ArgoRavi
03-23-2013, 01:44 AM
As I am sure many of you know, I have never been fond of Mr. Godfrey. Here is a feature about him in the Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/03/23/paul_godfrey_still_looking_for_ways_to_put_toronto _on_map.html
I love this part of the article:
It says a lot about his staying power, in fact, that one of his keenest contemporary critics — city councillor Adam Vaughan — is the son of one of Godfrey’s first civic opponents, the late alderman and broadcaster Colin Vaughan.
“He’s got a real penchant for big deals,” Vaughan says. “He thinks of himself as a big deal and he likes to strike the big deal.
“What’s interesting about them — and I remember my father saying this — they were all big in terms of the cost to build, but he never followed through with what the operating impacts would be. There’s no challenging his big-visions, big-project persona, but he’s given us many reasons to be skeptical that the promises come true.
“The casino is the SkyDome all over again. It’s going to be all things to all people. It’s jobs, it’s profile, it puts the city on the map. And five years from now, everyone will be saying, ‘OK, how do we sell this thing?’
“Big projects, big ideas like this can sometimes turn into very big white elephants or big problems down the road. He doesn’t hang around long enough to get saddled with the problems.
“Is the Sun better now than it was when he started? Nope. Is the Post better now than when he started? Nope. Did the Blue Jays have their best years under Paul Godfrey? Nope. He shrinks organizations if anything else.”
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And, of course, the capper from Godfrey himself:
“I still have one goal to complete. I haven’t given up the hope to be involved with a group to bring an NFL football team to Toronto.
“That’s my last act. In sports.”
I love this part of the article:
It says a lot about his staying power, in fact, that one of his keenest contemporary critics — city councillor Adam Vaughan — is the son of one of Godfrey’s first civic opponents, the late alderman and broadcaster Colin Vaughan.
“He’s got a real penchant for big deals,” Vaughan says. “He thinks of himself as a big deal and he likes to strike the big deal.
“What’s interesting about them — and I remember my father saying this — they were all big in terms of the cost to build, but he never followed through with what the operating impacts would be. There’s no challenging his big-visions, big-project persona, but he’s given us many reasons to be skeptical that the promises come true.
“The casino is the SkyDome all over again. It’s going to be all things to all people. It’s jobs, it’s profile, it puts the city on the map. And five years from now, everyone will be saying, ‘OK, how do we sell this thing?’
“Big projects, big ideas like this can sometimes turn into very big white elephants or big problems down the road. He doesn’t hang around long enough to get saddled with the problems.
“Is the Sun better now than it was when he started? Nope. Is the Post better now than when he started? Nope. Did the Blue Jays have their best years under Paul Godfrey? Nope. He shrinks organizations if anything else.”
------------------------------------------------------
And, of course, the capper from Godfrey himself:
“I still have one goal to complete. I haven’t given up the hope to be involved with a group to bring an NFL football team to Toronto.
“That’s my last act. In sports.”