Vancouverites packed downtown to celebrate the Stanley Cup.  Game 7 Canucks vs Bruins.  Vancouver needed to win.  They didn’t.  I was unimpressed with Vancouver’s play, but I was absolutely disgusted with the adolescent behaviour of the ‘fans’ afterwards.  The lack of basic citizenship, shown by refusing to disperse, cheering trouble makers, and filming every moment demonstrates a disturbing trend.

What could have been a really great memory of community spirit is marred by idiots who don’t know what civilized behavior looks like.  Kelowna lost its wonderful community Regatta because the same sort of people started coming into town with rocks in their trunks to riot for fun.  Alcohol fuels such behaviour, and although the police and security tried to prepare in order to prevent these kinds of riots, when good citizens do not stand up to decry such actions, fools are going to do stupid things.

Who is going to pay for the clean up and the policing bills?  Business insurance will go up.   The Orca Bay Group raked in some tidy profits in seven games.  I sincerely hope they will take some financial responsibility.  As well, all those cameras and phones filming every moment should make it fairly easy for the police to identify the trouble makers.  I hope they are all caught and severely fined so that hard-working, respectable citizens who weren’t rioting in the streets for amusement, don’t have to pay for their foolishness.

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At the same time that I was writing this blog, those respectable citizens were making plans.  This is social media at its best, mobilizing the citizenry to positive ends.  Smitty Smith has created a Facebook event inviting Vancouverites to come downtown and help clean up the mess.  How inspiring is that?  Good on you, Smitty.  If you’re in Vancouver, the details are here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=219286898091948