No way,no how! What a putrid waste of my tax dollars!! We can't pay our bills as it is in this city, don't add more tax burden to the citizens!!!!! Our city is out of control when it comes to spending, if I did my budget that way I'd be in a heck of alot of trouble!! NO NO NO!!!!!!

In light of continuing job layoffs in the area, I think the city should pass on this idea. I doubt the stands will be consistently filled anyway.

Thank you spacejam! I guess the city wants to put us even deeper in the RED.. Maybe they can ask the President for a bailout!

The city tax payers should have the right to vote when spending tax payer money!!!!!!!!!! Janesville is in the "RED" Have a look for your self http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/citysite/...

According to the rules posted at the Ice arena, figure skating jumps (singles jumps only) and spins are allowed in center ice and at the discretion of the skate host. That is how it is at many ice arenas during public skate sessions. Common sense is key and any safety issues should be handled by staff. Hockey players/skaters are also allowed on the ice at public skate sessions, however their pucks & sticks are not allowed. Everyone must share the ice equally. Most public skate sessions are an enjoyable experience for skaters, however there are times when the younger (but experienced) hockey skaters are on the ice at a public session and they are causing safety issues. I've seen it many times. They are darting in and out of recreational skaters rudely and recklessly without any regard for safety. Most aren't deliberately out to annoy the figure skaters. They are simply raising havoc with everyone because they don't realize they are creating a hazard. As far as needing to spend hundreds on figure skating practice ice, not true. There are figure skating sessions that are prescheduled where the ice can be purchased and shared with other figure skaters that are practicing. Prices and contracts are available at the ice arena. The rivalry and animosity between figure skaters & hockey people goes back years. Don't know why but I've witnessed it from a third party point of view for years. These two groups need to learn to coexist peacefully.

I would do my jumps and spins during open skate because that is the only time I could.They dont simply open the rink for those like me ! Well,I suppose I could have spent a few hundred dollars to have it to myself,but who has that kind of money?I did try very hard to stay out of the way of others and it was easy,most of time.It seemed that all of a sudden the little hockey people did those things on purpose ! I could see it in their faces!They thought it was funny. Trust me,I never did anything on the ice that was extreme or taking up too much space.I kept myself in a small corner to practice!

madman- The information has been out there for at least 6 months, that I know of, about this coming to town. I guess it is a matter of where to look or listen.

angelwings- There are multiple bulletin boards up at the rink with information for hockey, figure skating, learn to skate and open skate. All you have to do is walk in the door!!! "The hockey players" are not on the ice with figure skaters except at open skate, and why would you jump and spin during open skate?????

yes if no beer is sold

igotclout,

"I was a spartan warrior turned gladiator for much of my life." You need to lay off the online fantasy games and find yourself a woman (a real one, not virtual).

I see that, igotclout. (roll eyes)

So...I should take it that no one will even try to address my comments?

Well, other than the sarcasm part.

To clarify, When you're in mid air to perform a jump or spinning very fast,then all of a sudden a little 8 yr. old hockey kid darts in front of you,there isnt much you can do but hit him! I even was a loud at one time to have my own space with orange cones around me and it STILL happened!

I think there is so much emphasis on violent sports that we dont need anymore.Then again,Im a little bias. I was a figure skater for much of my life and think it is a beautiful,graceful,non-violent thing to do. Im not against hockey,but why not put figure skating in the news? I never see that ! I cant even get a hold of the ice rink or find a website to sign my kids up to learn to skate! One of the reasons I quit skating was because of all the hockey players that would purposely get in my way during a jump or spin. Maybe there ought to be separate hours for different types of skaters so no one gets hurt!

We elect our council members to Represent us "We The People" and to protect our interests in all matters governing our city. When projects arise that involve the use of the tax payers money, our voices must be heard good, bad or indifferent. We thank the Gazette for this opportunity to do that. There are always two sides to a debate and we do not always hear what we want but in the end we are better off for taking some part in that decision making process. Our leaders can not make the hard decisions we require of them unless they hear us. Our First Amendment right is an awesome tool that very few people in the world enjoy and to silence it would be a crime.We shape our future together and every voice helps.

Is there a reason why the Gazette leaves these polls up for so long? I think we are all done hearing people bash the city for every little thing they try to do, whether it be good or bad! I know I am!!!!

Hey, igotclout...

...let's leave the sarcasm out of this for a while, shall we?

I made a few points...mostly to do with the beer sales and the city keeping us in the dark. Not one person has tried to refute my comments.

