OT: Parabola Memorial B.C. Lions Thread IV

[Kevinsane]

I think the "turf" at the old Empire Stadium was the reason for a number of the injuries. It was almost like actual concrete. No doubt the legendary Rudi Krol stuck it out for a season & said, I'm getting the eff outta here before I get myself injured playing soccer on this surface.

I played on that turf when my Junior Bantam team made the Provincials back in the Seventies. It was absolutely brutal. Like running on or being tackled in a Walmart parking lot. There’s no doubt in my mind it shortened a lot of careers.

 

[StreetHawk]

It's a very poorly thought out plan by the mayor, likely to just distract from his other issues. It's been discussed enough here in the past but some sort of 25k-30k outdoor stadium in Surrey makes total sense as it would work for concerts and other big events. It's gotten lots of airplay because of how outlandish the idea is, but I assume if things actually moved forward you would see a much smaller stadium build with adequate space for things like parking.

They need parking. Not everyone is conveniently located new transit where it’s easy to get to plus they would likely be drawing in fans from Langley and the Fraser valley. Need to accommodate them.

 

[m9]

Yeah that whole plan without parking is absurd. I think m9 is onto something about it being a distraction more than anything. Doesn't seem like a realistic build to me.

I also wonder just how realistic an outdoor stadium is out West given the amount of rain we see. We have a different breed of people out here and I can't see the majority being interested in sitting in the rain all game getting soaked. I've been to a lot of outdoor stadiums that are supposed to have modern designs to keep fans dry but I've never left one after rain and been dry.

They need parking. Not everyone is conveniently located new transit where it’s easy to get to plus they would likely be drawing in fans from Langley and the Fraser valley. Need to accommodate them.

Of course there will be parking. And of course it will be smaller than 60k.

It's just a big "look at me" that has gotten him a ton of free promotion in the media.. and I guess that's why you make insane claims. 99% of people on this forum (including myself) couldn't name the people he'll be running against and now his name is everywhere.

If you just said "We're building a new stadium. It will take a reasonable amount of time to build and will have adequate parking. We've done research, and it will seat somewhere between 27,500 and 29250 people" then it would have gotten 20% of the traction it's gotten.

But this is why the the truth is important - for people who are actually aware of the issues and what a reasonably-sized stadium could bring.. they would get excited about it. You would get 20% of the media but it would be really positive media.

The rain here is obviously a concern, but I think it's mitigated by how hot the summers are getting. There will be plenty of opportunities to make money the rest of the year. Plus, you can do some pretty cool things with open-air stadiums now that will account for rain and keep people dry.

McCallum has always been a blowhard, but he kind of looks like a regular old man so nobody really notices or cares because his personality type doesn't fit with his look. If he looked like Trump or some sleazy businessman he would get called out more, but since he looks like my Grandpa nobody judges too much.

Like, just remember this was 3 years ago:

McCallum floats canal idea again but Surrey staff have ‘no work plan before them’

Councillors say idea is frivolous, considering serious draft budget shortfalls city faces

www.surreynowleader.com

A stadium without seating is the most idiotic, hare-brained idea I've ever heard. It's mind-numbingly stupid.

No parking - it will have seating.

 

[Hit the post]

I played on that turf when my Junior Bantam team made the Provincials back in the Seventies. It was absolutely brutal. Like running on or being tackled in a Walmart parking lot. There’s no doubt in my mind it shortened a lot of careers.

Yeah that field was pretty bad. Can't imagine how it would hurt even with full equipment on getting tackled on that surface.

I could be wrong but I believe they finally changed to original fake turf at BC Place in the early 2000s (some twenty or so years when the original astroturf was first put in the then new stadium). Apparently they got a good deal on the old Expos "turf" after that team left Montreal. They just sort of modified it as best they could for BC Place. I guess second hand turf is better than nothing.

 

[crobro]

33.500 max

Expanses for one offs to 38.000

Real grass or field turf that’s the question

 

[MikeK]

O'Connor has tunnel vision so far in my early opinion. He comes out of the huddle dead set on the play and doesn't see options that develop. That can be a death sentence for the QB and the team.

 

[The Nemesis]

Craig Dickenson looks like the Clint Howard to Dave's Ron Howard.

