Stefan Logan Archives | BC Lions Football

The BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast – Episode 40

October 2, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

In our 40th Episode we look back at a 14-7 loss to the Calgary Stampeders and the loss of star running back Andrew Harris, who has been the heart and soul of the BC Lions defence. Vancouver Sun BC Lions beat writer Mike Beamish joins us for Lions and CFL discussion.

To stay up to date with our podcasts, blogs and other Lions news, follow us on Twitter @BCLionsDen Please leave us a comment on the site and let us know how we’re doing. You can also leave us a ranking and a review on iTunes, we would really appreciate it!

You can follow our guest on Twitter: Mike Beamish, @SixBeamers.

Listen and Subscribe on iTunes

In Case You Missed It: BC Lions News Roundup March 27th

March 27, 2010 By Brian Wawryshyn

In a new feature here at BCLionsDen.ca, we’re going to try and help keep you up to date on recent happenings from the Lions Den and around the CFL. We’ll gather the top news items of the week and compile them here for your convenience. So let’s get started!

News Items

Simpson off to Riderville

Former BC Lion linebacker Barrin Simpson signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday. The signing had been rumoured for about a week, but was made official. The Lions had been kicking the tires on Simpson, who I know was very interested in a return to BC. However, on his Fifth Quarter blog, Lowell Ullrich reports that after considering bringing the nine year veteran back to where he began his career, Wally Buono perhaps decided that the risk to the chemistry of the locker room would be one too great to take.

“Nobody would ever come out and say so for public consumption, but the clear message was that the Lions feel that Simpson would be some kind of distraction in the locker room. Chemistry is a big thing with Buono, and you can debate if you choose whether that has always been the case.”

The Lions do need linebackers, but with the trade to acquire the younger Dennis Haley from Hamilton earlier this month it appears they will look to free agent camps and possibly the draft to add more depth behind Haley and Anton McKenzie.

Robertson Runs With The Lions

Free agent running back Jamal Robertson signed with the Lions this week. The 33 year old former back of the Toronto Argonauts will had some veteran depth to the lineup that currently features young prospects Jamal Lee and Andrew Harris. Both are promising backs, and both have Canadian passports. Robertson is a hard runner, similar in style to the departed Martell Mallett, but he’s also capable catching the ball out of the backfield. From the sounds of things, new offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine will be designing an offense that is pass heavy, so adding Robertson would compliment that style. The Lions also feel that they let Mallett get worn out last season, and there is a good chance the team will rotate backs a lot more this season in an attempt to keep guys fresh, give teams different looks and build some experience for Lee and Harris.

Competition For Logan?

On the way out there front, there has been speculation from fans that former Lion Stefan Logan could be in trouble in Pittsburgh with the return of Antwaan Randle-El this week to the steel city. If he were to return to the CFL however, he would be a free agent, and it remains to be seen if the Lions would throw their hat in the bidding war his return would create. Before that happens however, Logan will have to be cut, and would likely get looks from other NFL teams before ever considering a return to the CFL. Randle-El hasn’t been very productive of late and Logan set a new Steeler kick return record last year. I’m banking on the little man.

Stubler’s Return

One of the best signings the Lions have made this off-season was the one of new defensive line coach Rich Stubler. To say the man is over qualified for that job would be an understatement. Stubler has a long history in the league and will bring a wealth of experience to the table. There is also talk the move my be a part of a plan for if and and when Wally Buono decides to move upstairs and assume the GM role full time. The idea being that Mike Benevides is being groomed for the head job, while Stubler would take over the defensive coordinator role. For now Stubler, who lives in the Pacific Northwest is thrilled to be back in the league and back with the Lions.

Wanna Go Camping?

The Lions posted details of the first week of their 201o training camp on BCLions.com this week. The first week’s preliminary schedule has been posted, and as in past years the Lions will practice twice a day, once on the morning and once in the afternoon. The will be located at Hillside Stadium adjacent to campus of Thompson Rivers University.

