A Sea of Blackhawk Red

As we all know, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup last week. As Draft Day Suit’s resident Chicagoan, I took it upon myself to make sure that I captured the excitement that was the Hawks’ ticker tape parade. I also celebrated in the streets of Wrigleyville after the Hawks won. The lengths I go to for this website!

I’ve lived in Chicago most of my life. I was in high school/college when the Bulls won their six championships. I went to the last Bulls rally in Grant Park. I watched all the celebrations in the streets after each championship. I was so jealous that I was young and not of drinking age and couldn’t party in the streets.

So when the Blackhawks were one win away from winning the Stanley Cup, I made sure I was out in a bar to watch the game so that I could celebrate, if the situation presented itself.

I think I made the right decision.

Last Friday was the parade and rally for the Hawks. I took the day off (I had to ask my boss, the Flyers fan, for permission) and headed downtown.

As I said, I went to the last Bulls rally. I know what those kinds of crowds are like. I’ve also been to the Taste of Chicago in the summer when more than one million people show up. But this? This crowd for the Hawks parade was nothing like I’ve ever seen. IT WAS INSANE.

I attempted to make my way to the rally point, about 2 ½ hours before the actual rally. That was a futile attempt. There was just too many people.

I finally parked myself at the corner of Washington and Wabash and figured I could at least see the parade from this vantage point. And that was better than nothing.

The buses were late leaving the United Center. (Rumor has it one Patrick Kane was a wee bit hungover and overslept.) I was the hero of my corner, following the updates on Twitter, knowing exactly where the buses were. Everyone thought I had an inside scoop. Social media FTW!

Finally they made it. It was AMAZING! I took as many photos as I could.

Kaner and Jonathan Toews were on the last bus with Lord Stanley’s Cup. (Twitter also told me this.) So I was all set and ready to take some photos as their bus approached.

Kane chugged from a champagne bottle and sprayed the crowd.

Finally, the Cup! The crowd erupted! I think this is the best photo I’ve ever taken.

After the final bus, the crowd filled onto Washington and followed the buses to the rally point. (I admit, it was like 95 and humid and I hate crowds, so I called it a day.) The entire city was a sea of red. It was an amazing sight.

The City of Chicago estimated over 2 million people came to the parade and rally. (In relation, the White Sox only had 350,000 people at their parade in 2005.) A lot of people think this is a gross overestimate. But look at these photos:

I was there. I believe it. It was the single most insane thing I have ever been a part of. And I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

[photos source]

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Kristabella is spending the rest of the summer stalking the Cup, hoping to kiss it, or a Hawk. She blogs here.