Top Ten from one hundred games
Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:44 am
The Lions' next home game against the Eskimos represents a personal milestone for me. It will be the 100th football game (reg season/playoff/Grey Cup -- I don't count preseasons) I will have seen at BC Place. That roster includes the 1994 Grey Cup, two reg season games from 1995, and then everything since the start of 1996 (except that year's home opener vs Edmonton -- just before I moved to Vancouver -- and one game in August 1997 vs Calgary for which I was out of town on vacation), including all the postseason games (3 WFs & 2 GCs).
Anyway, to mark this milestone I thought I'd post a list of my Top Ten BC Place memories, with "memories" being the operative word. That means in compiling this list, I made no use of any archival material to assist in the details. Since this is a list of memories, I felt that doing so would be pointless -- if I have to look it up, then it can't be very memorable, and if I'm just regurgitating something I read on some website, then I may as well not have been at the game in the first place.
So, at the risk of getting some of the facts wrong or incomplete, or being boring, everything on this list is my best recollection from witnessing it in person at one of these 100 games. I encourage anyone to correct and/or expand upon my recollections where appropriate, and to even post some of your favourite moments of BC Place. Also, with my use of the word "memories", that means that each item on this list is not necessarily a "classic game", but is simply in and of itself a memorable happening. This list is presented in no particular order, except for the last three which for me are no-brainers at #3, #2 and #1 respectively.
So, without further ado, here are SJ-Roc's Top Ten Memories from 100 Games at BC Place:
10. Mike Pringle succeeds George Reed as the CFL's rushing king in September 2004. There was a bit of drama leading up to this game because in the previous week, Pringle came very close to breaking the record in the Labour Day rematch against Calgary at Commonwealth. 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. Of course everyone in the building, including the Stamps defence, knew what was going on and the Stamps were able to hold Pringle two yards short of the record. He promptly got the needed yardage on the first offensive series here against us the following week, and the game was interrupted briefly for a presentation.
9. Damon Allen becomes the CFL's alltime passing yardage leader in October 2000. The record was announced on the PA as being officially broken on a long TD pass to Alfred Jackson, but it in fact had been done earlier in that offensive series (no doubt they didn't want to kill the offence's momentum as the scoring drive mounted). In a strange twist of fate, the man who Allen surpassed, former Ottawa & Sask QB Ron Lancaster, was on the opposite sideline as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that night. I clearly remember that this happened late in the 2000 season, because Lui Passaglia had only recently announced his upcoming retirement. In conversation at that time with friends, we noted that, as special as Allen's looming record breaking night would be, it would be somewhat of a shame if Allen "upstaged" Lui in his milestone final game at BC Place. Fortunately, that didn't happen, and both had their own milestone nights (see #3 below).
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. I was in Section 9 that night near the Calgary bench and got a great view of Dunigan tossing his cap in disgust and arguing with the officials. This was almost certainly one of the plays which triggered the recent adoption of video replay.
7. September 14, 1996. In just one of a series of horrendous scheduling moves in the 1996 Skalbanian reign of error, the Lions were slotted in BC Place on the same day as the deciding game of the best of three final in the World Cup of Hockey between Canada and the US. The hockey game was scheduled to start about two hours before the Lions kicked off, so, accepting that most potential ticket buyers would choose hockey, the Lions staff arranged to have the gates opened in time for the opening faceoff and broadcasted the hockey game in its entirety on the concourse TVs. As we all well know, the US won that game, by a 5-2 score -- but back to football. The 1996 Lions were one of the sorrier squads in franchise history, and it must surely have been at least a little demoralising for them to have most of the few fans who came to the stadium that day preoccupied with hockey. All the worse, they were up against the Doug Flutie-led Argos, who were en route to the CFL's first back-to-back Grey Cups since 1982. No one gave the Lions much chance on this day, but damned if they didn't show up to play. The Lions scored a TD before the hockey game was over and on top of that, didn't let the Argos score any of their own in a convincing win. One of the few bright spots on a 5-13 season.
6. Summer 2003: the Calgary Stampeders' first post-Buono trip to BC Place. The Lions thumped the hapless visitors to the tune of 48-4, a pasting which included a late TD drive led by then-3rd string QB and future league MVP Casey Printers. This night will be remembered by many of the faithful on here, myself included, for what happened immediately afterward: one of the most ill-informed, idiotic ramblings in the history of sports talk radio.
