I must admit I was disappointed by the Chief's Super Bowl Victory Parade that wrapped up in front of Union Station yesterday. Two major things stood out to me...
1.) The crowd size. People were saying beforehand that they expected a million people to attend the parade and rally. 800,000 had come to the Royal's victory parade and city officials expected even more for the Chiefs. The NFL is more popular than Major League Baseball and it had been 50 years since the Chiefs had won the World Championship.
But, watching on TV, I noticed pretty quickly that the hill in front of Liberty Memorial was much more sparsely crowded than in 2015. The early photos had captions that said more and more were coming. But even by the end of the rally, the Chief's crowd paled considerably to the crowd that came to the Royal's celebration. That crowd was spectacular. The Chief's crowd? Kind of embarrassing. I will admit that photos can be highly misleading for numerous factors.
I have to assume that the weather was the big difference maker. 2015 saw a beautiful fall day of 70 degrees for the Royals parade. Yesterday was 20 degrees with wind chills in the teens. Knowing that you would have to wait for hours in cold weather to get a good spot might have convinced many to watch the rally on TV. Still, cold weather would not have stopped fans in Buffalo or Denver. Even Boston had bigger crowds after six Super Bowl titles. Granted, KC's population is not the size of Boston but I would have expected more fans to show up.
The Royals also drew fans regionally to their rally. The weather looked dodgy, with snow and ice in the forecast. I'm guessing fans from Topeka or Harrisonville were not going to risk it this year.
In 2015 there were many logistical issues that arose due to the large mass of people coming to downtown Kansas City. People parked on the shoulders and banks of freeways and interstates. There were not enough port-a-potties. Although joyous, it was a bit chaotic. Even though the metro area made vast logistical improvements this year (many more restroom facitilies, more shuttles, simpler parade route, no alcohol) a lot of people may have not been willing to deal with it, especially in bad weather.
Another factor is that in 2015 it had been thirty years since the last championship parade. In 2020, only five years had lapsed despite being a parade for a different team and sport. My guess is that many were of the mindset that 'I did it in 2015 and dealt with all the hassles because it had been a long time, but now...I'll just be watching from home.' There's also an expectation that the Chiefs may be set up for many more of these parades in the years to come. That expectation is very premature. Championships should never be taken for granted. But most Royals fans cherished that 2015 title knowing that because of how MLB economics work, it might be a long time before the next one.
Even though is was 50 years between championships for the Chiefs, I think most Chiefs fans know that the NFL's structure makes it much more likely KC can afford to keep their star athletes. Royals fans knew that the window for their team was much shorter and that they should enjoy each and every moment of 2014 and 2015. I know I sure did. Maybe things will change with a new owner but for a small market team, it's much harder for a team to do what the Royals did in 2015 than for what the Chiefs did in 2019-2020.
I'm guessing all those factors led to smaller crowd sizes. I could be way off. Who knows? Still kind of embarrassing. I bet the commemorative photos of the Chiefs rally will be zoomed in pretty tight.
Here's where I will sound like an old man...
2.) I was disappointed by the overt alcohol consumption of the Chief's roster. Alcohol was banned for public consumption along the parade route. But Mahomes and Kelce made fools of themselves by multiple shotgunning of beers. Mahomes had to make a pit-stop halfway in the parade. Then, from the top of a bus he poured beer down to the street to a waiting Kelce. A lot of Chiefs fans think that was awesome. I found it sophomoric. It was the antics of frat boys. You didn't see the Royals act that way in 2015. The Royals had much more class.
Half the team, when they spoke at the rally, were obviously inebriated. Slurred speeches and Tyreek Hill having to be held up by teammates is an embarrassing moment for the team. I was particularly embarrassed by Mahomes. He's always carried himself with dignity and respect. Yes, he's been seen pounding beers at different sporting events around town. But this was a big stage with a lot of kids in attendance. A lot of KC schools cancelled yesterday for the parade and there were a lot of students on the parade route. And that's what they saw, the leader of the team shotgunning beers. I expect that from Kelce and Hill. But Mahomes? You're the 2018 MVP and the reigning Super Bowl MVP. You're the face of the Chiefs and maybe even the NFL. You want to be paid $40 mil a year? Then put the beer down and enjoy the crowd's adulation. That was bush league.
I'm not throwing away my Mahomes shirt or anything. I don't expect these guys to be saints. But such public displays of idiocy by the MVP was troubling. I certainly hope this isn't the beginning of a trend. The Chiefs have had enough Kareem Hunt type stupidity. He's only 24 and he's been pretty mature in so many ways. Let's hope the maturation process continues at the next Super Bowl parade (if Chiefs fans are so lucky to have another one).
