Fuck Urban Barn

Thanks to some people with a bad sense of timing, I ended up watching part of the semi-final game on the window display at Urban Barn (@ Howe & Robson). So when I arrived downtown on Sunday at 11:25ish, I figured I would grab a Shawarma because I had to skip breakfast since I woke up late. I underestimated the wait and only got food 25 minutes later. No worries, I'll just watch the HDTVs outside Urban Barn. Problem: the crowd literally tripled if not quadrupled outside Urban Barn; I estimated 40-50 people at least. Luckily I was able to get a good position near the screen and aside from some inconsiderate pricks obstructing the lower left hand corner, I had a good view of the action.

After 1.5 periods, someone from Urban Barn emerged and turned off both display TVs and I believed that he claimed that the cops made him do it. After a collective groan, the crowd mopishly dispersed desperately searching for the nearest screen. Then miraculously both TVs came back on and people swarmed back to the TVs. Turns out some kid had a universal remote handy and he even proceeded to turn the volume to the max. Whether he just purchased the remote at the dollar store or he just happened to be carrying one, we were glad the game was back on. Near the end of the 2nd period, the Urban Barn manager(?) returned once again to shut the TVs off. A cop also pulled up on the curb and told us to stop blocking the sidewalk. A "Fuck Urban Barn" broke out and I thought that was it, so I crossed the street and desperately tried to view the Robson Square big screen around a sea of heads. It was hopeless as I could barely see the screen and the third period was mostly a blur.

I was in total desperation mode and decided to try my luck at the CTV booth at Robson & Burrard. The viewing distance would've been brutal, but at least I could see the entire screen. But then I noticed that the TVs at Urban Barn were back on, so I managed to stake a position to the left of one of the TVs. The sun was starting to shine and the mirror reflection was wreaking havoc on my viewing experience. It was as if someone increased my latency to 500ms as I needed an extra half second to process events on-screen. Both the Crosby and Praise goals also happened extremely quickly, which didn't help.

Overall it was still a tremendous experience seeing the pure elation and patriotic fervor that ensued.