Lol i love dumb American fans

[Duncan]

haha, how does anything these idiots say make sense?

i wonder if anyone told that dumbass that there are more canadians on the bruins than the canucks lol...

Oh, NSFW language

[nature boy]

lol, i have a feeling that these guys are just bandwagoners. they're just wanting to belong to something, be known as a true "patriot" or something like that.

we have those in vancouver too.

[joel]

yeah there are a lot of non-hockey fans at my work who are all of a sudden following the nucks b/c they are in the scf... but i still think its good bandwagon or not. its good to have the city united and excited about something. hopefully they can do it tomorrow! go canucks go!

[nature boy]

funny you bring that up. i was thinking about that argument about "uniting" the city, and i actually don't think it's uniting. sure, it may bring some people joy and others are just having fun with it, but i wouldn't say it's "uniting" because of attitudes like the video above.

when cheering for a team becomes "cool", then you have those fundamentals who take it to the next level like those kids up there. thus, you end up with people feeling more alienated rather than united. it creates another "elite" crowd of those who can spout out the different players' names and stats and sets them apart from those who think it's silly to "live for" a team that gives no guarantees.

it will be interesting to see how the city reacts to the outcome of tomorrow's game. i really hope there won't be any rioting as circumstance has me in downtown tomorrow.

[joel]

i can't comment on the video since i haven't seen it. but my reference to the "city united" was just a general statement. the majority of locals are all routing for the nucks whether they are "elite" are "non-elite" or know nothing about hockey. "United" as in everyone is cheering for the same goal. I am not trying to say it's bring the local community permanently closer by any means.

[nature boy]

my comment wasn't necessarily directed at you joel, but more towards those who say that sports are great because it unites people together. i heard this a lot when the olympics were in town and i was just saying that i didn't understand the hype. and the comment that i got most from saying that was that it "unites" the city. i'm just saying that it doesn't.

[Duncan]

i think uniting means that it brings people of a common interest together, and that common people will never be 100% of the population. I guess you could look at your way saying that this canucks thing is bringing about elitists and isolating those who aren't fans, but you could say that happens when anything brings anyone together.

Kinda like you can't ever be 100% PC. If you're PC, then you offend people who don't believe in certain rights like gay marriages. And obviously vice versa.

I think what this hockey fanaticism is doing is it's uniting hockey/sport fans. That's about it. I see it bringing people together at work who don't normally talk to each other talk about the canucks and some even evolved their conversations to off hockey topic things like family. in that sense, i think the topic of hockey is uniting people, just not all people.

i think you not understanding the hype is valid because you're not as big of a hockey/sports fan. It's kinda like me saying i don't understand the hype about VWs.. lol... just my two cents

[nature boy]

i don't take time off work to go drive a vw though. one of winnie's friends told her that she couldn't wait until the playoffs are done so her "life can go back to normal". to be honest, i have no problem with people being fans or all the hype, i just don't understand how some people can't see it as a form of idolatry.

my cousin has been a sports fan ever since he was a kid. he never cried as a toddler when he got hurt because "football players don't cry". true story. anyway, his fb statues have been all about bashing the bandwagoners for the past few weeks. he hates them. that's what i was talking about when i said this "elitism" that comes from some of these fans.

[nature boy]

oh yeah, and winnie's same friend cancelled all her clients for tomorrow, because either she'll be too hungover from celebrating or too sad from sulking. really? over a game that she had nothing invested in? it's not like she trained them or pays them or even knows them personally. i don't get how a game could affect someone's life so drastically that they'd have to take a day off work.

[Duncan]

I think you're talking about extreme fanaticism though. You can't generalize all fans in that mold. There will be those who take it to that next level, but there are also those who just like it and watch it. It's not like it's taking over everyone's life though. Sure i can see how it can become a way of idolatry, and you don't take a day off work to drive your vw, but if there's a vw you really want, you'd go that extra mile to get it like driving all the way to chilliwack to pick up your vw or where ever it was just because they had the colour or whatever you wanted. You don't know the VW CEOs or designers or engineers, but you enjoy their product. And that's exactly what sports is. It's a product, and people enjoy the entertainment of their local sports team. You may not take a day off to recuperate from a hang over, or take a day off to watch the game, but you take a day off to go to vegas because you're a fan of the good times there. I dunno, imo it's the same thing. Take a day off for what's important to you.

You can slice it up in any way, truth be told, everyone has their idols. Don't misunderstand, i'm not attacking VWs or you personally by isolating your affection for VWs, but just because some people will be hung over tomorrow doesn't mean everyone will be. Some people get drunk and hung over celebrating their friend's wedding... Yes, you have a point in saying that none of us personally know the canucks or trained them, and it's different celebrating a friends wedding because you know them, but when has anyone in history needed a "real" excuse to drink. haha...

i think this whole thing is so polarizing because it's such a big deal in this city. Some people love it and some people hate it. Just because some people love it, why do you have to dislike those people, and just because some people don't like it, why do you have to dislike those people? cant' we all just get along. If you don't like it, then don't watch it... there's always Wicked playing at the QE tonight... lols... jkjk

[joel]

the "bandwagoner bashing" i think is more of an extreme example than the norm.

I wouldn't go as far to say its idolatry either. they may get wrapped up or a little too involved into this one game more than necessary, but it's not to point where they serve it or worship it. If they do, again i think it's the extreme case.

as for winnie's friend, their win or loss seems more like an excuse to party or not deal with clients the next day more than actually day long spent in grief... if it does, then again probably an extreme case.

many are excited simply because its something to be excited about. Others realise that this is potentially a once in a lifetime moment and want to be a apart of it somehow. Then others simply like the sport of hockey.

[[JT]]

hard to maintain your street cred when a pack of segways run through your group

[nature boy]