Montreal has won the bid to host GG7 over Chicago, Atlanta and L.A. What do you all think of that?

The girls better get out their best furs.

Great! Montreal is wicked fun. I don't know anything about the sporting facilities at their disposal, but if soem of the venues from the '76 Olympics are still viable, how cool would that be?

Have the dates been set?

Montreal to host a sporting event??? Aren't the Expos leaving because of no attendance. Didn't their local chapter of Front Runners fold? Isn't the '76 Olympic Stadium crumbling? Montreal might be fun but not a sports city!

Better Montreal than LA. LA is not an easy place to navigate for out of towners, and none of the sporting events would be centrally located. And the number of available, cheap lodgings in West Hollywood is dismal.
The list of "why not" could go on and on.
Being from Atlanta, I can say that ATL is untenable as well. The biggest complaint about the 96 Olympics there was that it was too difficult for people to move between venues, and there mass transit system SUCKS.
Montreal seems an acceptable choice.

Yippee!!!!!!!

This isn't a typical sporting event where they need the locals to attend, and the status of Olympic Stadium isn't an issue unless they want to hold events there, which seems unlikely. As for being a sports city, they are RABID about the Canadiens. Their hockey fans are as passionate and demanding as any other fans.

Montreal ain't a sports town - which is a bit troubling. Also troubling to me, personally, is the extent to which the bid hinges on government support. I wonder to what extent voters voted AGAINST the U.S. as opposed to FOR Montreal.

I am curious about Montreal and their identity, I have a lot of relatives that live in British Columbia and know they are really proud to be Canadians, but I keep hearing about Quebec wanting to break away and become an independent country. As far as them supporting sports, Ive also heard the Montreal Canadiens NHL team was bought by an American and that was a real embarrasment. Not to mention the Expos leaving town. I would like to learn more about Montreal.

Montreal is actually quite a nice city. Incredibly beautiful and the people can be mostly friendly.
As for the issue of separtism. The media tends to blow the issue of separtism out of proportion. It is not a majority of quebecois who want to leave Canada, it is only a minority, primarily based in certain regions of the province.

I think the problem with the expos lies in the fact that they also seem to come up short. The years where they were actually quite good, people went out to see them. Plus, it doesnt help matters that Olympic stadium is badly in need of repair.

Without knowing anything about local support, etc., I think Montreal is a great choice!! We can also have flag football again!! lol!!

What would be nice would be to coordinate the softball GWS with the Gay Games for once!! NAGAAA has always had an unfortunate negative attitude toward the Gay Games.

Thank God it was not LA!!

Hello gentlemen. This is my first time on this discussion board so I hope I am doing this well. Being from Montreal I will try to answer some of your aprehensions and misconceptions regarding the Gay games taking place in Montreal. First of all, you will not need your furs. montreal is quite warm in the summer- shorts and t-shirts are appropriate. you must get rid of the perception that Canada is covered with snow and freezing all the time.

The Olympic stadium is not crumbling. like every other building in the world it needs occasional repairs and there have been some unfortunate accidents in the past. right now the roof is in the process of being changed as it is made of kevlar which is a material that deteriorates with time and its life expectancy is close to an end. this is something that is normal and planned. If security was a concern in the Olympic Stadium it would be closed. On November 11 the Grey Cup will be held there and it is sold out-56 000 people. (this is the Canadian Super bowl). The Expos play there and the many fairs and expositions organized in the Big O draw millions of participants every year. The openning and closing ceremonies are planned to be held there. Most of the other venues to be used for GGVII were also used for the olympics and are still used today for local and international events.

Who said Montreal is not a sports town? Because the Expos are leaving is not an indication to rely on. The Expos are leaving because it is impossible for a Canadian city other than Toronto which is the economic center of Canada and the most populated area to compete and with american markets. The high salaries in pro sports and the low value of our dollar explains this. Winnipeg and Quebec City have lost their NHL teams because of this and they are still hockey towns. it is predicted that Montreal will probably lose the Canadians hockey team. Does this make this city less of a sport city? NO. The Expos used to draw fans in the 80s before the salaries started going up and we started losing are best players. this team has been losing for the last ten years and more and baseball fans are just fed up. look at what has happened to the Chicago Blackhawks. they used to draw 21 000 fans 5 years ago but after missing the playoffs 4 years strait, they have a hard time attracting 10 000 fans. Is Chicago a sports city any less?

You need more facts?

The Grand Prix attracts over 200 000 spectators every year.
Tha Dumaurier tennis event is the largest 1 week tennis tournament in the world with over 100 000 spectators and this for the last few years.
The Canadians had the highest attendance in the NHL last year (over 20 000 per game) even if they missed the play-offs for the third cosecutive year.
montreal will host a CART event starting in 2002.
The tickets for the Grey Cup were all sold out in less than 1 week.
All the football games for the Alouettes are sold out for the second season in a row.
The local soccer team had the highest attendance in the A league a few years back but will probably fold because of money problems like the Expos.

