favourite bad lion team?

[lion24]

i know this is a little weird but anyone have any favourite bad bc lions team that could be deemed "loveable losers" or had players you liked even though the team sucked?

[Solar Max]

Well...they didn't actually "Suck", but they did have the Eskimos and some pretty hard luck going against them. They were great to watch, and many loved dearly the 1977 BC Lions.

[lion24]

i will go with 1990 as things at least looked up for 91 after flutie arrived and going through different coaches and personal and the arrival of volpe,clark etc. in1991.

[Solar Max]

1990: The reign of error...Murray Pezim and Joe Kapp. Flutie was a bright spot that year, along with a couple of receivers of his.

[TheLionKing]

I have no favourite bad BC Lions team. I like winners. I have deleted all the bad teams from my memory. (believe me I have seen more than fair share of bad teams)

[Robbie]

1990: The reign of error...Murray Pezim and Joe Kapp. Flutie was a bright spot that year, along with a couple of receivers of his.

1990 was a very disorganized year as Lary Kurahich started as coach, followed by Jim Young, and then by Bob O'Billovich. Although that was Doug Flutie's first year, he didn't play too much as Joe Paopao started more games. I suppose 1991 is a good example of a "loveable bad team" as the offence was great, but the defence was horrible.

It is fair to say that any team that misses the playoffs is considered a bad team. But even in those bad years, there are still some players that are great and exciting to watch, if not simply good players that were surrounded by bad teammates. Such examples of good players on bad Lions teams that didn't make the playoffs include:

1989 - Matt Dunigan, David Williams, and Tony Cherry.
1992 - Ray Alexander, Jim Mills, and Jon Volpe.
1996 - Later arrival of Damon Allen.

The seasons that the Lions missed the playoffs in the 1970's had Al Wilson and Jim Young.

[Bosco]

Speaking of reigns of error...how about the 1996 Lions? This bunch had three different ownerships groups throughout the season, a coach who had to cover team expenses on his own credit card, and a GM who would insult fans if they weren't season ticket holders.

* When Bill Comrie decided that he would rather run the Brick than the Lions, he "sold" the team to that carpetbagger of all carpetbaggers...Nelson Skalbania. Skalbania assembled a 10 man Board of Directors, including seven who didn't want to be publicly known.

* This new ownership group basically invested zero dollars towards scouting or signing players.

* Mike McCarthy was hired as GM. This charming fellow would appear on JP McConnell's weekly "Lions Den" show, and when callers would question the losing streaks, direction of the team, etc - McCarthy would reply: "Are you a season ticket holder? I" The inference being that if you weren't a season ticket holder, you had no right to criticize the "direction" of the team.

* Since zero dollars was earmarked towards marketing or team operating capital by this ownership group, payroll was being met by the receipts from the previous home game.

* The team started off with Andre Ware and Chris Vargas as QB's - no wonder they were 0 & 4. Their big offseason signing - former NFL wideout Clarence Verdan, was cut after 5 games.

* Skalbania and his mysterious ownership group walked away in August, and the league took over the team. If there was a bright light in the season - the league then turned the team over to David Braley.

* At one point, coach Joe Paopao covered team expenses on his AMEX card.

All in all, this sorry bunch limped to a 5 - 13 season. They played in front of sparse crowds at B.C Place, and if it wasn't for Braley taking over late in the season, they may have joined the Rough Riders on the CFL scrap heap.

[David]

My strongest identification with the Lions are the teams I followed as young boy. This would have been from 1969-1971 - an era where we piled up losing seasons like John Madden stacks pancakes at the all-you-can-eat buffet.

By this time, the "Glory Years" of Joe Kapp and Willie Fleming were very much in the rear view mirror and it would be many more years before we would field a team with a better than .500 record. Despite having Jackie Parker run the team (first as coach, then as GM) and the legendary Eagle Keys coaching them - and with talented players such as Jim Young, FB Jim Evenson, OL Ken Sugarman, and LB Greg Findlay, these teams alternately seemed to go from mediocre to awful.

Surprisingly though, they were a hit at the box office. In 1970, Empire Stadium became Canada's first stadium with artificial turf (3M "Tartan Turf") and a spanking new 15' x 20' instant replay screen. Fans flocked to the park to boo QB Paul Brothers and these lovable losers - attendance averaged 31,000 in 1970 and 34,000 in 1971!

DH 8)

[TheLionKing]

Speaking of reigns of error...how about the 1996 Lions? This bunch had three different ownerships groups throughout the season, a coach who had to cover team expenses on his own credit card, and a GM who would insult fans if they weren't season ticket holders.

* When Bill Comrie decided that he would rather run the Brick than the Lions, he "sold" the team to that carpetbagger of all carpetbaggers...Nelson Skalbania. Skalbania assembled a 10 man Board of Directors, including seven who didn't want to be publicly known.

* This new ownership group basically invested zero dollars towards scouting or signing players.

* Mike McCarthy was hired as GM. This charming fellow would appear on JP McConnell's weekly "Lions Den" show, and when callers would question the losing streaks, direction of the team, etc - McCarthy would reply: "Are you a season ticket holder? I" The infrence being that if you weren't a season ticket holder, you had no right to criticize the "direction" of the team.

* Since zero dollars was earmarked towards marketing or team operating capital by this ownership group, payroll was being met by the receipts from the previous home game.

