David Winch

update to DW website bio ... davidwinch.website/about-me/

@ashkan @WatchMojo Didn’t Socrates already contend similar?

I love my team @WatchMojo - all sweethearts who mean well - but I’ve sheltered them from the realities and vagaries of competition. I’m gonna shock them into reality. This generation is weak. Zero mental toughness, zero resilience. I blame parents. Teachers. Society.

@ashkan @WatchMojo Bravo, all behind you — and save me that pair 1st base side….

20 years ago when I started fundraising for @WatchMojo, I was... bad. Like, really bad. Like the Michael Jordan of badness, and not in a Michael Jackson kinda way. My peers Shane Smith (Vice), Jim Bankoff (Vox), Jonah Peretti (Buzzfeed) were pros, raising billions. Not commenting on their style, but I was so honest, candid, transparent, and mainly, I didn't play... "the game." I didn't play hard to get, I needed funding, I sought partners, and showed it. I suppose you had to play hard to get, etc. Don't get me wrong: people were impressed with my track record even then, were intrigued by the promise of web video, but there were too many chasms to bridge (who the F wants to invest in content? In a Montreal startup? Relying on fair use? Shieet... ya better recognize). Fast forward 20 years, false modesty aside, WatchMojo is a bona fide mega hit to investors, and conversations with those who reply are unrecognizable from my convos 20 years ago. I wanna pinch myself. After the pleasantries and compliments, I tell them to stop buttering me up and ask them: 1. Are you interested in owning a sports franchise? 2. Are you interested in an @MLB team? 3. Are you interested in supporting an expansion bid? 4. Are you interested in investing in Montreal? I've rapidly learned bringing the @Montreal_Expos back is a daunting mission given those 4 questions, but interest is incredible, and if you have the patience, temperament and ability to address and answer those 4 questions, the sky is the limit. LFG.

@Imstilljon Avoid scapegoats, folks. Remember Dach after game 2 vs Tampa? Demidov always shooting into a crowd, but that will end .

In a game where the Habs went 1-for-7 on the powerplay Slafkovsky and Demidov’s decisions with the puck on the man advantage were not good enough #TSN690 #GoHabsGo

@GaryBodeux @ashkan @Montreal_Expos Ashkan has made no “promises” except to try his hardest; if you read his consolidated Twitter posts here you will see the efforts and multiple admissions that this may not work. Go Ashkan

@ashkan @Montreal_Expos I swear I am reading about the old WFL financing matters again. Same type of dreamers and hucksters leaving behind broken promises

Dear @Montreal_Expos fans, you may be stuck with me. It ain't over until it's over... and LOIs continue to trickle in and until the ownership group is finalized, I am working on building the best group. So jokes aside, I maintain that unless 1) fans, 2) investors and of course 3) @MLB asks me to stay involved, I am happy to pull a Keyser Soze and vanish. But I am also not naive: when investors commit to investing BILLIONS, you're ultimately making certain representations, promises, commitment to them. I was very proud that in 2020 (during Covid), our PE fund investor proceeded with the deal without ever meeting me in person (relying on other ways to do their due diligence). Similarly, seeing investors commit to BILLIONS and then add: "Ash is the guy we trust" (DCP is league lingo) is really very flattering and something I am very proud of. This was a gargantuan task: yes, there are many investors looking for sports-related assets, but most prefer infrastructure, stadium over franchise... and those who buy franchises favor existing operations in their backyard, not an expansion one in the furthest northern eastern part of the continent!

@ronsterd89 Skin

@Shaughndogg @LeverNews @grahamformaine @davidsirota Agree completely that Romney was a straight-arrow but got the “fascist ” treatment and was ridiculed relentlessly. Anddyes, that flop gave the opening for a no-holds barred GOP street fighter

Uh, no. The media put a glazing forcefield around sainted Barry and just refused to report on him being a terrible fucking president. Then, the GOP ran the most decent and honest candidate in modern history and he got bullied by the media and called Hitler and slandered left and right. So conservatives said “fuck it.” We’ll nominate Trump. And even with that many, many conservatives pushed back against him. But it was too late. The fight was on.

How did America go from Obama to Trump? Maine Senate candidate @grahamformaine tells @davidsirota it wasn’t some great mystery: Democrats bailed out banks, abandoned working people, and let corporate power keep running the party. Go and listen to the full episode over on The Lever's Youtube channel.

@L69fs Always odd too when big teams leave cities where they are supposedly top sport — Minnesota in hockey, Houston in football, Brooklyn in baseball

Insane that the Minnesota Wild have been around for a quarter century in the self-proclaimed “state of hockey” and appear to have no fan culture whatsoever. No traditions, no aura, no defining traits. Have never heard a single person say “I’m a Wild fan”. There’s just nothing.

@VinnysCorner1 Frank Mahovlich

Without saying your age…. Who was the best player on your favorite NHL team when you started watching Hockey? I’ll start…. Pat LaFontaine

@MoeKhan19 May was always great here for baseball….

Right now, the busiest time of the sports year is happening in Montreal: Canadiens playoffs Victoire playoffs Roses undefeated start Supra CFMTL Alliance about to tip off F1 weekend is around the corner Alouettes training camp about to begin

@SorayaMartinezF Expos!

