I don’t know if it’s from all the programming I’ve been doing or if it’s because the KC Royals won the World Series after 30 YEARS PEOPLE, but I feel at loss for words. Or at least coherent ones. Or at least ones strung together in a complete sentence ending in a period and not a semicolon.

Our company was very generous in giving employees the option to go to the parade without having to take official vacation time. I know many people did not get this option. I also know a lot of people had to figure out what to do with their kids because almost all the schools in the area had closed. We got lucky – we have 4 furbabies and flexible jobs.

I made Mason my male cat Princess Leia from Episode IV – his pic worked perfectly with the Facebook Crowned Filter.

I’m taking classes at JCCC – the community college also shut down for the day. But I don’t have classes on Tuesday. In fact, I had a database programming lab due AND a database java exam on MONDAY. The Monday AFTER the World Series and Halloween. So needless to say I was doing A LOT of my database lab on Sunday. That was pretty much my Sunday actually. When I turned in my program, I left this note for my professor:

“This lab took hours of my life – luckily a lot of those hours were the first 9 innings of the World Series game. I alternated between crying out in frustration at the tv screen and my computer screen. There were errors on both sides. But then I got the program almost completely working, and we tied up the game, and I was like “Oh Happy Day!” and there was much rejoicing and not much sleeping.

Thanks,
Jenny”

(For the record he responded “Thanks for the smile!” The Royals and I were both #winning!)

So because I experienced the game at home and didn’t have any post-game celebration time (we did go outside and enjoy our neighbors’ fireworks. We’d like to thank them for the display AND not accidentally setting anything on fire), I REALLY WANTED TO PARADE.

Parading was not for the faint of heart today. Or the late riser. We were going to walk from around the KU Med area to a bus stop and take a bus from there. We met my friend Bridget at her house and walked down 39th street a mile to Main St. BUT –

All the buses were full. And the closer we got to downtown the crazier it was getting. You did NOT want to be driving. Roads were either blocked off by police or the sea of pedestrians trekking to the parade route. We ended up walking all the way to Crown Center, which I later Google Mapped because Google is now a verb, and it was 3.2 miles. My decision to wear running shoes, shorts, and apply gratuitous amounts of Body Glide were definitely the right choice. (And we ended up walking all the way back.)

To the right by the trees is the access ramp we were chilling on. In the area behind the van is now the gold sign and landscaping and the short wall we stood on.

We ended up on an access ramp in front of the Assurant Building, where a local law firm had recently moved to – Seigfreid Bingham. As an apology on behalf of us crazy fans there, I would like to freely plug your law firm and ask you to note their lovely gold sign that’s in some of my photos. Despite your security guard’s best efforts to keep us safe and to keep you from getting sued, once the parade approached, it was Game Over. Us fans did terrible things to your landscaping despite the fencing you had to keep us out and many of us jumped up on your walls.

While waiting for the parade, the people around us were very friendly to one another, hostile to late comers trying to sneak in, and we all could see the street.

But once the parade approached us around 1pm, after hours of being polite, people went crazy. People jumped up on the walls. People pushed forward. People put small children on their shoulders. People who had been sitting on the wall or railing got up. And now I couldn’t see. I might be tall for a Hobbit but I am short for a person.

After a few frustrating moments, some space opened up on the wall next to the SEIGFREID BINGHAM sign, and we took it. I got LOTS of photos (one of every player and then some), but we weren’t super close and whenever I use the zoom, the pics get grainy. But here are some of my favorites AND a special treat: Eric Hosmer memes.

Game 1 Hosmer Meme – the 14 Innings of Craziness!

I made one after each game, trying to make it relevant to something that happened in the game. I you enjoy them as much I did looking at, I mean, making them. 🙂

Now I can see!

Slugger and the “W” Guy

More Slugger and some more free PR for SEIGFREID BINGHAM.

That’s What Speed Do! Unless you’re in a parade…

Alex Gordon – Go Huskers! We totally had some Runza on the way home. Nebraska Solidarity!

Notice Mr. Rios doesn’t have blonde chicks or babies in his truck, ladies 😉

Jarrod Dyson!

Christian Colon – the man several fans didn’t know was on the team until Game 5. #AllThePlayers

Mr Hosmer – his truck got stalled in front of us for a few minutes.

Oh I get so sick of looking at Eric Hosmer, said no one ever. #AllTheHos

The Man Behind the Moose Antlers

Moose on the Loose!

Ben Zobrist – our favorite new Kansas Citian!

Johnny Cueto really liked waving to that side of the road. Still not a bad view 😉

If I was tall like Chris Young, I wouldn’t have had to stand on a wall to see the parade.

And nine months later the population of KC has tripled, and they are all named Salvy for some reason 😛

Ned Yost is big pimpin’ with the trophy

This is the busiest I have EVER seen Crown Center and that includes at the KC Marathon a couple of weeks ago

We might have had the clusterfuck of people and traffic that NY has today, but we still got that Midwest heart. Go Royals!

Ok let’s get to the good part. BTW, there was an estimated 800,000 people down there today. #That’sWhatFansDo

Game 2 Meme

Game 3 Meme after a sad loss

Game 4 Meme – Things Were Looking Good

Game 5 Meme – We Sealed the Deal and Took the Crown!

Thank you, Royals, for an AMAZING SEASON and POST SEASON and WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP!!!