* The team started off with Andre Ware and Chris Vargas as QB's - no wonder they were 0 & 4. Their big offseason signing - former NFL wideout Clarence Verdan, was cut after 5 games.

* Skalbania and his mysterious ownership group walked away in August, and the league took over the team. If there was a bright light in the season - the league then turned the team over to David Braley.

* At one point, coach Joe Paopao covered team expenses on his AMEX card.

All in all, this sorry bunch limped to a 5 - 13 season. They played in front of sparse crowds at B.C Place, and if it wasn't for Braley taking over late in the season, they may have joined the Rough Riders on the CFL scrap heap.

Yup that was a memorable season for all the wrong reasons.

[Lions_Fan_4_Life]

2003 and 2005 (IF you can say they were bad)

[Robbie]

I'd go with the '91 team. They had probably the worst defence in the history of the CFL, allowing over 700 pts against, I believe...Which is pretty amazing considering how long Flutie held onto the ball on offence. They were an exciting offensive team with Dougie at his finest, many overtime games and 8 come from behind wins in the 4th quarter. There were other Lion teams which were much worse overall, but that defence took the cake, no lead was safe!

Well said, John Henry. The 1991 team was the best example of a catch-22 that I mentioned earlier about the tradeoff between an exciting team and a winning team. In an exciting team, the defence must allow the opponent to score as many points as the offence, leading to exciting games but fewer wins. Despite the many come from behind wins, Doug Flutie didn't seem to deliver when they needed it the most, the final game of the regular season against the worst team in the east, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Lions defence allowed the Tiger-Cats to score 26 points, but Flutie and company could only put 18 points on the board. The loss forced the Lions from first in the west to third for the playoffs.

Speaking of reigns of error...how about the 1996 Lions?

* This new ownership group basically invested zero dollars towards scouting or signing players.

* Skalbania and his mysterious ownership group walked away in August, and the league took over the team. If there was a bright light in the season - the league then turned the team over to David Braley.

Good summary, Bosco. Although record wise, the 1996 Lions weren't cellar dwellers like the 1992 Lions as they were tied for last with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the west, and the Ottawa Rough Riders in the east had the league's worst record.

While Braley buying the team was a bright spot, I would say that it was by no means the only bright spot. Repeating what I said above, I'd say the signing of future CFL Hall-of-Famer quarterback Damon Allen was another huge bright spot as he would QB the Lions for another six seasons with a Grey Cup in 2000, and he would eventually become Pro Football's All-time leading passer. Just a question if anyone knows: Did the signing of Damon Allen come before or after Skalbania and his group left the team? If it was after, then was it Braley who agreed to sign Allen?

Another sorry bunch were the 1965 Lions. Coming off their first Grey Cup win with many core players still in tact, they missed the playoffs.

[Belize City Lion]

In 1970, Empire Stadium became Canada's first stadium with artificial turf (3M "Tartan Turf") and a spanking new 15' x 20' instant replay screen. Fans flocked to the park to boo QB Paul Brothers and these lovable losers - attendance averaged 31,000 in 1970 and 34,000 in 1971!

DH 8)

My earliest memories of Lions games would be around 71 or 72, sitting in the Nalley's section. I remember one of my first games was a Lions win over the Eskimos and I didn't understand why the adults were so happy. Now I understand the whole Evil Empire thing, not to mention alcohol.

But David, I do not remember a replay screen ever at Empire (although my most conscience memories are more circa 1977 and beyond)? I also remember the capacity of Empire being around 32K.

Solar, I agree, the 77 Lions would be my favourite lovable loser team. Do you remember the paradoy song CKLG or CFUN did... "Wouldn't it be nice if we had a winner, when it came to football in BC" (sung to The Beach Boys Wouldn't it Be Nice)?

[TheZeppo]

Surprisingly though, they were a hit at the box office. In 1970, Empire Stadium became Canada's first stadium with artificial turf (3M "Tartan Turf") and a spanking new 15' x 20' instant replay screen. Fans flocked to the park to boo QB Paul Brothers and these lovable losers - attendance averaged 31,000 in 1970 and 34,000 in 1971!

DH 8)

Normally I would never question your knowledge of Lions' history, but
I think you are mistaken about the attendance numbers quoted above.
Even with the "Quarterback Club" bleachers in the north end zone, capacity at Empire Stadium in the 1970's was just under 32,000.
Also, having gone to many games in 1970 and 1971, I remember attendance as being decent, but far from being a sell out for every game.
I think your mistake may have been including only the 16 regular
season games in your computation of average attendance. In fact, up until 1987, the Lions based their total attendance numbers on the regular and pre-season games combined for a total of 18 games. Using this information, I come up with an average home attendance in 1970
of 24,773, and 27,282 for 1971. Factoring in larger crowds for the
regular season games as opposed to the pre-season contests, these
numbers sound about right to me based on my memory of those
years.
I agree with your main point though. Even though the Lions' teams of the late 60's and early 70's were not very good, there was something magical about going to Empire Stadium to see them play. I think a lot
of it had to do with my age at the time, but nevertheless, I have nothing but fond memories of those teams.

[TheZeppo]

But David, I do not remember a replay screen ever at Empire (although my most conscience memories are more circa 1977 and beyond)?

I was thinking the same thing, and I'm thankful that you have
verified my memory of the Empire Stadium scoreboard. Like you, I'm pretty sure there was never a replay screen on it.