Vancouver evokes infamous sports riots

A couple appears to be preparing to make love, not war, in an ironic image from the Vancouver riots.

The city of Vancouver put its worst foot forward on Wednesday, rioting into the night after the Canucks' loss to the Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

Nearly 100 people were arrested and almost 150 injured in a widespread disturbance that included the burning of 15 cars and vandalism of approximately 50 businesses. Total damages are expected to run well into the millions of dollars.

In addition to widespread vandalism and massive fires, the Associated Press reported that "rivers of poured-out alcohol, broken glass and trash made navigating the streets treacherous" in Vancouver.

Stay classy, British Columbia.

If all that wasn't bad enough, consider that Vancouver also rioted following the Canucks' Game 7 loss to the Rangers in the 1994 Stanley Cup finals -- a game which was played in New York.

However, Vancouver is hardly the first city to erode into disorder following a major sporting event. That's why Page 2 advises you to put on your riot gear and grab a couple canisters of tear gas as we head into the fray to compile a list of the most infamous sports disturbances in history ... and we promise not to make any jokes about these guys.

Just who were those people? And how did they get caught up in such a passionate kiss, right there in the middle of the riots in Vancouver, British Columbia? There was anger and violence all around them -- the Vancouver Canucks had just lost to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of hockey's Stanley Cup finals.

The picture of them, by Vancouver freelance photographer Richard Lam, has gone viral on the Web. One headline called it "love among the ruins."

The young lovers -- if Australia's Channel 9 has the story right -- are Scott Jones, 29, from the Australian city of Perth, and his Canadian girlfriend, Alex Thomas. The Vancouver Sun said Thomas is a student at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Scott was outed by his family, according to Channel 9. His father, Brett, posted the picture on Facebook with the line, "This is my Son.

 

"Hows (sic) that for making love not war!"

His mother, Megan Jones, was interviewed by Australian news media.

"It is something he would do, that's our boy," she was quoted as saying on Channel 9. "He has always lived in his own world, he's special like that. He doesn't always connect with what going on around him."

She said her son was doing standup comedy while traveling in Canada.

"I knew it was him because he doesn't have a lot of clothes with him and he always puts on the same thing."

Lam, the photographer, said he didn't think about the picture because there was such violence around him. Almost 150 people required hospital treatment and close to 100 were arrested in the riots that followed Wednesday night's game.