Lionbackers.com

Turkey Bowl featuring arguably the league's two most inept offences. Lions on a 3 game losing streak. A must game for BC if they hope to hold on to a playoff spot.

The good news is that Tim Brown will be back to return kicks. The Lions lost the field position battle badly last week in Hamilton and it cost them the game.

Hopefully Manny Arceneaux's ankle injury won't flare up and he will be able to play. In a season of offensive disappointment, Arceneaux has been the lone bright spot. He is one of only three CFL receivers on pace for 1,000 yards and he leads the league with 7 TD passes (and one TD pass thrown) and 7 catches of 30+ yards.

Benny's pop gun offense wont get it done...RedBlacks 10 Lions 6

Hey all,

I've been cheering for the RedBlacks all season, and I really hope they win. They need to have some buildings blocks for next season, and if a win down the stretch against the Lions helps the franchise, so be it.

I also like the notion of a loss to Ottawa meaning increased pressure to change things here, regardless of what that change is.

But here's the reality: no Ottawa team has won here since 1990. And the last win before that was 1974. I don't think it's gonna happen.

Cheers,

James

jcalhoun wrote:I've been cheering for the RedBlacks all season, and I really hope they win. They need to have some buildings blocks for next season, and if a win down the stretch against the Lions helps the franchise, so be it.

You're kidding me, right?

How on earth can you be a Lions' fan and want them to lose? I don't get that....


DH

David wrote:

jcalhoun wrote:I've been cheering for the RedBlacks all season, and I really hope they win. They need to have some buildings blocks for next season, and if a win down the stretch against the Lions helps the franchise, so be it.

You're kidding me, right?

How on earth can you be a Lions' fan and want them to lose? I don't get that....


DH

Neither do I. The Lions are in the thick of a playoff race, they have the league's No. 1 defence, and all of their western rivals are struggling. The final chapter of this season is a long way from being written. As long as there's one second left on the clock in the last game of the season, I'll always cheer for them.

David wrote:

jcalhoun wrote:I've been cheering for the RedBlacks all season, and I really hope they win. They need to have some buildings blocks for next season, and if a win down the stretch against the Lions helps the franchise, so be it.

You're kidding me, right?

How on earth can you be a Lions' fan and want them to lose? I don't get that....


DH

I totally see where James is coming from. I've noticed a fair bit of talk on here in the last few weeks to the effect that this team has some deep-rooted problems, particularly with our offence and our coaching. Whatever wins we achieve the rest of this year would mask these problems, likely suppress any urgency to address them and allow them to continue into next year. But with each loss it would become harder to ignore these problems and the likelihood of changes to address these problems would increase.

So to paraphrase Chris Rock, I'm not saying we should hope the Lions lose — but I understand.

My thoughts as well. If the Lions finish strong it will be status quo again. Hate to say it but the only meaningful change will come if they miss the playoffs.

Hey all,

To answer your question, 'how can you be a Lions fan and wish them to lose,' I'd point to sjroc's comments above (which more or less nails it).

The Lions' organization needs change and change will only come when there is the pressure to do so. I tend to disagree with the notion the team should start firing coaches, (particularly after the Farhan postgame show a few weeks back) but I do believe there needs to be a seismic re-think, where everything is eyed critically and no aspect of operations escapes examination merely because "it's always been done this way."

Why, for example, did free agents choose not to sign here? Why did coaches not want to sign here? (Kevin Glenn isn't the only backup forced into a starting role, if the tales of how we found our current OC are to be believed). Why have wins and ticket sales been on a downward trend?

I think the team needs to do more than tinker, but considerably less than a down-to-the-studs renovation. Wally will find us another QB. The O-line will consolidate (eventually). McCallum will retire, etc. But this isn't 2005 --the team can't afford to say to themselves, and more critically, to the marketplace, "hey, it was a bit of a rough year, but we made the playoffs!" No. A loss against Ottawa will hasten the evaluation process and be a catalyst for change.

(That said, if I won the lotto last night and choose to buy the team, the sacrificial lamb is Skulsky. Last game of the season will be "tar and feathers night" brought to you by CP --who would then run him outta town on a rail).

More importantly, as a fan of league I want Ottawa to succeed. In their next four games they play Hamilton twice, Toronto and Montreal. With a bit of luck, they could split their last four and finish third in the east --or come close. And that'd be awesome for football in Ontario and good for the league. They've played with a lot of grit this year. Grit is all the Ottawa fans could really hope for, but damn it all if a few wins wouldn't look good on 'em.

Oh, and here's another scenario: as a red-blooded Canadian who loves the Lord and hates the Saskatchewan Roughriders, if a Lions' loss meant the Riders missed the playoffs, I'd be cheering enthusiastically for the other side. And if the lotto comes through and that scenario plays out, expect me to announce our starting QB for that game is Kato. He's earned his shot.

Cheers,

James

To get you folks in the mood for tonight's big game, here is some action from 1978 at old Empire between Ottawa and B.C. (Lions won 20-17):

Ravi wrote:To get you folks in the mood for tonight's big game, here is some action from 1978 at old Empire between Ottawa and B.C. (Lions won 20-17):

Hey Ravi, your weekend looked pretty bleak until the 4th quarter last night. What a comeback, one that the Lions didn't have the ability to move forward on one drive. Can't believe that Hamilton covered Owens with a LB...even the Lions wouldn't do that.

I have been looking forward to this game since the schedule was announced for many of the reasons James mentioned (Ottawa's back, CFL stronger, etc...). I was kinda hoping to see a game where the Redblacks would put up a good fight etc...

This game will be our last before the Lions second bye of the season. Yes, that bye week is going to be used to rebuild, recover and reenergize this team for the home stretch. But I'm hoping to see part of that recovery happen tonight. Guess, I'll see......

Rammer wrote:

Ravi wrote:To get you folks in the mood for tonight's big game, here is some action from 1978 at old Empire between Ottawa and B.C. (Lions won 20-17):

Hey Ravi, your weekend looked pretty bleak until the 4th quarter last night. What a comeback, one that the Lions didn't have the ability to move forward on one drive. Can't believe that Hamilton covered Owens with a LB...even the Lions wouldn't do that.

Lions might cover Owens with a LB, but it would be Bighill.

Actually, I thought that the play was a poor all or nothing gamble to rush 7 and it sure backfired on the TiCats.

Don't forget to do your in game diaries, similar to WCJ tonight guys, those that are willing...I would love to see them post game! Thanks!

MLF

Tuinei is on the field for warmups. Arceneaux is out. Apparently the Lions made a late request to add Arceneaux to the injured list and activate Tuinei. Huge shoes to fill. We'll see what he's got.

On defence, T.J. Lee starts at boundary corner and Torri Williams at field corner, both new positions. Clarke (29) is the dimeback.

The good news is that Tim Brown is back as expected.