Montreal vs. BC

[Hambone]

Cottoy is so much fun to watch. He's a horse. So big and physical once he has the ball. He's much bigger than Jason Clermont but there's a bit of Jason in him the way he will physically attack and run over if necessary any would-be tacklers.

[TheLionKing]

I wish the Lions move Odell Willis back to defensive end. He's too light for a tackle and teams are running at will at Willis and Menard.

[Hambone]

On a couple of Dome notes while it was refreshing to have the roof open I wish I'd brought another layer or wore a heavier jacket than a light windbreaker. I really hadn't considered it might be open.

On the food side most of the time I have something to eat before getting to the stadium. Last night I didn't so went looking for food at halftime. I like me a good tube steak every now and then and had a craving. Headed up to the concessions at 242 right at end of 2nd quarter. Concession to my right had maybe 3 people in line but didn't sell dogs. Looked to the left and bingo! Maybe 8 people in line so head there. Get to the counter and "2 hot dogs please". The dude behind the counter opens the drawers to get the dogs.......nothing. Goes to the kitchen in behind and comes back empty handed. Sorry no hot dogs. They'll be ready in 20 minutes?!?!?! WTF. Out of hot dogs at the START of half time. So I bail that stand to embark on my frankfurter quest thinking there will be another concession not far away. Headed from 242 working my way clockwise. Next frickin' concession selling dogs wasn't until 202. Of course by then halftime was in full motion with 25 people in the queue. On the bright side instead of being back to my seat with dogs and beer in hand well before halftime was over I was instead a few minutes late and not subjected to the Montreal bomb that opened the 3rd quarter.

[maxlion]

He has a habit of putting his ego before his team. I think we saw this last night.

Could you provide a few more examples of this ?

His "rap sheet" is detailed on his wikipedia page.

As for his short time in BC, there have been a few signs that things may not be as rosy as Toppy describes. The first sign was watching him yelling in Claybrooks' face in the middle of a nationally televised game. The second was when someone from the Lions (presumably a coach) leaked to Kirk Penton "Why is Duron still here? Because our GM doesn't listen to us". I won't get into some of the things he's said on twitter.

It seems like a lot to put up with for someone who is 4th on the team in receiving yards, but there are lots of question marks on this team.

Anyways I'm going to move on from this topic. It was just one penalty. He had a pretty solid game otherwise. Not a huge deal.

[Hambone]

I wish the Lions move Odell Willis back to defensive end. He's too light for a tackle and teams are running at will at Willis and Menard.

I thought particularly in the first half Montreal was having more success kicking their run game to the outside. At least they seemed to run outside more than inside. Perhaps they were predicting that BC would load the box to support the DL expecting Montreal would be trying to run Stanback between the tackles a lot and instead went outside?

[B.C.FAN]

On a couple of Dome notes while it was refreshing to have the roof open I wish I'd brought another layer or wore a heavier jacket than a light windbreaker. I really hadn't considered it might be open.

On the food side most of the time I have something to eat before getting to the stadium. Last night I didn't so went looking for food at halftime. I like me a good tube steak every now and then and had a craving. Headed up to the concessions at 242 right at end of 2nd quarter. Concession to my right had maybe 3 people in line but didn't sell dogs. Looked to the left and bingo! Maybe 8 people in line so head there. Get to the counter and "2 hot dogs please". The dude behind the counter opens the drawers to get the dogs.......nothing. Goes to the kitchen in behind and comes back empty handed. Sorry no hot dogs. They'll be ready in 20 minutes?!?!?! WTF. Out of hot dogs at the START of half time. So I bail that stand to embark on my frankfurter quest thinking there will be another concession not far away. Headed from 242 working my way clockwise. Next frickin' concession selling dogs wasn't until 202. Of course by then halftime was in full motion with 25 people in the queue. On the bright side instead of being back to my seat with dogs and beer in hand well before halftime was over I was instead a few minutes late and not subjected to the Montreal bomb that opened the 3rd quarter.

