Londoners have thrown the ball to London city council. Now it's a question of whether the politicians want to catch it or not.

Hockey fans have shown their support for bringing the 2006 world junior hockey championship to London by putting $50 deposits down on more than 6,600 ticket packages valued at $795 each in London.

The goal when this drive began three weeks ago was to sell between 3,500 and 5,000 packages in hopes the numbers would impress city council to act as a guarantor for a required $4-million profit to be split between the International Ice Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada.

While the final ticket total is impressive and amounts to about $5 million in revenue, it seems that before the city commits to that kind of cash there will be plenty of questions asked of John Winston, manager of Tourism London, the city department heading up the bid.

The first roasting will happen tomorrow at board of control. The board will decide whether to support the effort or not and it will go to council next Monday.

If council votes in favour of supporting the event as the guarantor, Winston will submit a bid to Hockey Canada by Jan. 5. If the city votes to keep the purse strings closed, the bid will die.

"There is no other alternative to council as a guarantor," Winston said.

One thing is certain. Winston and his group had better have all the answers to the questions board of control and council will have.

A harbinger of what awaits came from Deputy Mayor Tom Gosnell. His reaction to the bid was muted at best.

It was clear from comments Gosnell made that Winston's presentation is going to have to be convincing before Gosnell -- and most likely several others on council -- are going to commit the city to cover a profit shortfall.

That's as it should be.

While a world junior hockey tournament is a spectacular event that would provide entertainment for the hockey fan, the job of the politician is to ensure that taxpayers' money is well spent and protected.

That hasn't exactly been a priority of previous councils.

Considering the invasion of taxpayers' pocketbooks which will take place over the next few years, Gosnell should be thanked for ensuring that hype isn't mistaken for cash when it comes to pursuing the tournament.

While more than $5 million in ticket revenue is all but guaranteed, the tournament will cost between $8 million and $10 million to run.

Revenue will also come from corporate sponsorships and ancillary events. It remains prudent to be informed before committing taxpayer dollars.

Bring-it-here-at-all-costs might be attractive to hockey junkies but it's neither wise nor beneficial for the long-term health of other events that might want to come here.

For all the hoopla surrounding the 2001 Canada Summer Games, they did not provide anywhere near the financial return predicted and might have left some people wary about investing in sports tourism again.

Winston was cautious before he began the bid process, indicating that unless he could come up with a "fiscally prudent" bid, he wouldn't bother going to council.

Winston believes he has a fiscally prudent bid, that he can answer all the tough financial questions.

His personal opinion is there is virtually "no risk" to the city in backing the bid. He will go to board of control with a more prudent "minimal risk" statement.

"The truth is, I wouldn't be hanging my ass out on this if I didn't feel it would work," Winston said.

He will make his presentation to board of control in camera. It involves financial details, including what he says are "significant concessions" to help the bid by Global Spectrum, which manages the John Labatt Centre.

The presentation will include financial information that will make a decision by council a more comfortable one, Winston hopes.

"We've been very realistic on expenditures and revenue," he said.

"It boils down to one thing. If the city wants to bid on events of international and national stature, there is always an element of risk.

"Council put $2 million into the Canada Summer Games and backed any shortfall. That was open-ended."

The world junior hockey tournament is a different dog. Winston has a bid that's far more advanced than many of the other bids.

He has real money, including more than $5 million in ticket revenue.

He has an event of true national and international stature.

Selling is a tough business, but it's made a lot easier by the quality of the product he's peddling.