With a bang we said goodbye to Empire Field. It was a great day for a Tailgate party and party it up we did. There were plenty of blueberry hotcakes, crepes and French toast to be had. There were multiple pounds of bacon and ham and Swiss cheese. Mimosas and freshly brewed coffee were there too.

We had a great time and we celebrated the End of an Empire. The Tailgate Empire strives to live on regardless of the playing field, but we will be forever grateful to the people that operated the facility for providing us a great spot to tailgate, and enabling us to reminisce about a different era in Vancouver.

A “Breakfast’Gater”, is when a tailgate party starts so early that breakfast is the meal prepared. We at the Tailgate Empire love these. This is one of the great appeals of the afternoon games at Empire Field. An early morning rise to head down to the stadium, and a beautiful sunny morning of cooking pancakes and bacon can’t be beat. You can add bacon to almost anything and it is instantly better!

At most breakfast’gaters I have been known to prepare crepes. The thin French pancake is a great breakfast/lunch item as you can stuff them with whatever you would like. For this day, I came prepared with Black Forest Ham, Maasdam Swiss Cheese and mushrooms. This was a great combo, but then I had an epiphany. Why not add bacon? The “Crepenator” was born and it was epic!!!!!!!

Fellow Tailgate Empire member Andrew was grilling up some Blueberry pancakes that were just melting in my mouth and the Emperor himself Brian W. grilled up his Dad’s famous French toast.

We all had full bellies and full hearts as we said goodbye to an era in Vancouver sports that was much needed. It was good to get away from the hustle and bustle of downtown and get back out to East Van to watch pro sports. That said, it will be great to open up the new BC Place stadium and get back to where I fell in love with the Orange and Black.

Tailgating downtown has always been a bit of a struggle. The PNE was the birthplace of the Tailgate Empire, but we will live on. We always do. Look for us at the corner of Quebec and Terminal and always obey the rules of tailgating that have never failed us.

• Pack it in. Pack it out. Be prepared to take your garbage home
• Propane bbq’s are the only type that should be used. Briquette bbq’s are just too dangerous to use around parked cars. Not to mention the disposal of hot coals as game time approaches. It just doesn’t make sense.
• Pay for every spot that you occupy. Pay for the spot when you get there. The parking lot deserves to earn revenue for their spots, and ensuring that they do will only help tailgaters.
• All beverages must be in cups. Simple, just put it in a cup.
• Plan a safe ride home! Make sure you have a designated driver.

From everyone at the Tailgate Empire, we enjoyed your company at Empire Field and look forward to seeing you on Friday September 30th!!

 

The BC Lions play their last game at Empire Field on September 10th when they host the Toronto Argonauts. For what it is, Empire Field has been a great place to watch a football game. The weather for the most part was outstanding and mountain backdrop made the view unlike any other in Canada.

That said, the stadium really wasn’t that kind to the Leos in win column and the time has come to return to the comforts of home and a refurnished, state of the art BC Place stadium and we want you to be there for this historic Vancouver sporting event.

BCLionsDen.ca has joined forces with the Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel and the Donnelly Group to give you a chance to be there live when the BC Lions and Edmonton Eskimos re-open BC Place stadium on September 30th, 2011.

We’ve come up with four pairs of tickets to the big game and every Monday in September we’ll be giving one lucky reader, Twitter follower or Facebook fan two tickets. For our first three pairs of tickets, the winner will also receive a gift certificate to a Donnelly Group establishment.

The fourth week is the grand prize giveaway. Two tickets to the game including a room for the night at the Rosedale on Robson, $150.00 Donnelly Group gift certificate and a BC Lions prize pack.

So how do you win?

