To the Lions and their Fans.....

[Migs]

First of all congrats on your win tonight, once again you deserved it. Secondly, my heartmost apologies for a few assholes in the crowd tonight at Taylor Field. For the first time in a long time I was embarrased to be a Rider fan. I know it was only a couple drunk idiots and I know there are dumb fans in every crowd but tonight was totally over the line. Just know that 99.9% of Rider fans are great fans that love the league, their team, and do infact respect their opponents. Trust me if I saw anyone do what they did tonight first hand I would've stomped a mudhole in their ass and walked it try.

Go Riders!!!

[cromartie]

Hey, c'mon. You were giving away free beer, so how offended can we possibly be?

[KnowItAll]

Wally should have allowed a couple of the 3rd stringer or injured players to pick up an unopend can, open it, take a sip, and go cheers to the crowd.

[West Coast Blue Fan]

If Joe was still on the Lions, those cans wouldn't have gone to waste.

[Rammer]

First of all congrats on your win tonight, once again you deserved it. Secondly, my heartmost apologies for a few assholes in the crowd tonight at Taylor Field. For the first time in a long time I was embarrased to be a Rider fan. I know it was only a couple drunk idiots and I know there are dumb fans in every crowd but tonight was totally over the line. Just know that 99.9% of Rider fans are great fans that love the league, their team, and do infact respect their opponents. Trust me if I saw anyone do what they did tonight first hand I would've stomped a mudhole in their ass and walked it try.

Go Riders!!!

Pretty sure that Lion fans on this board know that it is a small minority of fans of any fanbase that would stoop to such a level. I am glad that the BC Lions have adopted the Be a Fan, Not a Fool program to help curtail this kind of action. Secondly, why oh why would any event sell beer in cans and not expect it to backfire at some point. Plus, on TV it didn't look like there is a real security presence at Taylor Field, but that is strictly a TV observation.

[David]

Thank you for posting this Migs. I think most of us realize it was 'mob mentality' by a small minority of (otherwise) great Rider fans. They were hot over a perceived face mask that wasn't called on a fumble and things quickly got out of hand. I get it.

What I don't understand is how security could be so lax behind the Lions' bench (and how no penalty was called :x ). Sadly, this is not the first time that our players have complained about projectiles being hurled at them (but it certainly was the most serious).

DH 8)

[B.C.FAN]

Classy post, Migs. I realize most Rider fans abhor the behaviour of a few idiots. It was a hard-fought game by two great defensive teams. I wouldn't be surprised if these teams get to play each other again in November, in Vancouver, Regina or Montreal.

[Sir Purrcival]

Thanks Migs for posting. Other have said pretty much what I would say. Unfortunately, no city is free of the "DumbAss" fan and we are certainly no exception here so some heartfelt gratitude for the apology. (Even though you were in no way were responsible for the actions of a small minority.) I would also like to say that I am feeling pretty proud of posters here tonight who have showed some pretty decent perspective in not labelling all Rider fans through the actions of a few. In other times, I could have seen this becoming a grand flame war which doesn't benefit anyone. So a hearty pat the back for all of us who have shown that it is possible to keep an even keel about something that could have become quite explosive.

[Hambone]

I'm not exactly sure what you folks are talking about but reading between the lines it must explain something that had me puzzled. I saw the play where Marsh stripped the ball. Then watching the replay one could see where it looked like he pawed the Rider with a swipe that started at the top of his helmet and carried on down to the ball. At that point of the game I was standing down on the pavement in the southwest corner of the endzone. All I knew after the play was that some Riders' fans were screaming for a facemask after watching the replayh and Miller was challenging the call on the field which looked quite cut and dried. The Mosaic Field PA system is at best inadequate to begin with so I couldn't hear the explanation why the Riders were challenging the play. I was watching the replays then turned around to see the whole Lions' squad out in the middle of the field. I thought maybe a fight had started between players but noticed most of the Riders were still on their own sideline.

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

If Joe was still on the Lions, those cans wouldn't have gone to waste.

Damn that made me chuckle. Dont worry migs, every team has a certain amount of retards, unfortunatly yours felt the need to come out on display. Classy post, and im sure thats the last we'll see of beer cans in the stadium

[TheLionKing]

The TSN reports that over 40 fans were tossing things at the Lion bench. Paul McCallum in the postgame interview said he was "embarrassed" at the Rider fans. This coming from a guy who makes his off season home in Regina.

[KJ4TheWin]

I don't read your forum really, but I too would like to apologize to the entire BC Lions organization for the poor display put on by a bundle of fans at Mosaic tonight. It truly was an embarassing moment, and especially when the night was in memory of Ron Lancaster... just dampers his night, in my opinion.

