The Maurice Richard Riot of March 17 1955
On March 17, 1955, more than 10,000 crazed hockey fans from inside the Montreal Forum and from the streets outside gathered together to protest the suspension of Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. An outraged fan slapped and punched the president of the National Hockey League, Clarence Campbell who was quietly sitting among the spectators. This "seven-hour rampage of destruction and looting" was a result of this attack that occurred during the game that opposed the Montreal Canadians and the Detroit Red Wings (Zacharias, 2000). During this riot, there were many people who were injured and over 100 fans were arrest.
To understand this phenomenon we must go back to March 13, 1955. On this date, the Montreal Canadians were playing a game in Boston against the Bruins. One of the opposing players, Hal Laycoe, high-sticked Maurice Richard, injuring him to the point of requiring eight stitches on his scalp. Richard retaliated by smashing his own stick over Laycoe's head and shoulders and slashed him with another player's stick until it splintered. Becoming annoyed with the official's interference in the fight, Richard then turned and punched him. Since hitting an official was the least honorable thing to do, Richard was expelled from the game (2000).
The next important date is March 16, the day before the riot. The National Hockey League president, Mr. Clarence Campbell held a three-hour hearing which resulted in the suspension of "The Rocket" for the remaining games of the regular season, including those during the playoffs. Montrealers were furious because Richard was a demi-god to them. They tried to intimidate Campbell with death threats, but he refused to withdraw the suspension (Coleman, 1976).
The next day, March 17, the Canadians were scheduled to play the Detroit Red Wings at the Forum in Montreal. The mood of the spectators was fowled even more by the fact that the Wings were a point behind Richard's team in the standings. A crowd of nearly 800 protestors had already gathered around the Forum by game time. Due to these manifestations, extra police forces were called to the scene. Officials pleaded with Campbell, asking him not to appear at the game. He ignored them and quietly made his way to his seat. The fans noticed him and threw peanuts, eggs and programs at him.
Maurice Richard was the hero of the French Canadian people and his dedication to his game was no different from the dedication to his family and his work and his love for the French Canadian people. He went on to win many awards in hockey and in his personal life that honored him as the role model for all French Canadian.
This caused more anger among the students, and added more people to the rebellion that would otherwise not have become involved. On May 4th 1970, when rallies surfaced again in the commons area, tear gas was used to disperse the crowd. The conflict between students and the National Guard had begun to expand, and the cursing and rock throwing were increasing the tension in the air. The Guard ordered the students to retreat and as the crowds began to break up, it appeared the Guard was also retreating. Then the shots were heard.
The most memorable moment in hockey history came thirty-four years ago with the 1980 Miracle on Ice. The Americans defeating the dominant Soviet team at the Olympics was not only an important triumph for USA Hockey, but for the entire nation. Contrary to popular belief, the underdog win was not only the result of a miracle; it was also the result of a hard-working team led by Coach Herb Brooks. With increasingly negative views on the position of the United States in the Cold War, the Miracle on Ice and the gold medal win lifted the spirits of the nation and brought hockey into the American spotlight.
Even though many of the protesters were severely beaten, they still stood their stance and got the message out. What is a Riot? According to Encyclopedia.gov a riot “is a social occasion involving relatively spontaneous collective violence directed at property, persons, or authority.” There are five main
On July 27, 1919, a young black man named Eugene Williams swam past an invisible line of segregation at a popular public beach on Lake Michigan, Chicago. He was stoned by several white bystanders, knocked unconscious and drowned, and his death set off one of the bloodiest riots in Chicago’s history (Shogun 96). The Chicago race riot was not the result of the incident alone. Several factors, including the economic, social and political differences between blacks and whites, the post-war atmosphere and the psychology of race relations in 1919, combined to make Chicago a prime target for this event. Although the riot was a catalyst for several short-term solutions to the racial tensions, it did little to improve race relations in the long run. It was many years before the nation truly addressed the underlying conflicts that sparked the riot of 1919. This observation is reflected in many of author James Baldwin’s essays in which he emphasizes that positive change can only occur when both races recognize the Negro as an equal among men politically, economically and socially.
The Newark riots of 1967 were very extreme and terrible time in Newark, New Jersey, one of the worst in U.S. history. The riots were between African-Americans and white residents, police officers and the National Guard. The riots were not unexpected. The tension between the city grew tremendously during the 1960's, due to lack of employment for Blacks, inadequate housing, police brutality and political exclusion of blacks from government.
hockey grew, so did the sport. After various problems between teams playing with different rules, McGill University stepped in
…There was no question of celebration in the minds of the fans who invaded from the West end of the ground. They had violence in mind and no sooner was it offered than it was returned with enthusiasm. The brutal and disgusting scenes which followed as bottles flew and drunken supporters charged and counter-charged from one end of the field to that other, brought disgrace upon the two clubs concerned, upon Scottish football generally, and were an affront to Scotland as a nation (Murray 196).