5. Summer 2002: the Montreal Alouettes come to town. As was their custom at the time, they came in sporting an undefeated record, one that looked to remain intact as QB Anthony Calvillo led his charges inside the Lions' 5 late in the 4th quarter. Up by six points with about 1:30 to go, another TD would have all but insured victory. But DB Tony Walker picks off an errant pass just outside our goal line, setting our offence up at our own 1-yd line and needing a TD to win. On the first play, Damon Allen throws an incompletion, but then comes the next play. He throws a strike to Alfred "Action" Jackson who is at the 25yd line, a good five yards behind the coverage. Everyone in the building, knowing that it's now only a foot race to the end zone, springs to their feet, cheering madly. Jackson starts to run out of gas near the Mtl 20, but stutter steps near the sideline around the one defender who was able to catch up to him, and scampers the rest of the way for the go-ahead major. The TD was scored so quickly that the Als had plenty of time to mount a comeback drive, but Calvillo threw another pick to Eric Carter who ran it back for another TD. The 109yd TD pass from Allen to Jackson, however, is the highlight on this night.
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. I was seated in the lower deck section 7 that night, which Wally had to venture past on his walk of shame. He got quite a razzing in the process. And when I got home to see the highlights, the forlorn look of Buono watching the end of the game from just outside the dressing rooms was unforgettable.
3. 2000 regular season closer, "Luv Ya Lui" night. Lui Passaglia's last game at BC Place had a number of memorable moments. The stadium lights were extinguished during a TV timeout in the 2nd half to beam a "Luv Ya Lui, thanks for the memories" message on the ceiling. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get the lights back on in time to resume play, and the game was delayed 20 minutes, during which a small number of streakers ran onto the field. Late in the game, Lui was put in at QB with the offence lined up on the one yard line, goal to go. He scored the only rushing TD of his career on this play, against howls of protest from the opposition Saskatchewan Roughriders, who claimed he was tandem blocked into the end zone by his teammates. Even though the Lions won that night, centre Jamie Taras was ejected in the late stages of the game for some ungentlemanly conduct, and was among several of the folks who gave tribute speeches in a postgame ceremony. He apologised to Lui, the rest of his teammates and to the fans for the ejection which "could have cost us the game", and then pleaded with Lui to bring his "tired old bones" out for another Grey Cup run. We had just finished the regular season with a losing 8-10 record, so I thought JT was crazy. But wouldn't you know it, just like 1994, they pulled out another postseason trifecta en route to what must be regarded one of the most improbable championships in league history. About the only thing that prevents me from ranking this item higher is that the attendance was not as high as the next two, and that it was a regular season game.
2. 2004 Western final. The last few minutes of this game, including the shootout OT, were pure nailbiting drama. Jason Clermont converts a 3rd & twentysomething. Then Duncan O'Mahony kicks his longest FG of the year to force OT. Paul McCallum turns around and misses a 17yd chip shot on Saskatchewan's first OT series. Coach Wally Buono then shows complete confidence in O'Mahony, as he had done in OT of a regular season game against Toronto earlier that year, by sending him out on the Lions' second play of our following series, and he promptly kicks the game-winning FG.
1. 1994 Grey Cup. Easily the biggest moment in the Lions' history at BC Place. It may never be surpassed. I think I could write twice as much about this one game as I already have so far in this post, so let me just point out some of the bigger moments I remember, aside from the ending, which practically everybody here knows. Kent Austin's 1st qtr int that gets returned for a TD. Charles Gordon's pickoff of a Tracy Ham pass, and the TD return. Austin's injury on the Lions' last offensive series of the first half, and Danny MacManus playing the entire 2nd half. Tom Europe's recovery of a Tracy Ham fumble near the BC goal line. The 3rd quarter fake FG, which Darren Flutie runs out of bounds at the Baltimore 9yd line, almost right in front of my second row seat. Danny Mac's 1yd "rushing" TD on the ensuing 3rd & goal (you have to put rushing in quotes when it applies to Danny Mac). The controversial Ray Alexander catch on the Lions' penultimate offensive series, one of only three completions thrown by Danny Mac on the day. Lui missing the 37yd FG attempt later on the same drive, and the stunned reaction from the crowd. And then the last play. It's already been reminisced to death, so I'll waste no further words on it.
