don't judge the entire city by the few. I was in the middle of it last night, and there were maybe 50 - 100 people embarrassing our city, out of the hundreds of thousands of people watching in bars, on the streets, at the game, etc.

It was very unfortunate, but there were over 12,000 volunteers coming on to the streets of downtown vancouver in the wee hours of this morning cleaning up the city.

Every city has its ugly side. Just when there is an excuse to gather them all together, this happens. I know you guys make fun of it on the internet, but I was actually there. It was not funny at all. I saw 10 guys flipping a car over right in front of me with the owner (a girl) crying on the side, and I had to walk through tear gas to get home and that thing really stings your respiratory system. It was ugly and embarrassing, yes, but to fix it all back up for people to continue on with their work lives this morning, showed a lot of what this city is about.

At the game, everyone were booing Gary Bettman (as usual) when he first walked out after the game onto the ice, but when focus shifted back to the Bruins, everyone were paying respect and clapping and congratulating them for a well played series. It was actually very classy and I'm proud of that.

Again, don't let the relative few hooligans and idiots ruin your perception of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Let's be honest, there were hundreds if not thousands of people rioting.

There were over 100 police officers on site, I'm sure they could handle 1000 holigans which would have been a 1:1 ratio.

I was living in Vancouver during their last embarassing 'riots' after last time they lost in the Cup final.

Many excuses can be made, but the problem is Vancouver is a huge epicenter of gangs / organized crime which is something many West Coasters like to neglect to mention when they go on about their great city.

Triads, Hells Angels, and the new emerging East Indian gangs are a major part of the city, and I know from personal experience after witnessing endless contractors and businessmen come to the house with manilla envelopes attempting to bribe my father, and then leaving furious, yelling obsenities and dropping names of other politicians they had in their 'pocket' in order to attempt to intimidate him, that Vancouver/Surrey politicians are some of the most corrupt in all of Canada.

After these attempts failed, my house was lit on fire at 4am with the family inside sleeping, because when bribes fail, intimidation tactics are used.

Vancouver is beautiful for it's coastline, moutains, landscape and cultural diversity but it has many huge demons beginning to emerge....

And Ontario is a lot better? Or anywhere else for that matter?

Like I said, don't make us all out to be the same. 1:1 ratio with rioters? You really think that would work? There are tactics that need to be used. My next door neighbor is an RCMP and we chatted a lot about what happened last night. They're not going 1-1 with rioters to "fight", or else innocent bystanders would be hurt.

And yes, I said 50-100 people rioting. 1000's were there and watching or cheering because they were drunk, but 50-100 people actually did something. How do I know? I live here. I was there.

Ahh my point isn't that Ontario is or isn't better. It's that we don't act smug and print "The Best Place On Earth' on our license plates and constantly tout being voted as one of the best cities on the planet.

My issue is not with you Nitrouz, but surely living in Vancouver you must notice the 'Smug' alert is off the charts. It's one of the first things I noticed when I moved into Vancouver was how high on themselves everyone was for living in Vancouver.

Vancouver get's this backlash because they constantly pat themselves on the back for being awesome, and have these slogans on the actual drivers license and license plates about how great a place it is, don't be surprised when other people rub your noses in it a little when the city riots...

I beg to differ. I've lived all over the world (US, Toronto, Vancouver, several countries in Asia, several countries in Europe), and I actually find people here very down to earth and not snobbish at all. And our licence plates all say "Beautiful British Columbia". I love living here because there are beaches, there are mountains. I love fresh seafood too. I love the climate (identifiable 4 seasons, but milder than the interiors. Most recently, I was living in California (both Northern and Southern), and found drastic differences between the two. Maybe my benchmark of "snobby" is different as I used to live in Beverly Hills as well, but here, people are generally very friendly and down to earth.

My apologies if my last post came through a little harsh. I do love this place. And I have many reasons to.

No need to apologize. I love Vancouver, particularly White Rock, where I grew up, and I intend to move back to in the future when my career allows.

Look at the Slogan on the license above the photo, it is quite arrogant and really quite pomp.

http://shalombc.org/sites/default/fi...ce/license.jpg

Unfortunately this is how many people view Vancouver / B.C.

Is "The Best Place on Earth" the worst slogan on planet? - The Search

I really did feel while living in B.C. I was reminded of the American style of childish 'We're the best' in your face attitude where looking down your nose on the rest of Canada was part of the culture, and most are totally unable to tolerate any type of criticism.

This was just my observation and I found it very strange. But apparently as the article I linked to suggests, it is a very real phenominon and many other people have picked up on this.

My best example is the SouthPark episode 'Smug Alert', instead of San Francisco, sub in Vancouver.

Since you moved into Vancouver I'm surprised you haven't noticed all the people who have lived their entire lives have this attitude. When I would comment on how much I loved it there, people would get this"Uhmm of course vancouver is the best, what are you stupid?" look on their faces.

Anyhow, like I said, I intend to move back, and consider myself fortunate to have grown up in White Rock, but I was always very aware of the 'better than the rest of Canada' attitude the province seems to convey.

really? cuz this is how i view canada


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...t5m/canada.jpg


:bowrofl: hehehe

:icon18:

me too.

PS--dind't vancouver riot the last time they lost the Cup which was to the Rangers? iirc?

:roflpuke2:

whats the difference between vancouver and 2 girls?




















At least the 2 girls had 1 cup.

^^^ hahahahaha