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Ritch Dowery AKA third down

General Taylor

By General Taylor
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General Taylor Newbie

General Taylor

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Posted

This guy was a gem many years ago posting on ourbombers, 13th man and all the old message boards.. Received word he passed away this morning. Guy was a huge Lions fan and loved the CFL.. Had a serious incident that stopped him from posting on the boards many years ago. 

 

RIP Rtch.

NotoriousBIG Newbie

NotoriousBIG

Posted
Posted

This guy was a gem many years ago posting on ourbombers, 13th man and all the old message boards.. Received word he passed away this morning. Guy was a huge Lions fan and loved the CFL.. Had a serious incident that stopped him from posting on the boards many years ago. 

 

RIP Rtch.

 

So sad. RIP Ritch. 

B-F-F-C Newbie

B-F-F-C

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Rest in  peace my friend.   In your memory I'm enjoying a three olive gin martini as I write this.  

 

A senseless  act of bravado by some neanderthal ended your life and took away a very good friend of the CFL.  Till we meet again my friend.    

gbill2004 Newbie

gbill2004

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Rest in peace my friend. In your memory I'm enjoying a three olive gin martini as I write this.

A senseless act of bravado by some neanderthal ended your life and took away a very good friend of the CFL. Till we meet again my friend.

What happened?

B-F-F-C Newbie

B-F-F-C

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There is a strong, new message to would-be attackers of homosexuals in a city often labelled the gay-bashing capital of Canada.

"They are being watched," declared Jennifer Breakspear, head of the "***** resource centre" Qmunity, moments after Shawn Woodward was convicted Wednesday of aggravated assault for a vicious attack last year on a patron at a local gay bar. 

"If folks are looking to cause trouble on Davie [centre of the city's so-called gay village] know that the police are looking out for us, and we are looking out for each other."

Ritch Dowrey, 62, suffered permanent brain damage in the high-profile incident that provoked hundreds of neighbourhood residents to take to the streets to protest ongoing violence against gays.

 

Recent statistics show Greater Vancouver has, per capita, more reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation than any other major urban area in Canada.

But Ms. Breakspear said there has been a sea change in the attitude of Vancouver police and the justice system toward assaults on gays, as evidenced by Mr. Woodward's conviction.

"The ***** community is on the Vancouver Police Department's radar," she said. "They are taking these crimes more seriously. So are the courts. That's why more people are reporting them."

Indeed, Provincial Court Judge Jocelyn Palmer used strong language to denounce Mr. Woodward's crime, particularly his claim that he acted in self-defence to ward off Mr. Dowrey's advances.

Mr. Woodward, who is not gay, knocked the victim unconscious with a single sucker punch to the face. When he fell, Mr. Dowrey's head hit the floor with "a sickening thud," court heard.

The 37-year-old construction worker told patrons of the Fountainhead Pub immediately after the attack that Mr. Dowrey was a "******" who deserved what happened to him.

On the witness stand, Mr. Woodward testified that the victim's hand had brushed his crotch as he went to leave.

"There is no air of reality to this evidence," Judge Palmer ruled. "His intention was to deny, deflect and dissemble. … He fabricated this story to justify his outrageous assault."

There was some evidence that Mr. Dowrey may have briefly touched Mr. Woodward's shoulder and the accused was offended by this, she said.

"He chose to go directly to Mr. Dowrey for the express purpose of punching him" to demonstrate his manliness, the judge concluded. "I find him guilty."

She quickly cut off a short burst of applause from the packed courtroom with the words: "Don't you dare."

Supporters and members of Mr. Dowrey's family tearfully embraced outside the court. While welcoming the verdict, some said it was a sad occasion nonetheless, considering the state of the victim's health.

"I'm satisfied, but this isn't going to help Ritchie," said friend Brian Wawryshyn, who wore a B.C. Lions cap to commemorate Mr. Dowrey's long, passionate support of the Lions and the Canadian Football League. "He's not coming back."

Father of two daughters, the victim remains in a long-term care home, unable to speak clearly or care for himself.

As he left the courthouse, Mr. Woodward stared stonily ahead, refusing comment to reporters pressing him for reaction.

Michel Duprat, majority owner of the Fountainhead Pub where Mr. Dowrey was a well-known customer, agreed with Ms. Breakspear that the guilty verdict is significant.