So that's it -- my top ten moments from 100 games I've attended at BC Place. I hope in another ten years or so I'll be able to do a best of 200. Until then, I'd be happy to hear from others if I've made any mistakes in this post, and also about some of the other moments I may have forgotten about or not been present for.
Anyway, to mark this milestone I thought I'd post a list of my Top Ten BC Place memories, with "memories" being the operative word. That means in compiling this list, I made no use of any archival material to assist in the details. Since this is a list of memories, I felt that doing so would be pointless -- if I have to look it up, then it can't be very memorable, and if I'm just regurgitating something I read on some website, then I may as well not have been at the game in the first place.
So, at the risk of getting some of the facts wrong or incomplete, or being boring, everything on this list is my best recollection from witnessing it in person at one of these 100 games. I encourage anyone to correct and/or expand upon my recollections where appropriate, and to even post some of your favourite moments of BC Place. Also, with my use of the word "memories", that means that each item on this list is not necessarily a "classic game", but is simply in and of itself a memorable happening. This list is presented in no particular order, except for the last three which for me are no-brainers at #3, #2 and #1 respectively.
So, without further ado, here are SJ-Roc's Top Ten Memories from 100 Games at BC Place:
10. Mike Pringle succeeds George Reed as the CFL's rushing king in September 2004. There was a bit of drama leading up to this game because in the previous week, Pringle came very close to breaking the record in the Labour Day rematch against Calgary at Commonwealth. 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. Of course everyone in the building, including the Stamps defence, knew what was going on and the Stamps were able to hold Pringle two yards short of the record. He promptly got the needed yardage on the first offensive series here against us the following week, and the game was interrupted briefly for a presentation.
9. Damon Allen becomes the CFL's alltime passing yardage leader in October 2000. The record was announced on the PA as being officially broken on a long TD pass to Alfred Jackson, but it in fact had been done earlier in that offensive series (no doubt they didn't want to kill the offence's momentum as the scoring drive mounted). In a strange twist of fate, the man who Allen surpassed, former Ottawa & Sask QB Ron Lancaster, was on the opposite sideline as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that night. I clearly remember that this happened late in the 2000 season, because Lui Passaglia had only recently announced his upcoming retirement. In conversation at that time with friends, we noted that, as special as Allen's looming record breaking night would be, it would be somewhat of a shame if Allen "upstaged" Lui in his milestone final game at BC Place. Fortunately, that didn't happen, and both had their own milestone nights (see #3 below).
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. I was in Section 9 that night near the Calgary bench and got a great view of Dunigan tossing his cap in disgust and arguing with the officials. This was almost certainly one of the plays which triggered the recent adoption of video replay.
7. September 14, 1996. In just one of a series of horrendous scheduling moves in the 1996 Skalbanian reign of error, the Lions were slotted in BC Place on the same day as the deciding game of the best of three final in the World Cup of Hockey between Canada and the US. The hockey game was scheduled to start about two hours before the Lions kicked off, so, accepting that most potential ticket buyers would choose hockey, the Lions staff arranged to have the gates opened in time for the opening faceoff and broadcasted the hockey game in its entirety on the concourse TVs. As we all well know, the US won that game, by a 5-2 score -- but back to football. The 1996 Lions were one of the sorrier squads in franchise history, and it must surely have been at least a little demoralising for them to have most of the few fans who came to the stadium that day preoccupied with hockey. All the worse, they were up against the Doug Flutie-led Argos, who were en route to the CFL's first back-to-back Grey Cups since 1982. No one gave the Lions much chance on this day, but damned if they didn't show up to play. The Lions scored a TD before the hockey game was over and on top of that, didn't let the Argos score any of their own in a convincing win. One of the few bright spots on a 5-13 season.
6. Summer 2003: the Calgary Stampeders' first post-Buono trip to BC Place. The Lions thumped the hapless visitors to the tune of 48-4, a pasting which included a late TD drive led by then-3rd string QB and future league MVP Casey Printers. This night will be remembered by many of the faithful on here, myself included, for what happened immediately afterward: one of the most ill-informed, idiotic ramblings in the history of sports talk radio.