Montréal est une ville de sports.🏅   C'est ce que nous confirme le Comité international olympique : Montréal a les infrastructures et l'écosystème parfait pour accueillir les nouvelles Q-Series au printemps 2028, en amont des Jeux olympiques de Los Angeles. Ce sont environ 500 athlètes et près de 75 000 spectateurs qui viendront visiter Montréal pour prendre part à cet événement d'envergure.   « L’Olympic Q-Series améliorera grandement le positionnement de Montréal au sein du mouvement olympique, au moment où le Comité olympique canadien nourrit de grandes ambitions pour le retour des Jeux au pays. »    On continue de redonner à Montréal son ambition.

@HawkEmDownChris J. Bowman won everywhere

Who’s the greatest head coach of all time? A) Bill Belichick B) Phil Jackson C) Nick Saban D) John Wooden E) Gregg Popovich F) Vince Lombardi G) Mike Krzyzewski H) Pat Summitt I) Joe Torre J) Scotty Bowman K) Comment another coach ✍️

@acoyne “Indulging”? Ottawa fantasy is that bureaucrats (and pundits) decide the political options we can discuss.

Apropos, from last year… We wasted 60 years indulging secessionist fantasies in Quebec. Must we make the same mistake in Alberta? theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl…

@raerexton1 @brianlilley She worked most of her life in Ontario, as a judge and law professor

@brianlilley Should of appointed someone from Alberta who also speaks French to try and keep that province in Canada but I guess Quebec is more important. Liberal politics showing again how they really think of Canada

Choosing Louise Arbour, a partisan activist, to be Canada's vide-regal actually undermines the role of the Governor General. This was the wrong choice. Read my latest in the Toronto Sun. torontosun.com/opinion/column…

@davidportier Hang on, I have Stephen Harper on the line to add a comment…

Official bilingualism ensures power in Canada will always be concentrated in the hands of people from Montreal.

@davidportier Uh, like Mark Carney? Ha. Dumb assertion.

@thesickpodcasts Bruins 2014 quarter-final more dramatic —PK!

What a series between the Canadiens and Lightning. Did this series rank among the best you can remember? YES or NO? 👇 Quelle série entre les Canadiens et le Lightning. Cette série se classe-t-elle parmi les meilleures dont vous vous souvenez? OUI ou NON? 👇 #Habs #GoHabsGo #nhlplayoffs #thesickpodcast

@KevinBuffalo And all the Cups in the 12-14 team NHL of the 1970s !

May you someday be as proud of something in your life as the Montréal Canadiens are about winning all those Cups when there were only 6 teams in the league.

@ashkan Elias at 11.30… be there or be square

@thesickpodcasts @TonyMarinaro Dobes

ONE WORD: Use one word to describe the Habs winning the series over the Lightning! #thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro

@ashkan Expos fans have NOT moved on….

I know it's easy to shut down critics and haters and tell them to go suck it. But no—no one’s sucking anything. Here's why: I’ve heard a lot of reasons why the #PeanutProject was “impossible.” 1) “Fans have moved on.” Nope. Au contraire. As someone who has studied fandom and made a living serving it for 25 years, I’ve never seen a stronger signal of demand than for the @Montreal_Expos. 2) “Media doesn’t care.” Wrong. Media loves the Expos. Local media (some, not all) remains traumatized and hesitant to re-engage. That’s fine—they’re not going anywhere, and summer needs content. Expect a tidal wave of coverage in the days, weeks, and months to come. Consider the first 160 days our stealth mode. Just imagine. 3) “There’s no money.” Capital addressed in ~100 days. To the point where I may even allocate some out West to support the @WhitecapsFC—if it makes sense. I’m serious. Oh, and my "arbitrage" article from earlier today nudged a few on the "seems a bit premature for us, but good luck with that pistachio project" into the "Ash, are you back from Miami yet? Let's catch up... we always believed in ya, buddy!" Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, with @WatchMojo 4) “Rogers won’t allow it.” That’s a misunderstanding of business, sports, and especially the business of sports. Their posture on Vancouver already signals that. And let’s be honest—they care more about BC than Quebec. When we clash in Paris, London, Tokyo and Seoul, I promise to send you some selfies. 5) “No land. No stadium.” Look at a map. Then open your eyes. We’ll be unveiling five target locations in the coming weeks in the biggest Reverse Psychology exercise in ages. You want a year-round 4C Creative Cultural Commercial Campus with a Museum, School of Entrepreneurship, Housing, and more? Tell us why. 6) “What about City Hall?” What about it? When was the last time any level of government turned down billions in foreign investment—kicking off a new construction cycle as condos wane? Politics is short-term messaging. Business is long-term momentum. If you don’t feel the tremors, check your pulse. 7) "@MLB doesn’t want Montreal.” Really? Do you know many American executives who wouldn’t jump at the chance to spend a few days in Montreal in the summer? I can't share everything to avoid getting anyone in trouble, but give an American the chance to expense a trip to YUL, and they'll take it every day of the week and twice on Sundays. 8) “What about [insert other city]?” Do you really think owners paying ever-higher salaries want to carve up their own backyard with an unproven market that eats into their territory? Let’s be serious. 9) “There's no way you will stay patient." I went six years without paying myself, building for no one, and unsure if @YouTube would pan out. "Roses are red, Violets are flowers, We shall go on... For hours and hours." (Dan Fielding Night Court reference, btw) We're just getting started... 10) What else you got? Whatever it is—try harder. LFG.