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 Carson Heath | The Communicator |
| After dark in the park |
| Capture-the-flag (CTF) has long been an underground tradition in downtown Spokane. Unnoticed by the majority of the city, countless Saturday nights have passed where Riverfront park becomes the front lines in an epic battle between Us, Them, and the Police. A typical saturday night spent playing is filled with alcohol, confusion, and a collective desire to break free of the social constraints bestowed upon us by the city’s culture. In a town where you’re hard pressed to find a decent coffee house after nine-o’clock and the it can be reasonably expected that many in the city would turn to alternative forms of entertainment to occupy their weekends. At what may very well be the final game of the year due to the coming cold, Christian Draper prepares for the upcoming event. Draper, an 18-year-old former SFCC student, found out about CTF over a year ago the way people most do. “My friend called me up... more than a year ago and said ‘Get downtown, we’re playing capture the flag,’” Draper said. “I don’t normally, like, go downtown but I gave it a try and loved it. I’ve done it probably once or twice every month I could.” Unlike most games downtown CTF is highly unorganized. There are no referees. The flags can be shirts, jerseys, or whatever happens to be convenient at the time. Essentially there are no rules save whatever you feel like. But for many here that is very much a part of the appeal. “No one’s going to stop you and be all ‘you can’t do that!’ Pretty much anything goes,” Draper said. Draper recounted a story wherein one of the participants swam across the river to avoid attention. Throughout the night authorities can be seen patrolling the park on bicycles. This has added an element of speed and stealth to the game. Because the park closes at night both teams run the risk of being caught. “You could wind up with a ticket if they catch you.” Alex Perry, groundskeeper at Riverfront, finds the whole thing amusing. “Well y’all got a bunch of kids running around half the night, but if you didn’t see (them) you wouldn’t know they were there. Whole place gets quiet when they’re playing.” Perry said. “Only thing that pisses me off is all that garbage they’re leaving.” Every Sunday morning, Perry is tasked with the job of cleaning up the game’s aftermath. “The way these kids are rolling, makes me wish we had something like this back home,” Perry said. Come springtime, Riverfront Park will once again be filled with the screams of players seeking victory in the urban battlefield. Until then Saturday nights in downtown Spokane will be quieter, calmer, and asleep at 9:00 PM once more. |