Draft Day Suit

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.

If you’re ever in Chicago you can walk into any number of the souvenir shops along Michigan Avenue and find a popular Chicago shirt. It pretty much sums up the city to a tee (pun intended). It says “Chicago: A Drinking City with a Sports Problem.” And every word of it is true.

We love our sports teams. We drink when they lose, we drink when they win. And when one of our hometown teams makes it to the championship, the whole city celebrates.

And how do we celebrate? We dress up our many statues around the city.

Our standby is the lions outside the Art Institute of Chicago. They get dressed up for everyone.

We also dress up the famous Picasso statue in Daley Plaza.

And then depending on which team is on a championship run, we get creative.

Please tell me, is this normal in any other city?

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Kristabella is a Chicago blogger with a drinking problem. She writes here.

Lawrence Taylor was arrested last Thursday and charged with rape. He is charged with soliciting a prostitute and third-degree rape of a 16-year-old girl.

LT has acknowledged that he paid $300 for sex with a 16-year old prostitute, who had lied and told him that she was 19. The girl has since come out and said that her pimp, Rasheed Davis, forced her to go to meet Taylor. And when she refused, he beat the crap out of her and forced her to have sex with Taylor at his hotel. He made her repeat to him that she was 19 and her name was Cameron, so that she gave the right story to LT at their rendezvous.

After the meeting with LT, she sent a text to her uncle to help her. She’s now in foster care and her biological father is seeking custody. Her name is still being withheld.

But it gets even more bizarre. Taylor’s wife Lynette has come out to defend her husband. She believes it is all a big set-up.

“I don’t believe it. This is not my husband’s character,” she said. “I’ve spoken to him several times. He is distraught because he didn’t do anything wrong. I believe and he believes that he was set up.”

Lynette, who has been married to Taylor since 2007, defends his character even more, saying that the 16-year old isn’t even his kind of woman. “I know my husband’s taste,” she said. “He has a certain type of woman that he likes and from what I’m learning of this, this person had nothing to offer him, so I don’t why he would go to such extremes for someone that’s not even his thing. I’m sure there’s no shortage of women…”

So basically Lawrence’s wife thinks it is a set-up, not because her husband, the ex-drug addict, cheated and paid for a hooker, but because clearly this 16-year-old isn’t even LT’s type?

This story gets more interesting by the day. Stay tuned.

[source] [source] [source]

Keli McGregor, President of the Colorado Rockies, was found dead this morning in a hotel room in Salt Lake City, according to police. McGregor was in Utah on Rockies business. Police didn’t find anything suspicious and believe he passed away from natural causes.

McGregor, 48, played in the NFL after being drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round in 1985 after an All-American career as a tight end at Colorado State. He began his career with the Rockies in 1993 as Senior Director of Operations. In 1996, he was promoted to Senior Vice President and then promoted to Executive Vice President in 1998. He was named Rockies President in 2001.

McGregor leaves behind his wife, Lori, and their four children.

Our condolences go out to the McGregor family and the entire Rockies organization.

[source]