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You are here: Home / Archives for The Province

Another Media Loss For BC Lions Fans

April 21, 2017 By Brian Wawryshyn

Growing up as a young sports fan, there was no internet, no cell phones, many games weren’t even televised. Every morning for years my dad would fetch the Vancouver Sun from our front door, and he would take out the sports section for me. It was a must do ritual, as I couldn’t get enough of the articles about the BC Lions, the Canucks and the Whitecaps.

Sports writers are storytellers and conduits of information for sports fans across the province, and I often dreamed of doing the same for a living one day, though I never followed that dream.

Within the last two years, Vancouver and the province of British Columbia have lost two of the best and two men who provided BC Lions fans with the most reliable, professional and in-depth coverage of the team.

Mike Beamish
Mike Beamish

First, it was Lowell Ullrich of The Province, and today Vancouver Sun writer Mike Beamish announced he was retiring after 43 years on the job, many of those covering the Lions. Thankfully others have brought Lowell aboard so we can continue to enjoy his work.

Hired: Nov. 27, 1974. Retired: April 21, 2017. After 5 decades of sports writing, my @VancouverSun career ends. Farewell faithful readers.

— Mike Beamish (@sixbeamers) April 21, 2017

Shoutout to @Sixbeamers at end of #CFHOF career, impossibly difficult to write against for yrs. Sadly, VcrSun Sports demolition all but done

— Lowell Ullrich (@FifthQtr) April 21, 2017

The industry has claimed another victim, but maybe Mike was ready to go anyway. He’s worked hard and has earned a relaxing retirement, but what’s happened in the newspaper industry is a shame. The talented journalists who have brought us up with their stories are being forced out, skeletal staff remain and we the readers are the worse for it.

Social media has created a whole new world of competition for the papers, radio stations and television stations. Everyone has a camera, everyone has access to information as it happens, or thinks they do anyway. What do we need newspapers for?

Well for one, we need the talent that these writers possess. We need the diligence that they do their jobs with to ensure that a story is correct. Journalists are the ones that hold people accountable, and report the news has it should be by getting it right the first time.

I’ve always enjoyed talking about sports and particularly took a liking to the CFL and the BC Lions. Writers like Lowell Ullrich and Mike Beamish were part of that, as I’m sure they have been for many, many others.

I started this blog because of that dream I talked about earlier and because I felt there just wasn’t enough Lions coverage in a Canucks crazy market. I had the pleasure to deal with both Lowell and Mike over the years and they treated me with nothing but respect. They were always accommodating to me as a blogger and a podcaster, even allowing me to bounce a few fact-checking questions of my own off them from time to time.

However the media rebrands and reinvents itself, it’s important that we support it. Journalism is an important part of our society, and we should never, ever let it die. Lions fans have lost two hall of fame worthy writers in the last two years. They won’t be easily replaced.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Featured, Lions Notebook Tagged With: BC Lions, CFL, Lowell Ullrich, Mike Beamish, The Province, Vancouver Sun

The BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast – Episode 25

April 9, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

In Episode 25 Brian and Mojo recap the latest news from the Lions Den. Lowell Ullrich, BC Lions beat writer for The Province newspaper and TheProvince.com joins for some Lions talk and they to talk to CHED 650 Eskimos colour man Dave Campbell for an update on the off-season of the Edmonton Eskimos.

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!

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Filed Under: 2014, BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast, Den Talk, Featured, Interviews, News, Podcasts, Social Media Tagged With: BC Lions, BCLionsDen.ca, Canadian Football League, CFL, CHED 650, Dave Campbell, Edmonton Eskimos, Lowell Ullrich, Podcast, The Fifth Quarter, The Province, TheProvince.com

From the Couch – Lions 53 Bombers 17

October 3, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

bighill-phillips-larose-570

There are times when you love taking it to an opponent and there are times when you kind of just feel sorry for them. The BC Lions beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 53-17 at Investors Group Field on Friday night in a game which was a clear indication at just how bad the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are. With condolences to the Bombers faithful, here’s how I saw the carnage, From the Couch.

Never had a chance

The Bombers never had a chance in this game and that was evident on their first series and a Max Hall lateral pass to Will Ford who bobbled the ball which eventually ended up in the possession of Adam Bighill for a quick touchdown. It was a foreshadowing of things to come as the Lions racked up seven turnovers in the game for 34 of their 53 points.

The Bomber quarterbacks were terrible. Max Hall at least had small amounts of success, but despite a late 2nd quarter touchdown throw to Clarence Denmark, was yanked at halftime in favour of Jason Boltus, who threw an interception on his first play from scrimmage.

Defence

With how horrid the Bombers were on offence, it’s pretty tough to gauge just how dominant the Lions defence was.  Bighill had a superb game for the Lions and led the team with 10 tackles. He was flying all over the field and his pursuit was outstanding all game.

The Lions got great pressure in the Bombers backfield and aided by the punting of Paul McCallum and turnovers they helped provide a great advantage in field position most of the night. The additions of Chris Wilson and Jermaine Reid continue to help the defensive line. Wilson will want to avoid the bad roughing the passer calls in the future, as the one he took early in the game was just that.

In the secondary it was more of the same from last week in Saskatchewan with players swarming the ball and making the tackle on first contact. Dante Marsh and Cord Parks continued to shine and one gets the feeling this defence is rounding into form just in time with the really big games coming up.

Offence

Judging by the score you would think the Lions racked up the offence. Thomas DeMarco didn’t exactly light it up but managed the game well and again didn’t make any costly mistakes. There were points left on the field though and times where drives stalled and the team settled for field goals.

Buck Pierce saw some action which drew one of the biggest ovations of the night from the Winnipeg fans. He didn’t do a lot with his time going 4-8 for 32 yards before giving way to Joey Elliott.

The Lions were modestly more successful at getting Andrew Harris involved, but a nod to goes out to Tim Brown as well who is getting more touches of late and being productive with them.

It was nice to see Paris Jackson back on the field in an offensive role and also to see S.J. Haidara get some more looks as well with Marco Iannuzzi unable to play. I’ve mentioned it before, but I am really looking forward to seeing Haidara progress to a bigger role.

Our ball, our ball, your ball

A weird sequence on the game occurred when after a Lions fumble;  Harris recovered the ball, scrambled and found Paris Jackson downfield for a 29 yard game. A flag on the play however deemed that Matt Norman interfered with a Bomber trying to recover the fumble and the ball was awarded to the Bombers at the spot of the foul. It’s a rule that is rarely called but looking at the replay, it was about as textbook as it gets and the flag was legit.

Twitterverse

@JimTothCJOB: #Bombers Brandon Stewart called fans cheering for #BCLions sickening and disheartening“ Uhh…Brandon, I think the fans may say the same about your team’s performance on the field.

@VeganRottweiler: Section 236 – secret weapon being deployed next week. This is shot across the bow to all other sections of @bcplace #BCLions #letsgodefence

 @ChrisJFoulds: #bclions were so good tonight in Winnipeg, they gave Dieter Brock a few snaps in the 4th just for the hell of it. #cfl #godsteam

It almost got to that with Pierce and Elliott playing in the second half.

@DarrinBauming: What a beautiful 33,500-seat stadium. I think they can hold concerts here. Final: #BCLions 53, #Bombers 17. Well…at least Bombers fans have that.

What were your comments on the game? I’d love for you to share them for me here. You can also follow me at BCLionsDen.ca and on Twitter, @BCLionsDen.


 

Filed Under: 2013 Game Recaps, Featured, From The Couch, Game Recaps Tagged With: BC Lions, Brian Wawryshyn, CFL, Game Recaps, The Fifth Quarter, The Province, Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Superman stays put, and a new defensive line coach in the fold.

March 23, 2012 By Brian Wawryshyn

Geroy Simon - Photo: GeroySimon.comLions fans were given some more good news yesterday when it was announced that Geroy Simon had signed a contract extension with the team through the 2013 season. As Lowell Ullrich pointed out, the event has pretty much become a yearly one in which Superman calls his own shots and who are we to are argue? Simon is of course on the verge of becoming the league’s all-time leader in receiving yards and with another two full seasons to come, all things willing, it will be a long time before anyone challenges the new mark he’s likely to set early in next year’s campaign.

Simon has indicated he has some coaching aspirations as well, but that he won’t pursue those goals until after his playing days are done so that he can continue to play at a high level. Simon will tell anyone who asks that he feels as good now as he has at any time during his career. That’s great news for BC Lions and CFL fans, but certainly bad news for the defenders that try and cover the man of steel.

Now if they can just get that guy throwing him the ball signed to a new deal…

Melvin replaced.

The Lions have officially replaced defensive line coach Randy Melvin, who left for a job with the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. They will soon announce  the hiring of Carl Hairston, who will begin work with the club next week with an impressive resume that includes a Super Bowl ring as a coach in St. Louis and 15 NFL seasons as a player.

