CFL fan's assault stuns footballers
Avid Lions supporter allegedly sucker-punched in bar remains in intensive care
By Wendy Mclellan, The Province
March 20, 2009
Ritch Dowrey, who was punched in the head in the Fountainhead Pub and is unresponsive in hospital, is one of the best-known football fans in Canada. His handle on football message boards is 3rdDown.
Photograph by: Handout, Facebook
Canadian football fans were stunned to learn that one of the most vocal CFL fans in the country is in Vancouver General Hospital with a serious head injury.
Ritch Dowrey, 62, was punched in the face at a Davie Street pub last Friday, apparently without warning. The man who allegedly hit him, 35-year-old Shawn Woodward of Vancouver, has been charged with aggravated assault and is scheduled to appear in court today.
Dowrey, the father of two grown children, is in the intensive-care unit with stable vital signs, but remains unresponsive, according to a VGH spokesman.
The Vancouver man is a graduate of West Vancouver's Sentinel high school and Simon Fraser University and active on many CFL fan sites using the nickname "3rdDown."
Many of the sites are filled with dozens of messages of shock over the attack and support for Dowrey, a passionate B.C. Lions fan since the team began in the 1950s, according to one fellow fan.
"Ritch is a legend on CFL fan forums and is loved from coast to coast," said Jean-Guy Dauphinais of Regina. "I've had many great chats with him and he's the type of guy who would do anything for anyone, which is why I can't believe this happened to him."
Matt Giesbrecht, a Winnipeg-based fan, said he doesn't know Dowrey personally, but his passion for football is famous.
"I could talk about what a great CFL fan he is, what a great Lions fan he is and how his love for the game is unparalleled," Giesbrecht said. "He always came across as a genuinely caring guy who went out of his way to make new fans to the game or to the boards feel welcome.
"I am just saddened and angry by this news, and hoping Ritch can pull through."
Coquitlam resident Derek Dale, who runs the fan forums lionbackers.com and 13thman.com, said he knows Dowrey through the message boards and they have met at pregame tailgate parties outside B.C. Place Stadium.
"He could be pretty confrontational -- I kicked him off both my sites -- but that doesn't mean I didn't like him in person," Dale said.
Brian Wawryshyn said Dowrey is passionate about the CFL and the Lions in particular.
"Ritch is a walking CFL encyclopedia and has friends across the country through his travels following the game," Wawryshyn said. "Always smiling, always out to have fun. Ritch is the last person that would start any altercation, and I have no doubt he did nothing to deserve this horrible fate.
"Our CFL community is rocked by this news, and we are all praying for Ritch. He's a strong-willed and stubborn guy, who isn't going down without a fight."
Dowrey was at the West End's Fountainhead pub with a friend March 13 for a game of pool and a few drinks. His friend said Dowrey was standing near the pool table when a man punched him in the face without warning, then walked out of the bar. Witnesses chased him outside and held him until police arrived.
Dowrey's friends say the assault may be a hate crime; the attacker allegedly told people that he punched Dowrey because he was a "faggot" and had touched him.
wmclellan@theprovince.com
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