The Chicago riot was the most serious of the multiple that happened during the Progressive Era. The riot started on July 27th after a seventeen year old African American, Eugene Williams, did not know what he was doing and obliviously crossed the boundary of a city beach. Consequently, a white man on the beach began stoning him. Williams, exhausted, could not get himself out of the water and eventually drowned. The police officer at the scene refused to listen to eyewitness accounts and restrained from arresting the white man. With this in mind, African Americans attacked the police officer. As word spread of the violence, and the accounts distorted themselves, almost all areas in the city, black and white neighborhoods, became informed. By Monday morning, everyone went to work and went about their business as usual, but on their way home, African Americans were pulled from trolleys and beaten, stabbed, and shot by white “ruffians”. Whites raided the black neighborhoods and shot people from their cars randomly, as well as threw rocks at their windows. In retaliation, African Americans mounted sniper ambushes and physically fought back. Despite the call to the Illinois militia to help the Chicago police on the fourth day, the rioting did not subside until the sixth day. Even then, thirty eight
“April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you!? You were sittin' home watchin' your TV, while I was paticipatin' in some anarchy,” these are the lyrics Sublime uses in their song ‘April 26, 1992’ to describe what happened during the Los Angeles Riots of 1992. “First spot we hit it was my liquor store. I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford. With red lights flashin' time to retire, And then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire,” people ,running through the streets, had no pity when demolishing small businesses and taking what ever they may want from them. The streets, neighborhoods, businesses were destroyed by angry protesters. Their reasons were clear, all they wanted was some justice. A video tape of four L.A.P.D police officers brutally beating a male (Rodney King) without any sympathy was made public, which started the bomb track. “Let it burn, wanna let it burn, wanna let it burn, wanna wanna let it burn,” says the song when describing the riots. Throughout these days there was an estimate of more than 50 killed, over 4 thousand injured, and 12,000 people arrested. The damage caused in the city was about one billion dollars, damage that is believed was never fully repaired. The riots and destruction that went on for about a week that showed the people’s rage and that they were not going to tolerate the injustices committed by the authorities.
March 8th, 2004 was supposed to be nothing more than a competitive and action packed regular season hockey game between feuding rivals, the Colorado Avalanche and the Vancouver Canucks. The game slipped away from the Canucks, with the Avalanche up 6-2 heading into the third period. The heated contested already had its fair share of fighting majors, but an incident that happened late in the third period shocked the more than 18,000 fans in attendance at Rogers Arena, the hockey community, and North America. After failing to instigate a fight with Avalanche forward Steve Moore, Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks grabbed the back of Moore’s jersey, landed a vicious punch to the back of Moore’s head, before slamming him face first on the ice and falling on top of him. Moore had to be helped off the ice on a stretcher, and has never returned to the NHL. Bertuzzi, on the other hand, was suspended for 20 games by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and is still playing in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings. This is one of many examples of deviance in sports, and how a win-at-all costs mentality can drive athletes to act in extreme manners. As a result of the growing commercialization of sports, athletes are socialized at young ages to believe that winning is everything, and that stopping at nothing will help you succeed. Athletes will do almost anything to gain the upper hand in their respective sports, whether it is through engaging in excessive on-field violence or through the use of performance enhancing drugs, excessively committing themselves to their sport, or by violating league rules and policies. In sports, deviance is viewed in a different light than in the outside world. As professional athletes strive towards conforming to spor...
...ation focuses on four events that "wrenched the national psyche”: the Senate's rejection of Woodrow Wilson's proposal for a League of Nations; the anti-Bolshevik hysteria that resulted in widespread violence; the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment and the advent of Prohibition; and the rigged World Series. Asinof, keeps tabs on "self-deceivers and opportunists,” which include Woodrow Wilson, Secretary Edward House, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, gangster Al Capone; and gambler Arnold Rothstein. He points out how the Red Scare, led to attacks against civil rights, and argues that Prohibition led to Americans becoming "inured to the finer points of lawlessness." According to Asinof, the Black Sox were the most telling incident in the country's loss of innocence, and he gives an in depth account of it in a dark but highly readable report on a traumatic year.
...yed a show in Philadelphia. Several local officers of the law threatened to go on a local television affiliate to defame rage. They backed down when they heard that two members of the band would be there to debate them.
"Verbal Abuse Causes Hockey Refs to Quit." Global News. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.
There were several causes which led to this riot and the immediate cause was racial tension. Racism tends to persist most readily when there are obvious physical differences among groups e.g. “Black” and “white” differences. This no doubt results in attempts to limit economic opportunities, to preserve status, to deny equal protection under law and to maintain cheap labor. Discrimination was represented ...