But this year’s squad has more experience and better players. Might 2011 end differently for B.C.?

By Liam Britten

s sports fans, we all love rags-to-
A stories. Watching the little

guys come into their own after
years of defeat is something we always find
inspirational.

But how about rags-to-riches-to-
rags-to-riches stories? We don’t find those
inspirational. Bipolar might be more
accurate.

But alternating between complete
dominance and hapless folly ‘has become a
way of life for the BC Lions. Just like last
year, the Leos were pathetic for the first half
of the season. They have a combined 3-13
record before Labour Day over the past two
seasons.

But, like last year’s squad, these Lions
look well on their way to another strong
second half. Last year’s finish turned into
a playoff berth and a first-round loss to the
Saskatchewan Roughriders.

As long as they continue to win at
a reasonable clip, and the Saskatchewan

Bau ies

it’s deja vu all over again

Roughriders don’t catch fire, the Leos

are almost certain to finish in the playoff
picture, third in the west. Sound familiar?
Oh, yeah: because that’s what happened last
year.

So, with the 2011 Lions looking so
similar to those of last year, why should this
year’s team expect to finish any differently?

The difference this year is the process.
Last year’s Lions went on a tear late in the
season because their young players finally
started grasping Wally Buono’s system and
developed into legitimate CFL players.

Add to this the departure of problem-child
quarterback Casey Printers and the rapid
improvement of his successor, Travis Lulay,
and you have a team good enough to lose in
the semi-finals. Yay.

You’d think that after a year of
struggles both on and off the field and
developing great chemistry as a unit, the
BC Lions of 2011 would dominate with a
roar. But when they hit thé field, they could
barely whimper.

It was bad habits, mostly. The

offensive line, featuring key free agent
acquisition Ben Archibald at tackle, was
pretty mediocre. The receiving corps was
wasting the consistently good passes of
Travis Lulay with frequent drops. Leading
rusher Jamal Robertson was nowhere to

be seen unless you were looking at the dirt
after a one-yard gain. And the defence,
worst of all, couldn’t make a tackle to save.
their lives.

Correcting these bad habits has been
the biggest part of the Lions success. The
other factor has been in the play of three
men: newly-acquired wide receiver Arland
Bruce, and the superb running shown by
backs Andrew Harris and Tim Brown.
Brown was a free agent acquisition this-past
offseason, while Harris has been toiling in
the system for two years, and when once-
leading rusher Robertson was injured, the

’ Brown-Harris tandem was more than up

to the task, and indeed has far surpassed

anything Robertson has shown this year.
Saturday’s dominating 42-5 win over

the Roughriders has shown that these Lions

 

are really finding their groove. Lulay threw
for 303 yards and two scores; Geroy Simon
looked more determined and energetic than
he’s seemed in a long time; the defence was
stifling, and it was all done against one of
the CFL’s hottest teams.

And the best part? This wasn’t a fluke
game. The Lions have been doling out
spankings over the past five weeks, first to
the laughable Argonauts (twice), and now
they’ve had their way with the west, beating
the Stampeders, Eskimos and Roughriders
handily.

While all of this is promising, there’s
still one big slight against these Lions: they
are terrible facing teams from the east. This
season they are 2-4 against eastern teams,
with both those wins being over the self-
destructing Argos. If this Lions team has
ambition — and they do — they will need
to show that they can pass a real test from
beyond the Prairies. :

Otherwise, their strong finish will be
just like last year’s: too little, too late.