Latest news with #BuckPierce
The Province
12-06-2025
- Sport
- The Province
B.C. Lions: Buck Pierce returns to Winnipeg for first time as visiting coach
After 10 years as a Blue Bomber assistant, Buck Pierce signed on as B.C.'s head coach this winter and the Lions play in Winnipeg on Thursday. Get the latest from Steve Ewen straight to your inbox B.C. Lions head coach Buck Pierce. Photo by DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS Leave it to his old Winnipeg Blue Bomber buddy Doug Brown to have a little fun with Buck Pierce's first trip back to town as head coach of the B.C. Lions. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Winnipeg (0-0), who had the Week I bye, open their CFL regular season Thursday (5:30 p.m.) at home against B.C. (1-0). The Lions are coming off an impressive 31-14 win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday at B.C. Place in Pierce's debut at the helm. A former Lions quarterback, Pierce signed on as bench boss with B.C. in the off-season after a decade as a Winnipeg assistant coach, including the past four years as their offensive coordinator. Brown, the longtime Bomber star defensive lineman turned radio analyst, maintains that it won't be odd to see Pierce on the visiting sideline at Princess Auto Stadium, because his CFL playing career began in B.C. and therefore 'it makes sense that his head-coaching would start there too.' Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Then Brown took a little playful poke at the matter. He can be excused. There's a connection there. He and Pierce were teammates for Brown's final two years with Winnipeg. Brown has covered the team ever since. Pierce, as it happens, met his wife Lori at a barbecue that Brown was hosting. 'No matter where Buck is coaching, he's a Winnipeg guy now, and he knows it,' Brown, 50, quipped. For his part, Pierce did his best this week to play down the whole thing, to try to keep it from taking up all the attention. 'It's the next game on the schedule for us,' Pierce, 43, said. 'Winnipeg is a good football team. We have to execute and we've got to play smart. We've got to focus. We've got to do the things that relate to winning. 'For me, that's my past. I enjoyed my time there. I'm excited to walk back into that building with the players we have in our locker-room.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. This wasn't a messy split. It's nothing like that. Mike O'Shea is firmly entrenched as Winnipeg's coach and at 54 years of age it would seem he's got lots of runway left to keep going. Coming to B.C. was an opportunity Pierce wasn't about to get in Winnipeg. B.C. Lions head coach Buck Pierce watches the CFL football team's training camp, in Kamloops, B.C., on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. Photo by DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS That said, there's clearly a great many ties there for Pierce. Pierce's first start with the Lions even came in Winnipeg, with him pinch-hitting for an injured Dave Dickenson in a 32-5 win over the Bombers on Aug. 10, 2006. Pierce played with B.C. from 2005 to 2009, went to Winnipeg in 2010, and was there until midway through the 2013 campaign, when he was traded back to B.C. That wound up his final year as a player. He signed on with Winnipeg as a running backs coach the next season and then moved to quarterbacks coach before taking on the offensive coordinator gig in 2021. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Guys in that locker-room are lifelong friends to me, and that goes deeper than the game of football,' Pierce said. 'As coaches and football players, it's the competitive fire that drives you. Our relationships with the players, the staff, Oshe (O'Shea) … that goes deeper.' There are benefits to the B.C. team with this happening right here right now. It gets it out of the way early in the season. It won't be as much of a storyline the next time around. And, in this shortened practice week, B.C. had a head start on O'Shea's systems and the Winnipeg personnel because of Pierce. 'They're going to have a plan too, right? They're going to have an understanding of what we like to do,' Pierce interjected. Lions QB Nathan Rourke says that Pierce has been telling the players that it's the 'most important game because it's the next game.' 'I think he just loves ball,' Rourke said. Receiver Stanley Berryhill says that Pierce facing his former team isn't a major conversation piece among the Lions' players, but it's something that's 'in the back of our heads.' 'We are just going to go out there and play for coach,' he said. SEwen@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks Crime Vancouver Whitecaps News
National Post
12-06-2025
- Sport
- National Post
B.C. Lions: Buck Pierce returns to Winnipeg for first time as visiting coach
