Where to start??? What a great walk down memory lane!
10. Mike Pringle succeeds George Reed as the CFL's rushing king in September 2004.
This was one hell of a night. The record was broken right away so the game became the main issue. Lions won in OT when Flemings' kick bounce off the cross bar and out. Lions were losing late too, iirc.
9. Damon Allen becomes the CFL's alltime passing yardage leader in October 2000.
It was cool that Lancaster was there to pass the torch. And even though it wasn't really true, the long pass to AJ to pass the record seemed very fitting at the time.
8. The phantom victory against the Stamps in late 2004 when they were denied a legitimate game-winning TD on an onside punt on the last play of the game.
The only one of the 10 that I missed. We owed them a rip-job though... remember earlier in the year? 3rd and goal in Calgary? Now that was a joke.
September 14, 1996
A nice win in a crappy year. This game was right about the time of the Doug Flutie/Dave Chaytors slander suit. I was hanging over the railing screaming at Flutie during the intros that he should get ready for a "back scratching, eye gouging good time", repeating the charge he had made about the Lions D. I then invited him to "slander me cause I was broke and could use the cash". My bro said he saw him laughing on the big screen while I was going off.
6. Summer 2003: the Calgary Stampeders' first post-Buono trip to BC Place.
We whooped 'em good. Russell went off about it but he came off as an idiot that night.
5. Summer 2002: the Montreal Alouettes come to town.
Yup, always undefeated they were when they rolled in, and out they'd go with loss #1. The Allen to Jackson TD was absolute magic and easily a top 5 moment all time for me.
4. 1999: during the Greg Mohns era, it didn't matter if the Lions were good, bad or indifferent -- there was seldom a dull moment, on or off the field. One of the more bizarre on-field incidents: Wally Buono, still coaching the Stampeders at the time, is ejected for contacting/arguing with an official
funny, all I remember is Wally walking past us, pissed off. Don't remember any other details of this game.
3. 2000 regular season closer, "Luv Ya Lui" night.
A crazy, crazy, crazy night. It went on till midnight!!! It was great to see Lui score and go out nicely, and me and Pigskin Patriot agreed that night that the team had a shot, at least, of a magical finish. It just felt like something special was happening.
2. 2004 Western final.
What can I say that hasn't been said already? It was a close game, a dramatic game, a fun game to be at. However, it would only be around 5th all time for me.
1. 1994 Grey Cup.
#1 for me too. It was electric in that building that day. I had a strong feeling we would win but the Stallions/Colts/CFLers put up a huge fight. In the end though, the team that was hotest won.
Now for a couple of very minor corrections.
The game was lopsided in its outcome (Calgary won in a blowout IIRC) but Edmonton had the ball for the last possession and handed off to Pringle three times.
What made this more interesting is that Edmonton was winning big, not Calgary. It was game over, but Calgary would not give up that 1 or 2 yards and in the end were slapping high 5's and celebrating and the Esks were dejected even though they'd won.
Jason Clermont converts a 3rd & twentysomething.
Think you might have this confused with the Calgary game earlier. In the Western Final, late, JC made a huge play on 2nd and about 15 to gain about 25-30 yards or so and help set up the tying field goal. Fairly sure of this.
Now for my personal additions.
With the exception of the Grey Cup in '94, the 1985 Western Final is #1 for me. I absolutely begged my dad to take me, I asked friends and my brother, no luck. So I went my damn self, age 12. I can tell you it was an experience. I got an endzone seat betwen drunks, pimps (even then, I knew) hookers etc. It was such a gong show but boy did the Lions kill the Bombers. Dewalt was on fire that day to Sandusky, Armour etc. And the D? Equally effective. It was over early. That was the day I became a diehard fan and I'll never forget it.
Another very memorable one is the mentioned loss to the Eskies to finish 5-13 in '92(?). In a move that defied logic there was a 'meet the players' promotion. For some reason they asked the fans down with 3 minutes left in a one score game!! Gizmo tied it up (why didn't we punt out of bounds?) and while this was going on hundreds of rowdies were running on and of during the play stoppages. They actually had to clear the field before overtime. It went on forever until one punk, who was mouthing off on the field in front of us, got handed his lunch by a fed up bystander. Ironically, after the long wait QB Mike Johnson missed an open Darren Flutie in the back of the endzone and we lost. A fitting end to a horrible season.
The aforemention 1991 Rocket Bowl. Ray 'the missile' Ethridge with the key play to win it. It was a packed house that night and two high powered offenses went toe to toe.
Danny Barrett's record setting pass night against the Argos. While the record din't stand up for long Barrett could do no wrong that night. TD's to Trevathan and Clark and many short passes that turned into long gains. Also, the Argos stayed in it until the 4th so we could keep throwing. I'd love to see highlights of this one some day.
By my estimation I am around 140 and counting at BC Place.
When I got home, the end of the game was on T.V.
