CFL ROUND-UP

SURREY, B.C. – Grey Cup organizers were hoping for different outcomes in the CFL playoffs over the weekend, but they still believe the big game on Nov. 30 will be a sellout.

Both the hometown B.C. Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders – who have the most rabid fanbase in the league – were eliminated from post-season play on Sunday.

Despite those disappointing results, 102nd Grey Cup Festival general manager Jamie Pitblado is confident the remaining 6,500 unsold tickets will be gone by kickoff on Nov. 30 at Vancouver’s B.C. Place Stadium.

“Once we get those two finalists the big push will start and we’ll certainly be sold out come game time,” Pitblado said Tuesday. “We were certainly hoping the Lions would have a stronger showing and continue the march and we’d move a few more (tickets) along the way, but it is what it is.

“We always prepare a game and a festival not knowing who’s going to be in it. The last three years organizers got spoiled having the home team in. Now it’s just back to having to do some hard work and push the tickets.”

The Calgary Stampeders host the Edmonton Eskimos in the West Division final, while the Hamilton Tiger-Cats welcome the Montreal Alouettes in the East showdown.

“I think all the teams will draw well. Certainly if you look at (Lions’) home games, when we play Calgary we get quite a large contingent of red and white,” said Pitblado. “So Calgary would be a strong one and a helpful one, but Edmonton’s playing some strong football right now so I wouldn’t put anything past them.”

B.C. Place hosted a sold-out Grey Cup back in 2011 when the Lions beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the first major event at the venue following its renovation after the 2010 Olympics.

Capacity is 54,500 and Pitblado estimated about 15,000 of the tickets – which range in price from $175 to $445 – already sold for this year’s game have been bought by fans outside of British Columbia.

“I just think we continue what we’re doing. We have a good plan in place,” said Pitblado. “We built this plan not expecting the Lions to be in it, that (would have been) gravy.”

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SURREY, B.C. – B.C. Lions general manager Wally Buono never saw it coming.

Head coach Mike Benevides called the performance “very, very disturbing.”

A little more than 24 hours after the Montreal Alouettes embarrassed the Lions 50-17 in the CFL’s East Division semifinal, Buono and Benevides met the media on Monday to begin the autopsy on a season that started with the promise of another Grey Cup in their backyard and ended with a resounding thud.

“Was I in a state of shock (Sunday)? Yes,” said Buono, choosing his words carefully. “Would I ever would have imagined that would have occurred? No.

“What did I learn about our football club? I learned the fact that we’re not good enough and I learned the fact we have to do something about it.”

As was the case throughout much of 2014, B.C.’s offence was unable to get anything going against Montreal, which will take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East final on Sunday.

“I was just so confident that we were going to go out and really play well and win a tough, close game on the road,” said Buono. “This is devastating. If it’s not devastating then you weren’t committed, you weren’t 100 per cent in.”

Kevin Glenn, who started 18 of the club’s 19 games this season in place of the injured Travis Lulay, was completely ineffective against the Alouettes, throwing for just 64 yards and two interceptions before getting the hook.

“When you have that kind of loss there’s going to be a lot said and a lot of attention, and rightly so,” said Benevides. “To lose in that manner is very, very disturbing and certainly disappointing and all the adjectives you could come up with.”

In his three years as head coach of the Lions, Benevides has a record of 33 wins and 21 losses, but is 0 for 3 in playoff games. He was promoted from defensive co-ordinator to head coach after Buono moved into the front office on a full-time basis following the Lions’ Grey Cup victory in 2011.

When asked if Benevides would be back in 2015, Buono responded with: “Are any of us going to be back?”

Benevides said job security wasn’t a concern, but added the 9-9 record and the crossover playoff spot wasn’t good enough.

“There’s no doubt this business is about winning and I’m clearly aware where that’s at,” he said. “When I look at it, my goal is always to find a way to improve and get better and that’s still where my focus is. But I’m clearly aware of where we’re at – very disappointed.”

The Lions dealt with a number of injuries on offence throughout 2014. Lulay played just one game, running back Andrew Harris and wide receiver Courtney Taylor were lost for the season, and the offensive line was beat up for long stretches.

Despite those losses and a defence that had played well for much of the season, but also gave up 70 points and more than 1,000 yards over the last two weeks of the regular season, Buono said he was already making plans to face Hamilton with a shot at the Grey Cup on the line.

Instead, the players will meet on Tuesday for a final time before cleaning out their lockers.

“That team should have been good enough to execute better (against Montreal),” said Buono. “That team should have been good enough to be able to have a very competitive game. At the end of it … they didn’t.

“I think they were well prepared. Montreal didn’t surprise me. They didn’t surprise me in what they did, they just executed it better.”

(Canadian Press)