Leave it to his old Winnipeg Blue Bomber buddy Doug Brown to have a little fun with Buck Pierce's first trip back to town as head coach of the B.C. Lions. Article content Winnipeg (0-0), who had the Week I bye, open their CFL regular season Thursday (5:30 p.m.) at home against B.C. (1-0). The Lions are coming off an impressive 31-14 win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday at B.C. Place in Pierce's debut at the helm. Article content Article content Article content A former Lions quarterback, Pierce signed on as bench boss with B.C. in the off-season after a decade as a Winnipeg assistant coach, including the past four years as their offensive coordinator. Article content Brown, the longtime Bomber star defensive lineman turned radio analyst, maintains that it won't be odd to see Pierce on the visiting sideline at Princess Auto Stadium, because his CFL playing career began in B.C. and therefore 'it makes sense that his head-coaching would start there too.' Article content Then Brown took a little playful poke at the matter. He can be excused. There's a connection there. He and Pierce were teammates for Brown's final two years with Winnipeg. Brown has covered the team ever since. Pierce, as it happens, met his wife Lori at a barbecue that Brown was hosting. Article content 'No matter where Buck is coaching, he's a Winnipeg guy now, and he knows it,' Brown, 50, quipped. Article content For his part, Pierce did his best this week to play down the whole thing, to try to keep it from taking up all the attention. Article content 'It's the next game on the schedule for us,' Pierce, 43, said. 'Winnipeg is a good football team. We have to execute and we've got to play smart. We've got to focus. We've got to do the things that relate to winning. Article content Article content 'For me, that's my past. I enjoyed my time there. I'm excited to walk back into that building with the players we have in our locker-room.' Article content This wasn't a messy split. It's nothing like that. Mike O'Shea is firmly entrenched as Winnipeg's coach and at 54 years of age it would seem he's got lots of runway left to keep going. Coming to B.C. was an opportunity Pierce wasn't about to get in Winnipeg. Article content Article content That said, there's clearly a great many ties there for Pierce. Pierce's first start with the Lions even came in Winnipeg, with him pinch-hitting for an injured Dave Dickenson in a 32-5 win over the Bombers on Aug. 10, 2006. Article content Pierce played with B.C. from 2005 to 2009, went to Winnipeg in 2010, and was there until midway through the 2013 campaign, when he was traded back to B.C. That wound up his final year as a player.
CBC
08-06-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Rourke throws 3 TDs as B.C. Lions dump Edmonton Elks 31-14 in season opener
Nathan Rourke threw f324 yards and three touchdowns as the B.C. Lions opened their CFL season with a 31-14 win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday. The Canadian quarterback went 27-for-36 on his passing attempts, linking up with Stanley Berryhill III twice in the end zone. Justin McInnis caught his first touchdown of the year and James Butler drove in another major. Veteran kicker Sean Whyte, who played his first game under rookie head coach Buck Pierce, contributed a 22-yard field goal for the Lions. Elks quarterback Tre Ford put up 178 passing yards, connecting on 17 of his 27 attempts and throwing one interception. He was sacked twice. Cody Fajardo chalked up two short-yardage rushing majors for Edmonton, who also have a first-year head coach in Mark Kilam. Rapper Snoop Dogg performed for the announced crowd of 52,837 fans before kickoff. The game got off to a promising start for the Lions with Rourke and his teammates steadily working the ball up the field to give B.C. a first down at Edmonton's two-yard line. Chase Brice came in for short yardage duty and appeared to stretch the ball into the end zone on third down. A review by the command centre, though, determined the QB went down before getting the ball across the line. Ford struggled early, going 0-for-3 on his first attempts of the game, before connecting with Zach Mathias for a six-yard gain on his fourth attempt of the night. Edmonton got on the board with just over three minutes left in the first quarter when Cody Grace sent a 66-yard punt into the end zone for a rouge. B.C. again came within inches of a touchdown early in the game when Rourke threaded a crisp pass to Jevon Cottoy directly under the uprights. The Canadian receiver fumbled the ball, then stared at his gloves in apparent disbelief. Whyte posted the home side's first points of the night, booting a 22-yard field goal to give the Lions a 3-1 lead. The Elks took control again midway through the