Grey Cup nuggets…

The University of B.C. Thunderbirds didn't make it to the first Vanier Cup in Vancouver, but their quarterback was named the top player in Canadian college football in 2011.

Billy Greene picked up the award at the Vancouver Convention Centre Thursday night at the same ceremony where B.C. Lions' quarterback Travis Lulay won the Canadian Football League's most outstanding player award.

Earlier in the day, the Lions had lunch at the Radisson Harbourside Hotel with the media, where centre Angus Reid got up close with the Grey Cup as part of his duties with TSN. For the record, he was very careful not to touch the prize for the winner of Sunday's game.



B.C. Place Stadium's roof is leaking again.

Yes, the centrepiece of the $563 million renovation. A tent was covering a painted logo on the Polytan Ligaturf field near section 18 on Thursday, as Vancouver was battered by heavy rain and heavy winds.

Grey Cup Committee general manager Scott Ackles told me Tuesday that the roof is most likely to be closed on game day, even if the weather is immaculate. TSN wants consistent lighting and the halftime show producer Patrick Roberge wants a controlled atmosphere. It is ultimately the CFL's call.

Luxury suites on level three are coming with 3-D glasses. Each suite contains a Samsung TV that will display 3-D content during the big game. This is a smart move, since the stadium's centre-hung, shoebox-style video board cannot be seen from much of level 3 during football games.

When will they tell us the new name? Not this weekend. The stadium's telecommunications and technology provider Telus won't slap its name on the marquee before the Grey Cup. Telus was the frontrunner for naming rights and the deal was supposed to have been announced in mid-September. The stadium will remain B.C. Place for the time being. Telus also scored a $1 billion, 10-year deal with the government, Crown corporations and health authorities in the summer.

Will Vancouver get riot redemption or Eskimo jinx?

The Edmonton Eskimos are back in Vancouver for the third time in less than two months to seek their first win under the new roof at B.C. Place Stadium.

If they win Nov. 20, they will get a chance the next week to get their second win -- in the 99th Grey Cup.

The more times the teams play on the new synthetic turf field, the greater the odds that the Eskimos will finally win one. But will that win spoil the B.C. Lions’ ambition to finish the season as the home team in the Grey Cup?

Edmonton has rained on the parade before. Enough that you might suggest there is a green and gold jinx.

Every time the Lions have met the Esks in the West final of a B.C. Place Grey Cup hosting year, the Esks have eliminated B.C.

Nov. 23, 1986: Esks 41-Leos 5 in Edmonton (Mike Kerrigan and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat the Esks 39-15 in the Grey Cup).
Nov. 22, 1987: Esks 31-Leos 7 in Vancouver (Gizmo Williams and the Esks beat the Toronto Argonauts 38-36 in the Grey Cup.)
Nov. 20, 2005: Esks 28-Leos 23 in Vancouver (The Danny Maciocia-coached Esks beat the Montreal Alouettes 38-35 in overtime to win the Grey Cup).

What’s more, the Calgary Stampeders eliminated B.C. on Nov. 21, 1999, 26-24 at B.C. Place. The Stamps returned the following week to lose 32-21 to Darren Flutie and the Ti-Cats.

Could the Stanley Cup riot be a good omen?

The last year in which the Vancouver Canucks were losers and fans reacted by rioting in downtown, the Lions beat an Alberta team in the West final and won the Grey Cup at B.C. Place.

The Lions edged the Stampeders 37-36 in dramatic fashion in the snow at Calgary on Nov. 20, 1994. On Nov. 27, 1994, Lui Passaglia kicked the game-winning field goal on the final play to beat Baltimore 26-23. That remains the greatest sports moment in the history of 1983-opened B.C. Place and, arguably, the greatest 20th century moment in Vancouver sports history.

Vancouver was rocked by another Stanley Cup riot when the Canucks were losers on June 15, 2011.

Can the city end this year with a home-won Grey Cup as consolation?

Steel company names PavCo in lawsuit

More trouble for B.C. Place Stadium, where the Sept. 30 reopening was anything but smooth.

