Jim Mullin Archives | BC Lions Football

The BC Lions Den Pawdcast – Episode 49

May 4, 2015 By Brian Wawryshyn

Episode 49 catches up with BC Lions news two weeks out from the CFL Draft. The Lions recently completed a three day “passing camp” and preliminary reports have Travis Lulay looking and feeling pretty good.

Jim Mullin of Krown Canada West Football joins Brian and Mojo to talk about the draft, and who might be a good fit for the BC Lions. We also talk to Jim about former BC Lions assistant Kelly Bate’s new post at SFU and we touch on the current state of the CIS the future of the Northern 8 series, and better television coverage for Canadian college games.

Last but certainly not least, 3DownNation founder and Ticats writer for the Hamilton Spectator and 3Down’s The Scratching Post joins us to help announce our move to 3DownNation.com and give us an update on the off-season of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Follow our guests on Twitter:

Jim Mullin: @Jim_Mullin

Drew Edwards – @Scratchingpost

Subscribe to the BC Lions Den Pawdcast on iTunes.

Jim Mullin: Eye on the CIS: Nill, Constantin benefit from providing options to players.

May 28, 2012 By Brian Wawryshyn

Jim Mullin – Special to BCLionsDen.ca

Barring a last second shift, BC is not in the plans for Kirby Fabien but Plan B and Plan C is.

The planned return of Fabien, the seventh overall pick by the Lions, to the Canada West is not going down well in Lions headquarters.

Only a surprise contract counter offer Hamilton’s 13^th overall pick OL Carson Rockhill could derail destined to return to the foothills city to start and to finish his degree.

Drew Edwards in the Hamilton Spectator reported late last week that linebacker Frederic Plesius was returning to the Laval Rouge et Or. Richard Boutin of Le Journal de Quebec reported that two-time Metras Award winner DE Arnaud Gascon-Nadon will follow his teammate’s lead, staying in Quebec City rather than signing in Hamilton.

University of Calgary head coach Blake Nill and Laval Rouge et Or head coach Glen Constantin are good friends. So much in fact they are in contact with each other on a regular basis. When you read the various reports on these players who have declared their return to the CIS, the one thing they share in common is their desire to obtain their degree while playing football.

Is it possible that Constantin and Nill consulted each other on talking points so they could retain their best talent? One has to ask that question when you see the results of four key players who could seriously change expectations for those teams in the Canada West and the RSEQ.

Both coaches are central in these player’s lives and have their ears.

Offensive lineman and former Dino Mark DeWit played two seasons in Toronto and two in Hamilton and managed to take classes in the winter semester to finish his degree while playing. I’d hazard a guess that Nill wasn’t using that example when in dialogue with Fabien or Rockhill, or for that matter last year when running back Matt Walter stated before the draft that he was returning for his fifth year.

That being said a fourth or fifth year player isn`t a kid and should be able to employ their own critical thinking.

What is also at play is the question of development. Many predicted the elimination of the NFL option window would hurt CFL recruitment in the United States. Not surprisingly, the CIS side of the equation was taken for granted.

In the case Plesius, the 24 year-old hopes he can get another shot at an NFL camp and the one-plus-one option year contract would stand in the way of another NFL look.

Plesius took correspondence courses this winter to get the 18 credits needed to qualify academically for the RSEQ if he could not catch on in the NFL.

He told Boutin, “It was good advice from Glen(Constantin), he said. Always have a plan B and evenC. ”

There’s that secondary plan again, which is not good news in so far as the CFL is concerned. With expanded NFL rosters the dream remains alive for raw CIS talent to develop stateside.

Something similar could be said of Fabien who at 21, may have been reminded of the path Dan Federkeil took from the U of C to a four-year NFL career with the Indianapolis Colts which included a Super Bowl ring. Fabien’s agent is Washington, D.C’s Johnathon Hardaway who represents Concordia grad and Kansas City Chief Cory Greenwood along with Matt O’Donnell of Queen’s who signed a two-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Rockhill still has two years of eligibility left, so the extra eight to possibly 12 starts won’t hurt his development.

If the scholarship doors are ever forced open in the CIS for a limited number of full-rides, Canadian university players will have another card to play in contract negotiations with CFL teams. While it is not a crisis, perhaps the time has come where the CIS and CFL should seriously look at working on a more integrated player development system.

