Thoughts on the Lions at Empire Stadium

Football is meant to be played outdoors, as is soccer, if anyone actually wants to watch it.

So upon learning that the BC Lions will be playing the 2010 season in the hands of Mother Nature, it made the holiday season that much better for me. You see, I was brought up a die hard Leo's fan. I'm a member of the last generation of fans that will recall the "Looou" chant as being for arguably the best kicker in CFL history, not for every time the guy we hope is the starting goalie for Canada in the Olympics touches the puck.

But somewhere along the way, I faded from caring whatsoever about the Lions or even the CFL in general. It probably started the first time I saw a live Seahawks game in the ninth grade, escalated when I saw the Washington Huskies play eventual Heisman winner Sam Bradford and Oklahoma at historic Husky Stadium, and then capped off when I witnesses Washington play LSU under the lights in Seattle. Probably one of the greatest sporting spectacles my eyes have ever seen live.

All of a sudden, going to BC Place to sit in a sauna and watch punt after punt, a point awarded for failure, and the all-too-predictable second down pass after a stuffed run on first. Being able to see all of the Carolina Blue seats in the dome just kills the atmosphere. Then came the realization that possibly the most talented quarterback the Lions have ever dressed, Casey Printers, was so far down the depth chart in his stint with Kansas City that he could share greivances with Kordell Stewart. It really didn't help when Wally Buono decided not to start Casey in the Grey Cup after he won the MVP killed it. Probably the only time I've ever seen that happen in any sport.

Anyways, bringing Empire Stadium, the place that's played host to the Commonwealth Games, the Beatles, and the King himself, Elvis Presley, has got to be the biggest gust of fresh air a maligned fan such as myself can ask for.

What I'm really hoping for are sellout games. And some serious tailgating parties. If you've never experienced the tailgating at a college football game, it is probably one of the coolest sights you will ever see, and would make gameday for the Lions that much more enjoyable. It's understandable that it doesn't happen now, just because of the fact that half of the people that show up get there from the SkyTrain.

The summer crowd at the new outdoor building will hopefully be close to selling out the new joint, but what will be interesting to see is how much attendance drops when the games start to be played in the cold. Using my estimating of 38% of people at Lions games that are only there to get drunk, those people will most likely not want to do it in the rain, and just stay home. We'll find out just how big of football fans Vancouverites are after this season.

On the negative side, it's only a temporary venue. But why? Why waste a space that is pretty much just used for a softball diamond for a place that can host big time sporting events and concerts? How cool would it be to see Green Day rock and outdoor concert old school at Empire?

And think about this. SFU is going to be an NCAA Div II school in 2010. A 30,000 seat stadium would be the perfect addition to helping them build a program that can eventually, hopefully, end up in a FBS conference? Obviously all of the top high school kids in BC are going to start to flock to SFU instead of playing in the media starved CIS, but playing in a big stadium could hopefully lure in some secondary talent from Idaho, Washington, and even the hotbed of California where a good enough eye might be able to lure a sleeper up here.

This stadium, used properly, could easily become one of the best things to happen to the Vancouver Sports scene since BC Place opened in '83. This is old school, the way football should be.

Where to sit at a Canucks game

In the past two weeks, I was fortunate enough to be at three Canucks games (Colorado, Chicago, San Jose). I went 1-2 for the three games, but it was obviously worth it. The weird thing was, I sat in probably three of the most random sports in GM Place.

--- Game one: $160.  I sat with my dad in the front row right behind the Canucks bench. It sounded pretty damn cool when I figured I'd be right in the mix of everything and get all of the bench chatter from some guys who know quite a bit about hockey.

On the left is my cell phone picture of what the game looked like from my view. Either Vigneault, Bowness or Walter was always right in my grill and blocking my view. And the worst part? I couldn't hear a word that was said on the bench. I also almost got booted from the rink during the fight between Tanner Glass and Darcy Tucker because I was banging on the glass behind the Canucks bench. Apparently that doesn't fly.

