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Stampeders have lots of love for visiting B.C. Lions

By Vicki Hall, Calgary HeraldJuly 27, 2012

Slotback Nik Lewis kicked off the official love-in Friday for the visiting B.C. Lions.

One by one, Lewis and his fellow Calgary Stampeders sang the words on the choir sheet precisely as scripted.

"They're a really good defence," Lewis said of the pumpkin patch denizens set to invade McMahon Stadium tonight at 7 p.m. (QR77 Radio, TSN.) "They've got great tackles. Great ends. Keron Williams is a great defensive end. Korey Banks and the back end, they're all veterans.

"They all know what they're doing.

Remember the good (or bad) old days of Lewis popping off pre-game about all the inadequacies - real and imagined - of the opposition?

At the grizzled age of 30, Lewis has come to learn the wisdom of killing the other guys with kindness

Take 36-year-old Geroy Simon, for starters.

"Geroy is amazing," raved Lewis. "He's been a great receiver for so long. And he just keeps doing it. It's almost like he doesn't even age.

"It's fun. I love playing B.C., because I love seeing Geroy play in person. I love watching him go out and run routes and catch balls and get things done."

Reporters looking for juicy trash talk might as well have called it a day and retired early to the nearest bar stool to catch the opening ceremonies for the London Olympics.

The chances of digging up even the slightest hint of hate? About as high as London making it through the entire opening ceremony without a drop of rain.

We all know how that turned out.

Just listen to the praise Calgary linebacker Juwan Simpson heaped on Canadian tailback, Andrew Harris.

"He's a great running back," Simpson said. "A hard worker. He keeps his feet moving. He can beat you catching and running. He's a duel-threat. I mean, you can talk about this guy for days."

Moving on...

"Man, they're the defending champs," gushed Calgary quarterback Kevin Glenn. "And they did all that stuff in the off-season to bring in all those all-star on defence."

General manager Wally Buono was indeed busy over the winter, signing the likes of Byron Parker, Lin-J Shell and, perhaps most importantly, locking up one of the best CFL defensive minds in assistant coach Rich Stubler.

"I would have never thought that they would be able to get the other guys they got in the off-season to go along with that defence that was already good," Glenn said. "They play hard. They play well together.

"It just makes it that much harder to beat a team like that."

Keep in mind: the Lions appear to be battling the annual Grey Cup hangover and rolled into Calgary Friday with a 2-2 record. Funnily enough, the Stamps are also 2-2.

Privately, the pre-season hype over the Lions drove some Stampeder plays crazy. They wondered why the Grey Cup wasn't handed out in June if their Western rivals were indeed that omnipotent.

With four games already in the books, the Stamps are actually playing better football than orange fellows.

Not that you would know it by the lyrics emanating from the Stampeder song
book.
And a one, and a two, and a three....

"They're the defending champs," Simpson said. "So they have the rightful ownership of all those bragging rights."

"Travis Lulay is a very good quarterback," said defensive lineman Charleston Hughes. "He's probably the best quarterback in this league as far as play-making is concerned.

"There's a lot of respect. They're a good team. I have a lot of respect for Ben Archibald and all their offensive lineman. I have a lot of respect for their team, but...."

Finally, a but.

"But hey, when they come into this stadium, that's when all that stuff goes out the window," he said. "And it's time to win."

Perhaps Calgary head coach and general manager John Hufnagel, chief conductor of this fine chorus, sums it up best.

"I'm sure it's a rallying cry anytime you play the defending champs," Hufnagel said. "You're playing a very good football team and you want to be judged against the best.

"We're going to find out (tonight) where we stack up versus the defending champs."

"They're a really good defence," Lewis said of the pumpkin patch denizens set to invade McMahon Stadium tonight at 7 p.m. (QR77 Radio, TSN.) "They've got great tackles. Great ends. Keron Williams is a great defensive end. Korey Banks and the back end, they're all veterans.

"They all know what they're doing.

"Geroy is amazing," raved Lewis. "He's been a great receiver for so long. And he just keeps doing it. It's almost like he doesn't even age.

"It's fun. I love playing B.C., because I love seeing Geroy play in person. I love watching him go out and run routes and catch balls and get things done."

"He's a great running back," Simpson said. "A hard worker. He keeps his feet moving. He can beat you catching and running. He's a duel-threat. I mean, you can talk about this guy for days."

"Man, they're the defending champs," gushed Calgary quarterback Kevin Glenn. "And they did all that stuff in the off-season to bring in all those all-star on defence."

"I would have never thought that they would be able to get the other guys they got in the off-season to go along with that defence that was already good," Glenn said. "They play hard. They play well together.

"It just makes it that much harder to beat a team like that."

"They're the defending champs," Simpson said. "So they have the rightful ownership of all those bragging rights."