Jim Mullin is a Vancouver-based broadcaster. He served as the Vancouver Director of the 47th Vanier Cup played at BC Place Stadium last November and provided the play-by-play of the game for TSN Radio. He also serves as chair of the Amateur Sub-committee for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, and serves as the British Columbia representative for the CFHOF. Jim’s thoughts on CIS football will periodically appear in our new Eye on the CIS feature. Check out more of Jim’s pieces on his blog, “The Edmonton Eskimos ruined my childhood.“

Eye on the CIS with Jim Mullin: BC shot at Greene unfortunate.

May 18, 2012 By Brian Wawryshyn

Travis Lulay and UBC's Billy Greene — CFL MOP Travis Lulay and CIS Hec Creighton winner Billy Greene of UBC.

“Billy who?”

That was the joking and sarcastic response by someone in the BC Lions office when I suggested that UBC’s Billy Greene, the 2011 Hec Crighton winner may be a good addition for their squad late in the draft.

Until the CFL and the CFLPA decide Canadian quarterback development is an issue worth addressing in a substantive way, Canadians will be a camp option on the free agent market.

At least for now, they are non-counters against the training camp rosters which can get guys like Vanier Cup MVP Kyle Quinlan and AUS Champion Kyle Graves of Acadia onto the roster of the Montreal Alouettes as camp arms.

The good news is now you can add CJFL player of the year Jordan Yantz of the Vancouver Island Raiders of the BCFC to that list. The Lions added him to the training camp roster on Monday.

The 22 year-old native of Regina, Yantz shows some fine mechanics especially on the run and can place a ball well. It can be said that the defenses in the BCFC may not be at the level of the Calgary Dinos led by Rider draft Sam Hurl, or last year’s edition of the Regina Rams with third-round New Orleans pick Aikem Hicks at defensive end.

Still, if the foundations of mobility along with a powerful and accurate arm are present, then Yantz will benefit from the camp along with the rest of the BCFC with his one remaining year.

The connection between GM Wally Buono and junior football is strong. The former St. Leonard OFC player has the CJFL most outstanding player award named after him. Plus, he’s had his share of success with junior players with running back Andrew Harris being the most notable.

According to The Province’s Lowell Ullrich the Lions new head coach Mike Benevides, the junior MVP is more deserving of a look than the Hec Crighton winner.

But the Lions also suggested Yantz has a better upside than UBC quarterback Billy Greene, who did not attract any interest during this month’s CFL draft by teams who see him as a running back.

“The best [quarterbacking prospect] in this province is the one who threw on the weekend,” said Benevides.

Fine. Greene didn’t attend the Lions free agent camp before the draft so there were some noses out of joint.

The football community in BC is fractured enough without the pro team in this province throwing UBC’s on field leader – and in turn the whole program and the CIS – under the bus.

In a province where three down community ball battles with American high school, where CIS UBC is divided from NCAA D2 SFU, and where the BCFC no longer wants to be a feeder system for either of them, you have a very complicated playing field. Add Football BC’s unpaid bills to Football Canada leaving them ‘not in good standing’ and you have a maverick leading the herd.

While the Lions aren’t responsible for the amateur game they need to provide a modicum of leadership for it. Taking a shot at the top player in the nation in playing on a rebuilding program in your home town does not achieve that objective.

Perhaps you can mark it up to inexperience on Benevides part. As the new boss he’s going to be quoted from every angle which wasn’t the case five months ago.

Anyone who actually watched Greene’s heroics in the Canada West in a game-in, game-out basis can tell you that he has that special intangible. It’s the Matt Dunigan-like quality to rally a team to win when they really have no business to be in a game in the first place. Those are the qualities which make a quality quarterback. Some of that isn’t measurable in an e-camp.

It will be interesting to see what kind of Billy Greene we see coming out of the gate in 2012. Between this and the 0-8* mess created by a lazy rubber-stamp player eligibility procedure, one has to think he’ll come back with a chip on his shoulder.

And the gate goes on. PNE and the Lions satisfy football fans.

June 21, 2010 By Brian Wawryshyn

Readers of this blog will recall that Sunday was going to be a special day. It was the first fathers day without my dad, and I wanted to do a nice tribute to him by cooking his French Toast at the tailgate party on the site where he took me to my first professional sporting event.