The other major point I have is that WE, the people of this good city, have had no chance to see what the league is expecting US to provide and what they will provide in return.

Can ANYONE answer those questions?

WILL anyone answer those questions?

The ice arena needs work and a facelift...OK, I'll take your word for it as I've never been there. Get the engineers and architects in there to have a look around to see exactly what is needed before telling us how much it'll cost. The city wants us to buy a pig in a poke. Just get us the numbers so we can see for ourselves, that is ALL I'm asking.

I am not going to go to a hocky game...I don't want those who want to go to not have a chance to go...I just want straight answers ahead of the fact.

Do you think I'm asking too much? I don't think so.

igotclout, It isn't about the 6 or 8 dollars you say, it is about the 6 or 8 for this the 100 for that the 200 for this. It all add's up where does it stop. Now since we did this for the hockey team do we have to for the skate park it's only 5 or 10 dollars. How about the new pools it's only 10 or 15 dollars. How about up gradeing Monterey its only 20 dollars where does it end. We should have a public comment on this at least, before it is passed. What I think has everyone upset is that we find out this has been in the works for over a year, and we find out about it in the elventh hour, it's not right. If you got clout go to The Cullen's since they want it so bad, ask them for the money, we know they made that much and more on the school project. Have them fund it, and I will be leading the charge to change the name to the Cullen Ice Center. That would be the best of both worlds.

Any of you been to the ice arena lately? It only needed to be updated, oh let's say...20 years ago. People don't want this hockey team here? Fine. But the high school teams, etc. deserve a better place and the city should be responsible for it. The money needs to be put into it. The new team would help that happen.

How about a bit of honesty here. Why don't the Gazette do a front pager on this. Get the community to speak up on it. Show us the money! Show us where this is going to make an economic impact that will bring the city a sustained profit on our $229,000 investment. Do not forget to include cost overruns and all the little bells and whistles. Will it be local workers who are benefiting or will our money simply go to the lowest bidder from out of town? We have been down this road before and a been there done that is in order. (LOL Some go to Spa's, some to Vegas, here they play hockey.)

This would be a great chance for us to go and watch a higher level of hockey locally. We love to go down to Chicago and watch the Blackhawks but we can't always afford the $500 for tickets. We go to every High School game and also watch a lot of youth hockey. It is great to be able to see the different levels of skill. It will also give those youth skaters more players to look up to. Both my boys think the world of the Bluebirds, and are keeping their fingers crossed for the Blackhawks to come to town! We are a YES family!!!

i'll explain. we don't need the tax burdon. how is that. want hockey, go to the h.s. games. they are a good team and well coached and play well year in and year out.have fun.oh, don't look for beer at the game anytime soon. have a few to celebrate a victory when you go home....

ESPECIALLY since you can vote more than once.

woodchuck, those are the people who actually blog on this website.
That's not necessarily and indication of the city's demographics.

I'm not whining and I am not crying. I like hockey - all levels. But there are two things are wrong with this picture. One, it appears some discussion was going on for months with city officials in secrecy under the guise of confidentiality. And two, this is nothing more than a blantant subsidy of rich, private interests with public money.
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I don't like referendums because we live under a system of representational democracy. The council made its decision and voted to spend money on this project. My vote on this project comes in April.

Hey igotclout - looks like the crybabies outnumber your side by about 3 to 1. The majority has spoken clearly.

well you guys keep complaining I'll enjoy the hockey. Peace out all, happy complaining!!!

I would like to see a city referendum!!! I want to vote where our money is spent along with the rest of Janesville!!!! LETS VOTE ON IT!!!!!The Democratic way!! Have we lost that right?

Once again the city is runnig in the RED!!!!!! I would like to see this come to a vote. I would bet alot of other people in janesville would too.

I'd go watch a game or two with the family... watching live hockey at the rink is a hoot.

TV just doesn't do the sport justice, no matter how many Canadians you ask.

llund22...

...Just how many people were called?

And is that the same thing as the council telling the population that they have been working on bringing in a hockey team?

Since phone polls are charged by how many calls are made, I suspect that there was a sampling of 600-1000 homes...and they would only talk to one person per call, so a maximum of 1/60th of the population.

Once again, I'm not now, nor have I ever been against a hockey team here in Janesville. I truely could NOT care less about the sport...I see more than enough of it on Sports Center. And I not against the city helping out this league.

What I am against is the way the council slid this in, basicly behind our backs, and that we are going to put money into this without ANY assurances of how long the team would be here to help pay off the cash.

