A love story with a happy ending :)
And happy endings are perfect right? I'm not saying it was without it's bumps and stressful moments but in the end... CHAMPIONS! 2008 Stanley Cup Champions... how sweet that is :)
See I've almost already forgotten about that lost sleep while I stayed up to watch all those late hockey games, and my blood pressure is back to normal after all the nail-biting moments and I no longer have to make back up plans to keep in touch with the games when life intercedes and I cannot be in front of a TV. Oh plus I can stop planning my wardrobe by game days (although I have discovered I need to get more red short-sleeve / casual wear). And I could go through all my other superstitions that were running by the end but I'd rather not scare you :p
The parade was Friday - what a day! It was going to be 90, but people still turned out in droves. Cannot quell the support of hockey in HockeyTown :)
Got down there about 8am - found easy parking right near Comerica Park (only $5!) and decided to try sitting up closer to the start this time (each time it's been somewhere different). Found a spot that had shade! Bless that Church and it's steeple! What a find. We were not quite on the curb but just behind/next to a family of 4 - or so we thought. Turns out that it was 3 and a guy from NY - they didn't know each other. So we all chatted while we waited - turns out the NY guy was in town to see the Tigers play (he is going around to see all the parks) and lucked out to see the Parade too. He claimed to have a Howe jersey back at home. Although through the course of the morning I also discovered he adored Notre Dame. WTF? But he had a tattoo on his chest to prove it - crazy guy :) Hey we had 3 hours to kill... time to chat!
At some point Paula Tutman from Channel 4 came over and told us we were in the 'splash zone' which meant we could be on TV so if we didn't want that chance we needed to move. We wouldn't be able to find as good of a spot as we had so we were not moving. In the end she made a FAR bigger deal out of it than it was. Yes she had us do the wave and did a few pans but she wasn't really around us much at all. Fine by me, after getting caught on Channel 7 at Hockeytown the day before I was cool with staying off the camera (oops, it's been pointed out I guess I was spotted) ;)
I had worn my locker room t-shirt and brought along my Yzerman jersey. Since we were in the shade the heat wasn't so bad and so I donned my jersey about 10am. Around 9:30 we'd seen the first set of police-escorted busses go by - of course we cheered. The windows were tinted but hey, why not cheer? Another round came through about 10am and then again at 10:30. We had also seen Al go by in pieces - to be reassembled at the start of the parade. Oh and the Zamboni drove by too - the New Yorker joked that we had classy street sweepers ;) The parade started promptly at 11am...and slowly our shady spot became a full sun spot *whew* But the parade was great - everyone associated with the Wings made their way down Woodward. Coaches, management (Yzerman!), and all the players. It was great to cheer them and fun to see their reactions as they waved, cheered and did fist pumps with the crowd. Around 90 min later Lidstrom appeared with Stanley Cup - so shiny in the sun! So great, again such a wonderful feeling with all the fans who were there just to celebrate and say thanks. I guess it was a mutual admiration day with us and the team. :)
After Lidstrom went by we wrapped it up and headed back to the car - I peeled off the jersey, eek! And we headed for some lunch. It was really a blessing to find that shade. We only had to endure half the time in the sun overall and I think that helped a lot, no heat stroke here!
Pictures from the Parade:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23522874@N05/sets/72157605476074547/
But risk of heat stroke, lost sleep, chewed on nails, elevated blood pressure... I'd do it all again next year in a heart beat. No, 4 times in my life isn't quite enough :)