Author Archives: Feisal Merali

BC Lions Season Starts Soon

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The 2026-27 BC Lions season is gearing up to kick off, starting with the preseason, which starts on May 23rd for the Lions, with the Edmonton Elks coming to town.

To prepare for the new season, the BC Lions have signed a lot of players to boost the secondary, as well as a speedy young receiver to help out quarterback Nathan Rourke on the outside, who also signed an extension with the team till 2028.

On the defensive side of the ball, the BC Lions picked up C.J. Coldon and Essang Bassey. C.J. Coldon was picked up after he started 17 games for the Ottawa Redbacks last year. Essang Bassey joins him in the defensive backfield as well this season. Essang has also played in the NFL as well, so he brings a higher pedigree to the team as well.

On the offensive side of the ball, the team signed Silas Bolden. The wide receiver was signed on April 15th. He became well known after his heroics during the Peach Bowl with Oregon State. He build is speed doing kick off returns for the team, and his outside bursts of speed and explosive agility.

With those new signings, there is a lot of interest for the team that was two games away from the Grey Cup. Before the team can start the season, they do have to play their preseason game against the Elks, which is being held in Langford, on Vancouver Island.

The thing is, the game is already officially sold out. The local excitement for the team is real, and is only building. After their game against the Elks, the BC Lions will travel to Winnipeg to face off against the Blue Bombers to wrap up their preseason.

The trouble starts for when they start their regular season. Because the FIFA World Cup will be happening during the same time as the start of the season, the BC Lions will not be able to play at BC Place.

Instead, they will be playing their first two regular-season games up in Kelowna at the Apple Bowl against the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. They have made an entire event out of it, calling it the “Lions in the Okanagan”.

Some important upcoming dates for the BC Lions is April 28th for the 2026 CFL Draft, where the Lions have seven picks, May 10th, the opening of training camp, and finally June 13th for the start of the Preseason.

The FIFA World Cup Is Coming, But Not Everyone Is Excited

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The 2026 FIFA World Cup is on its way to Vancouver, but not everybody is excited for the games to hosted in Vancouver this summer.

Leading up to the event, there have been a lot of changes to the city and areas that are being set up for the teams that do eventually play games here at BC Place.

On the bright side, there’s been a number of positive changes to the city for the event. BC Place has received an upgrade to the playing surface for players, there’s going to be an increase in transit routes and busses to make sure that fans are able to get around the city easier, and for some training fields, there’s been upgrades to the irrigation and draining to prevent flooding.

On the other side of the same coin, there are a lot of heavy negatives that have cropped up due to the World Cup being held partially in Vancouver. There’s been an increase in cameras set up around the city, with an estimate of at least 200 being set up.

There’s also the issue of concerns of putting the vulnerable and homeless population at risk for the sake of beautifying the city for international cameras. There’s been changes to the sheltering laws in some parks. This means that those who are less fortunate are put in a position where they will have to move and fight for space to sleep at night.

There is also the issue of zoning around BC place as well. Once the tournament starts and the gears start moving, there’s going to be a two kilometer area around BC place for FIFA to protect it’s “commercial interests” and control traffic in the area as well.

On top of all of this, when the tournament was announced, and changes started to be made, the indigenous people that the land belongs to were not consulted. They were made unilaterally and done to appease the heads at FIFA to make the city to their liking.

With all the issues that the World Cup has raised in the city, there has been groups that have started to protest these changes. One of the most prominent groups that has been raising the alarm is the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, the DTES & Chinatown Coalition, and the Pivot Legal Society.

It is well known that when FIFA comes to a city, they also like to set up their own courts or laws as well. They run it as they see fit, and have thrown people in jail with less than a fair trail. The worries that we’ll see that again for the homeless population and people that unintentionally break the laws set by FIFA and the city.

The good news is that Vancouver gets to be on the international stage for the FIFA World Cup this summer. There’s going to be an increase in spending at local businesses and restaurants, but what have we had to sacrifice for that?

The Raptors Are Back In The Playoffs

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The last time the Toronto Raptors made the NBA playoffs, it was the pandemic during the 2021 to 2022 season, and everyone was stuck inside and wearing masks any time they went outside.

Before that, the last success the Toronto Raptors had any success in the playoffs, it was the 2018 to 2019 season, and COVID-19 was not even a figment of any of our imagination.

But now the year is 2026, and the Raptors are coming off of a season anchored by stars Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram, clawing and fighting their way into the playoffs.

Surrounded by a young roster with a lack of playoff experience, they are up against the wall with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The aforementioned team from Cleveland is not a team to slouch at. The team that turned Toronto to Lebronto during Lebron James’ second stint with the team is back, but now with star players like Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and James Harden.

On top of a stacked opponent, the Raptors are also facing health concerns as well. The most notable players to be concerned about would be Jakob Poeltl, and Immanuel Quickley.

