WOW!!! Another win for our boys in Orange! 33-24 against the Edmonton Eskimos....at least they were a bit of a challenge unlike Saskatchewan last week! haha!
The Grand Unveiling of BC Place was held before the gates were to open on the 3rd floor of the building and lucky me, that's just where I was positioned for the first hour and a half. It was a mixture of Whitecaps and Lions players and Management holding a very long ribbon that Cristy Clark was to cut. I took pictures of them as they marched out of the forum to outside of the gates where they were to cut the ribbon.
Once this was done, the BC Lions players were taken away in golf carts to get ready for the game and the gates were officially open. The lions fans were very curious and anxious to get in to take a look at what their 563 million dollars got them. I gave out maps, answered questions and helped people find their way to the 4th and 2nd floors where they were seated. At one point I turned around and saw an old favorite of mine, Pat Quinn. Some people had spotted him and were taking pics with him so I took one of him as well. Always love seeing Pat at sporting events. Reminds me of the "Gentle Giant"...for those of you who remember that show.
So, once the game started and people were for the most part seated, I headed to my alternate position on Level 2. The crowd was massive and usually while the game has been on in the past, the hallway is pretty quiet. Not tonight. We had 50,213 people in the building tonight! The lines for beer and food were crazy and constant. This is where I thought adding all those extra TV's came in handy. Everyone was able to watch from the lineups they were in. The ATM's were even co-operating tonight! Unreal...that never happens at a Lions game.
At half time I went up to the 4th floor to find a friend and get his impression of the building as it was the first time he had seen the inside. He thought it looked great as well. The only thing I hadn't thought about was that with the roof open, the stadium did become somewhat cold. I know I was freezing and so were some of the Ushers who hadn't thought about wearing a jacket either for this game. In the past because of the dome, the air was still and that made it hot inside the stadium everywhere, in the stands, hallways and anywhere else! Looks like we're gonna have to get used to the "fresh air" now.....it was nice however. Here's a pic I took with the roof off. Amazing.
When half time ended I went down to the 1st floor of the building for break with all the other volunteers. We sat and watched the game on our big TV and cheered on our Lions as they defeated the Eskimos in Lion fashion. We used to be able to hear the crowd cheer and feel the rumble of the feet on the bleachers by our area but not anymore. If we hadn't seen the touchdown with our own eyes on TV, you wouldn't have known the crowd was cheering. Kinda eerie if you ask me.
The 50,213 people who came to celebrate the re-opening of BC Place and to cheer on our Lions went home very happy and in some cases, were also extremely drunk. It was a good night had by all and I get to do it all again on Sunday with the Whitecaps!
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