My dad and I were constantly looking up at the screen and we both felt like we may have practically missed Christian Ehrhoff's best game as a Canuck. Still a good time, despite all that.

--- Game Two: $71. From the front row to the nose bleeds. Thankfully, my shirt was blood free after this one when Chicago shut out the Canucks. Frankly, I was a little disappointed just because I expected a little more booing of Patrick Kane. But other than that, sitting one row from the top in GM Place isn't all that bad. I'm pretty used to it, due to financial situations, anyways. It's not all that bad because you can still make out the names on the players' sweaters and you can see everything come together, making you feel like some important hockey writer or scout.

--- Game Three: $109. Back down to the lower bowl to see the best line in hockey and the San Jose Sharks. This was probably the best experience I had, 19 rows up from the visitor's end of the ice and a pretty good view of it all. You really don't notice the netting once the play is over. One thing I will say is that some of the rinks in the Lower Mainland have switched to white netting which blends in better with the ice and makes for a better view. Not sure if that would work in a stadium setting, though. Other than that, it's pretty cool to see the Canucks come down on a helpless goalie and feel like you're right down in there with the whole Canadian NHL atmoshphere around you. This had to be the best bang for the buck, even if it were my dad's friend's bucks.

All for now.

Olympic Thoughts

Sitting here watching CTV's "Sid the Kid vs. Alexander the Great" documentary, for the third time, and they're talking Olympics and I started thinking. And what better place to vent my thoughts than on the blog for my loyal readers.

--- First, the lineup. I wish there was some way of tracking how many different Team Canada roster lineups were posted around the internet. I'd guess it's around the hundreds of thousands. One thing about my list I'd really like to exaggerate? No Brendan Morrow!!! I just don't see why everyone likes this guy so much. Here's the lines.

Forwards

1. Rick Nash - Sidney Crosby - Jarome Iginla


I think this one is starting to become a consensus. It really looks like the prototypical line of two proven scorers between a great playmaker. Hopefully Crosby plays with a chip on his schedule and thankfully it looks like he's starting to heat up after a slow start. Two of the possible  team captains on one line really can't hurt.

2. Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Danny Heatley


Or the San Jose Sharks top line, or the best line in the NHL today. Marleau and Heatley are only second and third in the league in goals scored, respectively, and Thornton's already got 32 assists in 29 games, which leads the league. These three could seriously contend for the number one line, but I think it will just be more of a 1a and 1b kind of thing. If the Russians go with Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk as a line, they would obviously have more talent, but they wouldn't be able to match the chemistry of the Sharks line that's been playing together all season.

3. Corey Perry - Ryan Getzlaf - Brad Richards


This is where it starts to get tricky and opinions tend to change. If the Canadians try a stunt like they did in Torino, Ita., and dress a true checking line with guys like Kris Draper, it's going to be hard to watch. So these three guys, two of them teammates in Anaheim, are the hard nose guys that every Canadian hockey fan, and coach, loves. Think Brent Sutter junior hockey. Gritty, skilled guys who can bury pucks while working their tails off. Getzlaf is a serious scorer who could even be moved to the wing to let Richards (25 assists) do his thing.

4. Jeff Carter - Vincent Lecavalier - Martin St. Louis


Lecavalier is getting no love this season but I just can't see Steve Yzerman passing on him. Let's not forget, Canada may have not won the last World Cup if he hadn't buried the overtime goal in the semi-finals against the Czechs. The bets part about him is that he can be moved around the roster and really play with anyone. He will step up come Olympic time. These are three more leaders that can really help the dressing room.

Defencemen


1.  Chris Pronger - Duncan Keith


Pronger is a shoe-in, but what makes the 2010 Olympics is that there really isn't a set defense roster like there used to be with guys like Blake, Foote, McInnis, Neidermayer, and Jovanovski. Duncan Keith just got a 13-year deal from Chicago for a reason. He's a hard nosed guy who strikes fear into the hearts of Europeans. Remember, this year will be played on an NHL sized ice and size will matter.

