The Rioters ARE Canucks Fans
by Derek Zona on Jun 16, 2011 11:10 AM MDT
Email
Print
This "the rioters aren't Canucks fans" canard is being trotted out everywhere in some bizarre attempt to deflect blame from Canucks fans, the people who are rioting. It was even trotted out on an internal SB Nation mail list, to which I responded:
So let me see if I understand this correctly: When people say there exists a very small core of actual Canucks fans, a core that has been there for 30 years and the rest aren't actually fans, just bandwagoners, they are shouted down and lectured about the incredibly expanding fan base, especially amongst young fans.
BUT, when the team loses and the fans burn the city, we're told there exists a very small core of actual Canucks fans, a core that has been there for 30 years and the rest aren't actually fans, just bandwagoners looking for a riot.
Is this it?
Stop trying to absolve Canucks fans. Not all of them participated in this, but the ones that did were Canucks fans. Unless you believe that a random group of agitators, anarchists, protestors, thugs, and idiots all bought Canucks jerseys as an enormous collaborative disguise.
48 comments
|
4 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Props to the one kid in the Nucks jersey trying to do the right thing. Surprised he’s breathing today.
Tending the Farm for The Copper & Blue
by Neal Livingston on Jun 16, 2011 11:15 AM MDT reply actions
Beating the hell out of a guy trying to protect the city by saying “This is our city!”? Nice work fellas.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Sure props to him, but that was a really stupid thing to do. Swinging into a mass like that is maddness
I prefer to call it courageously stupid.
Tending the Farm for The Copper & Blue
by Neal Livingston on Jun 16, 2011 1:40 PM MDT up reply actions
Of course they were Canucks fans. Whether they’d been Canucks fans for 20 years or two months is irrelevant. The game produced the circumstances that allowed for this, and the game result triggered it. To say this has nothing to do with the game is asinine.
Alcohol mixed with extreme emotion mixed with mob mentality/anonymity is a powder keg; there’s bound to be a few hundred assholes willing to light ‘er up to see how high she blows. This is nothing new. Remember Whyte Ave? Or Montreal’s cop cars? Whatever sweater they’re wearing, the outcome is the same. They’re football hooligans with better PR.
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there). Link now 100% less broken.
It shows you how terrible the traditional media really is and how much it’s willing to protect institutions even in the face of overwhelming evidence.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
It’s something everyone tells themselves to feel better about the whole thing. It’s bollocks, pure and simple.
SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there). Link now 100% less broken.
Wait, are we talking about the rebuild again?
by Joe Girth on Jun 16, 2011 1:10 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
In fairness, DZ
Some journalists are trying to correct the record:
But the Olympic crowd was completely different than the fans that came downtown to watch the Canucks games. And please, please don’t say: these weren’t Canucks fans. They were Canucks fans, as much as people may wish that they weren’t. And Canucks fans, I’m sorry to say, are quickly gaining the reputation for being the equivalent of English soccer fans.
by hellofasandwich on Jun 16, 2011 1:28 PM MDT up reply actions
Is he Vancouver-based or Toronto-based?
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Jim Hughson said much the same thing on CBC Radio yesterday.
A posse ad esse.
The Copper & Blue|OilersNation|Hockey or Die!
Twitter: @JonathanWillis
Mail: jonathan.willis@live.ca
by Jonathan Willis on Jun 17, 2011 8:36 AM MDT up reply actions
I dont understand why anyone would feel the need to try and pretend that any particular sports team’s fanbase – which will be composed of potentially millions of people – will not include a large amount of scumbags. Every team’s got it. Heck Im a NYR season ticket holder, and even I can’t stand half the people at MSG. If a guy feels the need to pretend that his team’s fanbase is any “better” than another, then that guy needs some real introspection, because he is missing something.
You put a lot of people into a pot, add in an overemphasis on needing to feel better than someone else – more of a winner than a loser, throw in some disappointment, toss in some local societal conditions for flavor, and you get the potential for a really horrible stew.
Glen Sather is a Hockey Genius.
http://twitter.com/ThGeneralissimo
http://twitter.com/PopsTwitTar
by poploser on Jun 16, 2011 11:22 AM MDT reply actions 2 recs
It is interesting that a fanbase that calls themselves savvy and worldly and hip would fall victim to the stew.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
c’mon, derek, every fanbase calls itself something that it probably isn’t. while i agree with your general point – it’s clear that these are ostensibly vancouver supporters responsible – i don’t think holding an entire fanbase hostage for some of the dumb things that their fans say.
i don’t think holding an entire fanbase hostage for some of the dumb things that their fans say.
