New BC Place dazzles, disappoints, promises bigger things. Roof opens quickly, too!

Well, I was wrong; it wasn't a disaster. The retractable roof opened like a charm, very quickly too. Unfortunately for the Lions, the CFL plays its games at night. While it was so much better looking up into the darkness of the night sky than the drab old roof, the opening is really made for blue skies or even light clouds. I hope next year, especially early in the summer months, that the Lions play day games in the glorious Vancouver blue skies of summer.

The video screen over centre field was awe-inspiring. I caught myself watching the HD screen instead of the action on the field. I wasn't as thrilled with the over 11,000 screens in the corridors. I thought they would be broadcasting highlights - or at least the half-time show - but at half-time it was all commercials. I found that disappointing. Same for the huge screen outside BC Place at Terry Fox Plaza*. Just one big commercial.

The field looked great. The seats were a good size although they were not padded (perhaps in the rich seats?) as indicated by several TV announcers during the past week. The cup holders a great idea.

Concessions were a bit of a mess. It took at least 20 minutes to get a hot dog (the full half time plus some of the third quarter). I missed the roving vendors and especially the vendors walking up and down the aisles during the game that made the games at Empire so convenient and fun. I'd bring my own goodies to avoid spending that valuable game time waiting in line but the security is in real 'pat down' mode these days. Like with other blemishes, this will be solved. It will help too that most games will be short of the over 50K that showed up last night, obviously straining BC Place concession resources.

Big disappointment was the highly-touted sound system. It was echoing all over the place and I could barely make out a lot of the announcements. Speakers looked magnificent but I hope all it takes is tweaking the sound to get it to full potential. It's not even half way there yet.

Another bonus was the moveable automatic camera suspended over the field, from end zone to end zone. Of course this camera has been used for Grey Cups in the past but its sparing usage has made it obsolete. Hopefully the camera is not just a one-game loaner and is a permanent feature. Once the the stadium and TSN begin to understand how to use this most useful of features, wow!

Sarah McLachlan performed a welcomed, restrained version of "Oh Canada".

To top off a satisfying evening, the game, starting off so slow and clumsily, ended with a band. Lions are six in a row and a new force in the CFL. Roar, Lions, roar.

OK, it's still not the temporary Empire Field, one of the finest spectator-friendly (but not player-friendly) stadiums I have ever experienced. Close to the action, mountains rising over the horizon, blue skies, the feel of the outdoors, quick and easy access to snacks and beer - but crummy amenities. Of course an open stadium is not conducive to Vancouver autumns. But hey, that's football.

* From the Comments, a worthy concern:

Please contact me immediately if you're disgusted by the huge screen at Terry Fox Plaza. I'm rallying support to have it taken down. Dave.Cookson@gmail.com.