BC Lions fans showed up at Empire Field hoping the bye week had worked out the issues the team had seen compiling a 1-6 record to start the year. In the end it was the Calgary Stampeders who looked rested and fine tuned, as they easily defeated the home side by a score of 48-35. The score flattered the Lions who scored two late touchdowns in garbage time.

The game started ominously for the Lions after the defence held the Stamps to a field goal attempt. Rob Maver’s attempt was short but was fumbled by the Leos’ Yonus Davis and recovered by the Stamps on the Lions 9 yard line where Burris would run it in for an early touchdown.

The Lions did respond on the next series, thanks in part to a great 44 yard leaping catch by Emmanuel Arceneaux to put the Lions in great field position. After Jamal Robertson took it to the one, the Lions needed three chances to get the ball into the endzone, with Casey Printers eventually breaking the plane of the goalline, confirmed by  video review.

The Lions would take the lead on a Paul McCallum field goal, but it would be their last lead of the game, as the Stampeders started to dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, a common theme for the Lions this season. Henry Burris, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for one himself, did his best to keep the Lions in the game in the first half. After an Emmanuel Arceneaux fumble at midfield, Burris tossed the first of his three interceptions in the game, setting up a Paul McCallum field goal. Burris promptly threw another to Dante Marsh and a great catch at the 1 yard line by Simon set up a Jamal Robertson touchdown late in the half, closing the score to 24-20. The Stamps would get a field goal late, aided by a horse collar penalty assessed to Tad Crawford and the Lions were actually in the game at the half, down by just seven points.

It was the same old story in the second half as the Stampeders made some adjustments and the Lions couldn’t adjust. Burris worked underneath routes to John Cornish and Joffrey Reynolds at will. On one drive in the half it was all Cornish all the time, and the Lions were at their mercy. The Stamps built up a big lead before the Lions scored twice late.

Printers was under constant pressure in the second half as the Lions offensive line continued to struggle, particularly up the middle of the line. The resulting sputtering of the offence kept the defence on the field far too long and Burris and the Stamps seemed to move the ball at will as the defence wore down.

Burris completed 20 of 34 passes for 276 yards in the night to go with his 2 TD’s, 1 rushing TD and 3 interceptions on the night. His counterpart Printers finished the game completing 10 of 26 passes for 191 yards. The Lions finished the game with a paltry 44 yards rushing, while the Stamps rolled to 215.

Quick Hits:

A moment of concern came in third quarter when BC receiver Darius Passmore crashed into one of the advertising signs along the sideline, landing on the sign in his neck area. Reports indicated a cut to the neck area of the Lions rookie receiver. After being worked on for some time by medical staffs from both teams, Passmore was taken off the field by stretcher, and and gave the crowd the the thumbs up sign. He was taken to hospital for further treatment and evaluation, but was proclaimed in good shape by Wally Buono on the post game show.

The Lions now travel to Montreal for the Labour Day weekend. It’s been reported that Als’ quarterback Anthony Calvillo will not be ready to play and is still recovering from a bruised sternum.

Game Stats

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By Vanya Tucherov: BCLionsDen.ca

Earlier this week, Lion centre Angus Reid noted on his Twitter feed that he had never lost to the Montreal Alouettes at home over the course of the ten years of his career. He can no longer make that statement after the Lions fell to the Als this evening at Empire Field to fall to 1-2 on the young season before heading East for a road tussle against the Toronto Argonauts.

If there are bright points for the Lions to pick out of tonight’s 16-12 debacle, they would be the solid defensive performances turned in by veteran Korey Banks and newcomer Solomon Elimimian, and Jamal Robertson’s 15-yard touchdown catch just before the end of the first half; with an honourable mention to the security staff for effectively breaking through a breakdown in coverage to corral the rogue streaker after Robertson’s fumble was covered by Damane Duckett near midfield with about two minutes left in the third quarter.