[CatsEyes]

First of all congrats on your win tonight, once again you deserved it. Secondly, my heartmost apologies for a few assholes in the crowd tonight at Taylor Field. For the first time in a long time I was embarrased to be a Rider fan. I know it was only a couple drunk idiots and I know there are dumb fans in every crowd but tonight was totally over the line. Just know that 99.9% of Rider fans are great fans that love the league, their team, and do infact respect their opponents. Trust me if I saw anyone do what they did tonight first hand I would've stomped a mudhole in their ass and walked it try.

Go Riders!!!

Great post Migs! I had an absolute blast at TF tonight. Trust me when I say I was the ONLY Lions fan in my section, and the people around me were a riot! There were about 6 20 something guys sitting beside me and around me, and we were laughing and high fiving all night. Near the end they shared their pizza with me, and one guy went above and beyond by letting me use his cell to text SM, when my battery died, just so he wouldn't worry. It was this kind of experience that would make me want to go back in a second. I was prepared for the worst, and received the best. Thanks Rider fans!

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

Glad to see both the regina paper and mccallum vilifying those fans who acted like morons, an article from that paper:

The Saskatchewan Roughriders like to refer to their loyal followers as the World's Greatest Fans.

B.C. Lions kicker Paul McCallum begs to differ.

"No, they don't have a good name," McCallum barked after being showered with beer in the fourth quarter of his team's eventual 27-21 victory at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday. "The best fans (title), it's going to change in a hurry if they keep this up. I talked to (Riders president/CEO) Jim (Hopson) on the sidelines. I know he's ashamed of what went on too. There's a select few but there were a lot (who were guilty on this occasion). These people are just idiots. Absolute idiots."

The controversy began midway through the fourth quarter when B.C.'s Dante Marsh stripped Riders receiver Corey Grant of the ball and recovered the fumble. A replay on the Maxtron seemed to indicate that Marsh had grabbed Grant's facemask before the ball came loose, but there was no penalty. The fans came unglued, some tossing beer cans from the east grandstand toward B.C.'s bench.

Lions head coach Wally Buono moved his players to centre field during a subsequent stoppage in play to get them out of harm's way while the public address announcer warned the fans to cease the aerial assault.

"I enjoy playing here with the atmosphere but, tonight, I didn't enjoy it at all," continued McCallum, who spent 12 seasons with the Riders before signing with B.C. in 2006. "(The atmosphere) was ruined the way the fans reacted at the end. I don't know exactly what they were mad it, if it was facemasking or not facemasking. What did we do to deserve getting projectiles launched at us? What happens if someone gets hit in the eye or gets split open? For what? That put a sour taste in my mouth."

It's not the first time, either. In the 2004 West Division final -- which Saskatchewan lost to Lions -- McCallum missed an 18-yard field goal in overtime that could have propelled the Riders into the Grey Cup. Instead of becoming a hero, he wore the goat horns and returned home to find that someone had dumped a load of manure on a neighbour's driveway. Another fan also threatened to burn down his house down.

"It's two separate instances," said McCallum, while adding that neither incident reflected well on the Rider Nation. "Even (teammate) Jason (Clermont) said to me he's embarrassed to say he lives here and he's born, raised, (played) university here, high school, everything. I don't know what they're thinking. It's a football game. We're on the sidelines trying to work. Where's the common sense? I just don't get it. It's all right to boo and swear or whatever you want to do but when you start throwing things at us, let's put it this way: If I was standing in the middle of the street and you threw something at me, then what? Same with all these guys. Are you going to walk up to one of those guys in the middle of the street and start throwing stuff at them?"

Although McCallum agreed that you can't paint all fans with the same brush, he also pointed out that those who witness acts of indiscretion and do nothing are just as guilty.

"If I'm standing there and some guy beside me throws a beer can I'm gong to get him kicked out," added McCallum, who still lives in Regina during the offseason. "What example is it showing some young kids there? It's ridiculous. As a parent. I won't bring my kids here. I won't."

[lion24]

There is no way I would group the actions of a few idiots to make the opinion that all Rider fans are idiots. Frankly you see this in every stadium across the league. I still feel Rider fans are probably the best in the league and have seen the passion first hand living in Sask for a few years including 1989 when they won the Cup.

However, reading some of the post at RF I noticed the past few weeks that many have blamed the refs for the loss etc. and that goes into the Lions being dirty and classless and Marsh causing the riot etc. At some point as a fan you have to deal with reality that your team was beaten by a better opponent and sometimes I wonder if the Riders were beaten 60-0 whether SOME of their fans would believe they were actually beaten

IMHO, they were lucky the Lions were off on offence as they could have blown them out if they would have converted some of the turnovers to touchdowns.

Again, I give most Rider fans credit for being the best but I think a reality check is in order at times.