5. Summer 2002: the Montreal Alouettes come to town. As was their custom at the time, they came in sporting an undefeated record, one that looked to remain intact as QB Anthony Calvillo led his charges inside the Lions' 5 late in the 4th quarter. Up by six points with about 1:30 to go, another TD would have all but insured victory. But DB Tony Walker picks off an errant pass just outside our goal line, setting our offence up at our own 1-yd line and needing a TD to win. On the first play, Damon Allen throws an incompletion, but then comes the next play. He throws a strike to Alfred "Action" Jackson who is at the 25yd line, a good five yards behind the coverage. Everyone in the building, knowing that it's now only a foot race to the end zone, springs to their feet, cheering madly. Jackson starts to run out of gas near the Mtl 20, but stutter steps near the sideline around the one defender who was able to catch up to him, and scampers the rest of the way for the go-ahead major. The TD was scored so quickly that the Als had plenty of time to mount a comeback drive, but Calvillo threw another pick to Eric Carter who ran it back for another TD. The 109yd TD pass from Allen to Jackson, however, is the highlight on this night.
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. I was seated in the lower deck section 7 that night, which Wally had to venture past on his walk of shame. He got quite a razzing in the process. And when I got home to see the highlights, the forlorn look of Buono watching the end of the game from just outside the dressing rooms was unforgettable.
3. 2000 regular season closer, "Luv Ya Lui" night. Lui Passaglia's last game at BC Place had a number of memorable moments. The stadium lights were extinguished during a TV timeout in the 2nd half to beam a "Luv Ya Lui, thanks for the memories" message on the ceiling. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get the lights back on in time to resume play, and the game was delayed 20 minutes, during which a small number of streakers ran onto the field. Late in the game, Lui was put in at QB with the offence lined up on the one yard line, goal to go. He scored the only rushing TD of his career on this play, against howls of protest from the opposition Saskatchewan Roughriders, who claimed he was tandem blocked into the end zone by his teammates. Even though the Lions won that night, centre Jamie Taras was ejected in the late stages of the game for some ungentlemanly conduct, and was among several of the folks who gave tribute speeches in a postgame ceremony. He apologised to Lui, the rest of his teammates and to the fans for the ejection which "could have cost us the game", and then pleaded with Lui to bring his "tired old bones" out for another Grey Cup run. We had just finished the regular season with a losing 8-10 record, so I thought JT was crazy. But wouldn't you know it, just like 1994, they pulled out another postseason trifecta en route to what must be regarded one of the most improbable championships in league history. About the only thing that prevents me from ranking this item higher is that the attendance was not as high as the next two, and that it was a regular season game.
2. 2004 Western final. The last few minutes of this game, including the shootout OT, were pure nailbiting drama. Jason Clermont converts a 3rd & twentysomething. Then Duncan O'Mahony kicks his longest FG of the year to force OT. Paul McCallum turns around and misses a 17yd chip shot on Saskatchewan's first OT series. Coach Wally Buono then shows complete confidence in O'Mahony, as he had done in OT of a regular season game against Toronto earlier that year, by sending him out on the Lions' second play of our following series, and he promptly kicks the game-winning FG.
1. 1994 Grey Cup. Easily the biggest moment in the Lions' history at BC Place. It may never be surpassed. I think I could write twice as much about this one game as I already have so far in this post, so let me just point out some of the bigger moments I remember, aside from the ending, which practically everybody here knows. Kent Austin's 1st qtr int that gets returned for a TD. Charles Gordon's pickoff of a Tracy Ham pass, and the TD return. Austin's injury on the Lions' last offensive series of the first half, and Danny MacManus playing the entire 2nd half. Tom Europe's recovery of a Tracy Ham fumble near the BC goal line. The 3rd quarter fake FG, which Darren Flutie runs out of bounds at the Baltimore 9yd line, almost right in front of my second row seat. Danny Mac's 1yd "rushing" TD on the ensuing 3rd & goal (you have to put rushing in quotes when it applies to Danny Mac). The controversial Ray Alexander catch on the Lions' penultimate offensive series, one of only three completions thrown by Danny Mac on the day. Lui missing the 37yd FG attempt later on the same drive, and the stunned reaction from the crowd. And then the last play. It's already been reminisced to death, so I'll waste no further words on it.
So that's it -- my top ten moments from 100 games I've attended at BC Place. I hope in another ten years or so I'll be able to do a best of 200. Until then, I'd be happy to hear from others if I've made any mistakes in this post, and also about some of the other moments I may have forgotten about or not been present for.