I never got to do that because of the tailgate issues, and along with some of the food I had purchased, the idea went to waste.

I have to admit, that last night I was pretty down. What should have been a great day filled with great memories had a real damper put on it, and I wondered if I would ever bother to tailgate again. I didn’t blog last night because I wanted to do so of clear mind and I wanted to see what today would bring.

I have to say, I’m thrilled with what has transpired today.

I did a lot of media requests today. Global TV, The Bill Good Show, The Sun, The Province and 24 HOURS. I received a nice call from the BC Lions and was informed that President Dennis Skulsky personally spoke to the PNE. Then late this afternoon, I got the call from the same media outlets that claimed the PNE was going to allow the tailgates to proceed.

Our group has always been respectful, and tried to do things the proper way. We prove ourselves by our actions, and back up our promises. It’s the reason why we already have an open invitation to return to the lot given to us last season.

There are many people to thank here:

First to our regular group, that took yesterday’s news in stride. No one lost control, no one was disrespectful, and I think that was probably relayed in the discussion that took place today.
Then there was the media. Starting with Global’s Ted Field and ending with CKNW’s Jim Mullin. These two really got the ball rolling for us in the last 24 hours, Jim especially. Jim has been a regular visitor to the tailgates for years, and his football knowledge and experiences proved to be a valuable tool for our cause.
The BC Lions for quickly addressing the issue, and trying to work on our behalf. Arlene Stewart-Irvine took the time to personally call me and that was a nice gesture.
To the PNE for letting common sense prevail. I promise our group will not disappoint you, AND we will ensure people new to tailgating are educated on the culture.

If you’re new to tailgating, and are thinking of joining the fun there is a basic code you need to follow to ensure you and others around you have a good time. Here is the one we live by and will be promoting in the lot.

So…it’s “gate” on for July 10th and time to get back to enjoying all of this again, in a beautiful new place to watch a game! Unfortunately all this talk about the price of parking and the tailgate situation detracted from what was a great first game at Empire Field. The Lions have done an outstanding job and I can’t wait for the next one!

See you there!

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The Mullin Files: Lions: This is the moment to set up the next decade

May 26, 2010 By Brian Wawryshyn

Jim Mullin is the Sports Director at CKNW 980 AM in Vancouver and has offered us the chance to share his blog posts here on BCLionsDen.ca. We’re excited to have Jim’s opinions on the CFL and encourage you to follow his own blog on CKNW.com

By Jim Mullin (CKNW 980)

The season is quietly rolling up upon us, but no stretch in time may be as important to the long-term operations of the BC Lions. The next two years will set the Lions path for the next decade.

Attendance was way off last season. It dropped from 32,000 per game down to 28,000. A bad economy, bad play – especially at home – and a vacuum of leadership all contributed to the downward spiral.

This is a year to right the ship with new president Dennis Skulsky at the helm.

Fate gives the new boss a good start. The 27,500-seat (T)empire Stadium will be a one-year wonder of nostalgia. That, of course, until the rain arrives in October and the familiar fan fickleness from Vancouverites ensues.

Then it’s off to a brief honeymoon period in the dome with a sunroof.

The Lions will have to roll up their sleeves. The Vancouver Whitecaps will have lots of money to spend in the market to launch their new brand, and will compete for corporate support.

Wally Buono will have a decision to make soon. When will he become the full-time general manager and hand the coaching reigns off to another? And who will that new head coach be?

As for the parts on the field, Casey Printers has the athleticism and the charisma, but the questions remain: Can he stay healthy? Can he deliver in big games? And can he keep his emotions in check?

Out of all the sports operations in this city, the Lions are the team with the deepest roots in the community. They have been operating under the same banner for 56 years.

However, the brand staggered and got stale somewhere along the way in the last two years.

Now it is up to their leadership to reenergize the base, and find new ways to get the message to new fans while renewal in the front office and the buildings they play in have the buzz in this burg.

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The BC Lions Den Pawdcast – Episode 49

Jim Mullin: Eye on the CIS: Nill, Constantin benefit from providing options to players.

Eye on the CIS with Jim Mullin: BC shot at Greene unfortunate.

And the gate goes on. PNE and the Lions satisfy football fans.

The Mullin Files: Lions: This is the moment to set up the next decade

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