There's nothing that bonds a city closer than when one of it's sports teams wins a championship. A championship puts everyone in a good mood; strangers talk to each other, food tastes better, even the T doesn't seem as hot and crowded. For a few days we all feel connected, we feel like we're part of something. We've been lucky in Boston to have seven championships in the last ten years. Our lucky seventh came courtesy of the Boston Bruins. From the moment Big Z lifted Lord Stanley's Cup over his head B's fans let out a collective roar and have been celebrating ever since. The Bruins were bringing the Cup home after 39 years! (and no we don't count the time when Ray Bourque brought the Stanley Cup to Boston. The Cup that he won with another team. Does not count.).
I knew as soon as the Bruins won that I would attend the parade. I had not attended any of the other team's championship parades not even the Sox but I've got a soft spot for the B's and I wanted to join in the celebration. (Oh wait, I did attend one of the parades. In 1984 my mom took my brothers and I to the Celtics championship rally but I don't remember much about it except that it was very crowded and hot and that we got stuck on the Red Line coming home.)
This time would be different. My mom being the trooper she is joined me for today's Bruins celebration. We got to the parade route about 8:45am. The parade wouldn't start until about 11am and it wouldn't reach us on Boylston Street until about 12pm. I thought it might be tedious waiting but the time flew by. We could feel the excitement in the air. I have never seen so many black and yellow jerseys, t-shirts and hats in one place. I was proud to be a Bruins fan! Finally the duck boats came toward us with all the Bruins players on board. The crowd erupted and confetti exploded as Timmy Thomas, Chara, Bergeron, Lucic, Marchand, Recchi, Horton, Coach Claude and all the rest waved to the fans. The actual parade went by quickly but it was so worth the wait. Thank you Boston Bruins for one helluva season!
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| Boylston Street at 9am. |
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Fake Cup Here they come!   Timmy Thomas!    |
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Brad Marchand Patrice Bergeron!   |
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| Me and mom. Thanks for sticking it out Mom! |
Confetti is all that's left.
I think it is amazing how successful Boston’s professional sports franchises in the four major sports leagues have been over the past seven years. The city must be used to having parades honoring their teams on a regular basis. The New England Patriots won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2004 and 2005, the Red Sox were World Series champions in 2004 and again in 2007, the Celtics won an NBA title in 2008, and now the Bruins just won the Stanley Cup! The New York Metropolitan area is the only other region I can think of that has had that kind of success in such a short period of time. The Jets, Mets, Knicks, and Islanders all won championships between 1969 and 1983, with the Islanders winning four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983.
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