BC Lions Home Opener 2012 Season

Everyone's beloved BC Lions were back at BC Place for their home opener on June 29th for the 2012 season.  It was packed with a lot of action.  I used to volunteer with the BC Lions for the last 4 yrs but decided not to this year.  Instead, I got myself a job as a Host at BC Place.  So far, I've worked two BC Lions games.  The first was the exhibition game vs Saskatchewan Roughriders on June 13th and the other was at the home opener on June 29th.  On both days I worked Gate B Admissions. 

There was a lot going on though.  First we had at least 26,000 in attendance so it was busy at the gates.  Second, fans received a 2012 Grey Cup Championship towel.  This didn't go over so well with the Winnipeg Bluebomber fans as the home opener was a re-match.  But they were great about it.  Thirdly, the Lions were unveiling the Championship banners from past years and hanging up the new one.  And last but not least, it was a night that everyone hoped Geroy Simon would pass Milt Stegall's record of yards. 

So if you weren't there or missed it for whatever reason, here is the banner unveiling for you, thanks to BrianBunka on youtube.  I was thankful for this as I was so busy scanning people into the building that I missed it all.  I had no idea that the ring was also available to look at in the concourse.  Now I know.

The other major highlight of the night was the Geroy Simon record breaker.  Close to the end of the game, Geroy Simon broke Milt Stegall's records for CFL's All-Time Receiving Leader title.  The game was held up for about 10 minutes to celebrate his acheivement before they resumed.  Here is the actual 56-yard pass he took from Travis Lulay and all the fun that happened after.  Love the Superman song.

The BC Lions went on to thump the Bluebombers 33-16 that night.  Their goal is  to go 18-0 this season.  One down, 17 more to go!


Now, those were the highlights that I had expected to take place that night but I had an unexpected one when about 10 mins after the half, none other than one of my favorite '94 Canucks, Gino Odjick walked in thru my gate and I got to scan him, his daughters and his mom into the building.  I then directed them to their suite.  He was recognized by a couple of lucky Lions fans leaving the building and got to shake hands with him.  Gino is great with his fans.  He really does love them.  It was all very unexpected and totally awesome.  Exactly what I needed at that time.  Gotta love Gino!!

If you want to know more about what Gino's been up to in Vancouver, here is a great article with a video interview about how he's been since he left the Canucks.  Gino Odjick in Vancouver

Re-Cap of Women's Olympic Qualifying Games So Far..Day 2

January 20, 2012

Mexico vs Guatemala 5-0
USA vs Dominican Republic 14-0

This was another busy day.  As I walked into the Hospitality area with my crew, a couple new people on shift with me, I showed them the area and explained what I needed from them.  I told them it will be a bit slow in the beginning for the fist match but will pick up with more people coming into the suites to watch the USA match which is exactly what happened.

A funny thing kept happening though.  As the teams and their staff were trickling into their suites, I kept being mistaken for being Spanish by the Dominican Republicans.  They would come up to me speaking in Spanish and then I'd tell them that I don't speak Spanish other than what I've learned on Dora the Explorer thanks to my nieces. The only word that stuck though was "Ola!". I might try Google translating a few phrases into Spanish to try on Tuesday when they play again.  Dora the Explorer obviously wasn't cutting it for me.

Mexico and Guatemala played first.  I was actually shocked to see so many Mexican supporters show up.  It was great.  Everyone was in great spirits and dressed up for their team in the nations colors and wore sombreros.  It was very festive in the lower bowls.

The Mexican team showed why they are one of the stronger teams in this tournament.  The team impressed alot of the volunteers with their type of play.  It was all clean, crisp passes and they played dominant.  It was obviously they are going to be one of the dominant teams in the end.  Quite possibly coming down to Canada or Mexico in the Finals.  The USA is obviously in as I'll later recap.  Goals on the Mexico side came from Marilyn Diaz, Dinora Garza and Maribel Dominguez scored 3 times - twice in the first and another in the second half to make it 5-0.

 USA and the Dominican Republic played the second match.  We all knew the USA was a strong contender coming into the tournament but here is where we actually see it for ourselves.  Within the first 6 mins of playm the USA team were up on the board 3-0.  And it kept getting worse for the Dominican Republic.  By the end of the night, USA had routed them 14-0!  While watching the game from the stands, I could hear the Canadian fans supporting the Dominican Rep whenever they were able to defend or move the ball up the pitch.  On the flip-side, even after USA scored the 14th goal, the American fans were shouting "One more goal! One more goal!".

As if that wasn't bad enough, the American team and Head Coach were celebrating each goal and showing much disrespect to the opposing team.  After the game, the Head Coach and the team were criticized for not downplaying each goal scored after they had gone up 5 or 6 goals.  At that point, they should have just walked away instead of air pumping their fist and jumping into their teammates every single goal.  I'm not sure if this score reflects the USA team and how strong they are or if it reflects on the Guatemala team for playing poorly.  In any case, everyone was glad when it was over.  You never want to see a team get slaughtered like that.