The Big Time

Seems the photographer's first impression was right; someone was in trouble, and someone else gave the person who was struck and lying on the ground, comfort. That comfort came in the way of a kiss. Perfectly understandable when the young Canadian university student, who had been dating the young man from Australia back-packing in Canada, had been inadvertently struck in a melee, fallen on the ground, and her intimate friend consoled her briefly. Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. - A couple lies on a street in Vancouver, Canada during riots after their hockey team the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. |

So that's that little mystery explained. The larger one, why a generation of young Canadians would take it upon themselves to become howling, rampaging goons is a mystery of larger proportions and one that is not easy to come to terms with. This is a spoiled generation of social brats who have just about everything that a society could offer in quality of life. There is no resemblance to those who riot elsewhere in the world for an opportunity to have a future.

These were people who had assembled in downtown Vancouver at the invitation of the city which had gone to the trouble and expense of erecting a giant screen where sports fans could watch the big Stanley Cup game between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks. Sure, the home crowd was anxious to see their team bring home the Cup. Yes, they were disappointed it wouldn't happen.

So were the Canucks. They didn't go berserk and begin smashing everything they could get their hands on. They acknowledged that a better team won, that they'll have another opportunity another year, and got on with things. It's called sportsmanship. It's even rumoured that many of those in Vancouver recognize that as a positive attribute.

It's a certainty that the young people who torched cars, smashed shop windows, vandalized and looted, and beat those who tried to intervene thought they had a blast. Well, it wasn't everyone, the entire hundred thousand gathered there who ran amok. A relatively small number likely, egged on and championed by a vastly greater number who aided and abetted by their encouragement.

The arrogant entitlement, their lack of shame at their behaviour, their drunken antics and criminal acts and taunting of police finally gave Canada a high profile in the international news. We're always noting that Canada never appears in the news in the United States, despite our proximity; well those doltish zombies made the big time.