"The more cases like this come out and convictions result, the more people realize there are consequences for this kind of homophobia," said Mr. Duprat, who joined a large number of pub employees in the courtroom. "The more precedents set, the easier the message becomes."

He said Mr. Dowrey's honour was restored by the guilty verdict. "He was always a gentleman and would never have done what the accused claimed. But sadly, it doesn't change anything. Ritchie will never be Ritchie again."

Ron Stipp, of West Enders Against Violence Everywhere, said it would be appropriate for the Crown to seek designation of the assault as a hate crime, when Mr. Woodward appears for sentencing Oct. 22.

"He's a gay basher who tried to deny it," Mr. Stipp said. "It was an attack on an innocent man who just wanted to have a game of pool with his friends. He expected to go home that night as a whole person. It's tragic."

Prosecution spokesman Neil MacKenzie said no decision has been made on whether to ask the judge to find Mr. Woodward the perpetrator of a hate crime, which can result in a harsher sentence.

"But clearly the judge used some extremely strong language," he said, "and those are factors the Crown will look at very closely."

General Taylor Newbie

General Taylor

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As Noeller said Rich was the best fan vof our game he loved the Lions but he also loved the CFL.

Message board posters he was the best and he got banned a lot. I miss our football talks over MSN a lot and was sad when some thug turned his life upside down.

Many posters on here may not have known him but he was a beauty. RIP my friend

SPuDS Newbie

SPuDS

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As Noeller said Rich was the best fan vof our game he loved the Lions but he also loved the CFL.

Message board posters he was the best and he got banned a lot. I miss our football talks over MSN a lot and was sad when some thug turned his life upside down.

Many posters on here may not have known him but he was a beauty. RIP my friend

Great description, one of my favourite posters of all time.. Never backed down and loved the cfl and his lions thru and thru.. It was sad when the boards lost such a great guy but now the world has lost a great soul.. RIP Rich.

BBRT Contributor

BBRT

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Very very sorry to hear this. Rich and I use to cross swords on the old Total-CFL days (back when there was really only 1 or 2 CFL Fan Forums). I had followed what happened from a distance and am very sorry to hear the news.

 

RIP "Third Down" you will be missed greatly!

iso_55 Newbie

iso_55

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I don't have any link but on another CFL site they're saying that Ritch Dowrey better known as 3rd Down passed away. Ritch was a prolific poster on different CFL boards who loved his BC Lions first & CFL second. He went by the name "3rd Down" but also called himself "turd down" or simply "turd" at times. Ritch was attacked in a bar in Vancouver in 2009 suffering a severe brain injury & was silenced forever on all  the CFL boards he was on. The thing I will remember the most about Ritch on the internet was his absolute zeal making Mods lives miserable on every site he was on. He loved getting under their skin. He & I used to go at it but we were friends on different sites & used to chat a lot. I am truly saddened to hear he has died. 

iso_55 Newbie

iso_55

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Ritch took great delight in making the lives of every Mod on every CFL board miserable. It was all in good fun to him. I agree with everyone that he was the all time greatest CFL poster we ever saw & the events leading up to his death was so senseless & tragic. RIP 3rd Down. 

Noeller Grand Master

Noeller

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One of the best things "Turd" ever did was make me understand how important it is to not only be a fan of your team, but be a fan of the league in general. A fan of the history, a fan of the potential future. Always be as much a CFL fan as you are a Bombers, etc fan...

Jaxon Newbie

Jaxon

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Had the pleasure of meeting Rich in person at the Grey Cup in 2005 in Vancouver.   (Before the incident).    He was a great fan of the game.

 

Sad to hear of his passing.

Brandon Grand Master

Brandon

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Such an unnecessary incident ... Why was the bad guy in a gay pub if he was such a homophobe and what kind of coward sucker punches a man twice his age? The guy should get an extra 6 years...

17to85 Grand Master

17to85

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The whole thing was just so senseless. I really have no use for people who get so angry they think that punching anyone, let alone a guy in his 60s is a reasonable course of action. 3rd Down was a staple on every CFL message board out there, the guy was just a huge fan of the game. 

Y2C Explorer

Y2C

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Many fond memories of his message board shenanigans over the years.  Great fan of the Lions, the CFL and Andre Proulx.

 

RIP.

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