Mr. Locke is a Pittsburgh Penguins fan.
Strike that.
Mr. Locke is a HUGE, MASSIVE, MANIACAL, EXUBERANT Penguins fan.
He hasn’t missed a game this season on the tele, and I’ve sat (or laid, depending on what time the game is at night) right beside him. I’ve listened to his cheers, his rants, and even his argument as to why head coach Mike Sullivan hasn’t called him directly from the benches for help with plays.
Yep, I’m married to a Pens fan- and I couldn’t be happier.
So, you can imagine the upbeat attitude this house has been in not only at the end of the regular season, but through the playoff rounds and, finally, the Stanley Cup championship games and win.
It was a no brainer to head to Pittsburgh this morning for the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Parade, so we got up at the crack of dawn, raced in to the city, and waited for hours for the parade to begin at 11:30a.m. We knew that the parade crowd was expected to be upwards of 400,000 fans and we had no problem with that at all. We scored a spot on a curb somewhat close to the BoA and waited for the parade to begin, hoping to catch the Pens sitting on the backs of trucks and the gleam of the Stanley Cup.
I almost did. I’d like to tell you that I scored a front row view for the parade and saw the Pens smiling and waving or that I saw the gleam of Lord Stanley’s shiny, silver cup. I saw what most folks saw today: the backs of heads and a ton of cell phones. Mr. Locke took his Nikon with the long lens so he could take some pics and we ALMOST got a few good ones.
Here’s the highlights via a 5’1” lady standing among a sea of 400,000:
We caught a glimpse of Ben Lovejoy and his sweet daughter.
Almost saw Hornqvuist’s face.
Kessel and Hagelin- and a beautiful ring with a dark blue manicure.
Managed to see Sidney Crosby for a sec. Didn’t hear much compliments of the three helicopters overhead.
Mike Sullivan probably gave a touching speech. Roaring crowds and helicopters= no idea what he said.
Probably Malkin. Really hard to tell without the playoff beard.
Am I upset about what I almost saw? Absolutely not. The fans were so happy that the mood was addictive. The chanting and yelling whenever a Penguin came rolling by our area was a hoot to listen to and I could feel the warm, fuzzy love.
Fingers crossed we get one for the thumb next year and someone will have to remake that Pittsburgh Steelers song from the early ’80s!
Way to Go, Pens!
Leave a Reply