If you wish Tim Leiweke to stay, join us at Facebook!

[bonjovi0308]

Some fans of the Toronto Raptors have started a facebook campaign hoping Tim Leiweke to stay. Personally I think the chance is minimum for Tim to stay no matter what we do, but we need to send a LOUD message to the MLSE board to let them know that they suck!

So if you wish Tim Leiweke to stay and are discontent with the MLSE board, please join us at the Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1451473685125504/

Just in case no one mentions why Tim leaves:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/590/ click the Leiweke is leaving audio. It's 16 minutes long.

Whenever he's spoken to TL, he's told him the truth so he was confident in his sources

Hockey fans are unsure about him leaving

Toronto FC fans are the most worried

He's heard that TL wanted at least 1 more year and isn't sure if he wanted less then that

TL in Toronto was not a long term thing

Shanhan always knew he wasn't gonna have too long to work with TL

When TL came here he asked for power and he got it and that made him enemies because the board was used to having control

MLSE at the time TL was hired always viewed this as a short term thing but one thing that upset them were the constant rumors about TL leaving to go to the Clippers or another organization.

Bell/Roger relationship is difficult, but obviously this decision with TL leaving got done last night somehow

At the end of the day both companies wanna beat each other. They unite for certain things but they're cut throat competitors and when you have things like Rogers winning over Bell in a brutal way for the hockey rights deal, it's gonna leave some hard feelings.

Navigating that was a challenge for TL and its going to continue to be a challenge for the next CEO

Its gonna be interesting to see what he says as to whether it was his decision or the boards decision to leave. He's going to have to ask him that but this was never gonna be a long term stop for him.

He has a 2 year non compete in the US which would go to March. It was obvious from his statements the other day that this was gonna be his last year here. It became a matter of if not when.

Toronto FC fans are the most worried, what does this mean for our team? TL was the driving force and your hoping the next guy cares about them as much as he did

If your a Raptor fan, Masai has cache right now. After the year he had last year, your looking at him and saying you believe in what he's doing.

Leaf fans are mixed.

TL legacy is gonna be determined few years from now. Anything sooner is ridiculous.

Most of the ideas implemented during TL tenure here were his and not MLSE's.

TL is a confident guy, believes in himself and his ideas. Most of the decisions were his. At times it bothered people on the board because they were used to having the final say

Hes a bulldozer and hes gonna do what he wants whether you like it or not.

Cohan and a few other names thrown around for the future successor.

Maybe the board wants a yes man but I think more then anything its hard having that job without control when the board is used to having it.

Richard Peddy towards the end of his tenure here hired BC and Bruke and let those 2 do there jobs while he handled the business side of things. In my opinion that's how it should be. TL did that

One of the things they're gonna have to battle is the next guy that comes is going to have to manage the split/fraction between Bell and Rogers.

[Brew666]

I'm a big fan of TL and was pretty pissed w/ MLSE when I heard he was leaving but now I'm leaning towards this is more TL's decision than the boards. Timing might be MLSE's doing but TL was leaving sooner than later and that was always the story.

This was a stepping stone for TL and nothing more. He's not coming back into the same role, he wants ownership not just being a CEO/President.

The other part of the equation is MLSE doesn't care about the fans, it's all about the dollar. They're willing to win, but only at a specific cost [See Rogers/Blue Jays]. Petitions aren't going to persuade them in business decisions, only if you stop paying for the product will they actually listen. And in that case, I'm sure they'll justify not spending more so the suits can still rake in the cash.

Sorry for being a debbie downer but I've been a Toronto sports fan for too long and have been screwed over by both of these telecommunication companies to believe they actually care about our opinion if we're still handing them money.

In somewhat seriousness, if you want to win this war, then do what you can to make sure your offspring never cheer for a team owned by a publicly traded company. If you love a sport, support the amateur/semi-pro local sport teams, not the teams that are owned by the cable networks that charge you $100/month to watch regional games. But maybe you're like me and are far too invested in these teams not to cheer for them.

[Ado05]

Sucks to see TL leave, but honestly he didnt do much for the Leafs. The one thing he did do was fine (bringing in Shanny), and now Shanahan can call the shots when it comes to the Leafs.

[Brew666]

You're right, he hasn't done much with the Leafs but I have faith in his decision making. Coming into last season I thought the Leafs were in much better shape than they were and I think a lot of people were in the same boat as me including TL. But I absolutely love how he's given support to each franchise and as much as I know, is allowing the presidents/managers make the sports decisions. Hopefully the days of knee jerk reactions are over when it comes to managing these franchises which I believe is one of the biggest issues with how these teams had been run.

The person I want replacing TL is someone who can continue improving the basketball and soccer side. If MLSE hires a hockey guy, the Raps and TFC are going to suffer and that's a depressing thought as I'm a huge basketball and soccer fan.

If the Leafs are being run even at an adequate level the rest will take care of it self. It's the richest and one of the most storied franchises in the league. The Leafs have been run extremely poorly but the fact that they make so much money muddies the water in that respect. If the Leafs want to grow their brand/improve profitability they just have to win. They've yet to play a game but Shanahan seems to be getting them on the right track. Like Masai, he's being patient and wants the chance to evaluate the franchise internally. With the hiring of Dubas et al. there's no reason why the Leafs shouldn't be in the forefront of evaluating the game and players.