It’s been an interesting week in Vancouver: tomorrow marks a week since the Vancouver Canucks threw in the towel on a season of hockey that ended badly for the team and much much worse for their fans.

I left downtown that night about 5:15 or so, right as the game was beginning. Crowds were insane and—frankly—I didn’t really want to deal with them.

So much has been written about these riots that I think I have little to add, so I’ll keep my hindsight observations simple:

• Yes, there were people who were looking to start trouble. Yes some of them came in from the suburbs. Let’s not pretend people from Vancouver didn’t participate in this thing. Sheer numbers mean it’s disingenuous to suggest that they didn’t.
• People keep saying these “weren’t hockey fans.” They were. This wouldn’t have happened if those TVs had been showing large screen broadcasts of Wimbledon. Trying to put distance between the sport and the fans is tactless and also not necessary: the sport didn’t cause the riots but let’s not pretend that hockey fans don’t cheer and scream when fights break out either.
• Alexandra Samuel has written thoughtfully about the role Social Media and the massive amount of video and photo footage has played in the pursuit of the rioters. Miss 604 has written without careful consideration on the same topic. I have problems with both views, but my fundamental problem with Ms. Samuels’ view is that it ignores the choice that people who participated can make. People knew they were being filmed and photographed. People were posing for the cameras. People were enjoying the attention they were getting and posting the photos themselves. If you don’t want to be caught on camera doing something illegal, the easiest way is to not do things that are illegal.
• There’s been a lot said in the last couple of days about the outpouring of feelings that have been expressed on the plywood covering the broken glass at the Bay downtown. I’m not going to say it’s not sweet and touching, but frankly I think it would have been quite a bit sweeter if people hadn’t trashed the windows in the first place.
• Issuing an apology which ends in a rationalization of your actions as getting caught up in the crowd is not an apology

I still say this city is a weird, inward looking, self obsessed place. Nothing’s happened since the riots to change that one bit.

Posted by skooter at 6:53 AM This entry is filed under Vancouver.
This entry is tagged: Riot, Stanley Cup, Vancouver, Vancouver Canucks