Anyone going to be down in Boston Saturday for the parade?

[Tom the First]

I will. I'm going to wake up at 5:00, and head down Boston with my dad and my brother. I don't know if you'll be able to identify me, because I'll be wearing a World Series Champions shirt like the rest of the lot. Let me just say that my hair is kind of long, and I am currently trying to develop full facial hair, so I have a few balds spots on my space, and all the hair isn't too dense yet. So I'll see you down there with the rest of the million people!

[Octocamo]

There is supposed to be 5 million (I think) people there...so fuck no. :lol:

I'll be playing San Andreas instead.

[Arandar]

Actually they said maybe about 10 million could show up. Since the parade route is going to be longer, and they are going around the Charles River so that means more space for people to stand and see, then the crowd will be huge. Heh frankly I'm suprised Boston isn't in flames yet since I predicted a few years ago that if the Red Sox ever won the World Series then Boston would be destroyed. Oh well. As for me I haven't really decided if I'm going or not. I don't want to go by myself or anything and I don't know if any of my family is planning on going. I'll probably watch it on tv if I remember if I don't end up going.

[Octocamo]

Holy shit...10 million...Damn.

Can someone say Terrorist bombing?

[agn]

Thats awesome, wish I was there. Take some pictures or video if you can.

[All-Night John]

Nah, like I said in the other thread, my sis is getting married, so I'm screwed. Oh well. There's no rally, anyways, and the T is going to simply overrun, so it would've been a huge hassle. Plus it's going to rain.

The largest crowd estimate was 5 million people, by the city, but I wouldn't believe that, either. I expect it'll be somewhere around 3 mil. They had to extend the route because 3 mil. people over a 3 mile stretch comes out to ~100 people deep on the sidewalks. Also, it ended at City Hall. No way the crowd was simply going to walk away. Poor planning. At least they wisened up a little.

[Reffy]

It's not a parade...it's a rolling rally...
I'm not going directy to the pa...rolling rally, but I will being going into boston today, so I'll most likely catch a part of it.

[Frequency]

I went, I saw, I will never forget the experience I had. I took the train in from South Attleboro at 6:45. We left the house at 5:15, got to the station around 6:10, and within minutes there was a chant of "Yankees Suck". There were an amazing amount of people, so many in fact that the train reached maximum capacity at our stop alone. That was a plus though, because we got a straight ride into Boston.

It was rainy and cold, but nobody cared. Every direction you looked, you saw a Sox fan with a smile on their face. Nobody was sad, nobody caused any trouble (well, I heard there was a fire started in a grocery store carriage, but I don't know that for a fact), everyone was in good spirits, and the air itself felt energized in anticipation.

Having got there relatively early (around 7:45, I think.. but some folks camped out), we got a spot 4 or 5 people deep where Dartmouth meets Boylston. Then, we waited. As I said, it was cold, rainy, and otherwise would have been a miserable day in the city, but no one frowned or complained once. Hoards and hoards of people started piling in behind us as the clock ticked ever so slowly by.. The rain really started coming down hard, so the Citizens Bank across the street started throwing out ponchos. The people on the banks side started throwing some over to us, once everyone who wanted a poncho got one, the excess started the first ever poncho fight. They were packed tight in a plastic package about 5inx4in, and were fun and easy to throw. It was our side of the street versus the other side, and hot shit if I didn't have a blast just throwing stuff for a good half hour. The girl standing next to me got tagged in the fucking face, that was funny as hell.

After the novelty of throwing shit wore off, the crowd got some what quiet again. It got to the point where we would cheer for a cop walking by, or just a random last minute commuter.

By 9:30 there were at least 5 more rows of people behind us, and they kept piling in. The last hour was boring, having talked and chatted with everyone around us, there wasn't much else to do but sit and wait.

I'm not sure when the actual parade started, or when we got to see it, but it was.. awesome. I apologize for lack of a better word, but there is nothing else to describe it.

Now, I had been taking pictures this entire time, but me, being the dumbass that I am, dropped it in a puddle. It wasn't working for a long time, and I was afraid I would never get to photograph this event. It came back to life about quarter to ten, but no previous pictures were saved.

