Rob Ford’s wild night at the ACC: a four-point recap
Anyone fortunate enough to have ignored the news over the weekend missed a sad—albeit unsurprising—story on Sunday. No, not Mickey Rooney. Rob Ford. The mayor made an appearance at Saturday night’s Leafs game, and things, as they have tended to do lately, got out of hand.
Here’s the short version, for your Monday catch-up edification.
1) He was denied special treatment
According to the Star, Ford’s companion during the game, councillor Frank DiGiorgio, says the trouble started when the mayor was denied access to the ACC’s Directors’ Lounge, an exclusive party room he and his friend Sandro Lisi, who has since been charged with drug dealing and extortion, had been admitted to at least once before.
The mayor didn’t take the slight gracefully. Observers say he became irate, because he believed he was being punished for voting against a $10 million city loan to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for the expansion of BMO field.
2) He stormed off
What happened next isn’t exactly clear, but it seems as though the mayor had some kind of encounter with ACC security. According to the Star, he wasn’t outright asked to leave, but did receive a warning. Nobody but Ford knows whether alcohol was a factor. Later that night, NOW Magazine’s Jonathan Goldsbie saw the lights on in the mayor’s office. According to Goldsbie, the mayor left city hall in a cab, a little after midnight.
City Hall security just put Ford into a Beck Taxi. Good for them and good for him.
— Jonathan Goldsbie (@goldsbie) April 6, 2014
3) He went to a club
After Ford left city hall, Instagram and Twitter users began posting pictures of him at Muzik, a nightclub he’s been spotted at on other occasions. It’s not clear what he did while he was there, but one Twitter user who claims to have been in the club that night says the mayor’s visit was brief.
Puzzling that Mayor Ford was huddled in a corner at Muzik for 15 min. Can't see any possible upside, politically or socially.
— Jerry (@NorthYorkJays) April 6, 2014
4) MLSE says he was out of line
As for the Directors’ Lounge denial that set this whole chain of events in motion, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is saying it had nothing to do with the mayor’s BMO Field vote. According to the Star, MLSE officials claim there was a private party happening in the lounge, and that the room was at capacity.
Bonus: a video of Rob Ford proudly proclaiming that he hasn’t had an incident at the Air Canada Centre since 2006:
Well, it was a good run.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/rob-fords-wild-night-at-the-acc-recap/&title=Rob Ford’s wild night at the ACC: a four-point recap&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/rob-ford-at-the-acc-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_269284" align="alignnone" width="656"] Rob Ford meets Toronto Batman outside the ACC on Saturday. (Image: pfunk36/Instagram)[/caption]
Anyone fortunate enough to have ignored the news over the weekend missed a sad—albeit unsurprising—story on Sunday. No, not Mickey Rooney. Rob Ford. The mayor made an appearance at Saturday night's Leafs game, and things, as they have tended to do lately, got out of hand.
Here's the short version, for your Monday catch-up edification.
1) He was denied special treatment
According to the Star, Ford's companion during the game, councillor Frank DiGiorgio, says the trouble started when the mayor was denied access to the ACC's Directors' Lounge, an exclusive party room he and his friend Sandro Lisi, who has since been charged with drug dealing and extortion, had been admitted to at least once before.
The mayor didn't take the slight gracefully. Observers say he became irate, because he believed he was being punished for voting against a $10 million city loan to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for the expansion of BMO field.
2) He stormed off
What happened next isn't exactly clear, but it seems as though the mayor had some kind of encounter with ACC security. According to the Star, he wasn't outright asked to leave, but did receive a warning. Nobody but Ford knows whether alcohol was a factor. Later that night, NOW Magazine’s Jonathan Goldsbie saw the lights on in the mayor's office. According to Goldsbie, the mayor left city hall in a cab, a little after midnight.
City Hall security just put Ford into a Beck Taxi. Good for them and good for him.— Jonathan Goldsbie (@goldsbie) April 6, 2014
3) He went to a club
After Ford left city hall, Instagram and Twitter users began posting pictures of him at Muzik, a nightclub he's been spotted at on other occasions. It's not clear what he did while he was there, but one Twitter user who claims to have been in the club that night says the mayor's visit was brief.
Puzzling that Mayor Ford was huddled in a corner at Muzik for 15 min. Can't see any possible upside, politically or socially.— Jerry (@NorthYorkJays) April 6, 2014
4) MLSE says he was out of line
As for the Directors' Lounge denial that set this whole chain of events in motion, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is saying it had nothing to do with the mayor's BMO Field vote. According to the Star, MLSE officials claim there was a private party happening in the lounge, and that the room was at capacity.
Bonus: a video of Rob Ford proudly proclaiming that he hasn't had an incident at the Air Canada Centre since 2006:
Well, it was a good run.){kind=link}
Huddled in a corner? What could that possibly mean? :-)
All of the Fords’ conspiracy theories are bogus; some the natural effluvia of addled brains, some conscious lies in desperate strategies to con the duped into voting for Ford. New York magazine calls Ford’s Saturday night ‘bizarre’, but in Toronto this won’t make the top 100 list of public misbehavior of the mayor, any one of which on the list would cause a normal politician to resign, and a populace with high standards to demand resignation.
In the now grand pantheon of Rob Ford antics and incidents, this one is somewhat minor. However, as with all Rob Ford events, it’s not the singular, event that is key, it’s the pattern that spins out – the questionable decisions and bad judgment, the inappropriate behavior, the different versions of the events, with an alternative version, often very different than the factual evidence, almost always supplied by Doug Ford, the silence of Rob Ford himself, mystery hours and hours of time( what was the Mayor doing in his office from 10pm – 1:30am on a Saturday night – consituent calls???), the Mayor never taking any responsibility for anything, and . . so on
means he was snorting ketamine by himself.
ROB FORD IS A MASSIVE KETAMINE ADDICT. EVERY1 WHO KNOWS KNOWS. WAKEUP TORONTO YOUR PAYING A DRUG DEALERS HABITS.
I think MLSE is out of line for ripping off Toronto sports fans. They need public money to expand their business? Please.
It’s a loan! They will pay it back with interest. The city makes money on it and still owns the stadium. Can you say win-win?
The man is an entitled addict. Nothing special.