B.C.FAN wrote:The Lions have remained silent for far too long on the date and location of their home preseason game. It's been assumed that B.C. Place is unavailable because of the Women's World Cup, but why? There are games scheduled there on Tuesday, June 16 and Sunday, June 21. What's to stop the Lions from having a home game there on Friday, June 19 and still leaving plenty of time to convert the building back to soccer for the June 21 soccer game, which is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.? The stadium usually can accommodate a two-day turnaround between Lions and Whitecaps games, including repainting the lines on the field each time. There is such a turnaround in July between a Lions game on Friday, July 24 and a Whitecaps game on Sunday, July 26.
I suspect there are added logistics. The WWC event might have been awarded on the condition that the event be granted exclusive access to the venue for its duration. There may be extra physical WWC branding for the event placed all over the building that would have to be removed and re-installed, which wouldn't occur for a regular Lions<->Caps changeover. This might also explain why even the Whitecaps, for whom NO field changeover would be necessary (unless the field has diff dimensions), are also exiled.
On top of all this, perhaps even most significant for all we know, the building is probably fully booked with WWC team practices when games aren't going on between June 16-21 (which would be a good reason for the aforementioned exclusive access). I'm sure the Lions would be putting up more of a "fight" for lack of a better word, if they felt having the pre-season game @BCP was amenable. Having to play the pre-season game elsewhere is just as big an inconvenience for the Lions as it is for fans — one I'm sure they'd just as soon NOT have to bother with. The fact that it's taking this long to get it ironed out shows just how big of a bother it is. It seems clear that it's not as simple as "Oh, let's just play it at <*insert alternate location here*> instead. All right then, who's for lunch?"
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.