They need parking. Not everyone is conveniently located new transit where it’s easy to get to plus they would likely be drawing in fans from Langley and the Fraser valley. Need to accommodate them.

Will fans be drawn from a wider area? People don't travel for the Abby Canucks (a team that should be a reasonably big deal given the breadth of the Canuck fanbase) who sit just south of the mid-point in AHL attendance. Granted, that's Abbotsford so it's a trek from basically everywhere else. Also if I'm totally honest, the Abbotsford Centre is kinda meh as a stadium.

But as a season ticket holder for the Vancouver Giants, I tend to notice that their attendance is often pretty middling when the team isn't on a massive hot streak or going in with playoff expectations (last year's 1st round series where they upset Everett was embarassing for the first couple of games) and outside of the diehards that migrated with the team from the Pacific Coliseum most of the fans I tend to see and interact with are from Langley. Heck, the seats next to me are owned by the Aldergrove Star and are supposed to be given out every week, but over the last couple of non-Covid years it's generally been 50/50 if they were filled.

Any new stadium for the Lions still needs parking because not being able to accommodate at least half the building's capacity in reasonably accessible/adjacent parking would be dumb, but I would worry that moving the team from Vancouver to even something as reasonably central as Surrey is going to drastically cut into game attendance. Again drawing parallels to the Giants, they lost like 1/3rd of their average attendance between the last Vancouver season and the first Langley one and arena capacity would've been a non factor (the LEC could've held all the fans from the last Coliseum year if there was 100% retention.)

Sorry, I didn't want to drag the thread off the topic of the game. I just had that random thought when I noticed the comment and my initial thought of "oh, I'll just say a sentence or two about it" snowballed into a tiny dissertation

 

[The Nemesis]

balls...

 

[Hit the post]

balls...

 

[The Nemesis]

Nah. More like

Giving up the TD was bad. Lee buckling like something in his knee/ankle popped was the gravy on the terrible sundae.

EDIT: And now I hadn't even noticed O'Connor's out too. Faaaaantastic.

 

[The Stig]

I was curious why we didn't start Pipkin. He has pro experience.

 

[The Nemesis]

WTF was that? Cottoy was right freaking there!

 

[The Stig]

WTF was that? Cottoy was right freaking there!

Probably doesn't have the allowance to stray from the set play.

 

[CalderSchmalder]

Oh jeez

 

[The Nemesis]

I never expected to hear a Casey Printers reference in 2022

what a weird supernova that was.

 

[The Stig]

THIS GAME SUCKS

 

[The Nemesis]

Well that game was... certainly a thing that happened.

 

[Chairman Maouth]

This may be the fastest turnaround and fall from glory I've ever seen.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Lions blow without Rourke. They could lose every remaining game.

 

[VanJack]

Lions go from having the best QB in the CFL, to basically no QB. O'Connor looked like the CIS quarterback he is before getting hurt; and you can see why Pipkin is on his fourth CFL team.

Doesn't really matter how good your defense and receivers are if you don't have someone who can move the football. Rest of the season is shaping up as a real struggle just to hang on to a playoff spot. A real shame. Was shaping up as a promising season.

 

[Baby Pettersson]

Good game guys! You have a gorgeous stadium and even prettier city. Thanks for the awesome night!

 

[3rd Sedin]

Was a mixed game to go too. First Lions game back in BC since 2019. Crowd was way more alive than almost any other game I remembered dating back to 2015 (had seasons when living here). Rotten luck with injuries. O’Connor had poise but I feel that an active secondary could rip him apart. Pipkin had his issues to work through.

Tough to see a Grey Cup title without Rourke, but OTOH this team is too good to lose all their remaining games. There’s been a lot of change in one week. Let them adapt, the schedule eases up in the next month ahead, and they probably finish the season around 11-7 or 12-6.

Ideally though at this stage you’d almost want the Lions to finish in fourth rather than to battle for second.

 

[The Stig]

Good game guys! You have a gorgeous stadium and even prettier city. Thanks for the awesome night!

You.....you did this.

 

[Canuckle1970]

I'm counting on the thought that Pipkin didn't get a lot of reps in practice this week as the focus would have been on O'Connor.
With the extra time off, they can figure out the qb situation and adjust as best they can.

At least Rourke's surgery was called successful, so there is hope for next season.

 

[The Stig]

Our Grey Cup chances be like..