Poeltl, the center for the team, has been dealing with back issues is a concern in the middle of the court, but also Immanuel Quickly, who has been out with a hamstring injury, and last played for the team on April 12th against the Brooklyn Nets.

Is there any hope for the team heading into the playoffs? Possibly. If the team is able to play quickly and receive consistent production from their start players, then maybe, but it’s a high task to ask for a team that is so young and green behind the ears in the high stakes that is the playoffs.

What should fans expect for this team and this playoff run? They should want the team to get playoff experience. This shouldn’t be viewed as a run for the championship but instead as a learning experience, and something to grow on.

Building on this run is something that should be the goal for this team, and go into next season with a goal of more consistent play, and getting back to the playoffs in a higher seed, instead of just scraping by and sneaking in.

Let the team get the experience of playing on the biggest stage for the NBA, underneath the brightest lights so far for many of these young players careers. Go into next year with more confidence and consistent play, and they’ll be back in a stronger position than last year.

Esports Fans Prove They Have The Same Passion As Traditional Sports Fans

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Have you ever looked at an event where people sit and watch professional gamers play games in a stadium and wonder how or why they do it?

During the summer last year, there was an event at the Pacific Colosseum for a game called League of Legends. That event was called MSI, or the Mid-Season Invitational.

It is an event in the middle of the year where the best teams from all the major regions are invited to compete to see who is the best team in the world at the moment. There is prize money involved, and the winner does get a trophy as well as seeding in the final tournament of the year, the World Championship.

Going to the event, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if the stadium would be packed or empty, or if it would be local fans or if there would be international fans who would travel in for the event.

The day that I went was the day of the finals, where the last two teams would face off to crown the winner of the tournament. It turned out as well that the two biggest teams in the world were facing off, so fans from all around the world were there at the event.

Before the best-of-five series even started, there was what was called a fan zone outside, where brands sponsoring the event and personalities tied to the game were interacting with fans and attendees, similar to how former players and players from different teams would be during something like the Super Bowl.

During the event, you could tell the passion from the fans was there in a way that was similar to any sporting event that I have been to. There were screams and cheers from the crowd when anything happened, the sound system rumbled to the point that you could feel it in your chest.

https://twitter.com/GenG/status/1944249955973296537

 

I could tell that there was a connection for these fans to these players, and the outcome of the series, and who would win. It felt like there was weight to each movement, each fight in game, and every time a game in the series ended.

Once the series was done, and the winner was crowned, you could tell who was cheering for each team because of their emotion walking out of the stadium. The fans of the winning team was happy when the losers looked crushed. It felt like I was walking out of any sporting event ever.

The fans for esports have passion, they show up for their team, and they feel the weight from each win and loss. They travel for their team and wear their jerseys as well. As sports evolve and esports become more popular, more fans will show up and we’ll see the passion spread across more and more people.

Now More Than Ever, Whitecaps Fans Need To Show Up

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It is no secret that the Vancouver Whitecaps have been around the city for a long time, and are one of the more successful teams in the city’s history, but now fans really need to show up for the team.

In 2022, the current ownership group, a group that consists of Greg Kerfoot, Jeff Mallet, Steve Luczo, and Steve Nash, announced that the team was going to be put up for sale, meaning that there is the possibility that when the team does sell, the team may move, leaving Vancouver behind.

This team has been a large part of Vancouver’s history. Going back to leagues that predate the MLS. They were in the NASL, a league that folded in the 1980’s, and didn’t come back until 2001, where they were a second division team in the USSF.

Last year, the team made it to the finals of the MLS Cup for the first time in franchise history, but fell short of lifting the cup, being beaten by Inter Miami and Lionel Messi. They also made it to the finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, where they lost to Cruz Azul, a team based in Mexico.

They are a team that is really close to breaking through, and for a city that has not won a trophy in any sport since the last time the BC Lions won the Grey Cup, winning this would mean the world to the city.

Thomas MĆ¼ller, the star player from Germany that the team traded for in a blockbuster move last year, has said that the fans need to show up now more than ever in a recent meeting with the media.

The thing is, he’s more than likely right. In the past, Vancouver already lost their NBA team, the Grizzlies, because of something similar. When they left, and moved to Memphis, the one thing that was mentioned was that attendance from the city was not where they wanted it to be, and that was why they moved.

If fans want to prevent the same thing happening with the Whitecaps, they need to show up for the team whenever they can. The team is also doing really well right now too. Currently, at the time of writing, they are first place in the league with 21 points, and nothing seems to be stopping them.

With the team doing well, their importance to the city, and the movement to keep them here and preventing something similar like what happened to the Grizzlies, fans should show up, and support the team whenever they can.

Canucks Fire GM, What’s Next?

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This morning, after the conclusion of the regular season, the Vancouver Canucks said goodbye to their general manager Patrik Allvin.