1. Check out the contest on the Rosedale on Robson Facebook Page and submit a photo of yourself sporting your BC Lions or CFL gear. Each photo you submit will get you one entry to the contest. (1 entry)
2. RT this message on Twitter: “I entered to win a #BCLions package for opening night at BC Place from @RosedaleRobson @DonnellyPubs @BCLionsDen http://tinyurl.com/3e35wj7”. (1 entry)
3. Leave a comment on this blog post about your love for the Lions or the CFL, why you love the Rosedale on Robson or tell us about your favourite Donnelly establishment. (1 entry)

It’s not a requirement to enter but we’d also love for you to follow us on Twitter:

@BCLionsDen, @RosedaleRobson and @DonnellyPubs

And become a fan on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/BCLionsDen.ca

http://www.facebook.com/RosedaleOnRobson

Also, check out one of the many great public house and night club locations operated by the Donnelly Group at http://www.donnellygroup.ca.

Contest Rules:

No purchase or payment necessary to enter or win

Eligibility
All winners are responsible for picking up the tickets, must be 19 years age or older and are responsible for their own transportation to and from the game.

Entry Format
Entries may be color or black and white digital images, and less than 5 megabytes in size.

Inappropriate Content
Obscene, provocative or otherwise questionable content will not be considered. Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel retains sole discretion as to what constitutes inappropriate content.

Copyright
Any entry you submit must be a picture of yourself. Do not submit a photo of someone other than yourself. You must be the sole owner of the copyright of any image submitted. Your submission of the photo and entry form is your guarantee that you are the author and copyright holder of the photo.

Ownership/Use Rights
By entering the contest, entrants agree to have their submitted photograph displayed on the Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel website and used by Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel for any purpose, at any time, without any fee or other form of compensation. Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel reserves the right to disqualify and delete any photographs or user profiles, without notice, and for any reason.

Winners
Winners will be notified by email within draw dates, using the email address provided on the entry form. No financial compensation will be provided to winners.

Disclaimer
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. By participating, you hereby release and hold harmless Facebook from any and all liability associated with this promotion.

Winners List:

Two tickets to the game and a Donnely Group gift certificate:

Sept. 5th: JordanO81 (Twitter Entry)
Sept. 12th: “Kathryn” (Rosedale on Robson Facebook Photo Entry)
Sept. 19th: “Maria” (Blog post comment)

Grand Prize Winner: Sept. 26th: Will it be you???!

Grand Prize: Two tickets to the game, game night accommodation  at the Rosedale on Robson, $150.00 Donnelly Group gift certificate and a Lions Swag bag:

Sept. 26th

Vancouverites and others got a chance to see what they’re tax dollars are going towards Sunday when BC Place stadium opened its doors to the public to show itself of. The stadium of course isn’t complete, but it didn’t need to be to impress those that attended.

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was how massive this project is and the incredible engineering that has gone into it. The stadium seems bigger, mostly because the roof is much higher than the old one.

The public was confined to a secured area at field level and BC Place staff and construction team members were on hand to answer questions from visitors.

The most impressive feature is of course the new retractable roof structure. Several panels of the fixed portion of the roof are now in place, and the structure that supports it is very impressive. Story boards were placed around the floor describing the various upgrades and additions to the stadium.

One of the most anticipated features will be the new video screen that will be installed in the middle of the roof structure. The 4-sided screen will be one of the largest of its kind. The largest panels that will be aligned along the length of the field will be 68’ long and 38’ high. The video board will be the latest in High Definition technology. That section alone is an area equivalent to 450 – 42”flat screen TV’s. In addition to the video board, a new 360 degree ribbon board will be in place on the upper bowl fascia and will coordinate with the main video boards.

If that’s not impressive enough for you, a 12 metre high façade plus mast lighting and fixed fabric roof lighting will combine to create custom light shows both inside and outside the stadium on event nights.

Athletes that play in the stadium will be doing so on the most advanced and state of the art playing surface available. The surface will be a permanent one and will be laid in one piece, making it seamless. It is also FIFA approved to host international soccer events. During concerts and trade shows the field will be protected with a custom cover.

Combine that with wider seats with cup holders, renovated suites, washrooms, concessions and concourses, and BC Place stadium is soon to become one of the best stadiums in North America.

As BC Lions season ticket holder, I can’t wait! Now, if we can just start winning some football games!

Here are some pictures of the event today. Enjoy!

