How The West Was Won (Or Will End Up)

[Solar Max]

Lions win in Edmonton, Esks have trouble winning back to backs, leaves the Leos at 10-6.

Edmonton also struggles to win on the road but you wouldn't know it based on Friday night's game. They were 2-5 on the year and 6-19 over the last 3 seasons and by all accounts made the Lions look very average in BC Place. Their only home blemish this year was the loss to Calgary in the back half of the LD Classic home and home. If the Lions have any designs on a Dome playoff date Friday night's rematch at Commonwealth is a must-win game. Lose it and they will be playoff road warriors. There would remain slim mathematical chances but the reality is everything rides on this weekend's game. Lose it and they trail Edmonton by 2 and have lost that tie-breaker. They'd then need the Riders to knock off the Esks and the Alouettes do likewise in Week 19 when all they will want to do is escape Commonwealth with a clean bill of health.

Yup, agreed. The Lions fate is sort of in their hands, in that if they win at CW, they have a good shot at hosting the WSF. As you note, anything else means living out of a suitcase for a time.

We'll see what they're made of one way or another on Friday. Coaches, players, everyone must bring the A game, play 100%, win one for the Gipper, suck it up...

Or just play as they are capable of playing. Don't hit, put your arms around the ball carrier and fall down. Don't play for the pick, play for the knockdown, and/or to cover your man. Make good reads, use Roberts to good advantage, and don't cut routes short. Come back to the qb when he needs you, and then don't take unnecessary penalties. If you're going to hold, do it with your hands inside the DL's shoulder pads.

[zark]

time to use roberts.agreed.finally.Too bad logan had to get hurt first.Time to use your best receivers.Geroy will get open.Throw the ball Buck.If not,Get JJ in there sooner.

[Lions4ever]

time to use roberts.agreed.finally.Too bad logan had to get hurt first.Time to use your best receivers.Geroy will get open.Throw the ball Buck.If not,Get JJ in there sooner.

Nice use of Hemingwayesque sentence structure there zark.

[zark]

i was going more for dostoyevskiness.

[Solar Max]

Looks to me that zark is going to fit in here very well, in a Socratian sense.

8)

[firstdown45]

well we're pretty well toast as far as hosting a Western Final now. If Calgary wins next week they have it sewn up cause they win our series 2 - 0.

And if Calgary and BC win next week and Saskatchewan should win remaining two and BC beats Calgary at the end, then we have a 3 way tie. That is interesting who finishes first then.

Sask and Edmonton play each other so I'm not sure if a 4 way tie is possible anymore

[Solar Max]

well we're prtty well toast as far as hosting a Western Final now. If Calgary wins next week they have it swen up cause they win the series 2 - 0.

And if Calgary wins next week and Saskatchewan should win remaining two and BC beats Calgary at the end, then we have a 3 way tie.

Sask and Edmonton play each other so I'm not sure if a 4 way tie is possible anymore

And if that happens, the Lions hold the tiebreaker over Saskatchewan, and host the West Semi as I hoped at the start of the season.

Oh and...Calgary already owns the season series with the Lions. The only way the Leos can get first is to win both remaining games, while Calgary loses both of theirs. (in Hamilton, and home to the Lions)

Having a home playoff date is a good thing, and possibly going into the WSF with no rust is even better, IMO. These guys can win wherever they want to, when they put their minds to it.

[Rammer]

well we're prtty well toast as far as hosting a Western Final now. If Calgary wins next week they have it swen up cause they win the series 2 - 0.

And if Calgary wins next week and Saskatchewan should win remaining two and BC beats Calgary at the end, then we have a 3 way tie.

Sask and Edmonton play each other so I'm not sure if a 4 way tie is possible anymore

And if that happens, the Lions hold the tiebreaker over Saskatchewan, and host the West Semi as I hoped at the start of the season.

