If you don’t know me, please don’t hate me for the following confession.
I’m a die-hard B.C. Lions’ fan.
Yes, I know I’ve now spent more time living in Saskatchewan than in B.C (by approximately 350 days). But in the end, when it comes to CFL allegiances, Saskatchewan just can’t compete.
My first CFL game was in Vancouver while visiting the city for Expo ’86. My first Grey Cup was the 1987 championship game between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Toronto Argonauts, which is, for my money, the best football game ever played in Vancouver.
And then there’s my most cherished football memory: the B.C. Lions beating the Baltimore CFLers in B.C. Place in the 1994 Grey Cup. Actually, it’s my favourite non-local sports memory that isn’t a Team Canada hockey gold medal at the Olympics, Canada Cup or World Junior Hockey Championships.
(Hey, I’m a Vancouver Canucks fan. We don’t celebrate championships).
And the players on the ’94 Lions will tell you they felt like Canadians going against the all-American boys from Baltimore.
Anyways, it hasn’t always been easy being a Lions’ fan. Not so much from a team success perspective; the Lions won more Grey Cups (five) in 27 seasons from 1985-2011 than the Riders won (four) in their entire 112-year existence. (B.C. also won one in the ‘60s).
Granted, the Lions are in the midst of a 12-year Grey Cup drought, the longest in my lifetime, but Rider fans can do a 12-year championship withdrawl standing on their heads.
But the support for the Lions hasn’t always been there. That’s where I envy Rider Nation. Attendance for the Green and White isn’t the greatest now, but Rider fans are always supporting their team. If the Riders plead poverty, Rider fans will be there, although I doubt we’ll be seeing Save Our Rider telethons anytime soon.
And Rider fans travel well. There’s always a healthy contingent of Rider fans at games.
But the Lions? We’ve had some dark days. The glory days, from a fan-support perspective, of the 80s were followed up by lean years in the ‘90s. B.C. was drawing 45,000 fans for games in the magical year with Doug Flutie as the quarterback in 1991. By the end of the following year, there was talk the team might fold.
Then in 1996, less than two years after the glorious triumph over the Americans in the Grey Cup, the Lions were in receivership until David Braley bought the team and saved professional football in B.C.
Since about 2013, interest in the Leos has been pretty lukewarm, and ticket sales and merchandise sales were dwindling even before COVID-19 hit. The Lions weren’t in the financial duress of 1996, but it wasn’t a stellar picture, either.
The club has been through a resurgence of sorts the past couple of years. It started with new ownership. It’s made a big difference having people in charge who are local with fresh ideas and a passion for the club.
And then there was the Nathan Rourke factor. People were thrilled to watch a B.C.-born quarterback who could pass for 400 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 70 yards and another score or two. He was scintillating to watch and had people outside of B.C. rooting for the Lions.
But Rourke is gone to the NFL, possibly never to return. Yet the Lions are still winning and the people are still passing through the turnstiles. Football is still fun in Vancouver, and Lions games are still a place people want to go for the first time in over a decade.
Yes, games are still in B.C. Place instead of a truly open-air stadium, but fans want to go there now.
As much as fans of other teams don’t want to hear it, the league is healthiest when the Lions, the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts are strong. This doesn’t mean I want to see two of those teams in the Grey Cup each year, but healthy large markets mean more revenues, higher TV ratings and better corporate sponsorship deals.
A Saskatchewan-Hamilton Grey Cup? That’s fine with me. But strong teams in big markets make the league healthier.
Hopefully the Lions will be back in the Grey Cup this year for the first time in a dozen years. And hopefully there’s a playoff win over the Riders along the way.
But at least I know Rider fans will still root for their team right up until that crushing final defeat.