With today’s news that the 99th Grey Cup championship is now officially sold out, we thought it was time for another photo update on the facility where the game will be played. BC Place (soon to be renamed) is really starting to take shape and football fans across Canada are going to be in for a treat when the big game goes down in November.

The fixed fabric portion of the roof is now being installed and every day it seems a new section or two is added.

New progress appears to show that the interior finishing is also well underway, with what appears to be the installation of the new seats. Unless the seats are covered in some sort of wrapping, tthere would appear to be two different colours of seats. One a reddish/orange/maroon colour and the other grey.

From the exterior, looking from Science World, you can really see the shape of the building and can start to visualize the finished product. In the early stages many people suggested the design was ugly and going to be an eyesore. My opinion was wait to see the finished project before making your judgement. Looking at the photo below, I personally think this design is going to become an attractive focal point of our skyline, much more so than the previous roof.

With our time at Empire Field winding down, BC Lions fans and Vancouverites are going to soon have a first class state f the art stadium to attend events in once again. It all starts on September 30th, when the BC Lions take on the Edmonton Eskimos in the first sporting event to grace the new facility.

Personally, I can’t wait! Stay tuned for more updates!

It’s a pretty exciting year to be a fan of the BC Lions and for that matter the Vancouver Whitecaps. On September 30th the BC Lions will host the Edmonton Eskimos in the first sporting event at the newly renovated BC Place Stadium. It likely wont be called that by then and will probably have a fancy new sponsor but regardless it’s going to be a sight to behold. Personally I can’t wait, as the new digs will give fans the comfort of BC Place and the pleasure an open roof on beautiful Vancouver sunny days.

During the construction there have been times when myself and others have wondered about the design. Seeing the finished model restores your faith and I’ve always told people who say it’s ugly after driving by it to wait for the finished product. The product is starting to take shape, and I’ve even found a shot that shows the fabric roof has started to go up.

I thought I would share these for folks who are out of town and would like to see the progress. I’ll try and do this every couple of weeks or so leading up to September 30th.

The province of BC has uploaded a video to YouTube to update us on the construction / renovation of BC Place stadium. We thought we’d share it with our readers. You can see what a massive project it is, and just how many renovations are happening inside the stadium. It pretty much looks like a new stadium,under construction.

Many Lions fans will have great memories of BC Place Stadium, and some will rejince that they have watched their last game under the dome. Whatever your feelings, the Vancouver skyline and watching BC Lions entered a new era this morning when the dome was deflated for the last time, making way for a new retractable roof to be completed in 2011.

Vancouver blogger VanCity Allie of VancityAllie.com took this great time lapse video and agreed to let us share it with BCLionsDen.ca readers. Follow her on Twitter @vancityallie and check out her great blog.

BC Place Deflating/Deflation Time Lapse May 4, 2010 from VancityAllie on Vimeo.

Here is another great video done by Devo4969 and uploaded to YouTube:

We would love it if you left your favourite memory of BC Place below!

It sounds like the roof on BC Place will be deflated either this week or the next according to an article by Lowell Ullrich of the Vancouver Province on April 25th.

For the past several weeks, six account reps have been contacting season-ticket holders about moving a seat indoors to a corresponding chair outside. So far so good, according to the club. The biggest problem came when the Lions had to juggle the guest list after discovering the contractor, Nussli Special Events Ltd., could only build a replay scoreboard on the north side of the new facility. A Nussli spokesman did not respond to an interview request.

Only a handful of season-seat holders rejected the great outdoors and will wait for the club to return downtown sometime next year. Roof renovations at B.C. Place Stadium are set to begin in earnest next week with the controlled deflation of the existing cover which prompted the reported $468 million makeover.

The article also discusses the difficulties and logistics of relocating season ticket holders to the new, temporary home of the Lions.

CFL.ca also paid a visit to Vancouver on the weekend, and has some nice video and photos from the construction site, which you can check out:

Video: http://www.cfl.ca/video/index/id/10995?autostart=true

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/album.php?aid=419608&id=134002920443&ref=mf

I don’t know about you Lions fans, but I’m getting pretty excited about this season!