All because of a game.....

Awhile back, during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I posted about Canucks fans. It was a super exciting time to be in Vancouver, as we watched each successive win that took us closer and closer to the Cup (there were several brutal losses on the way, too, but let's not talk about those!) The days leading up to Game 7 were charged with excitement and nervous tension - you could feel it in the air. Would the Canucks actually do it this time? or would they choke at the last moment like they've often done in the past? I truly believed they would actually bring the Cup home this time (where it belongs)!

I hurried downtown on that Wednesday afternoon of Game 7. I wanted to be in the midst of the 100,000 other fans who came out to celebrate our coming victory! The excitement was mounting!

We missed the whole first period due to a ridiculous staff meeting that went over time (but let's not talk about that either). Chans and I made our way to the epicentre of they crowd and finally found a good spot to watch the massive TV screen that had been set up on Georgia street in the "FanZone". We were trying to meet up with friends, but it was practically impossible in that kind of crowd.

However, things weren't looking good..... In the end of the first period, Boston scored the first goal and it was all downhill from there. They scored another 2 goals in the second period and it didn't even look like the Canucks were trying anymore. By Boston's 4th goal in the 3rd period, a lot of people were already packing up and leaving. I was still hoping for just one goal, so it wasn't a complete shutout, but I was sadly disappointed.......

It was the craziness that began after that this post is actually about. It wasn't long after the horn sounded to end the game that the city of Vancouver broke out in utter madness. Across the street from me, I heard commotion and I wondered what was going on. Soon, with dark, acrid smoke rising as a tell-tale sign, I realized that a truck ha been flipped over and torched.

As we started to make our way back up the street towards the sky-train station, we witnessed many atrocities - knife fights, knocked over porta-potties with the contents running down the street, lots of profanities directed towards Boston, and one idiot who thought it'd be a good idea to spray a fire extinguisher into the face of a girl. We were passing by on the other side of the street when this bank was beginning to get smashed:

That was just one of about 60 buildings and businesses that were damaged. And that burning truck that was pictured above was just one of 17 vehicles that were torched, including 2 cop cars. We were smart to get out when we did because it got a lot harder to get out later, and a lot more dangerous. The madness continued on for about another 4 hours after we left. The thought that repeatedly was running through my head was, "Really? I can't believe that people would actually do this? Why? What does it accomplish?" The whole thing seemed virtually surreal to me.

The scene downtown a little later in the evening as the rioting continued.

Some people blamed it on anarchists out of control, others claim that it was a group of riot instigators that travel around doing this sort of thing, and still others blame it on the police, saying they didn't have a strong enough presence. I think alcohol was a major factor and as a couple idiots started doing their thing, others who weren't thinking clearly joined in due to the mob-mentality.

The thing that bothered me the most was all the on-lookers who were egging the idiots on, watching without doing anything to prevent it, taking pictures, etc. I always teach my students when we're talking about bullying that if you're a bystander not doing anything, you're in the same category as the bully. That puts me in that category simply because I was down there, witnessing it all without doing anything to stop it, (which I do feel bad about). There were some people who did stand up for what they believed to be the right thing, but most of those people were attacked or harmed in some way.

All of this lead to some interesting discussion with my students the next day. Hopefully, some valuable lessons learned! And all of this, just because of a game.

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*None of the photos posted in this post are mine. They have been borrowed from other sources.

** For more about the riots check out this link for the National Post.