By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com

Montreal – The Year 2000 was a very interesting one.

The Y2K theory was terrorizing homes across the world, the film American Beauty emerged victorious at the 72^nd annual Academy Awards and France defeated arch rival Italy 2-1 with a golden goal to win the 2000 Euro Cup.

For the Alouettes, however, the year 2000 marks a far more important event.

Heading into the new millennium, the Als were dominating the Lions, having won seven of their last eight meetings with no intention of slowing down.

The day was Aug. 31, and the Als had just defeated the Lions 32-25 in front of a crowd of 19,621 at B.C. Place. In just his first full season as the Alouettes’ full-time starter, a young Anthony Calvillo was already showing signs of greatness as he threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns in the victory.

Little did A.C. and the rest of the Alouettes know at the time that the 21^st Century would prove to be a very difficult one for them in Vancouver.

Since that win, the Als have visited the Lions seven times, coming up short in every matchup. They even lost the 2005 Grey Cup on BC soil to the Edmonton Eskimos.

To make matters even more intense for the Als (2-2-0), they head into their Friday night matchup with the Lions (2-2-0) on two-game losing skid.

After coming out strong with a pair of wins to start the 2008 season, the Als have suffered consecutive losses – first at home to Calgary two weeks ago, and then last Saturday night to the defending Grey Cup Champion Roughriders in Saskatchewan.

From the BC perspective, last week saw the Lions come out on top in an emotional win against the Winless Blue Bombers. In their first game at home since the passing of their team president, the legendary Bob Ackles, the Lions paid tribute the right way, by notching a W in the win column.

Tune in to RDS or TSN to watch the game live. It can also be heard live on CKAC SPORTS or CJAD 800 AM.