Hillside Stadium, City of Kamloops by sportexe, on Flickr

Lions rookie camp will go June 2nd to the 5th, and the first day of the main camp will be the 6th. The Lions will remain in Kamloops until the 12th, when the travel to Regina to play the Riders on the 13th. They will return to Kamloops on the 14th for more sessions, before heading to Vancouver to take on the Edmonton Eskimos on June 20th at their temporary home, Empire Fields. The club opens the 2010CFL season on July 4th in Edmonton.

Tweet @Coach_Brillo (Wally Buono)

Join Head Coach and GM Wally Buono on Twitter on Monday, March 29th between 11:00am and 12:00pm for a question and answer session. The coach who goes by the name @Coach_Brillo on Twitter, will answer as many questions from Twitter fans within the hour. Coach Buono will fresh off the clubs Los Angeles free agent camp which goes this weekend.

It’s a nice move by the team to take advantage of a great social media tool. Hopefully they can maybe do more with Twitter in the future and do similar Q & A’s with Geroy Simon (@geroysimon), Dante Marsh (@dantemarsh) Emmanuel Arceneaux (@84mannie) and others that use the service.

Check it out, and if you’re on Twitter, make sure you follow us, @BCLionsDen!

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Labour Day Sunday Musings

September 6, 2009 By Brian Wawryshyn

As I sit here awaiting the Labour Day classic between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, I thought I would share a few opinions and thoughts from recent happenings in our great game. The Labour Day weekend football is the most anticipated weekend of the CFL regular season, and he’s a few thoughts on what’s unfolded thus far.

Proud of my Lions, proud of the fans

Two weeks ago, fans left BC Place stunned and deflated at what they had seen. The Lions were thoroughly beaten by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and it appeared like the teams spirit was shattered by that loss. Friday night at BC Place the undisputed best team in the CFL came to town and failed to score a touchdown on the Lions, who turned in a gutsy performance and restored some hope amongst the fans and no doubt confidence in themselves. I’m always proud to be a Lions fan, but Friday night showed me this team has pride and that was great to see. Kudos also go to the 27,199 fans that made it very loud in the fourth quarter getting behind that Lions defense.

The touchdown that wasn’t?

The Lions may have been fortunate that a league error on the Als final drive nullified a Montreal touchdown that would have tied the game. However a couple things need to be clarified. The first is, what was the flag on the play for? Lowell Ullrich, in his video recap following the game stated the call was offside against the Lions, while Rick Ball of the TEAM 1040 stated the call was procedure against Montreal. That would explain why Wally Buono was so upset after having the call explained to him, and almost every Lion on the field was pointing towards the Als after the touchdown and seeing the flag. If the call was against the Als, they would have been facing a 3rd and a 11 and the touchdown wouldn’t have counted anyway.

Secondly, there has been a lot of finger pointing at the “homer” timekeeper in BC Place, an accusation that is getting a little stale from disgruntled opposing fans. I sat at Commonwealth stadium this year and the clock had to be reset 4 times. It happens folks and the officials and the league are responsible for making sure it is accurate before each snap. The league has admitted their error, and while unfortunate for the Als, those are the breaks, and the Lions sure needed one.

Finally, congratulation to Wally Buono, who pulled even with Don Matthews as the most successful coach in CFL history with the win. The Lions next won will see Buono become the CFL’s all-time leader in coaching wins. Go get em Wally!

Go Joystick go!

As a Lions fan, I watched Stefan Logan closely over the last couple of weeks, selfishly hoping that “Joystick” would wear a Lions uniform again. Of course we all know his 80 yard punt return for a touchdown Thursday erased any glimmer of hope that would happen. Congratulations to Stefan Logan, who chased his dream, and went down to Pittsburgh, with no contract, no signing bonus and no promises. He gave the Steelers no choice but to have him on the team. He’s an outstanding player, with a tremendous belief in himself and his abilities, and I’m sure I join all Lions fans in wishing Logan an outstanding season with the Steelers, and I’ll certainly be watching anytime the Steelers are on TV.

Tailgating goodness!

