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Nuggets From the BC Lions Season Kick-off Event

May 25, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

For a few hours the BC Lions and their fans got to forget about the labour negotiations that could be delaying the start of the game both sides love, and it felt like football season was about to begin. Club management, players and fans came to mingle, see the Grey Cup and get decked out in the latest BC Lions merchandise in preparation for the start of the Lions sixty-first season in the Canadian Football League.

The event was well attended and fans heard from the likes of Dennis Skulsky, Wally Buono and Mike Benevides, who introduced his new coaching staff.

Jamie Taras then hosted the annual fashion show of new Lions gear using the Felions and current Lions players. The players were asked to emulate famous female fashion models and the results were quite comical. Marco Iannuzzi could definitely have a career on the fashion runway when his football days are done.

After a rendition of ‘Roar You Lions Roar’ fans were invited down to the field for autographs and photos with the players in attendance as well as alumni Al Wilson, Brent Johnson, Nick Hebeler and Jim Young. There was also an opportunity to chat with the coaches and have your picture taken with the Grey Cup.

Here are a couple of nuggets from today’s event.

Impressive Tickets

Once again the Lions thought out of the box with their season ticket packages this year, which come a nice cylinder container. The tickets themselves are very well done and are based off of some of the dark grey, highlighted orange posters you’ve seen around the city. The tickets feature star players in front of various Vancouver landmarks.

Also included in this year’s package, two 2 for 1 ticket vouchers, two stickers, two pocket schedules and a nice frame worthy poster of this years ticket designs.

An Apolgogy

Clearly the Lions were caught somewhat off-guard by the amount of fans that showed up today. As a result it took a long time to get everyone into the stadium, have them pick up their tickets and then line up for complimentary concessions items.

To the Lions credit, Dennis Skulksy apologized to the crowd and told the fans that it was the club’s job to deliver to their fans and that they could have done a better job of that on the day.

Credibility starts at the top and it was a classy gesture on the part of Skulsky and the Lions to acknowledge the complications. Part of the slow down was the fact that Skulsky and owner David Braley met and shook the hand of every season ticket holder coming into the building, so indeed their intentions were good.

Can’t Keep Them All Happy

While Paul McCallum was being asked if he prepares any difficulty for training camp today than he did for his first one, he appeared to be heckled from one fan in the crowd. I wasn’t sure what exactly was said, but McCallum replied “Not yet”, with a wry smirk on his face.

Khalif is Back

Khalif Mitchell received one of the loudest ovations of the day and it’s clear that those in attendance were happy he’s back in orange and black. The feeling was definitely mutual as Mitchell spoke about being back in Vancouver with his “friends, team mates and family”.

Survey Coming

The Lions are toying with the idea of using the inner draping system and asked those in attendance by a show of hands if they would approve of such a move. There seemed to more than few who thought it was a good idea. If you’re unfamiliar with the configuration, here it is in place at a Vancouver Whitecaps game:

The Lions would leave one side of the upper bowl open and free of the drapes to accommodate those with tickets in the upper bowl and their family and Gemstone Grill sections. The thought is it would create a more intimate setting in the lower bowl. The club will be sending out a survey to fans and may experiment with the configuration in the pre-season.

Operation Orange

The Lions will continue with their popular Operation Orange fan trips this season with three dates in 2014.:

Saturday July 12th: BC at Saskatchewan – $1,099.00
Friday, September 5th: BC at Ottawa – $1599.00
Saturday, September 27th: BC at Calgary – $1099.00

Packages include:

Travel with the Lions on their team charter.
Stay in the team hotel.
Dinner with the team
Your own operation orange BC Lions jersey
Tickets to the game

All prices are plus GST and based on double occupancy. Call the Lions at 604-589-ROAR (7627).

No sympathy for blackout complainers. Buy a ticket and support the Lions.

October 9, 2011 By Brian Wawryshyn

Following a great night of football at BC Place where the BC Lions took a share of first place in the CFL west, some fans are complaining that the game was blacked out on standard definition cable.

Boo hoo.

You have a brand new stadium and a team playing in it’s biggest game in a long time and you can’t get off your butt and head to the stadium? The team hasn’t had a blackout in over a year and a half, and it hasn’t exactly resulted in sold out games. It seems there is always an excuse for “fans” not to buy a ticket. It’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s not the NFL, it’s the Lions, I can afford a Canucks ticket but the Lions are too expensive.

I’m sick of it.

The CFL is a gate driven league. They don’t have a huge TV deal that ensures a profit for each team before a ticket is sold. They count on ticket revenue to be profitable and to run their business. Do you provide your services for free?

There seems to be a sense of entitlement by BC football fans that they should be able to sit on their couch and not contribute to that business model. I have no sympathy for them.

