| Lifting my shirt while strolling along 17th Avenue S.W. seems like a natural thing to do.
So does screaming "whoo hoo" and "go Flames go," fists raised in the air.
Isn’t this how the party starts on the Red Mile – especially right after a Flames game with fans making their way westward from the Saddledome along the avenue?
Surely these actions are worthy of a spot on crazy-party-guy websites everywhere. But nothing. Not one heckle. No bursts of laughter. No offers for a round of the horizontal mambo. No strobe-light explosions of camera flashes. No one joining in on the screaming.
Only the sound of cars driving down the avenue. (There may be other reasons, but that’s beside the point.)
In 2004, in the formative stages of the Red Mile, a flash of anyone’s bits – especially women’s – couldn’t go unnoticed or undetected by a digital or cellphone camera. Oh yeah, in 2004, no cars could drive the avenue, as it quickly became a pedestrian-only zone.
Oh, how times change.
The reality is, the regular season Red Mile doesn’t hold a torch to the playoff Red Mile of 2004. Regardless of which night the Calgary Flames play, the strip lacks bodies and screaming hordes of hockey fans, or would-be hockey fans. Simply put, for now, the Red Mile exists only in lore.
The lack of bodies has nothing to do with waning support for the Flames. Rather, it has more to do with the tedium of the NHL’s overly long regular season and the lack of that do-or-die suspense the playoffs bring.
Walk 17th Avenue, though, and signs of the Flames’ 2004 run at the Stanley Cup remain everywhere. Chairs with flaming Cs sit on balconies while weather-beaten Flames flags fly from others. Signs jump out from food-joint windows declaring the area between about Fourth and 14th Streets as the Red Mile. Other establishments display Red Mile "street signs" prominently inside their cozy confines, laying claim as a hot spot on playoff-party central. Yet other establishments park Red Mile-emblazoned vehicles out front, letting folks know the spot is "hockey-fan friendly."
During the regular season, on home-game nights, prior to faceoff, there’s a tizzy in the air along the strip. Cars with the miniature Flames flags flying from their windows appear everywhere. People on both sides of the avenue sport Flames jerseys and green hard hats (a throwback to the 2003-04 season, when Flames players awarded a green hard hat to the unsung hard worker of each game), showing their support for the local NHL squad.
Restaurants and bars house many of these jerseyed folks stopping in for a pre-game meal and drink. About a half-hour before the puck drops, though, many of the people cloistered inside the bars and restaurants begin their eastward walk to the ’Dome. The hockey fans leave the area and, soon after, the avenue returns to its typical state, full of the usual suspects.
There’s no "let’s go to the Red Mile" mentality among Calgarians during the regular season. There are numerous good restaurants, bars and clubs along 17th, but during the lead-up to the playoffs, when the games are over, the establishments attract only those who typically go there in the first place.
Come the playoffs, though, watch the change take place.
On game night, people will flood 17th simply to see what’s happening. One thing they’re likely to come across – more people being arrested for public urination. With the removal of the three-metre-high hedges from in front of Western Canada High School, those feeling the urge have fewer options for relief.
Oh yeah, the street will also be filled with people shouting, chanting, flashing their bits and generally having a good time. |
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