I had a whole other blog post planned and written, but instead I will post this. The other post was about how happy my birthday was, how much fun I had the night before with my family, and how proud I was of the Canucks.
Instead, you get this.
I will start at the beginning. In order for there to be an aftermath, there must be a beginning, so that's where I will start.
October 2010, the Vancouver Canucks start a historical run to the Stanley Cup, winning trophies, awards, and working their tails off to slay the biggest dragons that haunted their dreams from years past. They were awarded the President's Trophy, won their division title and the Western Conference title. We have Daniel Sedin winning the league's top scoring award... The Canucks? The team to beat.
On June 15th, 2011 (My 20th birthday) at 5:20pm, the puck drops on Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final - Vancouver Canucks vs. Boston Bruins at Rogers Arena in the beautiful city of Vancouver.
The city is electric. People are celebrating what was suppose to be the Canucks lifting the cup above their heads... celebrating a record breaking season with the NHL's most prized possession in the city who so wanted to see our team win.
That didn't happen.
The Canucks lost, and just as the last seconds ticked down on the clock, I cried... and the rest of the city decided they would riot... light cars on fire, stab people and loot multiple large and small stores all around the city.
I spent much of my night watching CBC and CTV trying to keep up to date on what was going on. I go to school downtown, and I spent much of my night wondering if Vancouver will be a safe place to go this morning, or if the city will be in such disarray that they won't let anyone down there.
Buses aren't running, bridges are closed, and people are severely injured.
This is not how it was suppose to happen.
I have been a Canucks fan for a very long time. I live with the team, I die with the team. They are more than just a sports team to many people in Vancouver, they are our friends, our family, and our pride and joy for 9 months of the year. We put the Sedin's, Luongo, Kesler... all of the players up on a pedestal. They are beyond celebrities in the eyes of Vancouverites most of the year.
And yet, this is how we choose to show our support. The people who call themselves fans destroy the downtown core of Vancouver, burn it nearly to the ground, injure countless people and not only that, just make an already sour evening worse.
The 1994 riot is still a blemish on our beautiful city, and instead of being strong, supportive fans of a team who worked fucking hard for you by the way, who produced for you everything they could, gave you 9 months of awesome hockey... to show your support you destroy the city with their names on your back. If I were them, I would be horribly disgusted.
In fact. I'm not one of them, and I'm horribly disgusted.
If you see people on your social networking sites with photos, videos or ridiculous statuses implying that they were anyway involved in the riots after the game... it is your responsibility to this city, the real fans, and more than anyone else, the team you so horribly let down, to turn those people in.
No exceptions.
No excuses.
Millions of dollars of damage done... I don't even want to think of the monetary amount of goods stolen from everywhere in Vancouver... how will you look at that new watch, that new purse, that bottle of shampoo and not feel like a piece of shit for stealing that?
I am in awe of how far this went.
It breaks my heart as a fan to watch the city I was once proud to call home destroyed by ignorant people who lack the ability to see anything but rage and alcohol.
I pity those low enough to participate. You have stooped to a new low.
Blog, and be happy.
Kyleigh.