Oh and...Calgary already owns the season series with the Lions. The only way the Leos can get first is to win both remaining games, while Calgary loses both of theirs. (in Hamilton, and home to the Lions)

Having a home playoff date is a good thing, and possibly going into the WSF with no rust is even better, IMO. These guys can win wherever they want to, when they put their minds to it.

On our poll on where the Lions are going to finish that came about the mid point of the season, I had already reserved first place for someone else. I hoped that we could finish second, and voted that way, but only because I believed in our talent finally Wakeing up.

Now my question to you that you were looking for hosting the WDSF is, does that mean that the Lions will purchase the game from the league and if so, is the Lions profit reduced by how much vs a WDF?

Personally, I think that hosting the WDSF is going to lay a beating on the attendance figure, and indicate that the Lions are in need of some major changes in the off season.

[Solar Max]

On our poll on where the Lions are going to finish that came about the mid point of the season, I had already reserved first place for someone else. I hoped that we could finish second, and voted that way, but only because I believed in our talent finally Wakeing up.

Now my question to you that you were looking for hosting the WDSF is, does that mean that the Lions will purchase the game from the league and if so, is the Lions profit reduced by how much vs a WDF?

Personally, I think that hosting the WDSF is going to lay a beating on the attendance figure, and indicate that the Lions are in need of some major changes in the off season.

I'm not going to deny that hosting a WDSF is not nearly as lucrative as hosting a WDF; I was thinking greedily about the onfield side of things when hoping for that.

Having established that, given the numbers that we've seen all season regarding attendance, and figuring that the break even for David Braley buying the rights to the game is around 35,000, I think he should gamble and buy them. It's a fair bet that the attendance could top 35,000 rather easily.

In 2005 though, we still only saw 37, 377 at the WDF (in anticipation of people buying GC tickets instead? ) so it could be tight.

[Rammer]

I appreciate your concept of a better run to the cup with the continuity of playing each week, but I just think that hosting the WDF shows the fanbase that the Lions are still building, whereas the WDSF is just the beginning of the decent.

[Hambone]

well we're pretty well toast as far as hosting a Western Final now. If Calgary wins next week they have it sewn up cause they win our series 2 - 0.

And if Calgary and BC win next week and Saskatchewan should win remaining two and BC beats Calgary at the end, then we have a 3 way tie. That is interesting who finishes first then.

Sask and Edmonton play each other so I'm not sure if a 4 way tie is possible anymore

The first tie-breaker is always overall wins in the standings. That rarely is a factor unless a team recorded 2 ties.
The second tie-breaker becomes the number of wins between the tied teams against each other. With a 2 way tie the season series will determine that. In cases of 3 or more teams it the respective season series become more of a secondary tie-breaker. In a potential 3 way tie between Calgary, BC and Saskatchewan the Stamps already have it locked up. They already have a 4-2 record vs BC and Ssk. BC sits at 2-3 and the Riders are 3-4. Neither can match Calgary's 4 wins. As we have to assume a 3 way tie can't happen without BC defeating Calgary it would leave the their records amongst themselves as Cgy 4-3, BC 3-3 and Sask 3-4. Calgary finishes 1st and I assume the Lions season series with the Riders would then come into play to place them 2nd.

Before anybody complains about the unfairness of the extra game the unbalanced schedule gives Calgary in this tiebreaker keep in mind the Lions similarly benefit in the event of a 3 way tie between them, Edmonton and Saskatchewan. BC already sits at 4-3 in that trifecta. Edmonton can match that with a win in Regina next week but the Riders can do no better than 3-3. So I think BC already wins that as the Riders would be eliminated leaving the Lions season series with Edmonton to decide 2nd & 3rd.

[SammyGreene]

On our poll on where the Lions are going to finish that came about the mid point of the season, I had already reserved first place for someone else. I hoped that we could finish second, and voted that way, but only because I believed in our talent finally Wakeing up.

Now my question to you that you were looking for hosting the WDSF is, does that mean that the Lions will purchase the game from the league and if so, is the Lions profit reduced by how much vs a WDF?

