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Be sure to be the first 10,000 to arrive to receive a TELUS championship towel.

Although I'd say most of us would rather have a Grey Cup replica trophy like the home opener giveaway for the 2007 season.

It will be interesting to see how the 2011 Lions championship banner looks like - will it be white like the original Lions Grey Cup banners, or orange like the revised banners at the start of 2007, or another design colour. And at 2005 home opener, they revealed two banners acknowledging the past west division championships. I wonder if they will continue acknowledging division championships years as well or just the six championship seasons.

Geroy Simon only needs 66 yards catching to break Milt Stegall's CFL record for most career receiving yards. If he does break the record, let's see if there's going to be any kind of ceremony. Although in the past such small ceremonies involving record breakers are not too memorable for the most part. For instance when one things of Lui Passaglia and his great accomplishments, one will unlikely immediately of August 20, 1990 when he broke Dave Cutler's CFL record for most points and the small ceremony that was held.

At 15,087 yards, Geroy Simon is still quite a ways away from the NFL's record of 22,895 by Jerry Rice. But he has a fair chance of breaking 3rd on the NFL's list of 15,208 by Issac Stern and 2nd of 15,721 by Terrell Owens.

It's great and amazing that there will be a non-Grey Cup halftime concert for the home opener as Dragonette will be performing.

http://www.bclions.com/article/lions-we ... ome-opener

First, did you get a championship towel souvenir?

What did you think about the pre-game ceremonies? Two vantage points of the banner unveiling.

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Regarding the placement of the new banners, I'd say it's a good change to place them in at the various points around the stadium instead of hanging from the ceiling which was done originally, or around either side of the replay screen afterwards. And I'd say the this ceremony was done much better compared to the 2007 home opener for the 2006 GC, with the large inflatable Grey Cup and kids carrying the championship banners on the field.

As far as the banners themselves, I like the fact that the logo shows the one that was used for that GC year.

And I liked the fact that there were local, non-import representatives from the respective teams taking part - Jim Carphin (1964), Al Wilson (1985), Jamie Taras (1994), Sean Millington (2000), Brent Johnson (2006). One can always play devil's advocate and say Lui Passaglia should have been one of the representatives for 1985/1994/2000, but I'd say that since he's already in the spotlight often it's good to give the spotlight to other great local Lions. In the decades to come, if there's a ceremony commemorating the 2011 GC, I'd say NI Andrew Harris would be a great representative with his MVC performance.

I wasn't too of the BC Regiment Irish Pipes and Drums for the 2011 banner raising. The band is good, but I think bagpipe music is more suitable for parades and not so much for ceremonies.

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Let's see how Rick Klassen and Nick Hebeler's induction to the Lions Wall of Fame ceremony compares to those in the past.

The championship towel was okay, I guess. You're right Robbie, I kinda got spoiled with the miniGreyCup replica I got a few years back. Game promotions and giveaways are a fun thing about getting to the stadium. IMO, major league baseball is probably the leader in this.

I did like getting a free collectable card celebrating Geroy's catch (at the Hamilton game). I don't collect for the 'value' but the fact I'm a fan. So, you won't be seeing my Clermont bobblehead, BC Lions flip-book, Signed copy of the Waterboy or any other freebies ending up on ebay or whatever. Not putting down anybody that does sell stuff, but I like keeping the stuff.

Although there is no need (or probable plans) for a giveaway at the Rider game, I am looking forward to the Wally Buono celebration/event they'll be having that night. Its neat showcasing the history of this franchise and the CFL for this generation of fans and the players.

I wonder how many players come here never having heard of the CFL and leave stunned at the games history........

Where are the lunch boxes / bobble heads / back packs / section giveaways of a few years ago?

If the Vancouver Canadians and their sponsors can have giveaways on pretty much every home stand, surely the Lions can have something more tangible for their customer base other than tributes to Brent Johnson, Wally Buono, et al.

I agree Bosco I like those little quirks...

TheFanWithTheFlag wrote:I agree Bosco I like those little quirks...

As the season has progressed, ticket buyers have continued to receive nada in regards to giveaways, et al.

Couple of ideas for next year, guys. Bobble heads are great, but a little bit trite. What about The Official Travis Lulay Pez Dispenser - with his trademark grin?

Also, and these would be fairly cheap to produce, the 'cool kids' backpacks - tastefully adorned with the Lions' logo.



It's essentially nylon and string. They gave away backpacks a few years ago and they were great for kids I suppose, but a little big and gawky with lots of sponsor names on them IIRC. These are light weight and meant for a slightly older consumer (high school, college kids).


DH