A fan first

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/04/2010 (5755 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DAVID ASPER stepped to the dais gripping a Grey Cup game ball from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ 1962 title win and after telling a little story, looked directly at current head coach Paul LaPolice and fired off his first order as the guy in charge.

"Bring home another game ball, coach Lapo," issued Asper.

Asper had difficulty in masking his true colours, Blue and Gold in this case, and his intentions at Wednesday’s media conference to announce the building of a new stadium and his potential ownership in the club.

The 51-year-old U of M law professor and executive chairman of Creswin Properties Ltd., is in the process of becoming the sole owner of the Blue Bombers and will undoubtedly attempt to make his mark on the club’s history by winning championships.

Don’t forget, this is a guy who during his days as a member of the club’s volunteer board had to be barred from the team’s dressing room by then-CEO Lyle Bauer after a game in which he didn’t like the performance on the field.

Sure, it wasn’t Asper’s finest hour, but it laid bare to all what this guy is about when it comes to the football team he is now close to owning — he wants to win and won’t suffer losing well.

Asper was asked point-blank what kind of an owner he was going to be and the man who would be king was quick to point out he’s got some work to do and some time to go before we find out.

"I’m not going to be an owner for a while so I can have some more time to figure that out," said Asper, who will oversee the building of a new football stadium at the University of Manitoba and, if all things work out as he hopes, take over control of the Bombers. "I think there are a lot of models of ownership and I’ve done quite a bit of research on that. The Mara family in New York (owners of the NFL’s Giants) do a great job. I think Bob Wetenhall does a great job in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes and David Braley in B.C., although I don’t think I’ll know as much about players as David Braley does. This is a business. It’s a special kind of business but I don’t intend to have any kind of day-to-day role. Not a Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys owner) role."

Asper and his Creswin Properties real estate firm are now on the clock to come up with, among other things, $90 million plus interest to repay a stadium loan the province put forth.

Asper has until 2016 to pay out the province’s bridge financing and take control of the Bombers. Creswin has an option to develop the old stadium grounds at Polo Park. Creswin must purchase the land from the City of Winnipeg for fair market value then sign enough leases to generate financing for his boutique shopping concept The Elms.

The plan is for the money generated by The Elms to pay for both the development and the loan on the stadium.

Asper’s contribution to the stadium is in essence the purchase price for the Bombers.

If the loan can’t be repaid by March of 2016, the club will remain a non-profit community-sponsored organization.

In the interim, the volunteer board of directors will continue to operate the club. When all the details have been settled and contracts signed, Asper will have a seat on the 11-person board.

Major role

But make no mistake, Asper will play a major role in the direction of the Bombers going forward. He played a role in the hiring of GM Joe Mack and new coach LaPolice and now will be in charge of stadium construction. What Asper says from here on out will likely be gospel.

"There are a variety of goals. You have to have a good product, a good team and a good team ethic," said Asper, a lifelong supporter of the club and a former board member who has been credited with working in partnership with Bauer to pull the team out of near-bankruptcy in the early 2000s. "You have to be a good member of the community, a contributing member of the community. Football like other sports can play a special role in motivating young people… It’s a big brand and can play a big role in the community. It already does," said Asper, turned out in a dark suit set off by a blue and gold tie.

Bombers board of directors chairman Ken Hildahl believes Asper’s leadership will be good for the club.

"David is passionate and has vision and understands the CFL, which is important, it’s a unique league," said Hildahl. "He’s already put a lot into this and I think he’ll do good things for the football club going forward."

Asper didn’t want to oversell his ability to make the Bombers a perennial contender based on added revenue from a new stadium and private ownership fuelled by cash from the new stadium and The Elms.

"Over time and as we get closer to a transition, I’ll take a closer look at that but you have to give the club the tools to succeed," said Asper. "That will be very key in our business plan."

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Perhaps above all else, Asper is a Bombers fan and in that vein, wants desperately to win.

"I get criticized a little bit for it but if you don’t begin every season believing you are going to win a Grey Cup and selling every single seat and doing everything you should as an organization, then I don’t think you should be doing it," said Asper. "I know it may sound unrealistic because you can’t win every year and you can’t sell every seat but if you don’t begin every year aiming for that, I think you should go home."

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca