Delay Start of Game

[leeinq]

So I understand they delayed the start of the game because they could not get the crowd in fast enough.

Is not the start time, the start time?

[Vern Halen]

So I understand they delayed the start of the game because they could not get the crowd in fast enough.

Is not the start time, the start time?

See my post re: ungracious winner

It's irrelevant.

[MacNews]

I couldn't hear the reason why they delayed the start time, but it's not a big deal either way. They delayed it by 10 minutes, big deal.

[chub]

So I understand they delayed the start of the game because they could not get the crowd in fast enough.

Is not the start time, the start time?

See my post re: ungracious winner

It's irrelevant.

Its actually not irrelevant. This was the cause of a major fight in the press box between Bob Ackles and Jim Hopson. I would imagine the league will review this incident.

The game should start on time....I also heard CBC was not happy about it at all as well.

[prairielion]

And if the game starts on time, then they find something else to make an issue over.

[Rammer]

So I understand they delayed the start of the game because they could not get the crowd in fast enough.

Is not the start time, the start time?

See my post re: ungracious winner

It's irrelevant.

Its actually not irrelevant. This was the cause of a major fight in the press box between Bob Ackles and Jim Hopson. I would imagine the league will review this incident.

The game should start on time....I also heard CBC was not happy about it at all as well.

Actually it wasn't it the PA announcer who was encouraging the fans to pump up the volume and Mrs Austin went into the press box looking for Hopson, which began the fighting war of words?

The delay in the game isn't unusual to sporting events that I have been to over time, there could have been more mayhem had thousands of people missed a portion of the first quarter due to the lineups from their perception.

[Vern Halen]

See my post re: ungracious winner

It's irrelevant.

Its actually not irrelevant. This was the cause of a major fight in the press box between Bob Ackles and Jim Hopson. I would imagine the league will review this incident.

The game should start on time....I also heard CBC was not happy about it at all as well.

Actually it wasn't it the PA announcer who was encouraging the fans to pump up the volume and Mrs Austin went into the press box looking for Hopson, which began the fighting war of words?

The delay in the game isn't unusual to sporting events that I have been to over time, there could have been more mayhem had thousands of people missed a portion of the first quarter due to the lineups from their perception.

Fair enough.

What I should have said was: It's irrelevant to the final outcome. Some might have construed it as something to "ice" the Riders before kickoff.

[Luke]

So I understand they delayed the start of the game because they could not get the crowd in fast enough.

Is not the start time, the start time?

See my post re: ungracious winner

It's irrelevant.

Its actually not irrelevant. This was the cause of a major fight in the press box between Bob Ackles and Jim Hopson. I would imagine the league will review this incident.

The game should start on time....I also heard CBC was not happy about it at all as well.

I think both teams need a timeout. I agree with Rammer, delays aren't that unusual for sporting events, although I can see why the Riders would've been upset.

[leeinq]

Actually, games usually start on time. I can think of a few occassions where a league might decide to delay a start or move the starting time (like last weeks Rememberance Day stuff), but for a home team to delay the start of a game because they want more of their fans in the seats....

Maybe a visiting team should say they want more time to look at game film and delay the start for a while.

[Lions4ever]

Sorry, but I agree with Leeinq on this. We got our butts up before 6 am to drive to Nanaimo, fight to find day parking because the main lot was full and the overflow lot was full. We waited in a HUGE line to get on the ferry. Met people on the ferry who had hired a limo who had some of their people left behind so was able to buy into that. Got downtown stood at a bar for one beer then bought a smokie for lunch at the street thing and were still in our seats by 12:30.

No excuse. Too many people in Vancouver are fairweather fans who are far more interested in beer than football. We were sitting in an area where we were the only people wearing Lions colours. Everyone else was in regular street clothes and we've never had to get up and down so many times to let people past. They were never in their seats. Back and forth all day to the beer vendor or the bathroom.

People could be in their seats by kickoff if they want to. I'm on Shelley Austin's side on this. Also, that P.A. announcer is something straight outta high school, not pro football.

[Spud387]

Sorry, but I agree with Leeinq on this. We got our butts up before 6 am to drive to Nanaimo, fight to find day parking because the main lot was full and the overflow lot was full. We waited in a HUGE line to get on the ferry. Met people on the ferry who had hired a limo who had some of their people left behind so was able to buy into that. Got downtown stood at a bar for one beer then bought a smokie for lunch at the street thing and were still in our seats by 12:30.