I get that the total bill is supposed to only be about $1.50 per household. But do we REALLY know that the $200K that the council approved is going to be able to cover the TOTAL cost? Does anyone really believe that the total cost of the work to be done is going to come in under or even near budget?

Exactly what is the league promising to the city? What can we expect to get out of this investment? How many LOCAL players would be given a realistic chance to play so that they might be abe to move to the next level?

THESE are the questions that the city council needs to get and TELL us before promising to make the ice arena a "rink of dreams"

madman- FYI About 3-6 months ago I received a call and was asked to participate in a survey about local issues. The main questions in this survey were about the possibility of a hockey league in Janesville. I was told that hundreds of Janesville residents were being called and asked for their opinions. Although they may have not called you, they obviously got enough interest in the hockey team that the lawmakers decided to bring it to a vote.

One thing that I've noticed that the supporters of the idea of bringing a junior league hockey team to town is that NOT ONE of them have acknowledged that the city has been working on this for nearly a year and then they finally tell us a few days before they are to vote on it.

Exactly when was the public allowed the chance to think about this? To gather information that hasn't been, shall we say, "laundered" to be more palatable to the masses?

Isn't one of the tenants of this country is that the people(that's us) have the chance to advise the lawmakers what we would like them to do?

Yes, there was a chance to speak...with no chance to prepare or investigate on our own. So that means that anyone that did speak either spoke out of blind desire to have a hockey team of our own or may not have had all the facts and therefore, have the lawmakers in question discount what was said.

I believe the term "railroad" comes to mind here.

wiphinjvl...

...what, exactly, is the difference between beer for a junior league hockey game and a high school football game?

Both feature players that are too young to legally drink.

Both have fans to watch that might enjoy a beer.

Both places would card to be certain that no one under the age of 21 drinks.

So I ask...what is the difference?

I can tell you exactly what will happen. $1.50 per person? Yeah, right! The same thing will happen with the hockey team and upkeep of the arena as did with the parks, pools, and everthing else that has failed here in Janesville.

igotclout,
Here's another free economics lesson: saving money also helps the economy. When you put money in the bank, the bank lends out a fraction of it. You earn interest and the bank earns interest(but they earn much higher interest than you do).
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Now I won't personally spend any money going to a hockey game, but it's possible that the bank could lend out money to someone who wants to start this junior hockey team. That would be perfectly fine with me. But that's not what's going on here. The City Council should not be using tax payer money to support a hockey team.

OK asher32 60,000 people do not pay taxes in this city so for those that do it would be much more than 1.50. Yes it is less than starbucks, but you go there by choice. Not having the city tell you, you have to. Internet is not needed to survive neither is hockey. It is a choice that you make you are not told to by the city. By the way if your paying 70.00 a month for internet from charter look it's cheaper else where. The point is what you have sighted are choices that you are not forced to pay for unless you want to. You compare that to it's only 1.50 that you are force to pay. What if I want something and you don't should you be forced to pay for it absolutly not, so why should I pay for this if I don't want it.
Then I read that the Rock County Gladiators a semi-pro Football team was turned away from playing here at no cost to the city, and they would pay the city. So I went on the web site found a contact and called them to find out what happened before I came on here and got it wrong. I was told the asked to play at Monterey which is owned by the city but leased to the school district. They offered to pay $1,000.00 per game to use the stadium and asked for nothing from the city they were turned down, and now play in Beloit. Why if it would not have cost us anything and made the city or school district six to eight thousand dollars. I was also told that they have e-mailed several school board members again trying to get on the school board agenda to readress the issue and have not heard a word back from the school board. So we have a few who want Jr. Hockey and it's a done deal with no public comment why??? we turn down free money from Rock COunty Gladiators why??? Then you say the poll is 2-1 against and you have not talked to anyone who isn't in favor of it. It looks like it's 3-1 to me and you must not talk to many people because I have and it is definitaly a 3-1 split against in the people I have talked to. Did you ever think maybe those that you have talked to think a different way, when not talking to you, maybe they know your for it and want you to think they are to, when there really not.

asher32 - of those approximately 60,000 people who reside in Janesville, are they all employed and have the $1.50 to contribute? How many of them are employed? Clearly not all 60,000 as the census includes adults and children. Duh...

FYI Janesville lost 4-1 to Verona. Quite a good write-up of the game on-line.