The French headquartered cable erection company hired by a Quebec steel subcontractor is suing for almost $6.5 million. B.C. Pavilion Corporation, the taxpayer-owned stadium’s operator, is named as a defendant.

Freyssinet filed a lawsuit in British Columbia Supreme Court on Oct. 31, charging Canam with breach of contract, breach of statutory trust and equitable fraud. Problems have been festering for many months. Here's my update from Aug. 4.

PCL Constructors and Canam Group were awarded a $122,864,581 contract on Nov. 18, 2009, according to the Freyssinet court filings. Canam hired Freyssinet as a subcontractor for $30,124,377, “but were unable to agree on all terms.”

"Nevertheless, Freyssinet commenced work on the improvement in July 2010 and on Aug. 23, 2010, Canam and Freyssinet signed a subcontract, backdated to Nov. 20, 2009," said the lawsuit. "However the subcontract was signed without Canam and Freyssinet agreeing on the cost of the erection work budget."

Freyssinet claims Canam failed to keep work on schedule, directed labour and equipment without Freyssinet’s knowledge or consent, interfered with Freyssinet foremen and “permitted rates from Montacier International, a company related to Canam, for labour for erection of the cable which were higher than agreed upon.”

Canam announced in November 2010 that it would “follow an alternate method of erection of the cable, without consulting with Freyssinet and without Freyssinet’s consent.”

"Through 2010, payments were made by Canam on account of the invoices, but Canam then wrongfully ceased making payment to Freyssinet."

Freyssinet says it is owed $6,466,892 by Canam, which claims Freyssinet owes it $24,137.756.44.

A Sept. 29, 2011 letter by Canam alleged: "Due to Freyssinet's negligence in preparation of the cost budget and the construction methodology, there was a significant cost overrun which Canam was required to bear in the fixed price contract with PCL."

"Canam intentionally and wrongfully made the demand to recover alleged damages for financial losses arising from the completed work. This was a wrongful, tortious act constituting equitable fraud."

As of Oct. 19, certificates of completion had not been issued for the head contract. The stadium reopened Sept. 30.

The Freyssinet claims have not been tested in court. I am waiting for responses from Canam and PavCo.

Recommended reading

Recommend means to "advise a particular course of action."

The Vancouver Police Department did so on Oct. 31 in the case of 60 people that it believes should be charged for their roles in the June 15 Stanley Cup riot.

Now it is up to Crown counsel -- the British Columbia prosecutors -- to review the recommendations, approve charges and file them with the courts. Public interest and likelihood of conviction is the simple, two-pronged test that the Crown uses in this process. That is how the system works in the province.

In order to clarify, for the benefit of readers, that nobody was charged on Oct. 31, I asked Neil MacKenzie of the Attorney General's ministry.

"The charge assessments are not completed on these individuals as yet.  Crown are reviewing the files, but I don't have a specific timeline as to when any of the reviews will be completed."

While it is possible that none of the 60 recommendations will be approved, I believe we are likely to see several people charged. When remains the question. But don't hold your breath for swift justice and punishment. I have covered enough cases in my career to know that hearings, trials, plea bargains, verdicts, convictions and sentencing do not come quick in B.C. The courts are so backlogged that many Stanley Cup rioting and looting cases will stretch into 2013.

Those unfamiliar with the courts will joke about the glacial speed. "Will there be verdicts before another set of Sedin twins is drafted by the Canucks?"

Premier Christy Clark laughably said that she wants charges laid within 10 days. She didn't say calendar days or business days, but she wants it done quick. Yet again she proves you can take the host out of the talkshow but you can't take the talkshow out of the host. The wheels of justice in B.C. are exceedingly slow and underfunded. One might even call them flat or square. Prosecutors don't do the work of politicians and should be spending their scarce time on the most deplorable cases -- rapes and murders -- before dealing with the riot files.

So the clock on my blog continues and will do so until the first of the 60 people is actually charged. Names of the accused, who are presumed innocent until proven guilty, will be published here unless they are minors protected by law.

Time running out for B.C. Place name?