And do. Repeatedly do.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
by Derek Zona on Jun 16, 2011 12:30 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
Far be it from me to collectively lump people together, but people who think they are savvy and wordly and hip are as douchey as the people they claim are less savvy worldly and hip.
Glen Sather is a Hockey Genius.
http://twitter.com/ThGeneralissimo
http://twitter.com/PopsTwitTar
I need to send this to everyone that lives in the Bay Area … :)
GO SHARKS!
Ever get the feeling we are on a collision course with reality?
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" -- Benjamin Franklin (see profile for more info on this quote)
Could we classify as ironic that a lot of the “foul play” rioters were wearing Burrows and Bieksa jerseys?
by szydmiester on Jun 16, 2011 11:25 AM MDT reply actions 3 recs
There’s a huge number of people in Vancouver today trying to claim that this is all the work of people from the suburbs (notably Surrey) as well. Anything to deflect blame for something like this from a demographic you are a part of I guess. This obviously doesn’t apply to everyone. The volunteer cleanup effort going on downtown right now is a nice example of the good that exists in this city as well.
I don’t know, the fact that when most of the mob left they either got on the skytrain, or headed out across one of the bridges doesn’t scream “I live 3 blocks away from the store I’m smashing”.
But you’re right I’m sure not everyone being an idiot was from the outlying suburbs, but I’m going to confidently say most of them were. You don’t shit in your own bed, you know?
This stuff never happens if the city of Vancouver had an enforcer in the lineup.
Blueshirt Banter - Where Rangers' Fans Matter
Tracking the Rangers - Numbers don't lie. They just don't agree with you.
Twitter: RangerSmurf
by George E. Ays on Jun 16, 2011 1:10 PM MDT reply actions 10 recs
There are tens of thousands of Canuck fans out there who did not riot. Most of us just wanted our team to win the Cup, and instead watched our team come up short last night, only to wake up to articles and opinion pieces in most major papers and media outlets treating the fanbase as some kind of monolithic group of classless rioting douchebag wankers (not to mention the laughter and enjoyment other people are deriving from our disappointment). I don’t know if those rioters are fans or not, but I do know they have nothing to do with me, nor do I feel any responsibility for their actions. You think I’m a wanker because I like the Vancouver Canucks? Dude, you don’t even know me.
What part of this:
Not all of them participated in this, but the ones that did were Canucks fans.
Confuses you?
In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!
by dawgbone98 on Jun 16, 2011 1:44 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
Don’t get indignant when people take joy in your disappointment. Instead, try not harboring the hands-down WORST Canadian fans among your fellow Cunuckleheads who inundated call-in shows, blogs, and other media outlets for the last two weeks claiming the team wasn’t full of diving marshmallows and whiners who are now claiming that a group of malcontents who aren’t “True Fans” didn’t incite, escalate, and participate in one of the biggest black eyes the country has seen in recent years. Turn in the guys with laser pointers, represent your team with common sense and courtesy to other fans, don’t defend criminals, don’t start riots, call out your players for despicable on-ice behavior, and if you see one of the idiots on Facebook posing in front of riot footage who happens to be a friend, turn 5-O on ’em. THEN you can take the high road.
If we don't get our sauce, we ain't watching the game!
by Mike @ MHH on Jun 16, 2011 3:24 PM MDT up reply actions 2 recs
Thanks DB and Mike, you took the words from my keyboard.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
I’m not allowed to feel a little indignant? I’ve been a fan since the 80s, I’ve been waiting a long time for the team to be the favourite in a Cup final. I don’t listen to talk radio, or usually post on blogs or message boards. Never misused a laser pointer or sat beside someone who did and did nothing about it. I live 3000 miles away from where those riots happened, and I never liked Todd Bertuzzi. So yeah, I think it’s a little unfair. Maybe I’m just dumb for reading hockey blogs the day after the Canucks lose the SCF, but then again, the hatred seems to be a year-round thing.
The problem isn’t you, and fans like you.
The problem is, fans like you amongst the Canuck fanbase itself seems to be few and far between.
by DarrenV on Jun 17, 2011 9:35 AM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
A good friend of mine who is one of maybe four people who I would consider legitimate Canuck fans that I know, put it pretty succinctly on Facebook last night;
I spend the entire playoff run defending our city and convincing other canadians that we’re not as big of douchebags as we let off… and then this happens.