Beer @ Monterrey for football? Never meant that at all.

so here's what i have to wonder about all of those of you on here that are complaning about the resources of money for this junior hockey league, do you realize they figured out that this will cost around $1.50 for each resident(considering there are around 60,000 people residing in janesville)? that's LESS than a cup of coffee at starbucks! how many of you have given that up? obviously not enough since the community still supports two of them. or if you're not a coffee drinker, how about those of you that are sitting at home on your personal computer utilizing your internet to comment? some how you were able to scrap up that 60-70 dollars a month to pay charter. and you know why you do that month after month? because it's a luxury you enjoy, you don't need coffee or the internet to survive, those are both wants as well. and do you hear people complaining about the cost of laying cable or internet towers that they might not be utilizing? these are all items that taxpayers also have to fund. yet you complain about the few simple dollars you'd have to pay to provide a luxury for other people. if you don't want to go to the games don't, but this is a great benefit for the city of janesville, and don't ruin this LUXURY for the rest of the people.

wiphinjvl...

...OK...so they will card people before selling beer...great...I never thought that they wouldn't, actually.

However, your comment seems to mean that you think it'd be OK to sell beer at Monterey Stadium for a Friday night football game...of course, they would only sell to adults.

How many people go to a football game on Friday night? I've been known to and I've been out of school for several decades now and having a beer might strike me as a good idea sometimes.

p.s. I support Junior Hockey, but I don't want to pay for it. Let the business guys do it if they think they can make money

Bad move by the Council and City Manager. It looks like this was a cooked deal even before it hit the light of day. Reminds me of the ethanol deal in Milton. I give Cullen and King credit for asking - that is the reason they have a lot of money. I give the Council the rasberry for taking the bait.

SURVEY SAYS.... NO. Times are tough and getting worse, every penny has a home and there is no room for such foolishness in the budgets of most Janesville Residents save for the Daddy Warbucks in our society. Our food banks run low and we have a serious homeless problem, crime is on the rise and drugs are destroying our children, so the solution is to get drunk and watch a rousing game of hockey and then drive home through the child infested neighborhoods? I remember when Janesville had a thing called common sense..sure do miss it.

It does not matter what side of the argument you are on. If you don't want to go to the Jr. hockey game ....don't go. No doubt in my mind it would go over well here. I have been to a number of games in jr hockey that sell beer. First off, the beer is served to fans of age only. Not like the players are served at all. So if you want that argument to be valid, not happening. Second, this team is a business also. They have said they are not in the bar business, but it is revenue to keep a team in operation. It's funny though how the poll has a 2-1 in favor of saying no, but I have yet to run into anyone who does not have an open mind about it.

We can't always have our own way. With the economy the way it is now, and many families
facing difficult situation; what should be the
emphasis here? I want to see families in Janesville have opportunities to obtain jobs and provide food for our families. Weigh everything and put what needs to come first.

Very few use the bike tunnel? You obviously are one of those that don't use it otherwise you'd see how many people use it.

In my opinion, this is just like the Bike Tunnel. Very few peoople will use it, but all have to pay for it.

With the gazillions of foundation money that is available for targeted causes, such as the Hedberg Library, or the failed county fairgrounds/expo center/baseball stadium, where tax benefits are realized by the donors, yet ownership is retained by a public entity, perhaps the Hockey group should recruit $200k of private foundation money to take my ole hometown further off the hook.
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This and a Snapper Stadium are good ideas, but why ask fixed-income and the unemployed to pay when there is money and people who can do it with their charitable trusts and foundations, and make this a truly win-win siuation.

If you are interested in who is playing in the league from the area you should take a little time and research it on the NAHL site. I'm pretty sure a kid from Janesville is playing for the St.Louis bandits, a kid from Beloit is playing for the Wenatchee wild, and the points leader for the NAHL I beleive is from Madison area. I'm sure there is a tryout procedure for making the team.

Would cost $1.20 per person. This has already been estimated and discussed in an earlier story. Gazette, you need to do a better job of explaining what you mean by "support" so everyone realizes this really isn't going to cost them much at all. I will admit it comes as no surprise the direction the voting is going. Typical Janesville.

Oh, don't get me wrong...I like my beer. In fact, I've got one next to me right now. But if it's no problem selling beer at a junior league hockey game, then they shouldn't have any problem selling beer at a high school football game.

And yes, you're right...the arena needs work...but I still don't think that a hint of a sorta promise from the league is enough to warrant everything that they are looking for. itellu has made a VERY good point for this...they council is planning on $200K for the actual repairs/upgrades...but they haven't done the research into exactly what might be wrong, so they don't really know what needs to be fixed.

