Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Canuck Fan Condition

By Lisa Ovens

Well let's see ...so far we've has a sum total of two home games this post season. What does that get us? The Province Newspaper is asking readers for parade route ideas, a facebook group has been created to petition the engraving of the late Luc Bourdon's name onto the Stanley Cup the Canucks have yet to win, and we've had our first riot in Surrey, oops, my mistake, our first riot at the Surrey/ Delta border (Surrey slash Delta: what? Neither area wants to own up to the riot so they decided to share it?).

The Canuck fan condition at its peak? I doubt it.

I love the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and I am forever fascinated by what it does to everybody. When the Canucks are in the playoffs, there are two kinds of fans: those that get ahead of themselves and think the Cup is ours, and those that don't. And listening to the two groups clash has become a regular event for me these days. One side gets pumped up, and then the other side swoops in and tries to settle it down.

These are exciting times, and reveling in our first ever sweep is pretty cool. Yes, we are on our way to somewhere. Personally once I see the Aston Martin DB9's cruising around the Westside accessorized with Canuck car flags, I will know the fever has thoroughly spread. Until such time, I'll continue to check out the crazy Canuck online poll questions, peruse new Canucks Facebook groups, and make time to sneak away from the Internet, the chatter on sports talk radio, and soak up a little sun while its here. Living in the moment is about all I can do.

The Canuck Fan Tradition:

There are fans out there wanting to establish new Vancouver Canucks playoff traditions. I guess the simplicity of waving a white towel isn't enough for some anymore. Singing one verse of the anthem without the aid of the anthem singer doesn't cut it either, despite the fact fans in other NHL Cities love the way we do it here in Vancouver.

Thanks to Calgary's mighty Sea of Red, some Canuck fans, especially the younger ones, are either suffering from feelings of inadequacy or just desperate for something to call their own. Color coordinating the crowd in GM Place will take some time and some work. The Flying V and Skate logo enthusiasts aren't about to change to the new colors and logo now.

How many traditions do we really need? Are people really going for quantity over quality? For those wanting more consider early parade route planning a tradition. And due to multiple Canucks uniforms and logos, we could add identity crisis to the list.

But still we should feel good about the playoff traditions already in place.

Have no fear, little ones, ours is a Sea of Eras, and it sings in unison, united by white terry cloth and the enduring desire to see the Canucks and the Stanley Cup slowly make their way down our city streets.

About the Author:

0 comments:

Post a Comment