I only had time to snap 2 pitiful pictures of the church and the window sign above the Citizens Bank across the way. However I did record SOME parade footage, but guessing from the drop, my camera is seriously damaged. It stopped recording on me once, came back to life.. and then died for good.

We just got home, and had no problem transferring the pictures and video, but, the video has no sound. This does absolutely NO JUSTICE AT ALL to the experience, and I am pretty pissed at myself for it. Even so, I decided to upload the 2 short clips I do have, instead of coming home empty handed. It seriously sucks with no sound, but still worth a look if you're interested.

Overall, this was one of the best days of my life. I met complete strangers and befriended them, I will never forget the people I talked and shared this experience with. Even though I don't remember any of their names, if I saw them again one day, I would know where I had met them. I'm sure the same is for many who attended.

I've babbled long enough, here's the (horrible) "goods"

http://danlax.iffn.net/parade%20004.jpg

http://danlax.iffn.net/parade%20011.jpg


Please, please, please. Right click and save as.

http://danlax.iffn.net/parade1.avi

http://danlax.iffn.net/parade2.avi

Oh yeah, please note that the videos are shakey because I was jumping up and down, going apeshit screaming at the top of my lungs, as was the 5 rows of people in front, and 10 rows of people in back of me were doing.

[Arandar]

Did woman flash like at the Patriots parade? I didn't go to either but thats what I heard from people who did is that woman were flashing Brady and everything. Heh and that the crowd, guys I would imagine, were chanting "take it off, take it off" to them. Then I guess there was some like 14 year old girl who was going to flash Brady so they started chanting "keep it on, keep it on". It would have been nice to go though, but unfortuantly I didn't really get up until the last 5 minutes of the rally coverage on tv. Maybe next year, or whanever they win the World Series next. It just better not be another 86 years from now.

[Ziggler]

Thanks for the seizure Frequency... :>

That's a cool vid though, wish I was there.

[Frequency]

Nope, I didn't see any boobs. And for once I'm glad, it's stuff like that that will ruin it for everybody else. But I think the only reason that didn't happen is because of the "rolling rally" strategy they used, it wasn't likely that the players would spot boobs out of a sea of a thousand faces. If they had stopped and got on stage or something, like the Patriots, then it would've happened.

[Arandar]

Nope, I didn't see any boobs. And for once I'm glad, it's stuff like that that will ruin it for everybody else. But I think the only reason that didn't happen is because of the "rolling rally" strategy they used, it wasn't likely that the players would spot boobs out of a sea of a thousand faces. If they had stopped and got on stage or something, like the Patriots, then it would've happened.
Yet another reason why Menino is an idiot! :smt013 Heh I want boobies! :razz:

[All-Night John]

3.2 million people showed up, like I said would. Those other estimates were just laughable. Sadly, I had to watch it on TV. Looked like a fun time, though. Maybe I'll go next year.

[Tom the First]

Wow. The whole experience I had today was fucking amazing. My dad forgot to wake up at 5, so we left around 7 instead. We parked in Lynn, and took the train down to the North Station, and then we took the T down to somewhere I forgot the name of. I was amazed at how many people were here. It was like the Red Sox Mecha. The National guard was patrolling the barricades, but they seemed to entertain some people. This one guy actually climbed a billboard, and I'm pretty sure he had a beer in his hand, but he didn't die. When the idiots almost reached our area, there were tons of cops on motorcycles coming through. They weren't just from Boston, but from any town or city within a 20 mile radius. It was quite bone chilling. When the Red Sox finally came, I could have never been happier. To see so much spirit in all of the players was heartwarming, A camera or video camera could never have captured such a moment as this.
I'll upload pics tomorrow.

[Frequency]

When I saw Schilling, who was leaning on a crutch, take his hat off and wave it to the crowd, I almost cried like a 12 year old with a skinned knee.

[MageMasher]

When I saw Schilling, who was leaning on a crutch, take his hat off and wave it to the crowd, I almost cried like a 12 year old with a skinned knee.a fat drunk 12 year old.........;)