I was feeling really bummed yesterday that I didn't book a flight home to attend the parade in person, but after watching the parade on TV today, I feel less bad. While still an incredible experience, I'm sure, it seemed like there was a lot of standing idly in the sun with less than ideal views for the people who went.
A couple of thoughts:
-How were the streets not kept clear? I understand 1.3 million people is a lot, but isn't maintaining a clear parade route a pretty basic requirement of parades?
-The parade route should have certainly been longer to help spread out the people more. The 800K-1M attendance estimates were out there for a while. Were there were logistical issues with extending the route (e.g. closing additional roads to car traffic, requiring more staffing than was feasible, etc.)?
-Why were most of the players in low-riding sedans rather than elevated trucks or buses? Didn't the Warriors use open-air double-decker buses at their parade last year? That might have helped give everyone a better view at ours. Maybe such vehicles couldn't be obtained on short notice.
-The RTA (especially Rapid) overcrowding was unavoidable, IMO. That system is not designed/funded to handle as many people as wanted to use it today. Granted, perhaps the city could have re-distributed existing buses or acquired additional ones to help with demand.
-The pre-LBJ parts of the rally were pretty bad, IMO. The political speeches were bland, as were Fred's questions to the players. And when many of the players didn't care to respond to Fred with anything of substance, Fred didn't seem to know how to react.
-LeBron's speech was very powerful, IMO, and perhaps the best part of the entire event. While it was frustrating to have the audio on my censored NBA TV feed cut out on every other word, practically, I really enjoyed hearing LeBron's comments on each of the players. LeBron really seems to hold everyone--down to the deepest of role players--in high esteem, making me think there's not nearly as much dysfunction/animosity on this team as the media has led us to believe. It was nice hearing LeBron speak from the heart.
Regardless of the parade's shortcomings, though, it was still a championship parade in the city of Cleveland with a remarkable level of support from fans. What's not to love about that? As LeBron said, the fact that the Cavs are the new NBA champion is still very surreal to me. Considering the odds, I'm still amazed this team found a way to make history and win it all in such storybook fashion. We did it!