2. Mike Green - Dion Phaneuf


Mike Green puts up points from the back end for a living. Is that just because he's playing with Ovechkin? Maybe, but it's not like the Canadians are starving for talent. Dion Phaneuf has taken a lot of heat lately, but I really believe he's as solid as we're gonna get on defense. He's amassed countless YouTube clips of huge hits that, again, will be very valuable on the smaller ice this time around. The physical presence in these Olympics is going to be invaluable and the Canadians are going to really be able to assert themselves.

3. Shea Weber - Dan Boyle


For some reason, I've never been sold on Boyle. But hey, he puts up huge points every season and has played himself onto this team. This is the same combination of offensive defenseman/big-hitting defenseman as the last pairing and I've always believed that's the best way to go about it. Of course the D doesn't have to be set and you can pair Boyle and Green together when you need offense and Weber and Keith together when you need to shut down a team.

Goalies


1. Roberto Luongo


This is finally his turn, and he's earned it. I'll get into the experience thing later in the post. Don't say he can't win the big game because he shut down Jagr and the Czech's in the semi-finals of the 2004 World Cup when Brodeur went down, playing for the first time in September after not playing all summer. That game was an overtime game as well.

2. Martin Brodeur


I hate to judge him on one game, but the Canucks tore him apart last night in a 5-2 win. If Daniel Sedin is beating you with a slapshot coming down the wing, five-hole no less, I think you've got problems. I thought he was one of the shakiest goalies in the '06 Games, and luck had to do with his biggest save when he was caught way out of position and managed to get his paddle down. If that puck was raised 4 inches off the ice it was a goal.

--- So that's my roster, commence the picking apart of it.

--- As to who's not on there? Scott Neidermayer is the biggest name that you'll notice that I left off. Why? Because I hope Yzerman and co. will learn from the mistakes of the FOG (Friends of Gretzky) team they dressed in '06 because of all of the experience they thought they had, leaving off Crosby and Eric Staal, who both scored over 100 points that season. And the result? They lost to Pavel Bure's Russians, which included a rookie Ovechkin and Malkin, who wasn't even in the NHL yet. Experience is important, but not as important as who is playing the best hockey, especially in such a short tournament.

--- The Russians. I think they're the favourite to get to the gold medal game. But after you get past Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk, and Datsyuk (hard to get past, I know), this really isn't a deep team. Quick, off the top of your head, name me a russian defensemen. Gonchar. Name me one more. Markov (injured). there are only five healthy Russian defensemen playing in the NHL right now and that could be the downfall of Canada's biggest rival.

--- The Swedes. Henrik Sedin is scoring goals and Daniel Sedin is healthy again. Scary. They;re the defendign champs and I don't think they're getting close to the amount of credit that they'll end up earning. Their defense might, like the Russians, be their downfall, especially since Lidstrom is tailing off and super-rookie Hedman hasn't scored a goal yet. Also like the Russians, they're not very deep with their forwards but if they can find someone to get chemistry with the Sedins they could be hard to stop. For some reason Swedes are able to come together as a team and get the job done. It will be interesting to see if Forsberg and Naslund make the team.

--- The Americans. This will probably be the best US team that we've ever seen. They've never really had a big star, but now they've got two in Patrick Kane and Zach Parise (who I still can't believe is American after his dad was on the 1972 Canadian Summit Series team. Just a travesty.) And, Ryan Miller is playing as good as any goalie in the league right now. Expect the Americans to pull off a big upset at some point in the tournament and make some unexpected noise.

--- The Schedule. I haven't seen it directly, but from what I've heard from Hosea Cheung of 24Hours, the schedule is tailor made for the Canadians for success by starting off with two cupcakes (one of those being the Swiss, who beat Canada in '06), and probably the Germans after that, which is then followed by Slovakia. This will give the Canadians a chance to gel together as a team once they get into the real tough ones.

--- That's all I can think of for now, but one more thing. NO BRENDAN MORROW!!!!!