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You are here: Home / Archives for Empire Field

Lions manhandled by Riders in return to Empire.

July 12, 2010 By Brian Wawryshyn

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.

Riders and Lions, July 10th, 2010BC 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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Filed Under: 2010 Game Recaps, CFL/League, Den Talk, Featured, Game Recaps, Uncategorized Tagged With: BC Lions, CFL, Empire Field, Home Opener, Saskatchewan Roughriders

WIN Leos/Esks tickets for Sunday’s game at Empire Field

June 16, 2010 By Brian Wawryshyn

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 FieldEmpire Field: Photo by BCLionsDen.ca

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Filed Under: Contest, Den Talk Tagged With: BC Lions, CFL, Contest, Empire Field, ShowTimeTickets.com, Tickets, Twitter

First Impressions: Empire Field is going to be a hit.

June 13, 2010 By Brian Wawryshyn

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.

Empire FieldWhen 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.

New field turf playing surface. Photo: BCLionsDen.caThe 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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Filed Under: Den Talk, Featured, Photo Galleries Tagged With: BC Lions, CFL, Empire Field, Photos

Den Talk: Lions Roundup May 10th

May 10, 2010 By Brian Wawryshyn

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!

Training Camp. Photo by BCLionsDen.caFor 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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Filed Under: Den Talk, Featured, News, Tailgating Tagged With: BC Lions, CFL, Empire Field, Training Camp

The Rebirth of Empire, BC Place Roof To Be Deflated Soon

April 26, 2010 By Brian Wawryshyn

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!

Empire Field Construction. Photo by CFL.ca









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Filed Under: Den Talk, News Tagged With: BC Lions, BC Place Stadium, CFL, Empire Field

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