"Travis Lulay is a very good quarterback," said defensive lineman Charleston Hughes. "He's probably the best quarterback in this league as far as play-making is concerned.

"There's a lot of respect. They're a good team. I have a lot of respect for Ben Archibald and all their offensive lineman. I have a lot of respect for their team, but...."

"But hey, when they come into this stadium, that's when all that stuff goes out the window," he said. "And it's time to win."

"I'm sure it's a rallying cry anytime you play the defending champs," Hufnagel said. "You're playing a very good football team and you want to be judged against the best.

"We're going to find out (tonight) where we stack up versus the defending champs."

CALGARY -- The last three games the Calgary Stampeders have played have been hotly contested affairs decided by three points or less.

They don't expect Saturday's matchup against the B.C. Lions to be any different.

Watch the game Live on TSN starting Saturday at 9pm et/6pm pt.

The Stampeders (2-2) are coming off a thrilling 41-38 overtime win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at home last week. Prior to that, they suffered a 33-32 loss to Montreal and a 39-36 defeat to Toronto in games that featured dramatic comebacks.

"With the way the CFL is right now, I couldn't see any game not going down to the wire," said Calgary receiver Nik Lewis, who caught three touchdown passes against the Riders including the game-winning score in overtime. "All the teams are so evenly matched that all the games are going to be great."

Quarterback Kevin Glenn, starting in place of the injured Drew Tate, helped engineer Calgary's comeback victory over the Riders after the tough losses.

"Out of the four games that we've played, three of them have been down to the wire," said Glenn, who took over when Tate suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against the Argos on July 7. "We've built some kind of familiarity with going down to the wire and playing all 60 minutes. I think it's good. When you can get those kinds of games early in the year, it helps you later in the year."

Veteran B.C. defensive back Korey Banks isn't surprised to see Glenn have success as a starter with the Stamps.

"We definitely know it's a dog-fight ahead of us," said Banks, whose Lions (2-2) are looking to bounce back from a 27-14 setback in Vancouver to the Edmonton Eskimos. "Kevin Glenn is very capable. I don't know why he doesn't get his respect. He's a very capable quarterback. He can go on any team right now and fill in or take over."

In turn, Lewis complimented Banks and the B.C. defence for their play-making abilities.

"They'll be able to capitalize on our mistakes, so we have to minimize the turnovers," Lewis said. "They're a team right now that's looking to make big plays. If they make big plays, they'll be back on that run, so we have to minimize that."

After starting the season with two straight wins, the defending Grey Cup champion Lions dropped a 23-20 decision to the Riders in Regina on July 14 before also losing to the Eskimos at home six days later.

"Both of the last two games that we've lost, we've had opportunities to win those football games in the fourth quarter and we didn't make the plays," said B.C. quarterback Travis Lulay. "I had a critical turnover late in that game last week and that was essentially the difference in the football game."

Lulay, who was picked off twice by the Eskimos, said the Stampeders will be confident after their comeback win last week.

"I put myself in their shoes," he said. "Coming off a win the way they did, that's a big win. That's gut-check to come back and win the way they did on their home turf. They were getting beat soundly in the fourth quarter, and to come back and find a way to make the plays that they did, they showed a lot of grit, a lot of determination, and you've got to admire that. So we know what kind of team we're facing."

The last time the two teams met was on Oct. 8 last season when Paul McCallum kicked a clutch 53-yard field goal as time ran out in the fourth quarter to give the Lions a narrow 33-31 win.

"We've seen it all against Calgary," Lulay said. "It's always a tough, hard-fought battle. We played them right down to the wire and won on literally on the last play of the game last year. The way games are going this year in the CFL, you know that's a very real possibility every single week, so you have to play good all 60 minutes."

Stamps linebacker Juwan Simpson said that if you don't play hard until the final whistle sounds, opposing teams will take advantage of the opportunities that they are given.

"It makes teams understand that when you have an opportunity to put away a team you have to," Simpson said. "You can't relax in this league because (teams) will come back and win."

Calgary coach and general manager John Hufnagel referred to the matchup as a big game early in the season.

"Usually the B.C.-Calgary matchups consist of really good football," Hufnagel said. "That's the type of game I'm looking forward to ... a game that will be a close game and decided late in the game."

Rookie B.C. coach Mike Benevides agreed.

"It's a huge game for both teams when you take a look at the records (and) you take a look at how tight the west is," Benevides said. "We're going to have to be at our best."

lfpeterson64 wrote:Lions by two touchdowns...No more red zone blahs...No more giving up good field position...Offence finds their full stride this week...Defence forces turnovers...ball game.

lfpeterson64 wrote:Lions by two touchdowns...No more red zone blahs...No more giving up good field position...Offence finds their full stride this week...Defence forces turnovers...ball game.