A news conference is in the planning stages for Tuesday, Nov. 1 at B.C. Place Stadium for an announcement regarding the B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps, who are expected to be involved in the event because they're the primary tenants of the stadium.

The silence has been deafening. Neither Telus, Cisco nor B.C. Pavilion Corporation's public relations firm Pace Group have responded to my queries to confirm or deny the event or their involvement.

Telus is the telecommunications and technology provider at B.C. Place and Cisco's StadiumVision is the "video and digital content distribution solution" (read: the software that runs the multitude of video screens, large and small). Before the Sept. 30 reopening, the major Telus hardware and wiring installation at B.C. Place was cloaked in secrecy. So much so that it was even code-named "Project Frog."

Telus also has a 10-year, $1 billion contract to supply telecommunications services to the British Columbia government, Crown corporations BC Hydro, BC Lottery Corporation and ICBC and regional health authorities.

When I asked Oct. 14 if his company bought the naming rights, Telus chief financial officer Robert McFarlane would neither confirm nor deny. He would only say there would be a "coming out party" for Telus at B.C. Place in the near future.

There may be a reason for the secrecy. PavCo awaits the results of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union local 1703 vote on a new contract. The two sides reached a tentative deal on Oct. 24. Voting is supposed to end Nov. 1. There is no pay raise, but the workers apparently got the job security and anti-bullying provisions they wanted. The catch? The contract, if ratified, would expire May 31, 2012.

Nov. 1, coincidentally, was also the original date set by PavCo for the reopening of B.C. Place. PavCo chairman David Podmore moved the date forward by a month in February, despite problems installing roof-support cables. The domino effect meant crews didn't begin installing roof fabric until June. The roof opened and closed as advertised Sept. 30, but the sealing job was not complete and leaks continued well into October.

Read more about the controversial $563 million renovation of the 1983-opened stadium here.

Caps, Leos get no respect from landlord

No respect.

The immortal words of legendary standup comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

It seems neither the Vancouver Whitecaps nor the B.C. Lions can get the full respect of their landlord, B.C. Place Stadium.

I shot these photographs Oct. 22 from the concourse of Rogers Arena. It is a solitary flag affixed to one of the cables on the east side of B.C. Place's roof. It's ostensibly there to offer a visual signal of the wind direction. Wind is key for B.C. Place, as it can sometimes be the deciding factor for opening or closing the retractable roof.

Look closely. The flag is neither a Whitecaps nor a Lions flag. (As you can see, there is plenty of room for two... or two dozen, for that matter.)

It is the flag of the Vancouver Canucks, emblazoned with Johnny Canuck.

The Canucks don't play at B.C. Place. They have their own venue, across Griffiths Way at Rogers Arena.

No respect.

When will they tell us about B.C. Place's new name?

Executive vice-president and chief financial officer Robert McFarlane is the second in command at Telus, the right-hand-man to CEO Darren Entwistle.

On Oct. 13, he was on Premier Christy Clark's right side at the podium for the Grey Cup festival news conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre, a building serviced by Telus competitor Bell.

I caught up with McFarlane afterward to find out why Telus has kept quiet its involvement in B.C. Place Stadium's $563 million renovation.

Telus is the prime advertiser at the stadium and provider of technology and telecommunications. Sources have told the Sport Market since last spring that the telecom giant is the naming rights sponsor in a deal heavy on value-in-kind -- goods and services. Expect that to be finally announced in the week or two after the Whitecaps pack-up their Bell Pitch signs when they end their first Major League Soccer campaign on Oct. 22.

McFarlane did a good job of keeping mum on the topic, but hinted strongly toward the big announcement to come when I asked him.

"There will be a time for the coming out party on the technology, etcetera…" McFarlane said. "There is still last minute things or next to last minute things, are still being done and when it's all complete and we're ready, I'm sure, we'll have a coming out."

Asked about the naming rights and whether it will be Telus Park or Optik Place, McFarlane said: "Those would be great names, but unfortunately I can't comment on them."

McFarlane did reveal that Telus technicians didn't get into the stadium until four days before the Sept. 30 reopening to do their final work on the mobile phone network.