As if watching your team crap itself in game seven of the finals wasn’t bad enough…
It's not team or city specific - its mob behaviour
I’ve got no greater contempt for #YVR fans than any others. They attacked their own city just like #YEG fans did in 06 and #YYC fans did in 05.
People can’t deal with disappointment – its completely natural. Then a big crowd gives them a sense of anonymity. Then real criminals and fairweather anarchists use it as an excuse to incite, and it turns into a riot from there.
Hint – if you are a fan, and it looks like its going badly (loss). Go home. Don’t hang out in public places.
Nothing (new) to see here.
BTW – yay Boston!
They attacked their own city just like #YEG fans did in 06 and #YYC fans did in 05.
File under “Saying it does not make it so.”
Unrelatedly, using airport codes to refer to cities when using mediums without moronically low character limits is stupid.
by sarcasticidealist on Jun 17, 2011 6:10 PM MDT up reply actions
I thought this was a good take on the riots
Pretty thoughtful.
Random Ramblings from a Somewhat Scattered Mind
"It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time." --Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965)
Win or lose, the riots were inevitable
One of my cousins is a Vancouver bus driver and observed people with crowbars, molotov cocktails, and “Riot 2011” on their shirts getting on his bus. The riots were an inevitability no matter what.
I disagree, Derek Hoag on the Preds site discusses how in Detroit steps were taken to close traffic to the downtown core after the first Red Wings Cup win. Calgary actually shut down its Red Mile celebrations and strongly tightened up security after 2004. Political decisions were made which could have made less than ideal conditions for the rioters and scaled back the opportunity.
Personally, I’d like to see the Mayor of Vancouver resign for actually encouraging more and more people into the core to watch on big screens, instead of limiting access as Detroit did and as other cities do.
Personally, I’d like to see the Mayor of Vancouver resign for actually encouraging more and more people into the core to watch on big screens, instead of limiting access as Detroit did and as other cities do.
Interesting thought. I wonder if city pub and restaurant owners are upset with the decision because of the financial impact. If thousands are standing in the middle of the city looking at a screen rather than sitting in pubs and restaurants watching the game, it’s going to cost those owners millions.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Agree 100%, Boston didn’t have a watch party at the Garden for THIS EXACT REASON (potential trouble).
If we don't get our sauce, we ain't watching the game!
That's not why
They didn’t have the road games on in the garden.
by Canuckelhead on Jun 20, 2011 1:17 AM MDT up reply actions
Vancouver just did not earn it!
I watched that video and it just made me sad! So much potential in all those young people and yet all they can derive some satisfaction from is destruction.
by Sheldon Oilers Fan for Life on Jun 17, 2011 11:22 AM MDT reply actions
In my opinion
Anyone who went downtown to watch game seven wasn’t really a hockey fan, let alone a canucks fan and you would agree with me if you saw the size of the screen they were “watching” the game on. Literally smaller than the scoreboard at GM place. You think anyone besides the first hundred people could see the game? I think you’re missing the point of what they were trying to say. People went downtown with the intention of causing trouble more than the intention of watching a hockey game and that’s what they are trying to establish.
Weren’t they crowding downtown all playoffs? That was the narrative people have been selling.
In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!
Exactly
And the crowds were getting bigger and bigger As well as getting more and more rowdy as we went along. It just became a giant street party which sounds cool in theory but is really impossible to control. Make no mistake though, those people weren’t really going downtown for hockey. It was just a good excuse to party on a Wednesday and the mayor or police chief should have known better.
by Canuckelhead on Jun 20, 2011 10:18 PM MDT up reply actions
Go watch this
http://virtualtours.northstudio.com/vancouverriot2/#/Vancouver%20Riots/
and tell me when the crowd is the biggest around the 13 second mark, what’s missing from the picture? There’s a huge crowd there to watch the game but I don’t see how nay of them could see the screen.
by Canuckelhead on Jun 20, 2011 10:51 PM MDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on The Copper & Blue
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
Oilers Schedule
Last 5 Games
@
Vancouver
|
Sat 04/07 | L 0 - 3 |
|
Anaheim
|
Thu 04/05 | OT - L 2 - 3 |
|
@
Los Angeles
|
Mon 04/02 | L 0 - 2 |
|
@
Anaheim
|
Sun 04/01 | W 2 - 1 |
|
Los Angeles
|
Fri 03/30 | L 1 - 4 |