No excuse. Too many people in Vancouver are fairweather fans who are far more interested in beer than football. We were sitting in an area where we were the only people wearing Lions colours. Everyone else was in regular street clothes and we've never had to get up and down so many times to let people past. They were never in their seats. Back and forth all day to the beer vendor or the bathroom.

People could be in their seats by kickoff if they want to. I'm on Shelley Austin's side on this. Also, that P.A. announcer is something straight outta high school, not pro football.

The reason our announcer is like that is because our fans, outside of the season tickets holders and frequent buyers are... *not too bright*
They are not there for the football, they are there cause it is something to do and the sport they are watching is entertaining because they are winning. They do not understand why we do not cheer on the offense or get up to get beer DURING A PLAY :x but what can you expect at the 30,000+ mark? once you get that many people, you will start to get the non-football fans coming to games. You just have to live with it at that many people here in Vancouver.

[sj-roc]

I was also nonplussed at the delay in starting the game. It's not like the EF was still in progress; in fact, the League specifically started the two games 3-1/2 hrs apart to avoid such overlap. I could understand delaying the game for some sort of technical reason, say, replacing a piece of damaged turf or a problem with the game clock, but just because there were latecomers? Weak. If that's all it was, I'm surprised we weren't assessed a delay of game penalty.

It's not like there weren't a large percentage of fans already seated in time. The entire crowd singing O Canada (without a miked vocalist accompanying the band) was electric. It energised the crowd, but then it just sucked the life out of the building to have us sitting around for five minutes of NOTHING waiting for kickoff. Poor game day presentation.

Someone already stated above that this move might have come off as an attempt to ice the Riders, but frankly, the only ones iced were the fans.

[notahomer]

...They do not understand why we do not cheer on the offense or get up to get beer DURING A PLAY :x ...

Thankfully I got a couple of feisty cougars sitting behind me. They yell (including profanity ) at some of the BOZOS that expect us to be able to see through them while they discuss how many beers to get, shake hands with each other, where we going after the game etc..... WHILE WE'RE trying to watch 3rd quarter football. Ive said this before too. I went to a Canucks game a few years ago and its changed there too. When I was a kid I spent a few times sitting with my legs crossed waiting for a whistle during a Canucks game so I could go water the flowers . Nowadays, go ahead, block the play. I really love the bozos who get up, start up the aisle and then turn around so they can see the play

[KnowItAll]

I am amazed that anybody gives a damn when the game actually started. Whats the big deal about 5-10 minute delay.

All this fuss kinda reminds me of idiot drivers trying to race through heavy traffic tailgating, changing lanes unsafely, racing up to the next red light, etc, just to get somewhere a few seconds earlier.

People needs to relax and go with the flow.

[Soundy]

Sorry, but I agree with Leeinq on this. We got our butts up before 6 am to drive to Nanaimo, fight to find day parking because the main lot was full and the overflow lot was full. We waited in a HUGE line to get on the ferry. Met people on the ferry who had hired a limo who had some of their people left behind so was able to buy into that. Got downtown stood at a bar for one beer then bought a smokie for lunch at the street thing and were still in our seats by 12:30.

No excuse. Too many people in Vancouver are fairweather fans who are far more interested in beer than football. We were sitting in an area where we were the only people wearing Lions colours. Everyone else was in regular street clothes and we've never had to get up and down so many times to let people past. They were never in their seats. Back and forth all day to the beer vendor or the bathroom.

People could be in their seats by kickoff if they want to. I'm on Shelley Austin's side on this. Also, that P.A. announcer is something straight outta high school, not pro football.

I think a lot of people simply underestimated the time it would take to get through the gates once they did head in. I left the TG just under an hour before scheduled start, because I wanted to visit a few friends around the stadium who were already in their seats. By the time the players left the field from their warmup, I could see the lines were starting to form in earnest outside the gates. That was a good half-hour to scheduled start, and I suspect a lot of people figured that would be plenty of lead time, not considering the fact that there would be twice as many people as usual trying to get in...

...AND that security was WAY tighter than usual: where I normally get waved through after a cursory glance in my camera bag, this time I got fully patted down, and every pocket of my camera bag looked through. What would usually be a 15-second pause turned into over a full minute, or basically four times the delay. Doesn't sound like a lot, but multiply that by probably 40-45,000 people that were still outside... even with more staff on the gates, it REALLY slows down the process.