Call me a dreamer, but on Canada Day, my Canadian Football League includes Halifax. I'm not alone.
"You know," CFL commissioner Tom Wright was saying this week, "the 100th Grey Cup will be played in 2012. It would be pretty cool to have a truly national league by then."
Wright plugged the notion of expansion in his first Grey Cup news conference last November and you had to like his moxie. Better to talk about a new team than the two in Hamilton and Toronto that had gone bankrupt.
But now that attendance issues, at least for the time being, are being addressed in both cities, Wright's vision of a national footprint for the CFL seems more sensible than ever.
"When you have nine strong franchises with money in the bank, that's when you can consider expansion," Hamilton Tiger-Cats owner Bob Young said.
Moncton, Quebec City and London also have been bandied about as potential sites, but Halifax seems the slam-dunk choice.
Wright was in Atlantic Canada this month, sniffing about.
"Halifax would be the natural spot to locate," he said. "It's the centre of commerce in the area and Saint Mary's University has operated a very successful football program."
The CFL finally has found its bearings as a mid-level league built for crowds of 20,000 to 25,000. Halifax-Dartmouth's population of 400,000 is twice that of Regina. Attendance shouldn't be a problem.
Halifax would offer a host of benefits to the league.
Expansion to the Maritimes would balance the CFL at 10 teams.
That would fix the schedule, end the possibility of a crossover matchup in the league championship and, by bringing Atlantic Canada into the party, making the Grey Cup a truly national event.
The CFL could offer advertisers a truly sea-to-shining-sea league.
"Hockey is Canada's game, but the CFL is Canada's league," Wright said. "Your heart says you want all the regions in the country represented. Your head says: 'What a great chance to balance the league.' But you've also got to think about that thing in your back right pocket, your wallet."
None of Eastern Canada's money boys, the McCains, the Irvings or the Sobeys, have expressed interest in obtaining a team. And there's nowhere to play.
Politicians at the federal and provincial level have not, publicly at least, expressed interest in funding a stadium.
Yes, the Argos hurdled that problem, but it took a novel partnership between the University of Toronto and the Canadian Soccer Association to give the governments a way into the deal.
That whole plan still could fall apart should Canada not land the 2007 under-20 World Cup of soccer.
The return of the CFL to Ottawa was gained through sound management and a patient public, but none of it would have been possible had developers got their way and razed lovely Frank Clair Stadium after the Rough Riders folded in 1996. You need a stadium.
No park means no exhibition games to determine fan interest. Without that data, no reasonable businessperson could be expected to bankroll a new ball park. Mr. Chicken, meet Mr. Egg. Try not to argue about who came first.
From the league point of view, the absence of a dry run makes assessing the assets of the market nearly impossible.
"What you don't want," Wright said, "is the same pie divided 10 times instead of nine. Would a 10th team mean an increased bump in broadcast and merchandise sales? Are you able to offer something of enough interest to a nationwide sponsor that you could perhaps adjust your rates upward?"
We may never know. Wanted on Canada Day: One rich Maritimer looking for a legacy. Call Tom Wright at the CFL. It's in the book.