Personally, I think that hosting the WDSF is going to lay a beating on the attendance figure, and indicate that the Lions are in need of some major changes in the off season.

I'm not going to deny that hosting a WDSF is not nearly as lucrative as hosting a WDF; I was thinking greedily about the onfield side of things when hoping for that.

Having established that, given the numbers that we've seen all season regarding attendance, and figuring that the break even for David Braley buying the rights to the game is around 35,000, I think he should gamble and buy them. It's a fair bet that the attendance could top 35,000 rather easily.

In 2005 though, we still only saw 37, 377 at the WDF (in anticipation of people buying GC tickets instead? ) so it could be tight.

Where I see a problem is the Lions needing to win out to clinch second. That would give them just 7 days to sell the game. There's also a good number of corporate and contra season tickets that are likely not included for a potential playoff game and would have to be sold.

A B.C.-Sask semi-final would also be the best for the box office but even the Rider faithful might have a bad taste in their mouths given they were sitting at 6-0 at one point.

I know our favourite poster will love this but a Sat. Nov. 8 home playoff date is brutal for me as I coach a rep soccer team and we have a 12:30 away game that day. Will likely be at home watching the 2nd half on TV and I haven't missed a Lion home game in 7 years.

[Hambone]

I'm not going to deny that hosting a WDSF is not nearly as lucrative as hosting a WDF; I was thinking greedily about the onfield side of things when hoping for that.

Having established that, given the numbers that we've seen all season regarding attendance, and figuring that the break even for David Braley buying the rights to the game is around 35,000, I think he should gamble and buy them. It's a fair bet that the attendance could top 35,000 rather easily.

In 2005 though, we still only saw 37, 377 at the WDF (in anticipation of people buying GC tickets instead? ) so it could be tight.

One should not dismiss the opponent factor in playoff attendance. I think who they might play bears a lot more impact on attendance than WDF vs WSF.
2005 - 37377 vs Edmonton
2006 - 50804 vs Ssk
2007 - 54712 vs Ssk
I don't recall whether they played Saskatchewan or Edmonton in 2004 and don't have the attendance figures. Let's face it you can count on several thousand Green and White heathens to show up for a Rider playoff game in Vancouver while you might be lucky to get a couple hundred Eskimo fans. WSF vs Saskatchewan = 45000+. WSF vs Edmonton = 35000+

[Solar Max]

Where I see a problem is the Lions needing to win out to clinch second. That would give them just 7 days to sell the game. There's also a good number of corporate and contra season tickets that are likely not included for a potential playoff game and would have to be sold.

A B.C.-Sask semi-final would also be the best for the box office but even the Rider faithful might have a bad taste in their mouths given they were sitting at 6-0 at one point.

I know our favourite poster will love this but a Sat. Nov. 8 home playoff date is brutal for me as I coach a rep soccer team and we have a 12:30 away game that day. Will likely be at home watching the 2nd half on TV and I haven't missed a Lion home game in 7 years.

Not sure they have to win out, SG, they only do if the Riders do. If the Riders lose against the Esks, and the Lions win on Saturday, that would leave BC at 11-6 and Sask at 10-7. (presuming that the Riders win today against Hamilton.)

If the next week, the Riders win and the Lions lose in Calgary, they are both 11-7 and the Lions have the Season Series, and 2nd place.

I think. 8)

That would leave 2 weeks notice for a home playoff date.

[SammyGreene]

Not sure they have to win out, SG, they only do if the Riders do. If the Riders lose against the Esks, and the Lions win on Saturday, that would leave BC at 11-6 and Sask at 10-7. (presuming that the Riders win today against Hamilton.)

If the next week, the Riders win and the Lions lose in Calgary, they are both 11-7 and the Lions have the Season Series, and 2nd place.

I think. 8)

That would leave 2 weeks notice for a home playoff date.

You're right SM. I was doing it on the assumption the Riders beat the Eskimos at Mosiac. Hardly a guarantee but really the loser of that game might really be the winner.