There has been some clamor here and there about the “shrinking roof” on soon-to-be-finalized (going on a week plus now) PPL Park. Cutting costs, taking a little bit off the edges, whatever you want to call it. Nobody is complaining butthere’s a lot of chatter here and there after the release of the most recent gorgeous mock-up of The People’s Stadium (check the polls! – it’s  not winning…yet).

The original summer 2008 model

Montreal is extremely close to getting a franchise currently. Whether it’s in 2011 or 2012 (more likely), Canada should have a third team in the league very shortly. Headed by family-businessman Joey Saputo, the club already has around a 13,000 person stadium, a pretty rabid fanbase, and a decent squad of players (some of which could make the leap to Major League Soccer Seattle-style). Now rewind back almost 15 months ago when that chatter first started and Joey Saputo was making all the fuss about the expansion fee to get a Major League Soccer franchise. At the same time, Jay Sugarman – principal Union owner – had watched his iStar Financial hit rock bottom in share price (90% loss in almost 6 months all thanks to overleveraged mortgages) and rumors started that he would have to bail. Stadium site development was crawling and/or nonexistant though slated to begin in mid-November 2008. Overall, Union fans were in “how do I stay optimistic” mode when that Montreal rumor was released into the wild. Would Montreal take Philadelphia’s spot if, in fact, their ownership group was dissolving and things weren’t getting done in the City of Brotherly Love? MLS Rumors, all the rage then, threw the rumor out to the masses angering many, confusing some, and making us all do a little ’what if?’ double-take in our heads. Cooler heads prevailed on this one and we’ll never know – until we get the chance to ask someone -whether or not there was any danger surrounding the nascent Philly franchise back in October 2008. I know, however, there were many out there – die-hards – whose heart skipped a beat at losing what only recently had been called theirs.

Hindsight clearly is 20/20. The Phillies were in the middle of a World Series run then – making a ”groundbreaking” announcement on the stadium would be lost in the MLB hubbub, and clearly, if the research was done, most of the funding for the stadium site was coming from government sources NOT from Jay Sugarman’s pocket. But a rumor persists and this one did. To put us at ease, Nick Sakiewicz dropped this in the thick of things, “Everything is going very

Later in the fall of 2008

well,” he said. “It’s been about eight months since we announced the franchise and the months have flown by. We’ve done mountains of work behind the scenes, including securing all necessary permits to start construction. We’re fully locked and loaded with the stadium site and cleanup is well underway”. It wasn’t a cure-all but the rumor eventually died especially after a rather public addition from Joey Saputo slamming Commissioner Don Garber and Major League Soccer’s expansion process. Many passed it off as a ‘I never believed it anyway” but amidst all this shrinking roof talk (which really isn’t that loud by the way), let us remember the long process this franchise has come through, the leadership Nick Sakiewicz and the ownership group has provided through the ups and downs, and ultimately where we are now – standing 5 days from the first exhibition in our club’s history.

Union fans…looking back, do you remember giving this rumor any credence? Is there anyone out there that really cares about losing a few feet on the roof as long as we have a stadium to call our own?