FIESTA BOWL COVERAGE
Veterans hold an American flag float on Saturday during the Fiesta Bowl Parade in Phoenix. For more online, go to azcentral.com.
The mood along the streets of central Phoenix was lively, even before the Fiesta Bowl Parade officially began at 9 a.m.
Historic cars roared their engines as they drove through the blocked-off streets and children holding plastic balloon souvenirs excitedly waved hello to a team of police officers mounted on bicycles as they rode through the parade route ahead of its start.
A sea of lawn chairs lined Central Avenue, with most of their occupants wrapped in blankets and clutching coffee-filled thermoses as the temperature hovered around 45 degrees — arguably a glacial temperature, by Phoenix standards anyway.
It wasn’t uncomfortable weather for Jackie Friedman, though, who lives in a Cleveland suburb and traveled to Phoenix to see her son in the Ohio State marching band.
Though she said it was actually warmer in Cleveland than in Phoenix on Saturday, she added that the clear skies and sunshine made a world of difference to those sitting outside to watch the parade.
Friedman was just one of many Buckeye fans in the crowd, but said that that’s not unusual.
“There’s Buckeye alumni everywhere,” she said. “They all seem to come out when their team’s in town. There’s a lot that travel, there’s a lot of hardcore fans.”
She was joined in her Ohio State enthusiasm by Jack Roberts, who is originally from Ohio but now lives in Waddell, a small unincorporated community that sits just east of the White Tank Mountains.
His family is also made up of marching band enthusiasts, with Roberts saying he used to frequently attend band competitions and that he was most looking forward to seeing the Ohio State marching band at the parade.
Though he’s local now, Roberts said Saturday was his first time attending the Fiesta Bowl Parade.
He said he was “excited” to see the parade, but added that he thought attendance might have been lower than in past years because of the weather.
Ashley Whitson, who lives in Peoria and attended the parade with her three daughters, concurred with others about the cold weather. She said that even the last few days of chilly temperatures and on-and-off rainfall in the Valley didn’t prepare her for attending the parade.
“I don’t think you can adjust to this, especially when you’re desert rats like us,” she said. “You gotta bundle up — we have more blankets than we can count.”
Unlike the others, Whitson said she doesn’t care which team wins the game, saying that she mostly cares about seeing a good pregame parade with plenty of dance troupes making their way across its route.
“This is what we do here in Phoenix, this is an Arizona thing,” she said. “I’ve been hearing about the Fiesta Bowl (parade) since I was born, so it’s fantastic to be a part of.”
As for the game itself, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, Roberts said he wants it to be one that keeps fans on the edge of their seats.
“We’re hoping the game’s a good game, not a blowout,” he said. “We’d like to see the score go back and forth to the very end, but ultimately we want the Buckeyes to win.”