All yee B.C. Lions’ faithful hail thy saviour, Amar Doman

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The B.C. Lions have had a long list of saviours in their history. Some were kooks, some were crooks, and some were David Braley.

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Like a damsel in distress, the team always seems to find itself in need of rescue from some form of money-devouring dragon.

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Murray Pezim’s outsized, outrageous and insane antics will be forever immortalized in Lions’ folklore, but when he dropped a cool $1.7 million to purchase the franchise from community ownership in 1989, it saved the team from sinking beneath the muddy waters of False Creek.

Bill Comrie was neither crook nor kook, but builder by Brick. And when Pezim declared bankruptcy and the league took over the team in 1992, he rode to the rescue and raised the team’s profile enough in his four years — he won the Grey Cup in Vancouver in 1994 — that he turned around and sold it to a local group headed by Nelson Skalbania. His ownership, too, was short-lived as Skalbania’s penchant for playing fast and loose in his business dealings — he eventually ended up a convicted criminal — drove the team receivership once again.

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Braley was the next to ride in on a white horse, saving not only the Lions in his time, but the Tiger-Cats and Argos, too. But failing health and an unwillingness to part with the Lions left the team in a rumour-spawning limbo for years, the team only finding new ownership after he passed in 2020.

It’s been 2½ years since Amar Doman acquired the team from Braley’s estate, and while he hasn’t quite reached the Messiah status of his predecessor, he still has his acolytes.

“It’s the authenticity of the man,” CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said, reflecting on Doman’s tenure.

“He’s exactly the person we met. He operates in exactly the way we expected him to operate. He is serious, he’s seriously committed and injects an energy and a passion into the equation that frankly … I think he’s outperformed.

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“This has been a joy to watch. And you’d be foolish not to suggest that otherwise. I was here late in the season last year, and to watch him with the fans, there is a genuine desire to make those personal connections. I stood off to the side and watched fans waiting to have a moment to talk to him.

“And their excitement for him as a person I thought was a real indication of just how much he’s brought to the B.C. Lions and to the city and for the province.”

Doman will happily pose with the novelty foam paws, but with none of the buffoonery of Pezim. He’ll flaunt his orange Nike high-tops under his tailored suit pants, but buy the entire team their own custom kicks. He lets Rick Campbell coach the team as he sees fit, but coaches his own team in the North Shore youth flag football league — which he also sponsors.

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He’s invested millions in the purchase and operations of the team, but what makes him so much like Braley is he’s invested emotionally in it.

“The highs are higher than I thought and the lows are lower,” Doman said Friday, reflecting on his ownership.

“Losing to Winnipeg twice, you know, gutted me. Personally, it hurts to see that. But I know that we are close to a championship team. I feel that we’ve got the right coaching staff, we have the right players … the future’s bright for the B.C. Lions for the next number of years as a franchise.

“You don’t know (how intense the feelings are) until you’ve got the keys. And when you have the keys … I think if you care, you’re going to really feel those highs and lows.”

Thursday was a high point for Doman, as the pomp and circumstance of the Grey Cup began with the organizing committee announcing its plans at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Vancouver will host the 2024 CFL championship game, and the Lions’ owner is excited for it — no matter if his team is in or not.

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“I’m really excited about even my own kids going to a Grey Cup. They’re going to see something that a whole generation hasn’t seen here,” he said. “Guys that you know are 10 years old … They’re going to be blown away at how cool the week is, how cool the game is, and how B.C. Place is going to be absolutely rocking. It’s going to be fantastic.”

It feels like it’s been an age since Vancouver last hosted, but it was only a decade ago. They also hosted in 2011, which was their last Grey Cup win, when they beat Doman’s foils — those dastardly Bombers — 34-23.

Ambrosie said that Vancouver — which has hosted the second-most Cups, second only to Toronto — was due to host the title tilt for the nine-team league, but Doman was a big part of the West Coast getting not only the Grey Cup, but the Touchdown Pacific game in Victoria as well. The Lions will host the Ottawa Redblacks on Aug. 31 in what’s dubbed the Mini Grey Cup.

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“That whole energy around this province … that we’re seeing, the momentum we’re feeling in this market … it’s just palpable. You can feel what’s happening here,” said Ambrosie. “This is a Grey Cup city. You want to have Grey Cups in Vancouver. You know B.C. Place is such a unique building and it’s got such a great history of hosting games. A Grey Cup here with Amar as the owner, with Duane (Vienneau) as the president of the Lions makes it really special. I don’t think you could ask for anything better.”

jadams@postmedia.com

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