As a whole, the Lions defence performed reasonably enough, keeping the Alouettes from being able to crow after punching the ball into the end zone, with only Als’ kicker Damon Duval managing to register points for a Montreal team which had tallied 84 through the first two weeks of the season. Duval registered four field goals and a pair of rouges, but failed to connect on two more, missing wide (left, I think) from forty yards and ringing one off the uprights from forty-seven. Montreal’s other points came on a safety conceded by Paul McCallum in the first half.

Duval would add the final points after ringing the uprights yet again, banking one in off of the left post the likes of which are more frequently seen from the Sedin brothers in Vancouver.

That wasn’t the only resemblance to a Canucks’ game in the evening. The first quarter closed with a score more fitting a hockey tally, with the Lions’ trailing 4-2 after the frame on Duval’s first field goal and single. He also conceded a safety touch after the Lions successfully held the Als to a three-and-out after McCallum successfully angled a punt deep which Montreal’s Tim Maypray took out of bounds at the six-yard-line.

McCallum would return the two points early in the second quarter, with Casey Printers’ TD toss to Robertson rounding out the scoring in the opening half. The Lions seemed to be sleepwalking through the half until the final drive, with Geroy Simon making three of his five catches for 55 yards.

Statistically, the Lions looked better with the ball in the second half, but were still unable to mount significant sustained drives. The offensive line looked shaky at best throughout the game. Even though they only yielded a single sack, the Alouettes were able to pressure Printers regularly. Perhaps due to the line’s rocky performance, the Lions almost completely abdicated the running game, managing only seven yards on the ground on nine rushes.

Printers didn’t have a bad game, even though he was knocked around quite a bit. He ended up with 253 yards on the night, going 20-for-40, with the highlights coming on the touchdown and a scrambly 23-yard completion to Derick Armstrong down to the Montreal 14-yard line. After stalling, the drive would culminate in the McCallum field goal which would prove the final points on the evening for the Lions.

Quick Hits:

The “Beer snake” phenomenon hit Empire Field Saturday, and security forces and police were quick to snuff it out. Seriously Lions fans we can come up with something better than that. The beer cups raining down on fans were uncalled for and kudos for the PNE for the way they handled it despite the repeated attempts…The pre game tailgate parties were great once again and more fans  and families seem to be catching on to the fun proving that tailgaters are not the evil, riot causing entity that opposing groups made them out to be.

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Saksatchewan 37 Lions 18

Brian Wawryshyn, BCLionsDen.ca

It was the first regular season CFL game played outdoors in Vancouver since Nov. 6, 1982, and while the atmosphere for the return to Empire Stadium was outstanding, the Lions themselves showed they have a lot of work to do if they hope to contend with the big boys on the CFL’s west division.

BC had no answers for Saskatchewan’s defence who pressured the Lions quarterbacks at will, exposing an inexperienced offensive line that is going to have to get better if Casey Printers, Travis Lulay and Jarious Jackson want to finish this season on the active roster and not the injured list. Printers left the game just before the half as a result of a bruised or strained quad muscle trying to evade the pressure of Riders rookie Brent Hawkins.

The constant pressure rendered the Lions offense useless, with quarterbacks and receivers having no time to make reads or run their routes. The running game had flashes os success, but was otherwise ineffective with JamallRobertson netting just 54 yards on 10 carries. Withthe Riders offensive line firing on all cylinders, Durant was able to findreceivers seemingly at will on second down, and the green machine churned out 188 yards along the ground, 93 of them going to Wes Cates.

When the Lions weren’t allowing pressure, they were taking penalties. 16 all together on the night for 116 yards.

Withthe Lions defence on the field so much, they were worn down in the second half, and the Riders had no problem putting together drives to close out the game. Their defence sealed the deal with another blindside hit on Lulay who fumbled, giving the Riders an easy touchdown.

Slotback Geroy Simon was one of the lone bright spots for the Leos, scoring both Lions touchdowns on a 32-yard pass from Printers in the first quarter, then gave the faithful something to cheer for connecting with Lulay on a 92-yard play when the game was already decided.

Paul McCallum hit on a 16-yard field goal and added a 45-yard single, while also coming up short on a fake punt that exposed the kicker’s lack of blinding speed.

The Lions had few wrinkles in their offense to throw at the Riders, prompting Dean Valli to say in a Lowell Ullrich piece that “They know what we’re going to do.” That’s not a ringing endorsement of the offensive game plan that at this time of year, should have had the Riders guessing. The talents of Jamal Lee and Andrew Harris are sparingly used, and if these players are going to have an impact, the Lions have to give them chances to do so.

Once again the team had trouble stopping the run. Possibly a product of being worn out in the second half, but on the last couple Rider drives of the game, they ran the ball down the Lions throats.

Things won’t get any easier for the Lions as they next take the field on Friday, July 16th at 7:00pm versus the Grey Cup Champion Montreal Alouettes.

Quick Hits:

The game was a sellout, at 27,528 fans…The Lions Brent Johnson played in his 152nd consecutive game…The atmosphere at Empire Field was fantastic, the tailgate parties were outstanding and had little to no issues, but inside some work needs to be done to address the concession lines. Reports of 30 to 45 minutes in the beer lineups had fans thirsty and cranky, and there were no options for refreshments in the stands. Fans on the west side of the stadium who were baking in the sun in the first half had few options but to brave the lineups and miss large chunks of the game if they wanted anything. All part of the learning process that comes from a temporary facility, and hopefully all involved can work out some of the kinks in time for Friday.

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Congratulations to @MTBikerguy on Twitter who won two tickets to the Lions and Eskimos on Sunday June 20th. The marks a historic day in the history of the BC Lions Football club and BCLionsDen.ca and ShowtimeTickets.com were happy to give away a pair of tickets!

The winner will be contacted by DM on Twitter to arrange pickup.

Thanks for playing everyone and thanks to ShowTimeTickets.com for supplying the tickets.

GO LIONS GO!

Empire Field: Photo by BCLionsDen.ca

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The BC Lions held an open house for their season ticket holders on Sunday and the early reviews are in. Football is going to be a lot of fun this season.

When you walk into Empire Field, you have to be pretty impressed at what has been constructed there in such a short period of time. The stadium is going to provide an up close and personal view of the game for football fans this season, that will put them right on top of the action. The side line seating is similar to the look of the original stadium with its column supported roof. The seats along the sidelines and in the corners are a black molded plastic seat while the end zones are bench style aluminum seating.The seats are completely filled in so there is no danger of dropping your wallet into the scaffolding maze under the seats.

The replay screen sits in the north end zone. It’s fairly small and the picture didn’t look that great and it also may get washed out in the sun at certain times of the day. There are two scoreboard style clocks that show the time, down, and score that are in opposite corners that should be visible to all fans.

The real surprise was the presence of a new field turf playing surface. Original plans had called for the turf from BC Place to be used, but it’s clear this surface is new by the colour of it. The surface looks great but if you’re hoping for the advertising free field we’ve enjoyed at BC Place, word is this surface will be painted up with sponsorship. Hopefully they can find room for a Lions logo as well.

Cons? Well washroom lineups could be long as only 150 portable toilets are on the site, in addition to washroom trailers. There will also only be three concessions maximum on the east side of the stadium, and the ticket person I talked to said they still didn’t know the exact locations.

Overall, I was very impressed with the facility and what they were able to do in such a short period of time. Many football fans in BC will be getting their first outdoor game experience and on a day like today, it’s hard to imagine them not thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Here’s a look at all our photos from the day for those that couldn’t make it out today!

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Hey Lions fans! I don’t know about you but right about now I’m getting pretty excited about the upcoming CFL season. The tickets are paid for, the parking pass is bought (more on that below) and the training camp trip is booked. In just under a month, CFL football will be back!

Across the league rosters are being filled in with free agent hopefuls and draft picks to compete with the veterans and vie for their spots on their respective teams. The Lions are no exception as they head towards the opening day of rookie camp on June 2nd and the main camp on June 6th at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC.

Let’s get you up to date on the recent happenings surrounding the Lions and here in The Den, as we hit the home stretch to the 2010 CFL season.

BCLionsDen.ca Is Going Camping!

For the last two years we’ve brought you pictures and reports from training camp and this season will be no exception. We’ll have four days of “blogger style” coverage starting June 7th , running through to the 10th. We’ll have live tweets, photos, daily blog entries and possibly a live blog to see what Lions fans want to know from camp. I’ve got a few other ideas as well, but it’s going to depend if I can get a favour or two from the Lions.

If you’re coming up to camp for those dates join us for a little in between session tailgate fun! Follow us here and on Twitter @BCLionsDen for information on where we’ll be.

Roster Moves

The Lions continue to fine tune their roster for training camp. The recent Canadian Draft saw the Lions stockpile nine picks in the six round draft, and the club got arguably two of the top players in the draft taking offensive lineman Danny Watkins and receiver Shawn Gore with their first two picks. The club will have to wait on them however, as Watkins will go back to Baylor for one more season, and could be an NFL draft pick. Gore recently signed a three year deal with the Green Bay Packers after successfully surviving a pre-season tryout camp the weekend of the draft. The Lions had seven other picks, and we recapped them here.

The team also held a free agent camp in Portland Oregon on Mother’s Day weekend, and has one more scheduled for May 14th in Dallas, Texas.

In addition to the draft picks, the team has also added depth and competition in the secondary, signing import defensive backs Anthony Reddick and Dominique Williams. The team also announced they had signed non-import and former Edmonton Eskimo saftey J.R. LaRose and  local long snapper Sean Ortiz to the roster, who’s had tryouts with the Tornoto Argonauts in the past. Quarterback Zac Champion was released, leaving the Lions with Casey Printers, Jarious Jackson and Travis Lulay as the men behind centre heading into camp.

Home Sweet Home

Empire Field is taking shape nicely as it nears a June 15th completion date and the club has been posting almost daily photo updates from the site. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot new to see of late as the bowl is now fully enclosed by the constructed seating, and we haven’t seen many pictures from inside the walls. The project hit a minor speed bump when Logistics caused the scoreboard to be relocated from the originally planned south end to the north, forcing to club to redo seat allocations for season ticket holders. All season ticket holders will have the same view of the replay screen as they had in BC Place.

Great news came this week with word that tailgating is going to be permitted in the lots surrounding the PNE. The club and the PNE have worked out season passes for ticket holders which will give them a guaranteed parking spot on the grounds, but not a reserved spot. Prices range from 25.00/game to 30.00. and the passes are good for 9 games, but not valid on August 27th, when the PNE is on. The unofficial word from the club is that they were told tailgating will be permitted, but they are not in any capacity. This development could make this season one of the best yet for regular tailgaters, who will be able to barbeque in the shadows of the stadium, creating a great football atmosphere.

Yeah the price is steep, but you had to expect it. With Playland in full swing parking will be at a premium on game days, so I’d highly recommend season ticket holders purchase the season’s pass if they plan on driving to the games. As a tailgater, it was a no brainer for me.

If you’re interested in tailgating, many of the crew from our group have bought passes in Lot 9 on the north side of the stadium. Make sure your familiar with the culture of tailgating and respect the tradition. It’s a great pastime that is pretty unique to football and can really enhance your game day experience. The PNE is located in a residential area, so respect the neighborhood and it’s residents as well.

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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!

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I thought it would be kind of cool to keep a photo journal of the construction of Empire Field, the 2010 home of the BC Lions that will be built at the site of the old Empire Stadium. I took a drive down today and snapped these pictures to start off our series. Hopefully I can keep this updated from now until it’s finished at various intervals.

The view from the south endzone of the North Shore Mountains

At this stage there is a lot prep work for the field going down, some leveling and drainage preparation by the looks of things. Some of the bleachers have arrived, and were used at Cypress Mountain for the Olympics.

Standing in the South endzone and looking at the North Shore mountains, I got pretty excited about watching outdoor football this season!

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