WASHINGTON — When this city and region gather to celebrate the world champions of baseball tomorrow afternoon along Constitution Ave, try and cherish every single moment. Soak in every second as that double-decker bus full of Washington Nationals creeps toward the National Mall and raises the World Series trophy for the first time.
Because a victory parade for a big-revenue sports team is something we should not take for granted in the nation's capital. Especially in the past three decades.
Before the Capitals raised the Stanley Cup in 2018 and Alex Ovechkin memorably proclaimed in his charming broken English, "This year we don't [bleeping] suck!" we had not held a parade for a team since Joe Gibbs' third Super Bowl-winning team in 1992 -- a 26-year drought full of wrenching, painful losses.
We haven't been Loserville exactly, but next to our Eastern Seaboard brethren it's been pretty barren. Just since 2001, Boston has celebrated 11 teams in all four major North American sports in just 18 years. The Patriots and Red Sox alone have combined for 9 parades in that time -- one every two years.
The Yankees and New York Giants have given New Yorkers seven parades in Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes since the mid-1990s.
Heck, even the Ravens have given Baltimore two parades compared to 0for us between 1992 and 2018. Did we mention Charm City has just two pro teams?
If you go back 41 years and include Wes Unseld delivering D.C. its only NBA title and Darrell Green, Art Monk, the Fun Bunch and Hogs delivering another three, the parade honoring the Nationals indelible run to the World Series crown will be just Washington sixth in four long decades.
The moral of the story: this city's fans, players and teams went through abject misery for many years to have a day like tomorrow. D.C. had no juggernaut. Nothing came easy. The struggle, then, is what makes it all that much sweeter when the floats come down Constitution tomorrow.