And no...I won't be dropping by to see a game. I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not, but I don't have any desire to watch hockey. Baseball, either. Or any number of other sports that I end up having to support with no choice in the matter. If you and yours are convinced that you'll get 600+ per game, have fun and enjoy your hockey games.

And I also noticed that you avoided every point I made in my last posting, Synergy...why is that?

Good Greif........

Well,seems we've another interesting topic for chat-up..So,here goes my limited 2-yen! Just this once,this one time,can we have the facts before the horse? Taking just the "estimate" I'd say somebody is dreaming,or outright lying again. $200K for updates,more like $500K. Still,we just may benefit from such an indulgence if we keep honest numbers,and fair play. Which "all" government has sorely lacked. Say,are we any better off since we first put Kohl,Ryan,Obey or Petri in office? Hmmmmm?

point of the matter is that the ice arena needs a facelift. if it takes a junior hockey team to come here and play to get it then so be it. and i do believe that the j-hawks have fundraisers every year to help with the upkeep of the rink. as far as beer sales go, if they can keep it away from the children then whats the problem. you cant tell me that adults have NEVER had a beer around their or someone elses child. if this is a flop and we lose then we paid for a ice arena upgrade that needed to be done years ago when I was a kid playing hockey there. Maybe if you went down to the rink and watched the high school games you would realize that there is a market for hockey. people come from all over the area just to watch the bluebirds and thats high school hockey. as far as who will play there its up to who tries out, its the gateway to college then to the pros. yes not many get to the pros, but hey if my child gets a scholarship due to a junior hockey team I say go get em. whether its my child or not.

Sarcasm doesn't become you, Synergy.

However, to your statment and question...

At no point did I say that there should not be a hockey team here. I DID say that I wasn't sure that we, the taxpayers should foot the bill for it. I also said that I had concerns about the idea of selling beer for a YOUTH hockey team.

If you carefully read what I've said, the complaining that I've done has more to do with the fact that the city has apparently been working on this for nearly a year and this is the first we've heard about it. I also am concerned that 18 months ago, the Gladiators were told that the city could not and would not let them play at Monterey Stadium...at no cost to the city...but now they are willing to shell out cash for hockey at the ice arena. Why the difference?

As for "brilliant ideas", I have none. I leave that kind of BS for those that think they already have all the answers. I don't claim to have the answers.

If you are so hot on the idea of a hockey team here...and remodeling the ice arena to handle it...then by all means, collect the cash, pay for the work and in 5 years or so, YOU will be able to say that you made money off of hockey, because the league would be paying YOU for the use of the arena.

Isn't that what free market is all about? If there is a market, someone will step up and put up the money to make what there is to be made?

If this is such a win-win idea, why does the league need the city to pay for the improvments?

And if the arena is good enough for our high school team to play at, why isn't it good enough for the new team?

Finally, the league stated that there would need to be 600-700 PAID attendance per game to be a viable team. Do you really believe that there is that much support for hockey in the Janesville area? And if there was, where the devil would they all park? The ice arena has a pretty small parking lot. I think I read that it is sized for about 125 cars. Could be off on that...anyone have better numbers on the parking lot?

parker/craig hockey is all we need. it is good clean hockey played well. they won again ssaturday night and face verona monday. go and have fun and have it without the promise of beer. i thank you!!

well madman@woody- what would you support then, all you people do is complain about the city getting this team or city wasting money. So whats your brilliant ideas?

Support? No, I would never go watch a hockey game. Good points madman.

Stacy...you are correct in that we aren't really talking about all that much money. The problems are:

1) The ice arena has always needed lots of money to operate, from the day it was built. We were told at the time that it'd be self supporting in a matter of a couple years.

2) We, the taxpayers, had very little chance to review the proposal nor much chance to tell the city how we felt...I feel that we are being railroaded into this.

3) The I still haven't seen or heard that the league will have local players or not.

Again, I don't care about the sport one way or the other...just the methods that are being used.

