From the Lions' Den

It seems like the season just started, with blossoms on the cherry trees, butterflies, and road crews just starting to tear up every crucial arterial. All too soon, it comes to an end, and the Playoffs begin.

The last game of the CFL season began tentatively, as Winnipeg Blue Bombers visited BC Place, hungry for the chance to host a home Playoff Game. They cam fast and hard at Dave Dickenson, sacking him twice on 1^st and 2^nd down of the first series after Winnipeg’s kickoff, and Lions fans held their collective breath. Lions hadn’t had anything to play for in a couple of weeks, since clinching First Place, and it looked like a letdown was in the cards for 32,000 at the Dome on False Creek.

Then Kevin Glenn suffered an ankle sprain all too familiar to Lions fans, and left the game. With Ryan Dinwiddie calling signals, Lions front four swarmed and kept coming, eventually driving Dinwiddie from the game in favour of Brad Banks. Banks later threw a TD pass to make it interesting, but not close. Had Glenn remained, it would have been a very different ball game.

Lions Defence proved why they are top rated in the CFL, showing different looks, applying great pressure on Winnipeg Qbs, and picking up 4 passes. They look ready for the Western Final, while the Offence under Dickenson looked somewhat rusty. After Jarious Jackson took the helm in the second half, Lions moved the ball fairly well, but stalled at crucial times, emerging without points. This will no doubt be addressed after next Saturday, as the Leos have this week off before beginning preparations for the Western Final on November 12^th.

For us here in BC, this week means watching Gainergate in Calgary, as the Stampeders bar Roughrider mascot Gainer the Gopher from McMahon Stadium, and the Banged up Bombers make a trip to the Rogers Centre to meet the wildly inconsistent Argonauts. If you’re a BC fan, you hope for a good hard game between the Stamps and Riders, and hope someone emerges battered and bruised; home teams in Western Finals don’t exactly have a good record coming into the tilt on the 12^th.

Let’s hope that changes. For mow though, good luck, Stampeders, Blue Bombers, Argonauts and Roughriders. But not too much.