Grey Cup, GDT and Post Game Comments

[sj-roc]

The acoustics at BC Place leaves a lot to be desired to catch the halftime act. It's probably a heck of a lot better watching it on TV. At least you can hear what they're singing.

I've been to nearly 200 games @BCP dating back to the 1994 Grey Cup. But this was the first time I've ever sat underneath the overhang of the upper deck, nearly to the back row. The acoustics underneath that overhang are terrible. Never really thought about this before but it seems the sound comes from above and projects downward onto the field and seating area, so it doesn't really reach all the way into that space. It's always been much better anywhere else I've sat.

[TheLionKing]

When they announced that Nikki Yanofsky was singing our anthem I had flashback to the 2010 Olympics and her rendition of O Canada. As it turned out it was the best rendition of our anthem I heard all year.

Too much stoppage in the game, presumably for commercials. There were long periods of players standing around waiting for play to resume. Do we really need a football panel discussing the game during time outs ?

[B.C.FAN]

The football panel on the in-house feed was a good idea to give fans in the same stadium and online at cfl.ca some of the analysis and commentary that TV viewers get at home. The league and its teams need to improve the in-house fan experience. Unfortunately, bad production values made the presentation look amateurish and I couldn't hear much of what was said by the panel of Kate McKenna, Geroy Simon, Anthony Calvillo and Brent Johnson. Hopefully that's just a starting point, and the league can continue to work toward better stats, replays and commentary for those who pay their money to sit in the stands.

[sj-roc]

The football panel on the in-house feed was a good idea to give fans in the same stadium and online at cfl.ca some of the analysis and commentary that TV viewers get at home. The league and its teams need to improve the in-house fan experience. Unfortunately, bad production values made the presentation look amateurish and I couldn't hear much of what was said by the panel of Kate McKenna, Geroy Simon, Anthony Calvillo and Brent Johnson. Hopefully that's just a starting point, and the league can continue to work toward better stats, replays and commentary for those who pay their money to sit in the stands.

Yes, I actually liked the panel concept if not totally the execution. I mentioned sitting under the overhang so I had trouble hearing but I guess it wasn't the greatest even with the best seat location. I don't think it was overused coming only at the end of each of Q1/2/3 that I could recall. I did find myself wondering, where exactly was this panel? In a studio back in Toronto somewhere, or right there in the building?

I noticed on the first run-through Geroy got some cheers, presumably from locals. There was some reaction for Solomon Elimimian as well when he appeared live at the end of the promotion where one fan from each team had to guess the player as the puzzle pieces were removed.

As far as Russell Wilson and some other Seahawks being at the game, I'm perfectly content their presence wasn't announced in-house. It's a day to showcase the CFL, so why should we share the spotlight? There's plenty of other opportunity for fans to fawn over All Things America on their own time.

[Big Time]

Don't know if it was better on TV but the sound for the halftime show, especially at the beginning, was the worst I have ever experienced at BC Place. I actually thought he was singing with a pillow over the microphone. It seemed to get better as the show progressed, but those first two songs are an inaudible mess from where I was sitting. Overall, I had a lot of fun and thought it was a good event.

[sj-roc]

Don't know if it was better on TV but the sound for the halftime show, especially at the beginning, was the worst I have ever experienced at BC Place. I actually thought he was singing with a pillow over the microphone. It seemed to get better as the show progressed, but those first two songs are an inaudible mess from where I was sitting. Overall, I had a lot of fun and thought it was a good event.

It must have been better on TV, or so I would hope. The halftime show is supposed to be more for the broadcast anyway as opposed to being for the fans in the building — who are there for the football and have mostly bought their tickets before the halftime act has even been revealed.

[TheLionKing]

As far as Russell Wilson and some other Seahawks being at the game, I'm perfectly content their presence wasn't announced in-house. It's a day to showcase the CFL, so why should we share the spotlight? There's plenty of other opportunity for fans to fawn over All Things America on their own time.

Totally agree. It is the CFL marquee game.

[dupsdell1]

As far as Russell Wilson and some other Seahawks being at the game, I'm perfectly content their presence wasn't announced in-house. It's a day to showcase the CFL, so why should we share the spotlight? There's plenty of other opportunity for fans to fawn over All Things America on their own time.

Totally agree. It is the CFL marquee game.

Totally disagree the Seahawks have a huge following in Vancouver we should always say thank you anytime they visit our city , they are super bowl champions, them coming to the grey cup shows the class they have especially Russell Wilson ,

[notahomer]

Well the Seahawks could only make it because they played on Thanksgiving Day and aren't yet getting ready for next week. I was surprised to see Wilson there but pleasantly surprise for sure.
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As for the 'yet again' broken trophy.... I have to admit I like the renovation when the Grey Cup went from its 1987 model to the more Stanley Cup like present model. Its like you hear the story about the drunken winners who dropkicked the Stanley Cup across a river. Like to see them try that NOW, that trophy is huge! I guess what is neat about trophies like the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup are all the prior teams who've won being listed on the trophy. But that isn't even possible anymore. Yes, you'll get your name 'etched' on the cup but at some point, someday, you team will be off it too.....

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.thespec.com/sports-story/516 ... cally-no-/

Milton: Was it an illegal block? Technically, yes. Holistically? No.