Not only is this the fifth general manager in twenty-five years, but Patrik Allvin was also seen as a yes man, someone who enabled the coaching staff to make decisions instead of pushing back and making decisions from an objective standpoint.

The Canucks, the team that I have often referred to as the Cleveland Browns of the NHL, never seem to know what they are doing or a way to get it right. This year, the team finished 32nd, last place in the entire league.

Patrik was hired in 2022, coming over from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and at one point was the reason behind rumors of Sidney Crosby being traded to the team, because of the connection with the head office.

Those rumors and those days are obviously behind us now, as the 2022 team that made it far in the playoffs seems like a distant memory, and what we’re left with is a full rebuild from what seems like the ground up.

This leaves questions about who is going to be the next general manager of the floundering team. How are they supposed to bring in a general manager with any kind of pedigree, considering how ownership likes to meddle, always wants to have the team somewhat competitive to sell tickets, and raise the prices as well, something we’ve seen them do already, despite the failure of a season.

In the coming days, as the playoffs happen, we’re likely going to see quotes from Jim Rutherford saying how all decisions will go through the General Manager, or other public posturing to attract candidates for the position.

It is hard to think of how the team is going to attract a high pedigree general manager. The fan base is wanting a competitive team after this year, and since we’ve only had one team with any kind of success in the post season in the last decade, bubble team not included, there is going to be a lot of pressure on the general manager once they join the team.

It will be interesting to see where the team goes, and who is going to be interviewed. Will the team get an established general manager, or will they take a risk on somebody that is new to the position. There’s only one way to find out, and time will tell.

BC Soccer Legend Joins the BC Sports Hall of Fame

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Les Wilson was the first North American developed player to play in the top division European leagues.

During his ten year career, from 1964 till 1974, he played in the first and second English divisions. Todays equivalent would be the English Premier League and English Football to the level that he played in, so the highest and second highest levels possible in Europe.

During his time in Europe, he had 144 appearances. During those appearances, he scored eight goals with the Wolverhampton Wanderers, Norwich City and with Bristol city as well. He also helped the Wolverhampton Wanderers secure a promotion to the English First Division in 1967 and finish runner-up in the 1972 UEFA Cup, now being known as the UEFA Europa League.

He was also the youngest player ever at the time to score a goal at an international match. In 1963, when he was 16, he was selected to the BC All-Star team where he scored against the Yugoslavia champions, the Red Star Belgrade.

After his time in Europe, in 1974, he returned home to play for his hometown Whitecaps. He stayed with the team as a player until 1977, where he retired from professional play.

That doesn’t mean that his time with professional soccer was over, however. He then stayed with the team to serve as an administrator, a coach, and the manager for the whitecaps, leading them to the 1979 NASL Soccer Bowl Championship.

During that time he was also the coach for Canada Soccer and BC soccer. During his time with the teams he led the Canadian Men’s national team to qualification to the 1986 World Cup, and the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup championship.

He was also one of the three founding members of the Vancouver 86ers. The 86ers were a team that replaced the Whitecaps in Vancouver for a while after the NASL collapsed, and was replaced by the Canadian Soccer League in 1986.

The fact that a player who was trained in North America made it to the top of a European league is fascinating enough as is, it doesn’t really matter the time period that it has happened.

We haven’t seen a lot of players start in North America and join a European league, let a lone a top team or top league. Soccer has never been super popular in North America, not now and likely not then either. In recent years it has become more popular, especially with the arrival of the World Cup in a couple weeks, but nowhere close to Europe or South America.

If you want to find out more about the BC Sports Hall Of Fame, or when the induction ceremony will be, you can click here to find out more.

Georgia Simmerling Inducted Into BC Sports Hall Of Fame

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The first Canadian Athlete to compete in three different Olympics in three different sports, Georgia Simmerling has made it to the BC Sports Hall Of Fame.

Not only was it three different Olympics, it was in different seasons as well, competing in both cycling and skiing events. For skiing, she competed in the Super Giant Slalom in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics finishing 27th, and at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 where she competed in ski cross, finishing 47th.

She would have likely competed in the 2018 Olympics, but had a leg and knee injury that prevented her from competing, when she was ranked third in the world, and was a favorite to win a medal.

Fourteen months later, and she was back to competing on the international stage, this time in cycling instead of skiing. In 2016, she won the silver medal at the UCI World Cycling Championship in London for the team pursuit event, won two gold medals at the 2019 Pan American Track Cycling championships in Cochabamba, and had three other top-ten finishes at the UCI World Championships in 2019 and 2020.

During her time, she was part of three different national teams. The Canadian national alpine skiing team from 2007 till 2011, the Canadian national ski cross from 2011 till 2018, and the Canadian national cycling team from 2014 till 2021.

