Lord Stanley.

For anyone outside the Chicago area, today was probably a normal Friday. At least as normal as a Friday can be. However, here in Chicago, it was the kick-off to probably one of the craziest weekends we have had or will have for years to come.

This morning, starting at 10:30, the city stopped to cheer the Chicago Blackhawks and their Stanley Cup victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. It does seem pretty quick to have a parade---they won the cup less than 35 hours before hand---but the city was apparently so sure they were going to win, that they had the parade already planned. One has to remember, this is Chicago we are talking about.

We don’t have a lot of winners here in Chicago; the last team to win a championship was the Chicago White Sox in 2005, prior to that, the Chicago Bulls (yes it was a good run for the Bulls) and before that, the Chicago Bears in 1985. Looking for the Chicago Cubs? Well most, if not all, of the people who were at their last World Series are quite dead. It’s been almost 102 years—and this year is not looking much better for a series win.

Then this weekend, we have the “cross-town classic” where the Chicago Cubs play the Chicago White Sox. Not enough? We have a Blues Festival in town. I will be far away from the big city this weekend.

I was downtown today and was really prepared to capture the championship parade with my trusty Nikon. I had my locations mapped out, and was hoping to be able to take some photos I would treasure. The city had anticipated 300,000 fans, but they misread that number. It turned out that more than 2 million people showed up to cheer on the Blackhawks and their Stanley Cup win. How large of a crowd is that? Consider this… there are 15 states in the U.S. that do not have 2 million residents---in the entire state! Yet we had them all in a 10 block radius.

I really thought I would be able to capture the moments of the parade, get players with the Stanley Cup over their heads, and feel like I was part of the moment. I was wrong. There were so many people on the streets that it became a sea of people. You were not able to cross the street, so I had to go through an underground garage to move from one corner the next. I had called my dentist’s office to see if I could shoot photos from his window---he has a killer view of Michigan Avenue--- and even though I took pictures they look like a red sea of people. I was very disappointed.

The photo above was taken prior to the parade. I have never seen the Stanley Cup before, and I knew this was not the real thing. But seeing the fans and how happy they were, it was a picture I knew I would like. In just a few days we are going to learn more about LeBron James’s plans for his future. Many Chicagoans believe he is going to be wearing a Bull’s jersey. I am not so sure, but I do know, if the Bulls win the NBA championship, I will be in the crowd, no matter how many millions of them, and I will be cheering louder than any of them!

Thanks for stopping by.