“Andrew Smith has arranged for me to stay with a teacher in Dease Lake, in time to catch the Stanley Cup Final hockey match between Vancouver and New York. Although I do not, in particular, share this national obsession, it is not politic to admit as much in polite company. I show up with a six-pack of beer and Andrew’s colleague ushers me into the reverent atmosphere in front of the TV.” ~June 14, 1994, Dease Lake, BC
I’m a little bit late with this analysis, but I wanted to draw together a few observations from the last few weeks that saw large sporting events on the West Coast.
As I’ve covered here, the Victoria International Cycling Festival and its star attraction Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria drew thousands of cyclist and spectators out into the first clement weather of the year to celebrate the joy of cycling.
I was shocked (though not so surprised) at the flurry of complaints expressed in letters to newspapers and in conversation, particularly over the delays and “inconvenience” caused by closed streets during the TdV.
Props to the Victoria Times Colonist for defending the event, pointing out—as businesses are wont to do—the economic spinoffs.
No doubt, organizers will be looking for ways to improve the event next year. Their social media communications indicate they are open to suggestions.
Meanwhile, it occurred to me to answer those letters-to-the-editor with a question I asked several people that week, but a certain premonition (informed by the history I witnessed from afar on a 2-month bicycle tour of the North, in 1994) caused me to await the outcome of that much bigger, national sporting spectacle approaching its climax.
On June 10—5 days before the Stanley Cup Final—the Vancouver Sun reported an estimated cost of $1.3 million to cover policing and “fan zones.” As the series progressed, tens of thousands poured in to watch the games on big screen TVs in the heart of the city, on streets closed for the celebrations.
Again, business associations pointed to the return on investment, as fans filled bars and restaurants.
The cost for cleaning up the carnage wrought by rioters last Wednesday, after the Canuck’s loss to the Boston Bruins, is almost incalculable. Besides the immediate bill for repairs and looted property, we must also consider the damage to the city’s reputation as the story travels around the world.
“As I relax with a cup of coffee, the evening news comes on the TV in the corner. That settles my plans for the next hour. I order a large plate of pasta. Almost forgetting where I am, I reconnect with an evening ritual not indulged for over a month. On the 6 O’clock news the streets of Vancouver convulse in a riot of looting and mayhem. The video images are a surreal record of the previous evenings’ mass-hysteria, as hockey hooligans—sore losers all—had poured out of the stadium to throw a public tantrum. Yet the concerns of the South and the world outside seem far away from here, focused as I am on the ever contracting world of this journey.” ~June 15, 1994, Forty Mile Flats, BC
Now Mayor Gregor Robertson and Police Chief Jim Chu are assigning blame for this year’s mayhem on “anarchists dressed as fans.”
Seriously! The cretins who barfed up their unfocussed bile on the streets last week wouldn’t know what to do with anarcho-syndicalism unless it came in a bottle with a twist cap.
Without getting into a detailed analysis of the malaise of our times, the teenage twerps and testosterone/alcohol overdosed hoodlums that trashed the city I once called my “jewel on the sea” are a symptom of the social disease we have allowed to fester.
As someone who has breathed my share of teargas in the name of democracy, I can assure you these are not the people we need to defend civil rights and freedom; they are the blind hoards we will need to defend against.
Questions regarding the police response are also being raised.
First, let me say it looked like they had their hands full. It also looked like they were wholly unprepared, unlike, say, at the Toronto G20, where “kettling” techniques and mass-arrests swept up peaceful protesters and weekend shoppers, while allowing window-smashers and car-burners to proceed unopposed.
This may seem like a provocative question, but if hockey games are potentially as explosive as political protests, then perhaps it’s time to rethink policing in Canada.
Admittedly, I’m not a true hockey fan—I only tune-in during the playoffs—but I too was swept up in the jingoistic craze for “Our Team,” while still uncomfortable with the culture of violence and poor sportsmanship cheered on by personalities like Don Cherry. Hockey could be a great game without the boor factor.