BLOCKING CALL

Barry Gray,The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton Spectator
By Steve Milton

VANCOUVER Calgary fans, and the chief official himself, have it right when they insist that the game-deciding illegal block called against Taylor Reed on Brandon Banks' electrifying punt return was in fact a penalty.

And Kent Austin had it right when he said that, on every single special teams play, something untoward happens and sometimes it's called and sometimes it's not.

The CFL has acknowledged the meaning of Austin's point many times over the years, mostly off the record but several times quite dramatically on it: such as when they announced alterations to the blocking rules and points of emphasis a handful of years ago to encourage more runbacks. We have seen by the number of return majors that the constant tweaking has been a resounding success.

What they were saying, without quite saying it, was that officials had to have a much better sense of time and place. Better holistic judgment. That went not just for returns but for offensive line action, as in holding. Encourage offence, encourage excitement, let the quarterbacks have a chance to change the game, as Bo Levi Mitchell did Sunday.

In Grey Cup CII, that selective judgment was applied quite well in the trenches — sorry, Calgarians, but most often along the Stamps' offensive line — but it was not applied on the play which could have become perhaps the greatest in the history of the game. Instead, we have the officials able to pat themselves on the collective back and say we got it right.

Technically, maybe, yes.

But, holistically, no. That block did not spring Banks and it should have been obvious to the people in three different uniforms — black and gold, red and white and black and white — who were closest to it.

What could have become the Greatest Game of All Time, just because of the finish is now, outside of Calgary, just another championship game with some controversy.

If you tried hard enough, you could probably actually put a dollar figure on what that cost the CFL in lost marketing opportunities.

And it would not be small.

Technically right. Agreed.

And yet it seemed to me there was no way on this planet that defender would have gotten a hand on Banks.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.thespec.com/sports-story/516 ... tampeders/

These two squads seem ready-made to contend for an extended period, built on a foundation that features a young quarterback, quality Canadian talent and a rock solid front office. The Stampeders are further along in the process than the Ticats are, with head coach John Hufnagel having started his reign in 2008.

Kent Austin's squad was the most inexperienced in the league this season and he's had only two years to construct a team and an organization that mimics his values.

There are some key free agents but a core of talent — Collaros, receiver Andy Fantuz, linebacker Simoni Lawrence, safety Craig Butler to name just a few — will be back next season.

Their job: to use this experience, and the one before it, to end a Grey Cup drought that's now 15 years and counting.

[sj-roc]

As far as Russell Wilson and some other Seahawks being at the game, I'm perfectly content their presence wasn't announced in-house. It's a day to showcase the CFL, so why should we share the spotlight? There's plenty of other opportunity for fans to fawn over All Things America on their own time.

Totally agree. It is the CFL marquee game.

Totally disagree the Seahawks have a huge following in Vancouver we should always say thank you anytime they visit our city , they are super bowl champions, them coming to the grey cup shows the class they have especially Russell Wilson ,

Let the media worry about telling everyone RW was here. He's an "outsider" with no real connection to this city. If people here want to see him they can drive down I-5. I understand he was Braley's guest, here specifically on DB's invite, not like he came up here of his own volition, and highly unlikely he would have done so in that fashion.

There have been some Canuck players in the last few years @BCP late in our regular season. I don't recall whether this was the case but I could see Bieksa et al being announced as they are LOCAL guys. But not RW.

Besides, the CFL actually has some stuff about RW on their blog thesnap.ca, including pics of him holding the GC w/Cohon. Check it out. That's plenty of acknowledgment for my liking, perhaps even too much. It's almost like the league is somehow seeking validation by associating itself with a high-profile NFLer. We shouldn't and don't need it.

[Coast Mountain Lion]

I'm hearing a lot about how it shouldn't have been a penalty since the tackler wasn't in a position to make a tackle anyway. I appreciate that officials have discretion to call a penalty or not, but all of my life I've been under the impression (maybe naively at times) that a foul is a foul, in any sport, whether it directly affects the ball/puck carrier or not. Have they changed the rules or their interpretation somewhere that I didn't notice?

[WestCoastJoe]

I'm hearing a lot about how it shouldn't have been a penalty since the tackler wasn't in a position to make a tackle anyway. I appreciate that officials have discretion to call a penalty or not, but all of my life I've been under the impression (maybe naively at times) that a foul is a foul, in any sport, whether it directly affects the ball/puck carrier or not. Have they changed the rules or their interpretation somewhere that I didn't notice?

Rules do get modified.

Sure it was a penalty. And yet on many ST plays, a penalty could probably be called, although it might be away from the play, on the far side of the play.

Does it matter if the defender could not get to Banks anyway, as it seemed to me? That matters to me, even as a consideration for the future. Some grey areas? Absolutely.

Could that play have gone uncalled? Hmmmm ... That would be tough. And as the rules stand now, a non-call might have been even worse.

The outcome of the game obviously hinged on the call.

It was discussed somewhere online that attempts have been made to open up the scoring. And apparently it has opened up kick returns to a degree. I am all in favour of that.

Just for discussion ...

[Rammer]

Call had to be made, it wasn't flagrant, but a foul is a foul is a foul. Lions had those go against them all season long never learning from it, if you can't learn from past calls, then you get called again on it. This was just a poor judgement, a player going for that extra edge in a big game at a big time, and Hamilton paid the price for it.

With that said, I have seen more impactful visible fouls let go....Dressler returns come to mind.