Written by Arash Markazi at ESPN.com
#VegasStrong
It was impossible to walk or drive around Las Vegas this week and not have that hashtag engrained in your mind. It was everywhere. On billboards, hotel exteriors and hand-written signs taped to fences. It has become a common hashtag for a community to rally around following adversity, but Las Vegas isn’t your typical community, as a tourist oasis for many.
Most people who pass through for the weekend view it as a lovable punchline, a place where you quote lines from “The Hangover” and “Swingers” and promise yourself you’ll never return — before you invariably do a few months later.
In the aftermath of the mass shooting on Oct. 1, however, the world is discovering the part of Las Vegas that is a real city, with real locals who call this place home. They are the first responders, the police officers, the firefighters, the doctors, the nurses, and the men and women who lined up for hours to donate blood because they wanted to help out in any way they could. They don’t live on The Strip. They live in North Las Vegas, Summerlin, Boulder City, Henderson and all over Clark County. The impact a sports team can have on a community can, at times, be exaggerated, especially when public funding is involved, but Tuesday night was an example of what a team can do for a city looking for a reason to smile and have fun again, even if just for one night.
This wasn’t the home debut Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley envisioned when he was awarded the first major professional sports team in the city’s history last year. All of his grand-opening plans were postponed until the team’s next home game on Friday. Tuesday wasn’t about them; it was about remembering the victims, honoring the first responders and recognizing the city they call home. The team covered all the advertising on the boards around the ice before the game and replaced it with one simple message — #VegasStrong.
“We want to show that we’re part of the Vegas community,” Foley said. “We want to recognize first responders and show them that we appreciate everything that they’ve done. They’re the ones who went out there and risked their lives and saved lives. We’re trying hard to represent them.”
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