I think your experiences were pretty common. I talked to a number of people who wore light shirts and, in one case, shorts and were unprepared for the chilly evening under an open roof, including some who left the stadium early. You can't please everyone but we've been spoiled by climate-controlled conditions for a long time. Many people don't think of dressing for cool weather. I never wear a jacket since I park underground and just have to walk about 20 steps outside to the gate.

On the concession issue, I've followed the same routine for over 50 years at Empire Stadium and B.C. Place. I arrive when the gates open and grab a couple of hotdogs on the way to my seat to watch warmups. Last night, for the first time in my experience, the concession didn't have any hotdogs (or most other hot food, for that matter) when the gates opened. I had to pay and wait at the side for 10 minutes for the food to be cooked. Concession staff and management apologized several times for the problems.

[pennw]

He has a habit of putting his ego before his team. I think we saw this last night.

Could you provide a few more examples of this ?

His "rap sheet" is detailed on his wikipedia page.

As for his short time in BC, there have been a few signs that things may not be as rosy as Toppy describes. The first sign was watching him yelling in Claybrooks' face in the middle of a nationally televised game. The second was when someone from the Lions (presumably a coach) leaked to Kirk Penton "Why is Duron still here? Because our GM doesn't listen to us". I won't get into some of the things he's said on twitter.

It seems like a lot to put up with for someone who is 4th on the team in receiving yards, but there are lots of question marks on this team.

Anyways I'm going to move on from this topic. It was just one penalty. He had a pretty solid game otherwise. Not a huge deal.

Not much of a rap sheet there at all . Going back to 2017 there is a Cannabis charge he had , while he was with the riders. Not much at all since then . Nothing other than 1 penalty with BC . A few things way earlier in his time with the Als , but totally irrelevant to his BC stint . So basically nothing in other words , that is of any relevance whatsoever . I'm not sticking up for his performance in this just taking issue with false accusations people make against him . As for the yelling at his coach , what game was that? Don't recall that . I'm glad that the coaches don't listen to the fans more often than not . I'll be happy to drop this issue too after baseless accusations stop .

[pennw]

I wish the Lions move Odell Willis back to defensive end. He's too light for a tackle and teams are running at will at Willis and Menard.

He is not a DT for sure but he has actually been more effective in the middle then he was outside lately .He has 2 sacks from the last 2 games and nothing earlier . BC's pressure has been much better since then . Of course much of that has come from David Menard . Which makes one wonder , why was Menard released anyway ?
I do agree with you though that Willis on the inside is not a long term solution , I'd hate to see what Calgary would do with that line up .
Montreal has been pounding most of their opponents pretty good with Stanback , so BC did okay this game . Last game Ottawa pounded BC on the ground on their first series , but got it stuffed the rest of the game . Of course they also were far to predictable there trying to go to the run too many times resulting in many 2 and outs when they could not get their pass game going .

[Hambone]

Menard wasn't released. He just wasn't re-signed. I think that was purely an SMS move with the thought Grodin was ready to fill the void at a cheaper price.

[Toppy Vann]

I thought the Carter penalty was dumb and undisciplined. I couldn't figure out why he was so visibly upset. In hindsight if it was because of a high tackle I think the OC call was not for what he said to an Alouette player but how he voiced his opinion to the officials. At least it happened after 1st down was gained so only cost them 10 yards in field position but I think that pushed them out from good FG position.

As for his play on. The night he made some key grabs at the right time. What I don't understand however is why the Lions continue to try getting the ball to him on the flat at the line of scrimmage expecting him to bust a decent gain. That play hasn't work all season long fopr anything more than a 1 or 2 yard gain but they keep going to it.

EXACTLY HAMBONE.

If I wanted a player with talent to look bad, I'd change nothing in how they use Carter.

This is the predictability reality of the Jarius offence and JJ's thinking that Carter catching a pass for a few yards near the LOS on the boundary side is going to break him into open. DEF keys on Carter there. Move him deeper behind the LOS to start is how he got two bombs off that worked.