We’re halfway through the season, and I have to say our new tailgate home has been a big success. New people are showing up and finding us to enjoy the cheap parking and everyone has been great about policing ourselves and keeping the lot clean each and every game. It’s so nice to head to the game knowing we won’t be facing a surprise when we arrive. Another huge thanks goes out to the folks at Easy Park, in particular Greg Watrych, and city councillor Andrea Reimer who made a lot of Lions fans very happy. I encourage everyone to park at Easy Park lots whenever they head downtown to an event, and if Greg and Andrea are up for it, I would love to treat them to a tailgate dinner!

Enjoy the games everyone!

Time to settle down and get ready for some great Labour Day games. Winnipeg and the Riders get it on today, and Monday features a day of double header football. Enjoy the games everyone, and good luck to all our teams in the second half of the season!

ROAR YOU LIONS ROAR!

Den Talk – August 3rd, 2009

August 3, 2009 By Brian Wawryshyn

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The BC Lions returned to the practice field Monday after another loss on their record, and some new faces on the field. With holiday Monday and a beautiful day to take in practice, I ventured down to the Surrey training facility to check out our lethargic Lions.

New faces in town

As was rumored Sunday by @littlemissCFL on Twitter, and posted on BCLionsden.ca, the Lions announced the signing of linebacker JoJuan Armour on Monday, as well as that of former Edmonton Eskimo running back A.J. Harris and defensive end James Edwards. All three players were at practice and it was instantly recognized that Armour was immediately taking on a starting role with the team. The physical Armour, who started his CFL career with the BC Lions, was taking all of the first team reps in Javy Glatt’s middle linebacker position, while Glatt watched from the sidelines. This move was later confirmed by Armour who told the Team 1040 that he was assuming the middle linebacker position.

When asked about the move Glatt told the Team 1040:

“When you lose games, people lose their jobs and they picked me – I’m the guy that takes it and I’ve just got to stay positive about it and help the guys as much as I can, and if I’m here, I’m here, and if not, we’ll deal with that when we get to it. Basically, I was told I’m not athletic enough and I’m a liability in some things. That’s what happens when you lose. A lot of things come out that are negative and you just have to deal with it.”

Glatt can hardly take all the blame for the team’s defensive woes. The defensive line has been at fault as well, and there are questions about the scheme of the defense itself. But the fact remains that something had to change, and the with the Lions giving up an average of 150 yards rushing per game,the middle linebacker position was a good place to start.

Wally Buono explained it this way:

“Well, we’re not replacing Javy, we’re just changing his responsibilities. Part of (the move) was trying to get a spark into this football team. I’m not going to go into issues. At the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to function and we just wanted to make sure we address a situation that wasn’t good. We didn’t stop the run in the past two weeks and for us to be better as a football club, we have to do that.”

There was no scheme change, with Armour and McKenzie being joined by Korey Banks in certain situations as the nickleback. It will remain to be seen how much the scheme itself has to do with the Lions lack of success with the run, now that Armour is in the mix.

A.J. Harris didn’t seem to have as much of a prominent role at Monday’s practice, and Martell Mallett seemed to be taking all the first team reps, with Darren Toney and Ryan Grice-Mullen returning punts. According to Lowell Ullrich, Buono confirmed that Harris is here for the time being as insurance behind Mallett, and because Ian Smart was due to have surgery today on his banged up knee. With an average of 5.6 yards per carry last season for the Eskimos and good hands coming out of the backfield, it was not a bad insurance policy to take a chance on.

A quiet bunch

I’ve attended a few Lions practices over the last few years, and one thing was noticeable off the bat at this one, there wasn’t a lot of talking going on. Korey Banks quipped “We still have fans? Really, we still have fans?”, as he jogged out to the practice field, but the usual banter amongst players was muted at best.

Wally involved

Wally Buono took a much more hands on approach in today’s practice, particularly on special teams drills where he was fairly vocal. Buono’s style is usually to sit back and let his coaches run the practice, but obviously desperate times call for a more involved role from the boss.

Logan Watch:

For those still dreaming of the return of Stefan Logan here is an update on his quest to make the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Monday’s Practice Photo Gallery:

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