In a day when more and more households have high definition TV, where the games are not blacked out, it’s really not that hard to see the game anyway. If you can’t afford a ticket, and you don’t have HD, you could head to a friends, a bar or a restaurant like Boston Pizza to watch the game. If you’re outside the GVRD the game isn’t blacked out anyway.

The real question you should be asking yourself, is why didn’t I buy a ticket to one of the biggest football games this city has seen in three years?

I realize there are people that simply can’t afford to go out to a game or can’t afford HD cable. People that are REAL fans of the BC Lions that would kill to be in the stadium if they could. Unless you’re one of those people, I really have no time for you sense of entitlement.

The Lions are great value for your entertainment dollar. Many of their players are making less than some of the fans complaining about blackouts.

If you were there last night you would have witnessed a record be broken and a great moment on the final play of the game. I’m pretty sure the 30,622 that were there got their money’s worth.

The Lions next game is October 29th versus the Edmonton Eskimos and will be another big battle for playoff positioning in the West. Good tickets are still available.

Basking in Reflected Glory

August 9, 2009 By Brian Wawryshyn

armchair-quarterback The sports fan can often be described as passionate. They make a considerable emotional and in many cases financial investment in their teams. I myself run websites about my two favorite teams, investing a lot of my time and providing myself with a hobby that I draw enjoyment from. With every win, there is a high. With every loss, a low, but life goes on and you hope the next week your team gives you that high again.

With that emotion, I sometimes find myself taking my sports too seriously, and the emotions of the game getting the best of me. Fans love to feel they have some impact on what their team does. The age of the internet has produced an army of armchair quarterbacks and fans who declare this guy is a bum, or that guy should be fired. There seems to be a point where fans become almost delusional in the effect their comments have on the team they cheer for.

Take this recent quote that appeared on Lionbackers.com following a Lions victory, where a fan states that Wally Buono should thank the fan website for the success of the team versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders last Friday.

“Seems to me he can thank most of the Lion’s loyal and concerned of fans for having lit a collective fire under his arrogant, complacent butt, and started listening to what we have been saying for years about Javier Glatt playing on the outside rather than in the middle. You can be sure that media just saw what we had to say, as a political football and ran with it so to speak.

Notice how well Javy responded to being shook up and demoted, by responding with a whale of a game at the WILL position, and was instrumental in a critical turnover spelling off JoJuan at his old starting spot as a bonus. Who says the armchair critics don’t have something to contribute to this team.

It’s called tough love, careful and reflective analysis, something you’ll never get from Rod Black and Glen Suitor and their bland nauseating lip service.”

Not only does this “fan” claim some credit for the win on behalf of the site he posts on, he himself takes a personal shot at the coach with his comment. Is this a fan, or an individual pumping up his own ego and self-esteem?

A study done in 1976 (Cialdini, R. B., et al. (1976). Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 366-375.) clearly demonstrated that people associate themselves with positive outcomes of others even when they have no clear connection to those outcomes. The study showed that after a win by their chosen teams, fans would use words like “we” after a win and “they” after a loss. In other words, they take pride in being part of the victories, but distance themselves from the losses.

Football is the ultimate arm chair sport. Missed blocks, bad penalties, interceptions, all provide fuel for the “expert” fan. This isn’t to say fans don’t deserve to have opinions or can’t talk about the plays or mistakes they observed in the game. But often they cross the line from being a fan to being abusive towards players and coaches. Throwing out personal insults, or inferring that they have all the answers. Some of them even promote fellow fans, claiming they should be hired as coaches in place of the professionals hired by the team. Yes, I’m serious.

A common cry from those basking in this glory of others, is that the players don’t care or that they aren’t trying. That is one of the most ridiculous things a fan can state in my opinion. These players are professionals because they do care, they’ve dedicated themselves and their bodies to playing football. With one missed play they can lose their job.They can be here today and gone tomorrow.

We as fans need to remember that to us this is entertainment, not a right of passage to rip and insult players when we see fit. We may think we care as fans but to the players and coaches, this is their every day life. To be a true fan, you need to stick with your team through thick and thin. The memories that sports have left imprinted on our lives will always remain, and they are a gift from those that provided them. Let’s all remember that sports is not life and death. It’s a vehicle of entertainment that we all get to enjoy.

Our kids look up to players as heroes, and we as adults get our emotions sent on a roller coaster ride that takes us to great highs and crushing lows. Enjoy the ride, because in the end it’s just a game.

Hamilton at BC Tailgate Party Gallery

July 13, 2009 By Brian Wawryshyn

It came down to the wire, but Easy Park and the City of Vancouver finally showed BC Lions tailgaters a bit of love when they agreed to let us use their lot at Quebec and Terminal to hold our football tailgate parties prior to BC Lions games.

Thank you to everyone that came, and for all the cooperation and support you gave. If we keep it up, we’ll have a home for years to come!

Thanks to Easy Park, Councilors Andrea Reimer, and Kerry Jang, the parking lot security staff, and the police as well!

Here are some pictures from the party!

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