
A couple of years back, Oasis were in Winnipeg for a concert and a very happy Noel Gallagher was in rabbiting on about Manchester City all night. That day, the Citizens had been bought by some wealthy Arabs and had just bought Robinho by telling him he was coming to Chelsea. The Oasis guitarist opined that he was sick of everyone loving Man City as their second favourite club. Now, he said, maybe might start hating Man City as much as they do Man U.
Well, you have you wish Noel. Everyone now hates Man City.
Roberto Mancini has managed to build an extremely expensive, overpaid team of wankers in the Italian mould. Skilful up front with goons at the back and with an almost Manchester-United-like ability to blind referees.
It might be looked back at this year and deemed that the Premiership was decided by an inch. If Defoe had been an inch closer and had scored from that Bale cross in extra time, Manchester City would have been just two points up on Spurs and in some type of crisis. As it is they are eight clear and on their way.
Or, as is more likely, this is a season being increasingly decided by bad calls.
Both Balotelli and Lescot should have been sent off for the respective head stamping and the elbowing incidents. But, as is too often the case, poor officiating missed both offenses and rather than taking an early bath, Balotelli was stepping up to score the winning penalty four minutes into extra time.
In the last few Spurs games, a referee missed a blatant handball on the goal line which could have resulted in a penalty which could have tied the game against Stoke, mistakenly awarded a corner from which Wolves scored an unlikely goal from their only attack in the game, and Balotelli avoided sending off and then forced a penalty and scored. In the last few games then, potentially four or more points dropped on clanger officiating and given the swing yesterday that might be enough to take Spurs top.
I don’t think it fair to criticize the refs – the game is so much faster now and the level of cheating and poor gamesmanship much higher. But there has to be a change made by the FA or Fifa — either video technology or a second referee. Ice hockey has done this and it has worked out well. American football uses technology all the time. You don’t need to keep interrupting the game, as you can limit challenges. But something has to give. So many games are now being decided by officials. I watched the end of the two American football games yesterday and they were decided on the field by the players and the one bad call was overturned by video replay.
Truth be told, Tottenham were second best yesterday. They were good for the point because of the fight back but they really didn’t have a good first half and too many players didn’t show up for the first hour.
It seems so tantalizing, and it is a cliché, but Spurs are so close and maybe this time for real one or two signings — especially for a superstar striker – they could actually win it all.
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Winnipeg’s iconic museum in danger of becoming white elephant
Over the saturnalia holidays I was down at the Forks and drove by the construction site of the new Canadian Museum of Human Rights. Pictures do not do this thing justice. It is massive. The scale is deceptive; because of its isolation from other structures, you only get a sense of this building’s size by standing next to it.
I work next to the site of the new stadium and this project dwarfs it in terms of scale. I am glad that it is going to be — and I don’t usually throw these words around when it comes to Winnipeg – world class.
The museum was sold to Manitobans and Canadians as this iconic and unique institution that would put Winnipeg on the map and become a shining light for the city and an inspiration to all mankind. And looking at the half completed structure it could well be that. But the operative phrase here is ‘half completed.’
The fact that it is still not finished and the board of directors is indicating it is out of money and that the opening needs to be put off for another year has me fearing that this project could turn into a huge and very expensive white elephant.
Media mogul Izzy Asper died before his dream of an eponymous Holocaust museum was realised. By the time of his death, the museum had morphed somewhat into a fuzzy and ill-defined museum for human rights. Gail Asper who took over the project and became the driving force behind it said it would cost about $200 million dollars all told. The design was unusual but suitably different and made Winnipeg think it was going to be Bilbao West. The Asper fundraising machine then got a few friends to pledge a few million to get it off the ground.
Levels of governments lined up and chipped in. Local donors also rolled in with commitments and it was off to the races.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the fireworks.
That figure of 200 mil or so stayed strangely static even though five years ago the price on concrete doubled.
The description of exhibits and the intent of the museum remained rather vague.
The list of supporters and their support was long, although it too was vague and short on specifics.
Budgeting appeared a bit a challenge. Especially when it turned out nobody had figured property taxes into the accounting.
But don’t look at that….look at the big shiny thing over here.
So we arrive at today. The figure to complete the museum is now pegged at $345 million.
Money pledged by donors apparently only comes in instalments, so there is no money actually in the bank. The Feds, facing deficits and cuts to government departments have said no more money, although that is tricky because they are technically in charge of its construction. The city has essentially written off a bunch of taxes owed. (Could they do that for my house too? Yeah, I thought not.) The province too, facing a near-billion dollar deficit this year, is making the ‘talk to the hand’ sign.
The final plan for the museum calls for two permanent exhibits — one for the Holocaust and one for the treatment of Canadian Aboriginals and then a rotating exhibit for other genocides and human rights issues.
All victims are equal, except that some victims are more equal than others apparently. And yes I have read the arguments. But they are wrong.
When the Ukrainians, of which there are a couple in Manitoba, suggested this arrangement wasn’t equitable, rather than be inclusive and all “human rightsy” they were essentially labelled anti-Semites and Nazi collaborators. Not helpful. And hardly the sort of press the museum needed.
This also gave credence to the notion that we are building a taxpayer-funded Holocaust museum with the merkin of “human rights” to cover it up. Nothing wrong with a Holocaust museum per se, if that was what it was sold as. But it wasn’t.
Given the bashing the Ukrainians got, it is not surprising that Armenians, Tutsis, Irish, Dafuris, Cambodians, Congolese, women, homosexuals, et al have sat on their hands.
Members of the board and leadership of the museum are quitting. The project that was supposed to open next year, and already has staff hired, will now open perhaps in 2014 but more likely 2015.
It is, as my three year old would say, ‘a schmozzel.’
I really do wish that these issues get resolved. It is the story with most iconic buildings that this sort of thing happens. And really, is anyone surprised when things cost way more than they were billed as? When was the last time you heard of a large public works project – museum, stadium, venue – coming in under budget?
This is a real opportunity for the city and a great addition to the skyline. It would be awful for it to fail at the last hurdle. Of course, this is the argument being made by the proponents of the project when shilling for more cash and what is annoying the government so much. But someone is going to have to hold their nose and step up.
The new chair of the museum….someone from the oil patch no less… claims he will get corporations on side and get everything back on track. Here is hoping. Because I would hate to see that wonderful looking building end-up the biggest and most expensive Salisbury House in the city.