York University said Tuesday it has no plans to sue the Toronto Argonauts over the team’s decision to pull out of a stadium project with the school, reported the Toronto Star May 4. The University was responding to a column in the Star that quoted an unnamed source as saying several York staff members were pressing the school’s executive board to file a lawsuit against the Argos for alleged breach of contract. “We don’t have a lawsuit against the Argonauts,” said York’s media relations director Nancy White, quoted in the Star and the The Toronto Sun. “It’s not on our radar screen. It’s not something we want people to be thinking.”
More commentary on stadium:
- The Toronto Star’s Dave Perkins said the Argo owners did absolutely the right thing for their franchise by staying downtown, where all the action is. The 905ers won’t like it – and shouldn’t – but the simple fact is, Toronto has almost all of its sporting eggs in this downtown basket, wrote the sports columnist May 4. You can assume, he argued, that contributing to shutting down a 25,000-seat venue at York University was all part of a bigger picture for Rogers to eliminate one more competitor for the summer concert trade.
- The National Post’s Adam Radwanski argued that York was a risky proposition. But staying in the Rogers Centre is an unambitious cave-in by owners who have otherwise done much to revive Toronto’s once-flagging team since taking it over in late 2003. The Argos spent years trying to get out of the white elephant by the water. Finally, they were ready to move – and their own success conspired against them.
- Sports columnist Kent Gilchrist, whose column appeared in The Vancouver Province and Calgary Herald May 4, wrote: As a business decision, it no doubt made very good sense for the Argos to return to what they now call Rogers Centre. But perception accounts for so much in sports and they certainly don’t look too hot after promising their fans something better.
- Bill Lankhof, whose sports column appeared May 4 in The Toronto Sun and The Edmonton Sun, wrote: The fallout of this end-around is that football fans don’t get a football-friendly facility, local soccer still doesn’t have a home to call its own and York University gets left holding a bag of hot air.
Do your research before joining a corporate board
The new era of the more diligent corporate director means more work, more time, and more risk for members of boards of directors, reported the Winnipeg Free Press May 3. It was a message heard Monday by 100 business people at a public forum of the Institute of Corporate Directors. Bill Dimma, former Chair and now honorary member of York’s Board of Governors, the current chairman of Home Capital Group and the director of about 30 corporations over the years, advised prospective directors to conduct due diligence before joining boards and to turn down appointments if there is cause to doubt or question the integrity or capability of management or the board of the company.
Cocktail sipping is back
The Hamilton Spectator printed a Canadian Press story May 4 about York researcher and lecturer Christine Sismondo’s cocktail research. “I think we are looking at a resurgence of cocktails and cocktail culture,” said the 34-year-old former bartender whose book Mondo Cocktail will be published by McArthur in the fall.