Vancouver riots show darkest side of sports

Ian Lindsay/Postmedia News Service

Vancouver has been transformed into a war zone following the violent riots that broke out after the

Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals last night.

When I said that the Vancouver Canucks fans would tear the city apart if their team lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, I didn't envision the carnage that thousands of angry rioters would unleash on streets of the city.

Cars, burned. Stores, smashed and looted. People, hanging from traffic lights. Rioters, clashing with overwhelmed police forces.

The scene seems like it was plucked right from an urban war zone in the Middle East, not from the aftermath of a sporting event. But that's the reality of what we've witnessed in Vancouver since the Bruins won the Stanley Cup last night. All hell broke loose.

In the eyes of the most ardent of fans, the Canucks' defeat in the Stanley Cup finals must feel like nothing short of a tragedy. I've been there. The Mets have given me plenty to be angry at over the past six years, but you don't see Queens burning the way Vancouver has been ignited.

But unlike real life, there are very few examples of true tragedy in sports. A game can never be a matter of life and death. If it was, it wouldn't be a game.

But sometimes out of sports, fanatical fans and their reactions can produce real life tragedy. Take San Francisco Giants fan Brian Stow for example. All he did was support his team by going to see his Giants play the Dodgers in Los Angeles on opening day this year. After the game, he was beaten senselessly and left for dead in the parking lot. He remains in a coma.

Rich Lam/Getty Images

Now, we have another case of sports fans taking their sports too seriously, going too far.

After the Canucks lost to the Rangers in seven games in the Stanley Cup finals in 1994, the city witnessed similar riots, but not to the extent of what came to pass last night. Over 150 people have been hospitalized, some even with stab wounds. One man remains in critical condition, after falling in the riots.

Ultimately, at the core being a fan of a team is all about pride. Canadian hockey fans are some of the most loyal and dedicated sports fans out there. But when you act as the Canucks fans have acted; when you take it to the n'th degree, as they did last night, you forfeit that pride and exchange your fan card for something much darker.

You bring shame not only to the organization you root for, but to your city as a whole.

Maybe the reasoning (if any) behind such behavior is to take the attention off the painful loss that your team has suffered.

Instead of talking about Roberto Luongo and the Canucks' implosion in the Stanley Cup finals, we're talking about an entire city's implosion.

But is that really any better?