s for who will play on this team... Junior Hockey is (and will primarily consist of) kids 15-19 yrs old.. recruited from all over and be required to have schooling done (such as a private school setting (so many hours in the class room and time devoted to ice time) so if Lil Johnny want to play junior Hockey, he will have to show himself on the ice during his younger years of skating... Most likely he will for go high school and participate in the Junior A league and get his schooling from there.. HE WILL STIL GET AN EDUCATION ( the instructors are top notch educators and the coaching staff has to abide by the rules and regulation of the state they are in as to the education).. This is not a private school as they have in Minnesota or out east.. but it does serve as a seed program for the Collages and Pro teams.. Most of the collage kids playing now are from Junior A hockey.. very few are picked up right out of high school... the majority have had some Junior A hockey experience..
Paving Hwy 14 is the county's responsibility a(and the state not the city..so putting $200,000 into a facility for renovations... seems to be worth it..the Lockerrooms are WAY TOO SMALL even for youth hockey.. i am sure the mechanicals are in need of major updating also... these things have to be done even if they don't get hockey here..
concessions area is a joke.. parking is something to be desired..
and they need more stands, a decent press box and score booth.. I can go on.. over all if they bring in a program as this.. these things can and will be addressed eventually.. why not have some help doing so... IT IS CALLED INVESTING IN THE CITY FACILITIES (put money to work and then see progression.. simple small business attitude...

That's sorta what I expected, Sarah.

I don't wanna pi$$ on anyones parade here, but come on, do people really think that this is "The chance that little Johnny needs to break into the big league!"

Little Johnny needs to go to school and learn something...and if he has time, THEN go as a walk on to skate for the schools team.

That said, I hope this thing works...not because I like hockey...I don't...but if I'm going to be forced to pay for a pipedream, I want the chance for the pipedream to pay me back at some point.

And actually, it's not that I don't like hockey...I don't CARE about hockey one way or the other.

Madman1961: I may be wrong, but I don't expect to see many Wisconsin kids playing. About a week ago, I did a very quick scan of about half of the Junior team rosters. Most teams had about 25 players and few, if any, had more than a couple of guys from Wisconsin. Some teams did not list hometowns however.

I'm curious...has the league ever said WHO would be playing on this team? Would it be local kids, looking for a break into the majors? Or anyone that the league wants to see get ice time?

I've seen/read things on this topic and people seem to think that it'll be local kids playing, but I have seen nothing to back that up.

brewerguy-its not up to the city to give them (snappers) a new park. It takes alot more than that and before the city could even build, the MN Twins would have to approve the location change. And besides thats baseball, this topic is about hockey. Building a new baseball park would cost a heck of alot more than upgrading the ice arena. the 200,000 wouldnt even cover the grass, infield and fences. So....saying it now it would cost you a lot more and for future haters of this topic............ there ya go.

I think they should use the money to get the snappers a new park!!!

The question should be are you willing to cut teachers in order to pay for a Junior Hockey Team. If Junior Hockey is so obviously a money maker, then the private sector will fund it.

The roads are State funded. I would totally support a Junior Hockey program here. It's a great idea. Instead of the good young talent we have in this area going to Rockford or Madison we can keep them here.

i voted no. not sure why we need a hockey team yes it would bring in revenue but...maybe the city should concentrate on paving roads (hwy 14) just over the rock river instead. I bet it would be fun for the 1st yr if that but with the way the economy is going not sure how long it will last here. With property taxes so high now why would we want to pay more for this.

Take your heads out of the sand... If my child had a chance to play Junior hockey they would.. this is a great chance for some of the smaller venus to get exposure.. see JUNIOR A Hockey is a stepping stone for scholarships to college and contracts for the professional ranks of hockey..
Since there is not a lot of interest in the sport otherwise (such as football, Basketball, and Baseball) these kids need some other way to prove themselves to scouts and colleges.. I GIVE FULL SUPPORT TO THE CITY AND A HOCKEY PROGRAM for trying to get this off the ground.. it is a great way to spend some entertainment dollars and to bring in revenue for the city.. Spend a little to get a lot more..

thekai has it right...the Gazette didn't really define what supporting a hockey team means.

I do find it a little hard to swallow that the city wouldn't "support" semi-pro football a couple years ago but now they seem to want to spend money for a hockey league to come in.

And do they really think that there will be in excess of 600 people for every game that the league says is needed to make for a viable team?

I guess I have to say that I vote "no" because I won't go to a game...but the city isn't giving me much choice is whether I help support the team or not by taking it out of my taxes.

Coming from a Semi-pro football team and finding out how hard it is to get support from citizens, I would support them. Go to games or spread the world about them, whatever it maybe.

Someone needs to define the use of the word "support" here. I see nothing wrong with a team starting up here, but I seriously doubt if I would attend any games. I went to several in Mason City, Iowa, in the early 1990s and they were fun. But I am older now and it seems like a "did that, got the T-shirt" kind of thing now. Still, if the team can support itself, then I will welcome it with open arms and encourage all of my friends and family to check out a game or two or more.

I don't understand the question at all. Can someone please clear that up?

Just another way to spend money