TORONTO -- Bad weather is to blame for delays in completing a new Hamilton stadium and key venue for the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Games, the governing Liberals said Wednesday. "Mother Nature has prolonged the winter and theyve slowed down a bit," said Michael Coteau, minister responsible for the 2015 Games. But taxpayers wont be on the hook for any overrun costs, he said, adding that hes confident all 31 Pan Am venues will be completed in time for the Games. The setback is forcing the Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for their first two home games of the season. The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions during the Games. Once completed, it will have 22,500 permanent seats and a potential capacity of 40,000 through temporary seating. But the Ticats said theyll have to use Ron Joyce Stadium at McMaster University -- which has 6,000 permanent seats and temporary seating for another 6,000 -- for games scheduled this month. The delay is unfortunate, but it will be short, said Infrastructure Minister Brad Duguid. "The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will be running onto that brand new field at some point this summer -- we expect by the third game -- as soon as possible," he said in the legislature. Disappointed fans should keep things in perspective, Coteau said. "The fans are going to be really happy once the site is complete, because its going to ignite the enthusiasm behind the sports team in Hamilton and across Ontario," he said. The TO2015 organizing committee said theyre still trying to get a final date for completion of the new stadium, but it will probably be August or September. "I dont know anybody whos happy about the Hamilton situation," said CEO Saad Rafi. "I think were all frustrated about that." But Hamiltonians will have a world-class facility thats going to be around for the next 50 years, he added. The CFL team spent the entirety of last season at the University of Guelph while the new stadium was under construction. The residents in her hometown are frustrated with what appears to be a "lackadaisical" attitude towards getting the stadium ready in time for football season, said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. "The fans are the ones that suffer from not having the top-grade facilities and not having that ability to feel proud about the new stadium," said Horwath, who also represents the riding of Hamilton Centre. It doesnt bode well for the governments ability to have the other Pan Am facilities ready on time either, she said. "I think its a bad omen for the Games overall that one of the major facilities has not been completed on time," said Horwath. "And whether or not thats going to be a similar situation in other facilities -- I guess its wait and see." The Toronto Blue Jays have been relatively secretive about the length and values of the contracts of their executive-types the past few years. No one really knows how long GM Alex Anthopoulos is signed for, and it was a guessing game as to the length of John Farrells pact when the subject of him moving to Boston was first broached after the 2011 season. Cots Baseball contracts (Baseball Prospectus) details something interesting about John Gibbons deal, which was first reported by Shi Davidi back in February. When he replaced Farrell, Gibbons signed a two-year deal with an option for 2015. But heres the interesting part, if Gibbons is not fired by January 1, his option year becomes guaranteed and he gets another option year for 2016. Gibbons absolutely deserves another "kick at the can" after the club was ravaged by injuries for the second year in a row. Still, you have to wonder if upper management did any serious thinking after the club struggled to reach 74 wins after such lofty pre-season expectations. There will be some serious heat on Gibbons and Anthopoulos if the Blue Jays stumble out of the gate in 2014. But at least in Gibbons case, it looks like he wont go into the new season as a lame duck manager. Its smart business and baseball sense to abide by the Blue Jayss policy of only giving five-year contracts to free agents, especially pitchers. You have to wonder, though, if the Jays are going to have to rethink that one after seeing 30-year-old lefty Jason Vargas sign a four-year deal worth $32 million with Kansas City. Vargas has a career record of 51-58 with a 4.30 ERA over eight seasons with four different teams so far. He only has two double-digit win seasons and peaked at 14 with Seattle. Its not so much the $8 million per season hes getting from the Royals but the four years. If Vargas can get four years, then what of the bigger names teams like the Blue Jays might be interested in, such as Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana and even Dan Haren. They all have more impressive resumes than Vargas. The Royals were rumoured to be interested in a trade for As 25-year-oldd lefty Brett Anderson before doing the deal with Vargas.dddddddddddd The Jays have been rumoured to be talking to Oakland about Anderson, as well. Maybe there should be a buyer beware tag attached to that one. Though he has a world of potential, the 64" southpaw is only 26-29 over five injury-plagued seasons with the As. Anderson will be 26 in February and he still excites people because of his 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and his more than respectable career ERA of 3.81. He is a risk with potential upside to be sure. Talking Trade I loved the Prince Fielder for Ian Kinsler trade between Detroit and Texas. Fielder had two decent seasons for the Tigers and helped get them to the playoffs twice. However, he had a miserable stretch of no playoff RBIs in 18 games. Kinsler was simply caught in a middle infield squeeze in Texas with the Rangers having a much younger Jurickson Profar ready to step in at second base with the outside chance the Rangers might bid for free agent Robby Cano. With that short right field porch at the Ballpark at Arlington, Fielder could easily rebound next season and hit 45 to 50 homers The Tigers are better off as well moving their two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera from third over to first to take some of the physical stress off his body. Braun on the Market? As impressive as it was that the Tigers could move Fielders huge contract that still has seven years and $168 million dollar left on it, this one would be even more impressive. Milwaukee is considering unloading Ryan Braun in the wake of his PED suspension with GM Doug Melvin claiming a couple of clubs have at least called him to talk about him. Braun is slightly older than Fielder at 30 and he is an MVP. But he has seven years and $127 million still owed to him, plus a mutual option for 2021. This contract is even more injurious to the Brewers than Alex Rodriguez is to the Yankees if Brauns production falls off dramatically once he starts playing clean. If the Brewers are committed to moving him, it will be interesting to see over the winter which team, if any, will be willing to take him on.
Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
