Well if you're already dressed for the party you hate to waste it. </sarcasm>

Even if the local team had won, the riots last night still would of happened. This riot was premeditated, pure and simple as there has been local chatter and also on Facebook, Twitter etc recently of a riot on final game night. It must be said that In all previous semi and quarter final home games, thousands of people gathered peacefully night after night in this same area and there was no real trouble to speak of.

I cannot agree more. There are many other stories today of people walking out and ending up with sore muscles, blistered feet etc. Having even a minimal kit could possibly alleviate some of this.

Avoid sports fans. The louder, more enthusiastic, and color coded the crowd the wider the berth you give them.

People who get their thrills vicariously, and who feel the need to demonstrate unilateral and unrequited affiliation with a group of overpaid and mercenary free agents through the wearing of team colors, are inherently unstable.

The good news is that sports riots, unlike rioting caused by poverty and hopelessness, are predictable in that their riots are near in time and space to a sporting event of home town of one of the teams.

Stay out of towns with major events. Stay out from around the sporting venue. Monitor the sound of the crowd for excitement, urgency, and level of drunkenness. When these measures start to form interlocking rising waves, with one rise feeding the other it is time, past time, to leave.

Fights will often start and build near alcohol outlets, bars, and nightclubs. Know which streets are considered the 'strip' or party area. Moving up or down, along, the strip will provide little improvement. Moving a few blocks perpendicular to the strip will often see a large difference in drunken craziness.

In my experience riots don't just pop up. They build slowly and give a lot of warning to anyone who stays aware and alert. Sporting event provide days, weeks, of warning. The Rodney King , LA, riots were pretty much expected by everyone in the area weeks before the verdict.

But even assuming you miss the preliminaries, and the warning signs it has to be noted that riots are a whole lot of commotion in a small place. Typically if you walk a few blocks in the right direction the riots are little more than a noise in the distance.

Riots are horrible. It's now thought the riots in Vancouver were pushed to new levels by anarchists who brought hammers and Molotov cocktails Into the fan zone to ramp up the behavior. Whether it's Battle For Seattle or the Olympics, Anarchists in the PNW are pretty well entrenched. I remember the EArth Liberation Front destroyed a building at Wash. St. University to release veterinary animals which killed most of them when they were released.

One thing that needs to be pointed out is that, as of the last I checked, there was only one person dead from these riots. Seems our Canadian friends are moderate even in their rioting.

One dead is hardly much of a riot in the US. Most US cities the size of Vancouver have at least one on a slab most weekends. And that without any major sporting events. For mayhem the US is still #1 among developed nations. We also lead the world in percentage incarcerated.

The U.S. is also relatively open and honest about what's really going on in our country, and we tend to report our stats honestly or more accurately.

With all due respect, young people proud of setting a police car on fire, smashing windows and stealing has little to do with any game, except for the date, the convenience of crowd and a good excuse to riot. Look at their faces. Those guys were troublemakers, pure and simple.They're cool. They're proud.

Some say there were professional anarchists involved in this riot and the one in Toronto last year. I can buy that. It's just the right scale. Royal wedding? Too big, too much security.

I don't think it matters whether it's a sports event, politcal, or whatever. Large crowds are going to be a problem, especially when the eyes of the world are watching.

My solution? Stay away. Work in the area? Book vacation. Live in the area? Take a vacation and bug-out for a little while.

just a comment for you that might travel international...my first duty assignment was to Japan (1970) and although I have a degree in political science, working the trick schedule we were on, the date didn't register as significant (May 1)... I was downtown Fukuoka, and heard a parade coming down the road..shouting with red banners and flags... as I pushed near the curb for a view, a Japanese gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and said, "it would be better for you to come inside my store"...Japanese PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. Party May Day Celebration

second time was a little more un announced... couple of years later in the Philippines, I was leaving an establishment that served adult beverages a little past midnight, and a gentleman from the Philippine Constabulary with bayonet fixed to a M16 announced "you come with me pfleese" and escorted me to jail... martial law had been ordered and a midnight curfew established...I wasn't alone

NightHiker... thank you for the clarification... I always try to be polite and civil