Now back to the question that’s been on my mind: How many of those calling for the cancellation of events like the TdV would like to see a ban on any future editions of the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
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Those who complain about such events (bike races) are bored individuals who will whine about anything and everything!
We had a bunch of bike races this past weekend in Niagara. Road closures were limited, but how anyone can complain about 1 or 2 days is beyond me!
IMO if you don’t want the events that come with living in an urban area, move far in the middle of no where!
As for the whole riot issue. I hear too often people in the media claiming they were either drunk or anarchists. I believe there was a ‘small’ group of anarchists, however to believe they are the ones who caused most of this is ridiculous. So far anyone the media has ‘outed’, they have been wealthy suburbanites.
The drunk issue doesn’t fly either and is one of the worst excuses people can come up with. I think I’ve only been drunk twice in my life (back when I was in high school as I seldom drink now), and I knew quite well what I was doing. I wasn’t aggressive, obnoxious or destructive.
This is the best analysis of last week’s insanity that I’ve come across. The term “anarchist” has become a bit of a catch-all term for hooligans and few who use it even know what it means. Sure, there may be a small group of individuals who call themselves anarchists and espouse this kind of behaviour, but the reality is of who is responsible is plastered all over people’s Facebook pages.
Like you I was swept up in the excitement and frustration of the playoffs. For a few months, many of us shared a narrative that took the edge off the symptoms of the social disease you refer to. When that narrative ends by causing frustration, the rest of the symptoms flare up, seemingly worse than before and what we saw last week takes place. Getting rid of the event won’t help–something else will take it’s place–and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying these narratives together. But we need to look closely at the disease, not the symptoms. Your evocation of history in this piece brings that wider context into relief.
@Ryan: I think you underestimate the effect alcohol can have on weaker minds. Alcohol was not probably the hardest drug in use last Wednesday though. Still, drugs are only the key that unleashes inner demons.
Those demons are ones that our society is nurturing and promoting, while denying any part in their manifestation–they are not of us; they are “anarchy.”
@Jason Thompson: Thanks. Much of the problem lies in the fact that the positive outlet of sport has itself been debased. The arena of competition–where sportsmanship and cooperation might be instilled in youth–has devolved into a kind of neo-Roman gladiator spectacle, where the winner takes all.
And I don’t exempt the big tours–owned by banks, oil companies and multinational agribusiness; they have caught the the same fever.
I just feel alcohol (and drugs) are too easy of an out for people.
I don’t deny that they play some role in many peoples stupidity, but whenever you see/hear of someone doing something idiotic, the phrase “Oh, I was drunk/stoned out of my mind” appears, as if that makes it okay.
Obviously banning alcohol isn’t an option nor should it be, but it might be time to crack down on people who use the “I was drunk” excuse when doing something stupid!
I agree with your essential point, Ryan. That’s a whole other debate, isn’t it: the drugs we tolerate, even celebrate, and those we deem “illegal?”
It’s a little bit like the violence we normalize and that we ascribe to criminals and despots.
Hey Ray, nice article. Well I agree that anarchists were not the ones that did all this damage, I do feel that a few strategically place trouble makers can incite the masses. Many of the hooligans came down to the core of the city with one thing in mind and that was to riot, or tear down the city as one idiot posted on his facebook page.
It amazes me how some people can be so easily goaded into things. Many will say, “Oh I was drunk and didn’t know what I was doing.” That doesn’t fly with me, many people drink but do so responsibly. Using alcohol abuse as a means of explaining ones actions is lame. I understand that people do get drunk and out of hand but those people should be held accountable for their actions and maybe they will think twice before having that 4th or 5th drink.
What took place in Vancouver is just another example of how our society is changing for the worst, people need to start to think for themselves and not just follow the masses because it’s cool. It’s time that we got back to teaching our children the meaning of RESPECT. Respect for our selves and Respect for other people. Imagine how all these rioters would feel if we went to their houses and broke the windows and set their cars on fire.
Agreed. I think these louts drink to “party” with the express intent that the shindig will include general mayhem.
Alcohol or whatever drugs are part of “getting fried” and succumbing to excitements of the reptilian brain.
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