San Francisco Chronicle writer, Scott Ostler named Vancouver ‘Fans’ the Knucklehead of the Week.
Glad to see that he put single quotation marks around the word fan because the group of troublemakers that took over the streets of downtown Vancouver after the Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night certainly were not hockey fans. Rather, they appeared to be opportunists who were hell bent on carrying on because “they can.â€
We arrived in Vancouver around 4:15 on Wednesday afternoon and shared the SkyTrain ride to town with many, many Canuck-shirted people: men, women, children, and students. Everywhere you looked, there was a sea of blue and green carrying with them a lot of positive energy towards the team they loved as they tried to will the Canucks to a Stanley Cup win.
Blue Guys on the SkyTrain
Some young men didn’t even bother with shirts – going the blue paint route. They started a “Go Canucks Go†chant that got the true fans going. Good spirited fun!
When we got off, we lugged our suitcases up Granville Street following the crowds and the sounds of vuvuzelas as folks moved towards the public gathering spot to watch the game.
Every restaurant we passed on our way up Robson Street was packed – all the way out to the West End. We managed to watch some of the game at The Mill Marine Bistro.
Outdoor seating in the shade put a chill in our bones, so we moved on. Back to Robson Street, we went to a Roots store to purchase a hoodie.
We got there just before the store closed and the sales clerk recommended to us that we get off the streets.
“Last time we lost there was a riot,†she said.
So we went back to the room and watched the last 5 minutes. A short while later, we ventured back out walking west in search of a place to eat. We figured most places would have cleared out. No doubt there were a lot of drunk people stumbling around, but nothing dangerous was happening. The most we noticed were some newspaper boxes tipped over.
A lot of police cars zoomed by us as we entered a nearby Indian restaurant where we watched the riots on TV. What a difference 5 hours makes!
The next day true fans rallied to help clean up downtown. Locals kept apologizing to us.
Fans cleaning the walls.
Well wishers wrote on the boarded windows.
Yes, we know these were just opportunistic knuckleheads.
No, we aren’t holding it against the City of Vancouver or the fans of the Canucks. We know the drill. We know!
And they kept on apologizing to us.
We were super impressed at the way people took it upon themselves to make things right. For sure, this wasn’t the impression they wanted the world to see of them and their town.
We know. We [heart] Vancouver and its people. We wish the Canucks would have taken it to the Bruins like they did to our Sharks, but it was not meant to be.
You have a lot to be proud of Vancouver… A LOT! Keep your spirits high! The Cup will return some day to Canada – and hopefully to your fine city.
A True Fan...
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Jim Rome had an excellent take on what happened in Vancouver:
http://www.jimrome.com/take/vancouver-riots/25901