B.C. Lions vs. Edmonton Elks Live Blog: Snoop Dogg gets the party started
It's our Snoop Dogg Live Blog.
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We'll be providing updates on the rapper's pre-game concert ahead of the B.C. Lions opener against the Edmonton Elks tonight at B.C. Place. We'll be doing the same with the game, of course.
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How much we will keep up with the rhyming is to be determined.
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Mr. Dogg is slated to take to the stage at 5:45 p.m. The Lions and Elks are set to going at 7 p.m.
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This is the fourth straight year that Lions owner Amar Doman has brought in a marquee musical artist for the opener. OneRepublic, LL Cool J and 50 Cent have performed in the past years.
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The match-up between B.C. and Edmonton features a duel of Canadian quarterbacks, with Nathan Rourke (born in Victoria, raised in Oakville, Ont.) under centre for the home side and Tre Ford (Niagara Falls) at the controls for the Elks. This is the first time in league history that a Week 1 game has had two starting quarterbacks from Canada. It will be the 12th time since 1950 with a game featuring two Canadian starting quarterbacks.
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The game also features two rookie head coaches in B.C.'s Buck Pierce and Edmonton's Mark Kilam. The last time two first-year coaches squared off against one another was in 2019, when the Hamillton Tiger-Cats' Orlando Steinauer and Saskatchewan Roughriders ' Craig Dickenson were on the opposites sides.
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The Lions will draw 50,000 fans for their home opener for the second straight year. The last team to do that was Montreal Alouettes in 1978 and 1979 at Olympic Stadium.
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4:54 p.m.
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CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston is in the house.
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'What Amar is reliving to the fans of Vancouver is spectacular,' Johnston says. 'The investments he's making, the marketing he's putting behind it, the focus on youth and engaging them … I think what's he's done is spark something that had been simmering here for a long time.'
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