Vancouver Canucks writer Derek Jory called Boston Bruins fans "some of the most hostile out there" in a story he wrote for the Canucks' official website on Tuesday morning. Here's the headline at the top of the story.
Boston sports fans - not just Bruins supporters but Boston fans in general - are regarded as some of the most hostile out there. (via Canucks.NHL.com)
Jory detailed his experience with a group of Canucks fans taking an Old Town Trolley Tour of the city of Boston. Naturally, with the Canucks facing the Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, they weren't received pleasantly.
Starting at the Bobby Orr statue outside TD Garden, more than 40 fanatics piled into trolley 144; some from Boston, some from Vancouver, others from elsewhere, all united by a passion for the Canucks.
Billy Ketch was the driver lucky/unlucky enough to host the tour and before the engine fired up to start the trek, Ketch was on the microphone letting everyone know where his allegiance stood.
"I've got one question for you," Ketch said, "how many Cups have the Canucks won?"
Jory went on to detail his experience on the tour, specifically how the Boston Bruins fans reacted to their presence. In the end, Jory called Canucks fans the "bravest" in the NHL.
Seriously?
While we shouldn't be surprised that such a story came from a writer on the team's official website (they even had the gall to file it in the news section), it's alarming to me that any team writer would call their fan base brave for simply going to a road game and seeing the sights in that city.
As for his absurd comments that Boston fans are some of the "most hostile" fans out there, I issue this question in response - have you ever been on a road trip before in your life?
Of course the fans of the visiting team are going to receive a hard time - not just in Boston, but in any major sports city. Ever been to New York, Jory? Philadelphia? Los Angeles? I doubt their fans are any less 'hostile.'
Jory did detail several cases of some Bruins fans shouting obscenities at them, as well as giving them the middle finger. While I'm certainly not a proponent of that sort of behavior in sports, I know that those kinds of actions occur in every city.
You're telling me that no one swore at Bruins fans or gave them obscene gestures in Vancouver?
All of this is to say one thing - most Boston fans aren't the 'hostile' beasts that Jory is making them out to be.
I'm sorry that you ran into some fans who were discourteous in Boston, but that's going to happen in any city during a major sporting event between two opposing teams. It doesn't make it right, but that's the way it is.
Don't go around accusing Boston fans of being 'hostile' because you ran into some ill-tempered fans on one tour. That's just bad journalism.