Some old Lions TV clips

[Ravi]

Someone has been nice enough on YouTube to post a bunch of old CBC and CTV clips from the late 1970s and early 1980s - the kind of stuff that should be on ESPN Classics but never is. Anyway, here are some relevant clips for you Lions fans:

(there is a mention of a new stadium on the horizon during CBC's coverage of a 1978 Lions game in Montreal)

(a 1978 game between two teams in Toronto which David Braley would eventually own)

(the 1981 Western Final in Edmonton)

(a 1978 Ottawa/B.C. game from the old, dark Empire Stadium broadcast by the CTV duo of Peter Young and Frank Rigney)

Enjoy!

[David]

Thanks for the clips Ravi. I actually own that entire 1978 Ottawa game on DVD, complete with commercials. Had not seen the Montreal and Toronto clips before though.

1978 was the 2nd year of the Vic Rapp era (and RB Larry Key's first year with the team). While fielding winning teams throughout his 6 year reign, Rapp's teams had a tendency to start strong and fade down the stretch. Apparently he worked them too hard at training camp and at practice so they had nothing in the tank come October and November.

Also note that 1978 was the year the club went to a "Cleveland Browns" color scheme - the away uniforms look nearly identical to today's (except for brown being the accent color instead of black). I've never heard a reason why we made such a radical change to brown; it stayed that way 'til 1990. I was hoping to find it in Bobby Ackles' book. It was also the first year of our 'current' logo as seen on the helmets, except today it's an orange lion over dark "BC" lettering, not the reverse.

DH

[1greatmysticbushape]

fun to see the old names. was 1978 33 years ago - Yikes.

[KnowItAll]

always nice to hear lancaster.

[BCLions4Ever]

David,

I was talking to Kay Ackles and Norm Fieldgate some time ago about the use of the brown accents. Apparently it had to do with Labbatt's when they became the major sponsor of the team (they paid $250,000 in 1976 for "promotional rights" and re-upped in 1981 with $500,000, plus $60,000 per year for 5 years). They did not like the black - it was too sinister or something, so they "forced" the team to go to the chocolate brown. The team couldn't really argue, because they were operating in the red and Labbatt's saved them from bankruptcy.

[1greatmysticbushape]

ye olde golden rule. those that have the gold make the rules. dig it.

[BCfanInDIXIE]

I didn't notice a lot of motion in those clips. when did the rules concerning unlimited motion by skill position players go in to effect?

[Ravi]

Thanks for the clips Ravi. I actually own that entire 1978 Ottawa game on DVD, complete with commercials. Had not seen the Montreal and Toronto clips before though.

1978 was the 2nd year of the Vic Rapp era (and RB Larry Key's first year with the team). While fielding winning teams throughout his 6 year reign, Rapp's teams had a tendency to start strong and fade down the stretch. Apparently he worked them too hard at training camp and at practice so they had nothing in the tank come October and November.

That 1978 season was a particularly odd one for the Lions. They started the season 3-1-2 before losing their next six (the Montreal game was the first of those six losses in a row) and then they finished up the season winning their final four in a row including two wins over Edmonton, and the wins over Ottawa and Toronto where a couple of those clips are from. That put them at 7-7-2 but unfortunately it was not good enough for a playoff spot that year.

[sj-roc]

David,

I was talking to Kay Ackles and Norm Fieldgate some time ago about the use of the brown accents. Apparently it had to do with Labbatt's when they became the major sponsor of the team (they paid $250,000 in 1976 for "promotional rights" and re-upped in 1981 with $500,000, plus $60,000 per year for 5 years). They did not like the black - it was too sinister or something, so they "forced" the team to go to the chocolate brown. The team couldn't really argue, because they were operating in the red and Labbatt's saved them from bankruptcy.

Huh. Well, at least they didn't force Labatt Blue on the team, which is pretty much where the Blue in Toronto Blue Jays comes from.

[David]

David,

I was talking to Kay Ackles and Norm Fieldgate some time ago about the use of the brown accents. Apparently it had to do with Labbatt's when they became the major sponsor of the team (they paid $250,000 in 1976 for "promotional rights" and re-upped in 1981 with $500,000, plus $60,000 per year for 5 years). They did not like the black - it was too sinister or something, so they "forced" the team to go to the chocolate brown. The team couldn't really argue, because they were operating in the red and Labbatt's saved them from bankruptcy.

Wow. This is really interesting BCLions4Ever. I never heard this before.

Don't forget 1978 was the year the Vancouver Canucks moved to a black uniform (flying V jerseys). Maybe the Lions wanted to differentiate themselves too? Thankfully we haven't had too many colour schemes/logo changes over the years. It's been fairly consistent.

DH

[BCfanInDIXIE]

thank you so much for posting those videos JohnHenry! I am somewhat new to Canadian rules football, and the CFL Traditions series I just watched taught me a LOT. I've cared about the league since 2006 and watched it regularly for two seasons, but I just learned more in an hour than I have since my first exposure to the game.

It may be a Canadian sport, but it's a game I think the world should embrace.

[Robbie]

[video][/video]
(the 1981 Western Final in Edmonton)

This was certainly a heartbreaker as the Lions almost upset the Eskimos, and they probably could have had it not been a very bad officiating call late in the first quarter. Too bad the clip doesn't show very controversial call but understandably the Lions and their fans were furious when Devon Ford returned a 90-yard kickoff for a TD, only for the officials to rule that he stepped out of bounds at the 2-yard line even though replays showed he didn't. The Lions were not able to convert for a TD after that. And maybe if it was Dewalt instead of Paopao at QB, the Lions would have pulled the upset.

-----------------------------

In the thread that I created about the best Lions WDF win, nobody selected the 1983 WDF even though it was the first time in 19 years the Lions won a WDF to advance to the Grey Cup, and it was certainly a comeback win by scoring 28 unanswered points after the Blue Bombers led 21-11 in the 3rd.

[video][/video]
This clip shows the action in the middle of the 3rd quarter with John Hufnagel completing a long TD pass to Rick House to give the Blue Bombers a 21-11 lead before the Lions made the huge comeback.

[SammyGreene]

Some good stuff there Robbie. Yes, that was a courageous effort by the Leos against that powerhouse Eskimos team. The defence was superb during that playoff run thanks to the work of coordinator Vince Tobin who went on to hold the same position with the Chicago Bears and eventually an NFL head coach.

And the 83 WF is one of my all-time favourites with Merv Fernandez going off in a huge way to the tune of 7 catches for 260 yds and 3 TDs. The second greatest playoff performance by a receiver in league history.