On the gay sport scene, Montreal has some of the largest hockey, volleyball, softball, tennis and aquatics tournaments.

To top it all off, Montreal is also a cultural city with major international festivals which draw millions of visitors all year round.

Transportation in Montreal is easy and the subway system is great. All venues will be accessible by metro and are less than 30 minutes from each other.

As for the Canadians being bought by a foreigner, yes it is an embarrassment. The Canadians are to hockey what the Yankees are to baseball. They are the most renowned hockey team in the world withe the most Stanley Cups (24 I think?. It is as if the Yankees were bought by some japanese!! Hockey is canada,s national sport after all!

Seperation? Yes, Quebec might seperate from Canada some day abd that is its democratic right. If it does, it will be done in a peaceful and civilized way. Canada has never had an internal war and was built peacefully. Quebec has had two referendums so far and both time its citizens voted to stay part of Canada. If another referendum is to be held and the majority of people voted to leave canada, this would be done peacefully and would not affect the gay Games. enough politics!!!

As for NAGAAA, it is quite improbable for the GWS to be held in the GG since these are open to all teams while GWS is not. I don<t think NAGAAA is very open to modifying its rules. The softball league in Montreal has twice (94 an 98) looked into the possibility of joining NAGAAA but has both times decided not to because of its restrictive and coercitive regulations. NAGAAA would have a lot to gain from NAGVA s rules in order to enable more cities to join its ranks.

Hope this reply has answered some of your questions and that we will be able to meet in Montreal in 2006!

bonjour, your insights and knowledge are welcome on this board and certainly necessary considering the fact that the vast majority of Americans consider Canada to be the frozen land to the north. However, I think you might have taken some good natured fun a little seriously. This is a pretty fun board in a rough and tumble way, but it helps to make sure tongue is firmly in cheek and the sense of humor is fully engaged when reading.

I think Montreal is a terrific choice. I enjoyed my one visit there. I think the city's embracing or not of the Expos has zero to do with how a gay event will go. I just hope the organizers have their act together. It's a tremendous undertaking.

[ October 31, 2001: Message edited by: Jim at Outsports ]

I'm looking forward to getting back to Montreal for the Gay Olympics, especially since we can legally call them that there! It IS a nice, cosmopolitan city, beautifully situated, full of history and with great nightlife. We went there for Expo 67, stayed with friends on Rue de l'Epee off Jean Talon and had such a great time we went back the next Summer. In '90 I returned there for a few days and enjoyed it just as much as I did when I was a kid. The natatorium was in great shape and I biked and boozed all over town. Too bad Benedict Arnold couldn't have held onto it in '76 - it would have been a nice addition to the United States. It might yet be; que sera, sera!

Hey now maybe regular Americans like us can actually afford to go to the Gay Games since itll be in Montreal.
I dont know about you, but I dont have a couple thousand dollars lying around to fly to Australia, as much as Id like to.

I think Monteal is a good choice for the gay games. They have a large and vibrant gay community (it's a major stop on the party "circuit"), have a wonderful European ambiance, and are supportive of sports--albeit somewhat selectively. Their football team (the Alouettes) was doing poorly at Olympic stadium so they moved to McGill (university) stadium and now they sell out. The Montreal Grand Prix is a huge event. They hosted the Canadian Open golf tournament this year to great success. Hockey is big. But, yes, the Expos are failing and are now not much more than a farm team for the rest of the league.

The weather is beautiful in the summer. Lots of great restaurants. Easy to get around the city. Cheap Canadian dollar. What more could you ask for?

Reply to DallasUNC.

If it only costs a couple of thousand dollars to get to Sydney(for Gay Games 2002) and experience Sydney life and Australian hospitality/men then it is a bargain!

Hooray for Montreal!!

My point on NAGAAA was that they have resisted the Gay Games [maybe this goes back to some old fight in the gay community in SF in the 1970's!!] for years. It seems that they see it as competition, unlike other sports, who gladly blend their competitions into the Gay Games every 4 years. It seems a little silly to play things this way, and impoverishes softball, not the Gay Games.

While it owuld have been a good show of support to give the next GG to a US city, according to what I read, the US city bids were simply not as good. The gay crowds attending should be able to gather in easy commute, and all the US cities would have resulted in a transportation nightmare. At least it's back in North America.

Montreal is an amazingly fun city, and much more sexually liberated than even San Francisco. Start with the strip bars (full frontal erections!) and work your way up. Even the lesbians have several clubs to chose from. It's bilingual, no HIV ban (as with all of the US), and it's convenient to NYC, DC, Boston, etc.

Many of the sports events will be near each other, creating, like in Sydney, a sort of athletes' village. Start polishing your French, guys!