That excitement crescendoed into its climax on June 15th, when the Canucks were scheduled to face off against the Boston Bruins in the Ultimate Battle in the Arena of Death for the Stanley Cup. The winners of this game would win the elusive cup. Large TV screens had been deployed in fan zones around the city, where Canuck fans could congregate and watch the big game. Everyone thought this was the year. The year we would finally bring home the Stanley Cup, in all its silver glory. Of course, everyone always said that to themselves every season, only to be disappointed once again. But since we had made it to the finals this time, that thought was reinforced in the mind of every Canuck fan everywhere.
Of course, for those of the slow kids at home who haven't been following along, this was not the year. The Canucks had brought us closer than ever to our greatest desire, but yet it was still unreachable. They lost to Boston 4-0. Vancouver was not impressed.
So they channeled all of this excitement into a constructive release. No wait, a destructive release. That's right, the latest thing Vancouver is getting excited about is the riot. After the Canucks' loss, fans of all ages converged in the downtown core to burn cars, loot stores, and make the best out of a depressing situation. The rest of Vancouver, however, was not satisfied. They described the riot as embarrassing and set out to make the participants pay.
With the proliferation of social media, that turned out to be easier than it would have been a few years ago. Those who happened to be in Vancouver on the historical day have been uploading images and video taken of the event from their phones to a Facebook group, as well as VancouverRiotPics.ca. Everyone else has been scouring the sites, hoping to perhaps find a pic of their ex, a friend who owes them money, or their annoying roommate who snores too loud so they have an excuse to turn them in to the police. I've been keeping track of the photos myself, but unfortunately have not yet found any of anyone I hate.
But the Facebookers certainly have. Vancouverites have uncovered the identities of tens of rioters over on the Vancouver Riot Pics Facebook page. Most of them have also had their personal contact information, including their phone number, added to their photos. That's great, because my mom has been asking me a lot about the details of the riot, and I don't know the details. So I told her to ask someone who was part of the riot. It's easy, I told her. Just go online, pick one who looks like they were particularly destructive, and give them a call! One of my favorite photos:
Unfortunately, everyone upset at the rioters wanted to help, but, not all of them had photos to upload. Those who didn't have photos and who couldn't find photos of anyone they knew didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to feel special. So some people decided to just take some screenshots of videos and upload them instead so that they could still experience the satisfaction of helping without actually contributing anything. Many of them created collages out of pixelated screenshots of the same person from different angles. Some just downloaded photos that were already in the group, superimposed some text like ID HIM!!! and re-uploaded the photo. A few added arrows and circles to REALLY show off their Photoshop skills.
Another thing people seem to like to do is to add a sarcastic comment to photos showing a participant's face. Apparently, posting comments on photos such as "he must be really smart" or "you're so cool" makes you that much smarter, and helps identify the individual too.
Now I'm just going to go ahead and say I don't know what the big deal is. All of us wanted to win the Stanley Cup this year. And that desire has been building up in the last 17 years. I was disappointed we lost the cup, we all were. Riots are something that seldom happens in our boring city and when it does we should enjoy it while it lasts.
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