Filed Under: Den Talk, Featured, News Tagged With: BC Lions, Carl Hairston, CFL, Geroy Simon, Lowell Ullrich, The Province

BC Lions Talk: Q & A with The Province’s Lowell Ullrich

August 18, 2010 By Brian Wawryshyn

Lowell UllrichLowell Ullrich of The Province newspaper sports department joins us for a little BC Lions chat during this Western division bye week, a break that couldn’t come too soon for the struggling Lions and their fans. In this blogger’s opinion Lowell is the best in the business when it comes to reporting on all matter BC Lions, so we thought it would be a nice way to fill the bye by getting his thoughts on the Lions season to date and what’s to come in the future.

Q: Lowell the season has been a disaster to date and not many people have an up close and personal look at the club like you do. Is there anything that you see that gives you hope the Lions can turn things around after the break?

A: Thanks for the kind words. Things will get turned around; the question becomes how long will it take and whether all the problems are fixed at the same time. It’s probably not the response many people want but my thought is that we’ll see bits of improvement which, if it all happens on the same night, result in a win or two. Before everyone tosses out Casey Printers like we seem to have done with Travis Lulay, I’d like to see him play more than six quarters while healthy to see where this offence is headed.

Q: Here in the “blogosphere” as you often refer to it, there is a lot of heat being directed at the coaching staff and in particular Jacques Chapdelaine. The Lions offense has struggled for the better part of three years now, so what is to blame in your opinion? Coaching? Personnel? Schemes? All of the above?

A: You certainly have to think there’s enough for everyone to go around. Defensively, I think Mike Benevides had a real hard look at the shortcomings everyone saw on run defence and made changes. It has not obviously been as apparent on offence. It is our nature these days to get out the bazookas, or laptop in some cases, assess blame and move to the next topic. What has happened is not easily defined, other than to state the three-year period you cite  coincides with the release of Dave Dickenson.

Q: In your opinion, how big of a blow was it to this organization to lose Bob O’Billovich and has Roy Shivers done enough as a replacement?

A: Bob’s loss was enormous, and not only for the obvious reasons. Also lost by the Lions was once of his associates. Richard Wade, who also went to scout for Hamilton. He does a lot of digging. Roy has his sources but you would like for the Lions to have a succession plan for scouting in play. Neil McEvoy and Barron Miles could be put to better use but in a limited-budget world of a CFL team, they are needed in other ways during the season. Personally, and this is only a guess, Barron will go elsewhere if not given a bigger role.

Q: Losing often can lead to division. You’re around practice every day and you talk to the players and the coaches. Is this team all pulling in one direction or are you starting to see frustration and division?

A: Best answer to give right now would be to look at Edmonton and compare. It comes out here and there to be sure. Most players are aware their comments can make the rounds in public forums, including this one, so are careful with what they say. Most frustration shows when you would figure it to be seen, which is after games.

Q: Lions fans can be described as fickle. Is the team in danger of losing fans with this record, or will the draw of Empire combined with the new and improved BC Place stadium and hosting the 2011 Grey Cup give them a grace period to get things turned around?

A: Obviously the draw of Empire wasn’t what core fans or the club thought it would be, but what will bring fans back is the thing that attracts everyone, success.

Q: In your opinion, is this Wally’s last year as a head coach and if the team doesn’t turn things around will he make changes to his staff?

A: The evidence represented in losses would lead you to believe as most, and this would be the last year in a coaching capacity. That would leave it to a successor to make changes.

Q: What in your mind is the single biggest thing holding this team back?

A: I’d be tempted to go with consistent quarterbacking and offensive line play and throw out the other trendy answers (coaching/scheme) It isn’t the biggest problem, but you’d also like to see the Lions draft better; you can’t keep missing the boat year after year. It’s seems like forever since Paris Jackson was drafted and another Canadian receiver was moulded into a 1,000-yard candidate.

Q: Obviously some big games are to come. Two dates with the Bombers and one with the Eskimos may decide whether this team makes a post-season appearance in 2010. Of the three teams which one do you think has the best chance to play in November?

A: Pretty amazing to think that way but true. It’s hard to think the Eskimos are going anywhere. Neither is Winnipeg without consistent quarterbacking. On that score, you have to still like the Lions because of who they have collectively behind centre.

Q: Stefan Logan is in tough in Pittsburgh by all reports. His performance last year could get him a look elsewhere if he’s cut, but do you think the Lions would go to the wall to sign him if he became available?

A: Lots would have to happen if he gets cut, not the least of which would be he’d have to escape the attention of every other NFL team which now has film on him. So, no, I don’t think they’d go through the wall, though they might give it a nudge to see what happens.

Our thank to Lowell for taking the time to do this. Follow him on Twitter: @FifthQtr and on his blog the Fifth Quarter and of course read his articles in The Province.

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Filed Under: Den Talk, Featured, Interviews Tagged With: BC Lions, CFL, Interview, Lowell Ullrich, The Province

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