milton tigercats

Bob Young talks about “Milton Tiger Cats”

Mike Cluett

Earlier today on AM 900 CHML, Hamilton TigerCat Caretaker Bob Young was being interviewd by Bill Kelly to talk about the next steps in dealing with Hamilton City Council’s decision for the west harbour location, what the future holds for the TigerCats and possible locations if they have to move.

Young mentioned that his goal is STILL work at keeping the team in Hamilton.  There is way too much history of that franchise in Steeltown to let it go easily and he will do what he can to work with council provided they come with a viable option that is acceptable to the TigerCats.

Here is a link to the CHML story with audio of the interview with Bill Kelly today.  Bob mentions Milton TigerCats roughly 7 minutes into the audio.

You can check out the Fan Page of “MILTON TIGERCATS” on Facebook as well by clicking on the logo to the left.  There are over 60 members so far and growing daily and you can stay tuned to www.mikecluett.ca for more updates on the situation.

You can also find some more local and national coverage of the TigerCats possible move to Milton here with a recap of Bob Youngs interview with TSN on Saturday night (The Cats WON by the way!!)  That link is from the National Post.

OSKEE WEE WEE!  I’ll see you at the doors.

Whirlwind 24 hours

Mike Cluett

To say the last 24 hours in the life of Mike Cluett was busy, would be a big stretch. 

In between my full time job at Greenlawn Canada, there have been a whirlwind number of phone calls to media outlets in the Greater Milton …er Toronto Area talking about a little thing known as moving the Tiger Cats to Milton, I havent been able to do much else.  I have been able to get to most of them, but not all, so as long as the discussion is going I’m available to talk.

I have received a lot of responses on this blog, through email, Twitter and on Facebook from both sides (mostly positive and encouraging responses) from people both inside and outside Milton.

As I mentioned earlier on I had been interviewed by CHCH News from Hamilton about this movement that was shown on the news at 6pm, 11pm and even on CHCH Morning Live along with Mayor Gord Krantz explaining the rationale of TiCats owner Bob Young considering Milton as an option.

If all else fails in Hamilton (that is still up for debate and not over by a long shot) we hope that the ownership of the CFL franchise can see the potential benefits of moving their team here to Milton.  Nothing regarding numbers, costs, business plans have been formally discussed but we wanted to get the discussion going.  Earlier this week I had read the letter Bob Young sent to Hamilton City Council about backing out of discussions for the Pan Am stadium and playing out the remaining years at Ivor Wynne before choosing another locale.

Being a TiCats fan, I want them to stay in Hamilton.  Thats my preferred choice and I hope between all the parties involved they can come to some sort of resolution in the matter and keep the team in Steel Town.  Baring all of that, we want them to know theres a potential home for them in Milton.

So the debate will continue for the next while and I hope that some see the potential benefits to Milton and the surrounding area by getting this put together.  There is no chance this will come to a resolution anytime soon, but we can only hope.

Locally, there was an article in today’s Champion talking about municipal candidates taking to the Internet to reach voters, spark discussion on issues and keeping people informed.  You can view that article by Christina Commisso (herself on Twitter) here.

I’ll keep everybody posted on whats going on with the Cats, how the reaction is coming in and what might happen in the future.  To those people visiting my blog and website for the first time, thanks for coming…I hope you stick around.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

Oskee wee wee!

Birthday Greetings and Ticats Support in Milton

Mike Cluett

Before I get started I wanted to wish my Dad a Happy Birthday.  Last year at this time we were all in Newfoundland for his birthday and this year he got to see me on TV so… its almost good enough.  Happy Birthday Dad.

First off a big thanks goes out to everyone who has called, emailed or tweeted me in the last few hours.  Ever since posting yesterdays blog, I have been inundated with support from people both in Milton AND from Hamilton of all places.

I’m going to try to get the video uploaded of tonight’s CHCH News at 6 show where they had a brief interview with both myself and Mayor Gord Krantz about Milton taking a stab at getting the CFL franchise and the Pan Am stadium for 2015.  The idea came to me after I heard the news from Bob Young that he was pulling the organization from the negotiation table about any option for a stadium in Milton.

As a fan, I wondered where would they go?  Quebec?  Moncton?  Definitely viable options for the team but  as a fan, Id lose.  And so would the hundreds of thousands of TigerCat/CFL fans in southern Ontario.  Then I thought…why not Milton?  And it grew from there. 

I gave Milton Mayor Gord Krantz a call to see what would have to be done to get the ball rolling.  After a long conversation, the wheels were set in motion.  From what Ive heard today, there has been contact with the team and they are definitely intrigued at the idea of moving 30 minutes north. 

Both of us wanted to get the point out as well, that we’re not looking to steal the Ticats away.  We both (as well as many of the supporters of the idea) want them to stay in Hamilton.  As I said in the interview “Hamilton is the TigerCats and the TigerCats are Hamilton” 

Will this happen overnight?  Not likely.  There are so many things that can happen to derail any of these options…best of one would be that the TiCats and the City of Hamilton come to some workable arrangement and keep the Cats in Steeltown.  But if not, we have a home for them in Milton and we’ll do what we can to make it work.

There’s a Facebook group up and running on this … isnt there always?  Please click here and join to show your support or start a discussion.

While you’re at it, you can join my campaign Facebook group as well to stay on top of campaign happenings for Ward 6.  There is very little time left before nominations close and in the next 10-15 days anything can happen.

Im looking forward to the next 70 plus days before election day…meeting as many people as possible and discussing issues like this and others that are important to you.  Call, email or tweet me anytime.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.