second quarter when Fajardo muscled his way through traffic for a one-yard rushing major. Vincent Blanchard missed the convert and Edmonton went up 7-3. The score stood at the end of the first half after the Elks kicker sent a 49-yard field goal attempt wide in the final seconds of the frame. B.C. came alive early in the second half, stringing together a possession that ended with Rourke escaping the pocket, taking a few steps and sailing a 34-yard pass to Berryhill in the end zone. Whyte made the convert and the Lions jumped out to a 10-7 advantage. Edmonton had an opportunity to level the score minutes later when Blanchard lined up for a 45-yard field goal, but the kick again went wide. Rourke proved on the next possession that he's a dual threat, rushing for 13 yards on one play and 22 on another. He capped the drive with a 37-yard lob to Berryhill under the uprights and another convert from Whyte increased the Lions' lead to 17-7 midway through the third quarter. Ford responded with some fast feet of his own in the dying seconds of the third quarter. The 27-year-old Canadian deftly darted around midfield to avoid multiple sack attempts and got a 37-yard pass off to Justin Rankin, who similarly snuck past several B.C. defenders before being felled at the three-yard line. Edmonton opened the fourth with Fajardo powering through traffic for his second touchdown of the night. Blanchard sent the convert through the uprights to cut the Elks' deficit to three points. B.C. kept pressing and launched a seven-play, 86-yard scoring drive, capped by a 17-yard pass from Rourke to McInnis in the end zone. McInnis, who hails from Pierrefonds, Que., led the CFL in receiving yards last season with 1,469. The Lions defence got to work next with linebacker Ben Hladik picking off Ford's pass and dashing 61 yards to put his team back in prime scoring position. B.C. capitalized with Rourke handing off to running back Butler, who sprinted into the end zone for the home side's fourth touchdown of the night. Another convert from Whyte put the Lions ahead 31-14. A massive 92-yard kickoff return by Javon Leake looked to cut Edmonton's deficit midway through the fourth, but Elks linebacker Josiah Schakel was called for an illegal block on the play. Fans voice frustration over long entry wait times Some attendees expressed frustration on social media about lengthy delays getting into the stadium ahead of the game. Several fans said they waited in line for over an hour, with some describing the situation as "chaotic" and "poorly organized." The B.C. Pavilion Corporation, which owns the venue, said the largest influx of fans arrived just 30 minutes before Snoop Dog's concert start time, leading to congestion at certain gates. "While our teams worked hard to get fans safely into the building, and as efficiently as possible, there were wait times at certain gates that averaged 10-20 minutes," it said in a statement. The organization said 95 per cent of attendees were inside by the time Snoop Dogg went on stage. The B.C. Lions also said all gates were open, and some had no lines at all. The club said it had urged fans throughout the week to arrive early.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
B.C. Lions vs. Edmonton Elks Live Blog: Snoop Dogg gets the party started
It's our Snoop Dogg Live Blog. 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. How much we will keep up with the rhyming is to be determined. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Check back here for updates. 4:54 p.m. CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston is in the house. '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.' We'll have more with Johnston in the coming days. Less stress, more swagger: B.C. Lions' QB Nathan Rourke aiming to have fun this season Snoop Dogg at the B.C. Lions: What to know about security, set times, and more
National Post
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- National Post
B.C. Lions vs. Edmonton Elks Live Blog: Snoop Dogg gets the party started
It's our Snoop Dogg Live Blog. Article content 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. Article content Article content How much we will keep up with the rhyming is to be determined. Article content 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. Article content 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. Article content 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. Article content 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. Article content 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. Article content Article content 4:54 p.m. Article content CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston is in the house. Article content '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.' Article content
