The realization that Ryan Thelwell had actually gone over to the enemy hit home one day early upon his move-in at McMahon Stadium.
"I was wearing a B.C. Lions hat,'' says the man they nicknamed Automatic out west-coast-way for his unerring ability to snare footballs.
"I put it in my locker and, when I came back, somebody, to this day a mystery, had written 'suck' underneath the B.C. Lions part.
"It was done as a joke, of course.
"I had to laugh. But I thought, 'Guess this means you're not a Lion, anymore.' ''
Odd. Disoriented. Weird.
Peculiar.
Pick any or all of those adjectives. That's how Ryan Thelwell felt. At least, initially.
Completely understandable, too, considering the corrosive recent history between his former and present employers.
"When you go through six years thinking of a team as your arch-rival, your main adversary, then suddenly you're a part of that team . . . well, it takes a bit of an adjustment.