A fun fact about Georgia and competing in the team pursuit events is that is that was the fourth time she had ever ridden the event in her career, and she still won the silver medal. Becoming a dual athlete is hard enough, but doing it and still being able to compete at the top of the world makes it even more impressive.

Not only that, she got injured at a time where she was top three in the world as a skier, and a favorite to win a medal in the 2018 Olympics. In 14 months after a gruesome injury to both her knee and her leg, she was back competing on the world stage in a different sport. If that alone doesn’t show why she deserves to be in the BC Sports Hall Of Fame, I don’t know what does.

Like the rest of the inductees to the BC Sports Hall Of Fame, Georgia will have to wait until the fall of this year to join the hall, after the spring and summer events come to pass.

If you want to find out more about the BC Sports Hall Of Fame, you can click here to find out more, as well as the induction ceremony this fall.

What Can We Do to Save Vancouver’s Nightlife?

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If you’ve been around Vancouver’s nightlife for any amount of time, then you know that the downtown nightlife is on life support, to say the least.

Ever since the pandemic, it feels like the bar and nightclub scene downtown has been shrinking by the day, both in terms of attendance and in terms of actual places to go that seem like fun to go to. Some places have closed due to lacking business and other places have literally burned down.

It also doesn’t help that the prices at some of these places are outrageous and hard to quantify or justify especially when you could get a bottle of the same drink for less at your local BC Liquor Store. This is unfortunate because there are a lot of really nice places to go to downtown. There’s the Commadore Ball Room, ENZO, Harbor Event Centre, the Roxy, and more.

Studio Lounge & Nightclub

Studio Nightclub Sign on Granville (Credit: Thomas Hawk via Flickr)

Before the pandemic, Gastown was also a lot different. Now if you go late at night, you don’t always feel super safe. There’s a lot more open use of illegal substances, and the popular places that were there are no longer there.

What can we do to fix that though? There are lots of local performances that happen, and lots of local DJs that play every night, but it feels like they don’t always get the attention that big artists do, or the same amount of promotion. Sometimes just spreading by word of mouth isn’t enough, and spreading more through social media is needed, as well as from local promoters and writers as well.

What we can do as regular every day people is get the word out more. Spread the word about local artists doing shows, or events around certain themed events. Like if you were born in 2000 and want to experience a 2010’s night, it’s hard to find out about it unless you know someone that knows about all the events more often.

If there’s a way to spread the word about it, do it. Help increase the knowledge of our local music scene, a scene that has given birth to artists like Bryan Adams, Michael BublĆ©, and more. Who knows what will come out of our city next, but we won’t know until we give those artists the time of day.

For now, spread the word about local performances, bring your friends to local shows, and support local artists.

Justin Kripps Inducted into BC Sports Hall Of Fame

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One of Canada’s most decorated bobsleigh athletes has made it into the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

Justin Kripps spent a lot of time with the national bobsleigh team. He is the first and only Canadian to date who has won Olympic medals in both the two-man and four-man bobsleigh events. The two medals came in PyeongChang, in 2018, where he won gold in the two-man event, and in 2022, he and the rest of Canada’s four-man bobsleigh team won bronze in Beijing.

Outside of medaling, he has represented Canada at multiple Olympic games. He was at Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014, Pyeongchang in 2018, and Beijing in 2022. He has also competed at the IBSF World Cup Tour, winning two Large Crystal Globes and eight runner-up Crystal Globes, due to him finishing second and third in the tour four times each.

During the IBSF World Cup, he won a total of 44 medals from tour events. This includes seven gold, fourteen silver, and twenty-three bronze medals. He also won five career IBSF world championship medals. Two silver medals, one in 2017 in Konigssee and one in 2019 in Whistler, and three bronze medals, 2012 in Lake Placid, 2015 in Winterberg and 2019 in Whistler.

After retiring, he hasn’t stepped away from the sport either. At the highest level, he was most recently in Milano-Cortina for the 2026 Olympic Games as a coach for Canada’s bobsleigh team.

The interesting part is that Justin was not born in Canada, instead he was born in Na’alehu, Hawaii. He moved to Canada at a young age, moving to Summerland in the Okanagan. From there he joined the athletics team at Simon Fraser University, where he competed in the 4×100 relay, with teammates Neal Hurtubise, Rob Drapala, and Brett Roinson.

With that team he won All-American honors, and a school record at the 2005 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. After his career in athletics, he decided to give bobsleigh a chance, due to it feeling like a mix of track and field, and race car driving.

Though later in his career he would be known as a driver, he initially started as a breakman. It wasn’t until after the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver that he decided to switch to driver, and since then, the rest is history.

You can expect to see Justin inducted into the BC Sports Hall Of Fame later this year in the fall, with the rest of the 2026 class.

If you want to learn more about the BC Sports Hall Of Fame, as well as the incoming class, you can click here.