BC Lions centre Angus Reid has teamed up with teammate  Andrew Harris to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club. Reid runs a t-shirt screening business and has used his artistic talent to create a caricature t-shirt of the Lions star running back.

The shirts come in sizes from small to XXL and you can order them directly from Andrew’s web site, Harris33.com. They are $25.00 each and $10.00 extra if you would like them shipped, anywhere in Canada.

Angus asked me to see if any of our blog readers, local fans and tailgaters would be interested to pre-order and be able to pick them up from at the Western Final tailgate party. This way you’ll have them for the game and you’ll save $10.00 on shipping.

• Leave a comment below with your order, clearly stating size.
• You must pay for and pick up your shirt at the Western Final tailgate.
• I will not have extras for sale, only what was pre-ordered.
• Ladies, if you would like a women’s cut shirt you must post your order by Monday afternoon!

All proceeds from the shirts will go to the Boys and Girls Club charity.

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In my life time, I’ve been fortunate enough to watch some of the truly great athletes of all-time in their prime. Names that come to mind are Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Warren Moon, Doug Flutie and Anthony Calvillo among others.

In Vancouver sports history there have been popular athletes that have endeared themselves to fans and the community. Among them are Trevor Linden, Kirk McLean, Rick Hansen, Bob Lenarduzzi, Jim Young, Al Wilson and Lui Passaglia. But would you classify any of them as “superstars”?

I feel that same good fortune when I realize I have watched the career of Geroy Simon and in particular his 11 years with the BC Lions. As Simon continues his climb to become the CFL’s all-time leader in receiving yards and his journey to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, it’s time to realize how blessed football fans in British Columbia have been to not only watch his accomplishments off the field but also appreciate his all-star performance off it.

A native of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Simon had dreams of playing in the NFL. Given a real opportunity it’s quite possible that he may have never landed in the CFL. The NFL’s politics were the CFL’s gain and after starting his career behind a stacked receiving core in Winnipeg, Simon landed with the Lions and never looked back.

Not only has Simon been an all-star on the field, he’s also become a member of the community. He lives in Vancouver year round and lends his name and time to many charity events. Imagine one of the CFL’s greatest receivers of all-time coaching your son’s football team. Yeah, he does that too. He’s an athlete giving back to his community, a quality not uncommon among CFL players. Simon certainly earns more than many CFL players as a star receiver, but it hasn’t stopped him from making a difference.

Angus Reid, who has played with Simon his whole career, agrees that Simon probably deserves to be appreciated more as a sports icon in Vancouver.

Audio: Angus Reid Talks About Geroy Simon

So enjoy him while you can football fans. We have been blessed to watch a great player, a classy individual who has made this city his home and has given back to it in return. The next time you talk about the great athletes in BC sports history, make sure that Geroy Simon is included in the discussion.

He is truly one of the best of all-time. He’s our Superman.

Thanks to Jacqueline Blackwell of the BC Lions for obtaining the audio for this blog on our behalf.

>> Want to see Geroy Simon do his thing in the newly renovated BC Place? We have a great contest in the works that might get you there for opening night!

We want you to be part of the BCLionsDen.ca “Tailgate Empire”.

As s souvenir for the great tailgate parties we’ve enjoyed and will enjoy this season at Empire Field, we’ve created a t-shirt to remember them with and to raise a little money through CFL Fans Fight Cancer for a local cancer charity.

Fellow tailgater Nick Herger came up with the slogan “Tailgate Empire” and I designed a shirt around it. Lions centre Angus Reid is on board and will produce the shirts via his silk screening company. The shirts will be $20.00, which is $5.00 above cost. 100% of that $5.00 will go into the CFLFFC fund. the image that will appear on the shirt is below.

We have men’s youth and women’s cut shirts available!

If you would like to join the “Tailgate Empire” and support this cause, simply leave a comment below and indicate what shirt size you would like and we’ll be in touch. To date we are approaching 30 requests for shirts so let’s grow the empire and donate some money to kick cancer’s butt all over the field!

The return of CFL football is upon us, and as training camps break across the league, all eight teams are setting their sights on winning the Grey Cup. For the first time in a couple of seasons, the BC Lions are going to have a very competitive training camp. The off-season saw the team release several veterans, many of the big name variety in an effort to build a younger, faster team. Here’s our 2 cents about where the battles will take place at camp and who to keep your eye on. In part 1 of our training camp primer, we’ll examine the offense. Read more

When former BC Lions star Bobby Singh was a young man starting on his way to a professional football career, he dreamed of creating a football camp for kids one day. That dream came true for Singh on May 30th when he hosted the first annual Down Set Hut Football Camp for kids in his home town of Richmond, BC. With perfect weather and a bunch of his CFL friends joining him, Singh provided a great day of football fun for over 100 kids ages 7-15.

In addition to Bobby, the camp featured current BC Lions Geroy Simon, Javier Glatt, Barron Miles, Dean Valli, Paul McCallum, Angus Reid, Sherko Haji-Rasouli and rookie Justin Sorensen. They were joined by Will Loftus of the Montreal Alouettes and Marc Beswick of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and a host of junior players and coaches.

The kids were split up into groups and spent 18 minutes at various stations designed to teach them the different aspects of the game, everything from receiving, defending, tackling, kicking and offensive line play. Each station had designated coaches giving the kids tips and encouragement. The kids also received t-shirts, prizes and talks from the CFL players and at the end of the day they got to a play a touch football game with them as well.

Singh not only plans to make the camp an annual event, his plan is to make it bigger and better, and spread it around the province as well, telling BCLionsDen.ca that next year his goal is to do a camp in the lower mainland, one on Vancouver Island, and one in the Okanagan. Singh also sponsored 20 or so kids out of his own pocket from the Boy and Girls Clubs of Vancouver.

One of the things the late Bob Ackles wanted to improve on upon his return to the Lions was building football at the grassroots level, and camps like this certainly contribute to building that foundation. CFL players are so outstanding interacting with the fans and it’s great to see a player of Bobby Singh’s stature give back to the community by introducing these kids to the game of football.

If you would like more information on Bobby Singh’s camp make sure you visit the website at http://www.downsethutfootball.com

Down Set Hut 2009 Photo Gallery: