From The Couch Archives | Page 5 of 7 | BC Lions Football

The BCLionsDen.ca Podcast – Episode 1

May 30, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

We are pretty pumped to start this little project and hope to turn it into something that a lot of BC Lions fans and CFL fans will enjoy. The show is hosted by Brian Wawryshyn and co-host Mojo, with the theme being fans sitting around and talking about football. In our very first edition, we introduce ourselves and discuss the Lions off-season, and discuss a few things to look for at training camp this year.

We hope you enjoy our first crack at this, we can only get better from here! Please leave a comment and let us know what you think and follow us on Twitter @BCLionsDen

Listen:

From The Couch: Simon situation is delicate but Buono has been here before.

January 23, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

It goes without saying that every BC Lions fan would like to see a perfect ending to Geroy Simon’s career. But with news this week that Simon’s agent has asked the Lions to gauge trade interest for his client in lieu of the two sides unable to agree on a restructured contract, there is work to be done if Simon is to end his career in BC Lions orange.

It would of course just be plain wrong to see Superman playing for another CFL club. He has become one of the greatest if not the greatest BC Lions of all time and GM Wally Buono understands what he means to the football fans in this province. With good young talent waiting in the wings, Buono must decide on a role for the CFL’s all-time leader in reception yardage. Simon of course suffered through a season of hamstring injuries and during his rehab the team saw good performances from the likes of Ernest Jackson, Shawn Gore, Nick Moore, Courtney Taylor and others. They also went undefeated in Simon’s absence.

Assembling a CFL club is a constant puzzle that changes on a yearly basis. The salary management system (SMS) is a huge piece of that puzzle and for the better part of his career, Geroy Simon has been one of the higher paid players on the team and deservedly so. No BC Lions player has been more valuable to the franchise, not only for his play on the field but building the Lions brand and entrenching himself in the community. This is what makes Buono’s job so difficult when it comes to what to do about Simon.

From the club’s perspective, the first preference is to have Simon back. From Simon’s perspective, that should happen with an elite receiver’s salary, thus the current stalemate. The club recently rewarded Travis Lulay with a new deal averaging $450,000 a year. Not an uncommon number for the elite quarterbacks in the league. They shed the salaries of Arland Bruce and Byron Parker by releasing them and they hope to get the promising Canadian Shawn Gore signed to a new deal, unless he can find a home in the NFL. But as much as this negotiation is about money it’s also about getting their young players more playing time, while keeping the team competing for a Grey Cup. Simon could definitely play a role with the receiving core, it’s just a matter of what role he would be willing to accept and what he wants to be paid.

While fans get attached emotionally, it’s a trait that Buono can ill afford despite the enormity of the decision he’s facing. He’s always been able to make tough decisions in the past, and he’s usually right when it comes to assessing the talent mix on his teams. Alan Pitts, Jason Clermont, Aaron Hunt, are all players that come to mind as difficult decisions Buono had to present to fans in pursuit of making the right football decisions. Of course there has been an error or two as well. The premature demotion of Angus Reid is a perfect example and to Reid’s credit he sucked it up and proved Buono wrong, racking up back to back all-star seasons since.

Geroy Simon is special and he deserves to be treated with respect and dignity and by honouring his request to gauge trade interest, I believe the Lions are doing just that. I really hope the two sides can come to some sort of agreement and every BC Lions fan gets to see him finish his career they way he should. Fans will be upset if he leaves, no doubt about it. But a new deal has to work for both sides, with the goal of making the Lions the best team they can be.

At the end of the day it’s a problem Wally Buono will resolve one way or the other and judging by his track record, the Lions will be just fine, whatever solution he arrives at and Geroy Simon will always be a BC Lion, one of the greatest of all-time.

2012 Wrap: Musings, Ramblings and Thanks

December 1, 2012 By Brian Wawryshyn

Now that the 2012 CFL season has come to an end and I have recovered from Grey Cup (minus the annual cold I get when I come back), I thought I’d just ramble on a bit about Grey Cup and some of the news that’s happened since the final whistle blew on the season. I hope it promotes some discussion!

The Champs

Congratulations to the Toronto Argonauts on their championship season, and also to the city of Toronto who put on a great party for CFL fans from across the country. Certainly it would have been nice to see more locals involved in the fun, but the fans that do support the Argos are just as passionate as any in the country and I’m pleased to call many of them friends. Here’s hoping the fun and the passion that invaded their city converted a few more into fans of the league and of the Argos.

The Game

I thought the game itself lacked drama but full credit to the Argos who were certainly ready to play, while the Stampeders looked as though they left their game in BC Place following the Western Final. Chad Kackert was an easy choice as the MOP and Ricky Ray showed his poise and experience as well. As a neutral fan it was nice to watch a stress free game, but as a Lions fan I was certainly left wondering what might have been.

The Events

Everyone knows about the great party rooms at Grey Cup, but some of the lesser known events often tend to be the best. This year, I was pleased to attend the CFL Fans Fight Cancer fundraiser at Joe Badali’s. The event was organized by the eastern chapter of the national fan group and led by Jen Mulder who did a fantastic job organizing a silent auction, raffle prizes, a 50/50 and a live auction. Prizes were donated from businesses and fans from across the country. At last count over $8000.00 was raised for the Wellspring Centre in Toronto, a facility that provides various levels of help and support for people living with cancer and their families. Congrats to all the organizers of this event on its huge success.

The 4^th annual Official CFL Grey Cup Tweetup was held at Shoeless Joe’s Sports Bar. The event has become a staple since the original tweetup in Calgary in 2009. Fans that use twitter gathered together to get social and put faces to the Twitter handles. There were lots of prizes and great food, as well as a visit from a few players, the commissioner and the Grey Cup itself.

New this year was the “Grey Cup Fan March” where fans gathered at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium and carried the Grey Cup through the streets of downtown Toronto and onto the Rogers Centre. I was fortunate enough to be asked if I wanted to carry the Grey Cup for a segment near the beginning of the march, and I gladly accepted the chance to do so. It was a great experience, and the march itself was a success. Fans chanted “CFL” and sang the national anthem with CFL commissioner Mark Cohon marching right along with them. Imagine that, Gary Bettman.

Lions News and Notes

Speculation has begun about how the Lions roster will be altered this off-season. So far it has been reported that Solomon Elimimian has reportedly asked for his release to pursue another opportunity in the NFL.

Jovan Olafioye will also entertain offers from south of the border but has indicated he won’t be auditioning for teams like he did last season. Olayfioye told the Vancouver Sun that if a decent offer with a solid signing bonus doesn’t come his way, he’ll have no problem staying in Canada.

Wally Buono will wait for personnel reports and recommendations from head coach Mike Benevides and will have his work cut out for him when he returns from his annual Hawaiian holiday. He’ll attempt to get Shawn Gore’s name on a new contract, and will have tough decisions to make regarding the secondary, the receivers and the offensive line, which is likely to look quite different next year, especially if Angus Reid retires and Olafioye heads south.

For the first time, people are questioning the role of Geroy Simon who had a subpar year that was plagued by nagging hamstring injuries. Simon is not making any noise about retiring, so one of the biggest decisions the club has had to make in years is looming. Personally I’d like to see him back, possibly in a reduced role and likely a reduced contract as well. Whether that is something he would entertain is another issue. Regardless, Simon is one of the greatest to ever play the game and he certainly deserves some say in what his future holds. I doubt Arland Bruce will be back, and the Lions have shown they have some good talent waiting in the wings in Nick Moore, Ernest Jackson and Courtney Taylor.

Then there is the kicking game, where Paul McCallum showed signs of his age in 2012. His punting, which was his strong suit suffered this past year and his kickoffs and field goal range are starting to deteriorate as well. With Hugh O’Neill looking good the last two seasons in training camp and at practice, the Lions may feel it is time to pass the torch before they lose another kicker they have taken the time to groom. Last time the club chose McCallum over Sean Whyte, now with Montreal, but it could be a different story next season.

Odds and Ends

Anyone find it odd that the furor over Adriano Belli’s move that got him tossed from the Grey Cup game got very little mention from the media compared to Khalif Mitchell? Belli has played on the edge his whole career, but it looks like his penchant for kissing people and his forays into the media world got him a pass. The CFL fined Belli, who is expected to retire but we certainly didn’t hear the comments about “disgrace to the game” from the people that persecuted Mitchell. Speaking of Mitchell it remains to be seen if the Lions will be willing to take a chance with him for another season.

Locker Room Sale

The Lions held their annual locker room sale on December 1^st and while there were some good deals to be had it was disheartening to see the prices on game worn jerseys and helmets. These items ranged in price from $250 to $750 depending on the player. Reports from similar events in other CFL cities had these items much cheaper. It’s always sad when the diehard fan ends up getting shut out because the prices are set so high. In 2004 I bought Antonio Warren’s Grey Cup game worn jersey for $150.00. That’s just a pipe dream today.

Thank you

Thanks to Monique Gendron who provided us with some great videos this year, and I hope she’ll be back to help us out again next season.

Thanks to Lowell Ullrich who approached this blogger two years ago with an idea to add a fan perspective to the Province.com. I’ve had a blast doing post game reports and I look forward to doing it again if they’ll have me.

It was also a pleasure as always to work with Kristina Sinclair and our friends at the Rosedale on Robson and we hope to continue that relationship in 2013.

Most of all, thanks to all of you who followed along with me during the 2012 season. Whether you read the blog, my post game stuff on The Province.com of just follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I appreciate you doing so and always enjoy the feedback.

I’ll make every effort to keep your informed and promote Lions discussion this off-season and hope you continue to check our social media platforms out. I’ll be thinking of ways we can be better and hope to add some quality features and a few more people to our team next season.

Until then, enjoy the off-season and as always, roar you Lions roar!

From the Couch: Lions 21 Stampeders 41

November 5, 2012 By Brian Wawryshyn

When the game started Friday night the BC Lions were apparently on Vancouver time as they didn’t start playing versus an eager Calgary Stampeders team until the 2^nd quarter. There was no shortage of reasons why the Lions found themselves down 34-0 before they knew what hit them, and here’s how Brian Wawryshyn from BCLionsDen.ca saw it, from the couch.

Short field for the Stamps

The Lions started the game by giving the Stamps a short field, an occurrence that was frequent on the night. Paul McCallum continues to struggle punting the football, and that has to be a concern as the playoffs approach. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing Hugh O’Neill dress for the Saskatchewan game because you may as well see what you have in him with live bullets flying. The Lions are giving up too much field position of late because of a poor kicking game.

Turnovers and penalties (the Lions took the first 10 of the game) also contributed to the poor field position for the Lions on a night where pretty much anything that could go wrong did.

Missing Angus

If that was a preview of what life might be like on the offensive line without Angus Reid as the general, someone find me an anti-aging machine, stat. The Lions offence was clearly out of synch most of the night and it was mainly because the offensive line had no answer for the Calgary pass rush all night long.

There is no point in singling anyone out because as a unit they weren’t good enough. Not only was the pass protection poor the run blocking was awful as well, the five times they elected to hand the ball off to Andrew Harris, whose frustration was evident more than once last night.

While you’re getting me that anti-aging machine, get me some new knees and a new back for Jon Hameister-Ries.

Mike Reilly

The second start in the CFL career of Mike Reilly didn’t go as smoothly as the first. The previously mentioned offensive line didn’t help his cause, but Reilly looked a little off as well. To his credit he battled back and for a moment you felt that with one more touchdown, the Lions just might come all the way back. They almost got that TD when Reilly connected deep with Courtney Taylor only to have the ball ripped free by a Stampeder defender.

It will be an interesting week at Lions practice. If Travis Lulay doesn’t throw again this week, do we start to get concerned that this injury is more serious then the team is letting on? With two weeks before the Western Final the Lions would like to get Lulay some work, and it would be a month before he had any snaps if he doesn’t play until then. Some anxious times are coming for the Lions and their fans in the next two weeks.

Andrew Harris

As mentioned above, Harris was visibly frustrated at times in this game. It was the second game in a row that the young star of Lions has been held in check for the most part by the opposition. There doesn’t seem to be any holes open for Harris on handoffs and they aren’t finding him out of the backfield either. The team is going to have to find ways for him to get the ball as they are going to need a solid running game in the playoffs, especially if teams are going to be teeing off on the QB like the Stamps were doing all night.

Seeing some positives

There were some good things to take from the game as well. Geroy Simon returned to the lineup and was somewhat productive, showing no signs of a sore hamstring. Thomas Demarco got in a little work in the fourth quarter and didn’t look to bad, showing some of the accuracy the Lions like in him. Adam Bighill continued his never take a game off attitude and was the best Lion on the field, again.

Of course the fact the Lions did show some pride after getting down 34-0 and almost made a game of it was a small positive. If the Taylor turnover hadn’t occurred who knows what would have happened, but it was just kind of night and the Lions probably didn’t deserve such a comeback.

What does it mean?

It’s hard to take much from this game. The game obviously meant more to the Stampeders who had yet to beat the Lions this season and wanted to plant a seed for the future. BC was obviously not ready to play, and you can only hope the game served as a wakeup call. Coach Mike Benevides was not a happy camper on the sidelines and he’ll make adjustments. This is a veteran group and I expect the Lions will want to bring their “A” game next week against Saskatchewan. If they don’t there could be cause for concern heading into the playoffs.

From The Couch: Lions 37 Ticats 17

October 13, 2012 By Brian Wawryshyn

The BC Lions walked into their final appearance at Hamilton’s historic Ivor Wynne Stadium and were all business, cruising to a 37-17 victory over the Tiger-Cats who were completely outplayed on the night.

Here once again are my much anticipated and often celebrated, thoughts from the couch.

Dr. Lulay

Travis Lulay opened the game like a surgeon, methodically working the Lions down the field and using up over 6:00 minutes before punching it in with his 26^th consecutive game with a TD pass. It was almost embarrassing how easy the Lions moved the ball and how many times they converted on 2^nd down. It was revealed after the game that Lulay had lost his Grandmother the day before the game and he went out and had best game of the season, proving once again his undeniable leadership.

Marco Iannuzzi

Here’s hoping Iannuzzi will be okay after that terrible headshot he took from Dee Webb of the Ticats. TSN’s Glen Suitor seemed to think it was more a football play gone bad, but not many were buying that. That is exactly the kind of hit that the league needs to get rid of and Iannuzzi was in very rough shape afterwards and did not remember the hit. It most certainly means another addition to the Lions injured list. Some credit to Webb who reportedly sought out Iannuzzi after the game to apologize for the hit.

Depth and more depth

Despite injuries, the Lions just keep having guys step in. The latest is Courtney Taylor who had a touchdown, a beautiful catch on another that was called back because of a penalty, and other key catches. Shawn Gore had a strong game as well particularly in the 3rd quarter when he was the go to target. Nick Moore was also strong again, while on defence Jabar Westerman and Brandon Jordan filled in nicely again on the defensive line, who at times just had their way with the Ticats at the line of scrimmage.

Captain Canada

Andrew Harris had another solid outing picking up two touchdowns and becoming the CFL record holder for yards from scrimmage by a Canadian player. Harris is just getting better all the time. He’s effective whether he’s grinding it out on the ground or releasing out of the backfield. And don’t forget his blocking either as there were several plays where the Lions star was picking up the blitz and giving Lulay the time needed to find a receiver downfield.

The Thirty

The Lions were deploying the thirty defence for much of the night, and were even lining up seven tight up to the line of scrimmage at times. Injuries to Khalif Mitchell and Eric Taylor and the addition of Solomon Elimimian have given the Lions the option to tinker with their look on defence and it could have played a big role in the lack of success the Ticats had, seeing as they likely hadn’t seen much of that look on film.

Special Teams

The cover teams had one breakdown that led to a Hamilton touchdown, but they held Chris Williams in check. Tim Brown responded after that breakdown with a massive return of his own that must have just deflated the Ticats. Brown finished with 142 return yards on the night and also contributed on offence filling in for Harris.

Jacques Chapdelaine

He has taken plenty of heat over the years, so it’s only right that when things go as well as they did on offence tonight he should get a lot of credit as well. I though the Lions offensive game plan was brilliant and was executed at a high level tonight. The Lions owned second down and receivers were open all night long.

Bye Bye Ivor Wynne

It was the final game for the Lions at Ivor Wynne Stadium, which will be torn down at the end of the season. Plans were unveiled today for the new stadium and it looks as though it will be a great new facility for the people of Hamilton. I was fortunate enough to see a game there for the first time this year and it was a great place to watch a football game.

Friday Night Tweets

@GeroySimon: That was a BULLSH$&T hit by D Webb!

@CraigNichols2: Why is Iannuzzi walking so far? Is there not a golf cart at Ivor Wynne? #BCLions #Ticats #CFL

Geroy summed it up quite nicely. The hit has no place in the game. And Craig also had a valid point; Where was the cart to take Iannuzzi off the field? He pretty much had to walk around half the field and he was still badly dazed.

@dantemarsh: ANDREW HARRIS BEST RUNNING BACK IN THE CFL…PERIOD… CHUUUUUCH!!!

I’ll go with that.

From The Couch: Simon situation is delicate but Buono has been here before.

2012 Wrap: Musings, Ramblings and Thanks

From the Couch: Lions 21 Stampeders 41

From The Couch: Lions 37 Ticats 17

Great CFL Resources

CFL West Fan Sites

CFL East Fan Sites