exhiliaration in the streets of edmonton

june 25 2006

I am not a hard core sports fan and neither am I a hockey fan in any way really except that my neighbours and I that live along Victoria Promenade in Edmontonwalked along the Saskatchewan River Valley's edge to Michael's Bar and Grill just down the street to view the 2006 Stanley Cup series on a large screen while sharing a jug of beer and barbecued ribs and shouts of support for the Edmonton Oilers as they targeted the one hundred and fourteen year old Stanley Cup

The most exciting moment for me was in the fifth game overtime escalation  as we sat up front by the wide screen and after three minutes of overtime Pasani's shot winged it into the Carolina Hurricane's net over Cam Ward's shoulder

I felt spoiled at this moment because I had not collected hockey cards and I hadn't been a diligent follower of all the games from scratch in the monotonous moments my support for the oilers had been zero and I had not nursed a hockey son and I was not the right sex to have coached a hockey team of boys but then Icould fly in at high tide and gather the winds of this hockey excitement yes I felt spoiled

the collective excitement over the Oilers game was contagious and I really did not have an established immune system to resist this kind of excitement there was endless honking in the streets shouts of jubilation a joyful release of contained energy and the spirit of brotherhood amongst  Edmontonians  expanded to draw the entire city into the hold of the Stanley Cup series

we waved our Edmonton Oilers banners and honking cars replied and I wore my festival hat borrowed from the Calgary stampede a black cowboy hat with a silver band to turn tricks of magic in the streets and on Whyte Avenue pedestrians gave hundreds of high fives to one another until their hands ached to connect with other pedestrians

and this brought the masses close together in a fashionably intimate way and this was the true mobocracy as the masses used the technique of scardatura to alter the   normal tuning of the music of the streets

but I felt that the real truth of these events was not about winning an internationally broadcasted hockey match and clutching the street pavement with artificial roots but it was about a strong sense of universal brotherhood a reason to get together in celebration in a high keyed kind of way even if it was from some perspectives frivolous I noticed a day care of three year olds that wore Edmonton Oilers t-shirts and an elderly lady blew a whistle to cheer on the Oilers after the sixth game victory against the Carolina Hurricanes the mood was exagerated all encompassing and included all ages

the world is weary there are more profound ways to celebrate in the streets like for example to celebrate the christmas spirit but you must look quietly inside for these celebrations you must consider not only the joy but the crucifixion of humanity and the cultural leanings the soft exclusions tug at the heartstring

multiculturalism in Canada is one of the proudest gifts that Canadians have to offer and I exalt myself in the celebration of my four ancestries french italian german and irish and I exalt my neighbours in the celebration of their cultures 

but humanity is founded on contradictions on the building blocks  of civilization and there are always drawbacks to consider there is no easy integration there is strained and stained immigration laws and segregation

and what seemed to be more important than winning the Edmonton Oilers vsthe Carolina Hurricane game is that we celebrated the essential part of our existence that we were canadians and more im[ortant than that the all encompassing spirit of humanity that reached out through frivolous celebration to a common human esprit with nothing really to celebrateand everything to celebrate dancing across the evergreen landscape of our human hearts and minds

I hope the Americans enjoyed this series as much as the Canadians have and whoever wins this Stanley Cup tonight it is true will continue their jubilation  but tomorrow it will not matter and we will realize that we are all winners because we connected and there will be the sweet marsescence of the flower of international sport where enthusiasm may wither but still clings to the stem of brotherhood