Edm. Game Preview Email

[notahomer]

Just got Fridays game preview email from the Lions with some interesting notes:


HISTORICAL NOTES

- A LONG HISTORY: Friday night marks the Lions' 892nd game in their long history of Canadian football. One game into the team's 54th season, the BC Lions all-time record stands at 420-448-23 including a 76-51 (.598) mark since 2000.

- A LONG RIVALRY: Friday night's game will be the 161st time that BC has matched up with Edmonton. Over the past seven seasons, the teams have split 20 games at 10 wins each; however the Lions have a modest two-game winning streak against the Eskimos.

- JUST SO YOU KNOW: The 129-yard FG miss return for a TD by Bashir Levingston is NOT the longest in CFL history! Lions' rookie DB Ken Hinton returned a Dave Cutler FG miss 130 yards for a score on September 24, 1977. The twist is that in those days, FG miss returns were classified as punt returns and thus Hinton's record run is found elsewhere in the CFL record books – but it's still the longest FG miss return to be certain! The play is included in the Lions Greatest Play of All Time Contest at http://www.bclions.com.

- 2000s GOLDEN ERA: BC has won 76 games since 2000 with just 51 losses (.598), the second best mark in the CFL over that span trailing only Montréal who has posted a mark of 81-46 since 2000. The Lions have made the playoffs in all seven years of the decade of the 2000's and in each of the last 10 seasons.

- CATCHING BACK UP TO .500: Through 1998, Lions all-time record was 61 games below .500 at 331-392-23. Through Game #1 of the 2007 season, BC's all-time record now stands at just 28 games below the break-even mark by posting an 89-56 (.614) record and earning a playoff spot in each of the 1999 to 2006 seasons.

- HOME SUCCESS: Over the last three seasons, the Lions are 22-5 at home, setting a new mark for the most wins at home in any 3-year stretch in club history. Against the East over that 3-year span, BC holds a 21-3 mark.

- SEASON-OPENERS: The win at Toronto on June 28th pushed the Lions' record to 28-24-2 in season opening games. The Lions are 6-3-0 in their season-opener over the last nine years.

- GETTING BACK TO THE CUP: The Lions have reached the Grey Cup in consecutive years only once, that coming in 1963 and 1964. The team has however made the playoffs in 7 of the 8 subsequent seasons (1964, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1995, 2001 & 2005).