Ashamed in Vancouver: The city I love, and the idiots I have to share it with

[terrencechan]

What can one say that hasn't been said by everyone? In a matter of less than 12 hours it's already become a cliché to say that the events of Wednesday night were a disgraceful embarrassment. I'm deeply and incredibly saddened by my city, the city which -- no matter where I was in the world -- was the one I identified with. The city in which I was

Comments

[whipartist]

The idiots are not the city.

The idiots are currently the public face of the city, but the rioters are only a tiny percentage of the population-- few bad apples really don't represent the entire orchard. Don't be saddened by the whole city, because most of the city feels the same way you do.

broad street bullies

[jonathankaplan]

I think that was very well written, thank you.
Pro sports (and some amateur situations, i do live in the land of the the Ohio State Buckeyes, semipros that they are) generates huge interest and emotion in people, and millions of them live together in close proximity. It is no great surprise that some (very small) percentage of that group would be wild and weird and destructive in this way. Too much emotion generated, too big a group statistically to NOT happen.
I wouldnt sweat it, I lived in Philadelphia for a long time, and the part of the set in that city that was violent had to be larger, and more often violent prone, than that in Vancouver. You live in a great city.
But every city has too many people, and too much emotion potential, for this type of thing to never occur.
Just a thought. and good luck this year in Vegas.

[gunga_galunga]

Maybe the success of the 2010 Olympics went to their heads because to me, they seemed totally unprepared.

Having been in downtown Denver after the Broncos won their first Super Bowl in '98 and the Avs Stanley Cup in 2001, my reaction then was that the cops over reacted, showing up in riot gear and tear gassing to get people off the streets. But, maybe not. Maybe shutting it down before it really gets going was the right thing to do. (And even so, I think there were a couple of cars that got burned after the Super Bowl. After the Stanley Cup, there really wasn't much negative going on except for a few people started some bonfires with the "extra" edition of the paper they handed out as you left the Pepsi Center.)

People are idiots.

[emersonbiguns]

As someone who lives just a few hours south, and considered coming up for game 7, just to be in the area, as there was no way I could afford a ticket, I am certainly glad I didn't. As brutal as it was just listening to the game on the radio (while I was stuck at work), I can only imagine how bad it must have been to be up there in person watching. However, those feelings can't even compare to how bad I would feel watching a town get torn apart. The mob mentality is strong, and always so sad. Great post.

Riots in Canada

[anonymous]

Let me preface this post by saying there are idiots in all cities, mine included (L.A