports broadcaster ESPN. Eight cities are named as candidates for the next baseball expansion, planned before the end of the current decade.
Commissioner Rod Manfred wants the selection process to begin before his retirement in 2029.
In addition to Montreal, the seven other cities named are Austin/San Antonio, Mexico, Nashville, Orlando, Portland, San Jose and Salt Lake City. Of all these cities, Mexico City is the only one whose population exceeds that of Montreal.
Are Stephen Bronfman and his group still interested?
The folks at ESPN spoke with William Jegher, a real estate, hospitality and construction leader and member of EY (formerly Ernst & Young), who worked on the Baseball Montreal project.
“I would say our group is the most experienced among those who want to start a major baseball team in their city,” he said.
“We will review the situation as baseball begins an expansion process. We will then decide whether an application makes sense. »
Normal reaction under the current circumstances.
The cost of entry is expected to be around $2 billion.
Yes, it's hay, sir, madam.
And there is the famous stadium question.
Without a team playing there, the renovations to the Olympic Stadium may not be of much use.
The same refrain
In short: the more it happens, the more it is the same.
However, it is time for Montreal to emerge from its torpor. For old people like me who grew up here, Montreal is tough.
Yes, we need social housing, yes, we need to help the unfortunate. But we also need invigorating projects for the economy and the population.
Montreal is beautiful if you take care of it. Unfortunately, this has not been the case for too many years.
The city is in a simply deplorable state with its thousands of potholes, its endless construction sites and its dilapidated state both to the west and to the east of the city center.
All we have left are memories.
The Daltons of the Canadians
My suggestion of finding a name for the Canadiens' first line obviously amused you. A hundred of you sent me some sixty choices via email and on Facebook. The most common was the Dalton Trio.
The problem is that there are four Dalton brothers. “The three musketeers are actually four and we don't make much of a difference between them,” the respondents explained.
Note that Lucky Luke's whippersnappers, Dalton, Joe, William, Jack, and Averell, their respective first names, have no distinguishing characters.
They all look the same!
It is their size that sets them apart.
So Cole Caufield could be Joe, the shortest, Nick Suzuki, William, the third of the four and Juraj Slafkovsky, Averall, the tallest of the group.
The Kid Line is another qualifier that has been mentioned often alongside the United Nations trio.
Thank you for participating in the game.