This play is run over and over in practice and of course they've had Carter twice back of the LOS tossing two great bombs.

I'd prefer Carter to get a running start before the LOS and move him inside at times as there is talent.

The structure of the layered routes with receivers turning at the scheduled point is not always adhered to by REC other than Carter but this entire passing structure is failing.

It took to the 2nd half to run that play over the middle to Durant - another Lion staple they work at and practice.

[David]

I think your experiences were pretty common. I talked to a number of people who wore light shirts and, in one case, shorts and were unprepared for the chilly evening under an open roof, including some who left the stadium early. You can't please everyone but we've been spoiled by climate-controlled conditions for a long time. Many people don't think of dressing for cool weather. I never wear a jacket since I park underground and just have to walk about 20 steps outside to the gate.

To their credit, the club did Tweet out at 4:30pm that the roof would be open. Perhaps a little late, but I did see it and dressed accordingly.

Interestingly, I brought my Brazilian girlfriend to this game. We went to the BC-MTL game at Percival Molson Stadium too. As a newby to North American football, I was interested in which experience she preferred as they are so different.

She said that she enjoyed both but had much more fun on Saturday (even though it was a little cold). She enjoyed the pre-game festivities at Terry Fox Plaza, the comfy seats (something we perhaps take for granted when you sit on hard benches at McGill....and much of McMahon for that matter). She also liked the giant scoreboard and watching all the fans have a good time (infectious). There were some fun contests Saturday (including a massive fail attempt at $20,000 by a student trying to kick a ball through the uprights).

Bottom line, we should recognize the hard work that goes into a game-day experience by staff which we sometimes take for granted. People often gripe at the sparse crowds and overlook everything else. But I've said for some time, don't get fooled by the numbers. The people that do attend, seem to walk away with a very positive experience!


DH

[Hambone]

To their credit, the club did Tweet out at 4:30pm that the roof would be open. Perhaps a little late, but I did see it and dressed accordingly.

Since I'm not a "Twit" a Tweet is about as effective as snail mail for me.

[B.C.FAN]

I agree with David that game-day presentations have been good this year and there is lots of energy in the building. As for the weather, I left home in Kamloops at noon and dressed for snow on the Coquihalla so I was comfortable under the open roof. I just left my winter coat in the car.

[Hambone]

Bottom line, we should recognize the hard work that goes into a game-day experience by staff which we sometimes take for granted. People often gripe at the sparse crowds and overlook everything else. But I've said for some time, don't get fooled by the numbers. The people that do attend, seem to walk away with a very positive experience!


DH

Well said. People like to knock the organization but don't recognize just how much effort it takes by many people to choreograph and coordinate all those contests etc that add to the increasingly important "experience" that people want. A favourite has become the MEI band. While I'm not really into that sort of thing I really like that the kids performing give the impression that they are having a blast doing it.

I contributed to help one young guy's night. It's a rare occasion that the folks in the Nissan football toss get balls up into the nether regions of Row R but one wound up being fumbled around into my lap. There were no youngsters close to my seat to give it to so I kept waiting for the right person who would eventually come up the aisle with little ones. Sure enough a Sikh family came up with a minute or two left. In his left arm Dad was packing a 3 or 4 year old guy all decked out in Lions colours high fiving folks on the other side of the aisle as he came up. He looked my way at our row and I flashed the mini-football and said "here buddy" to the little guy and gave it to him. Got a big "Hey thanks man" from dad and a big grin and high five from his son. It felt real good.

[David]

This week's TV ratings, courtesy of 3 Down Nation:

Friday
Hamilton at Winnipeg — 507,600

Saturday
Edmonton at Ottawa — 341,100
Saskatchewan at Toronto — 649,400
Montreal at B.C. — 552,600*

Week 16 average: 512,675

* Note - I don't believe this includes the RDS (French language) number which could boost this another 75-100K.


DH