The city is gearing up and shutting down for its first-ever Super Bowl parade Adidas Ryan Getzlaf Jersey , with universities, schools and government offices all shuttering and mass transit being shifted to serve the needs of parade-going Eagles fans.
Museums, city courts and even the Philadelphia Zoo will close as Philadelphia focuses on Thursday’s celebrations. Visitors who might be in town for reasons other than feting Sunday’s 41-33 win over the New England Patriots will still be able to visit places like Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
The parade starts near the team’s stadium and ends its 5-mile trek at the art museum steps that Sylvester Stallone climbed in the ”Rocky” movies – a fitting finish for a team seen as the underdog, just like the fictional fighter.
Organizers said they’re preparing for as many as 2 million people to jam the parade route. No official estimate was released for the parade after the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, but crowd assessment experts have said that likely didn’t exceed 750,000.
The city doesn’t plan to make any crowd estimates for this parade.
Mayor Jim Kenney called on fans to celebrate with passion and pride, again referring to those who committed violence and vandalism late Sunday as ”knuckleheads.”
”Now remember – act responsibly, don’t ruin this for the fans who have waited decades for what will be a historic day as the Eagles finally parade up Broad Street. We are after all the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection.”
The parade has also touched off a bit of a beer war.
Bud Light will offer free beers to revelers at two dozen bars along the parade route, thanks to a promise its brewer made to Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson before the season.
Not wanting to be upstaged by an out-of-towner, Philadelphia-based Yards Brewing said it will offer fans a free Philly Pale Ale on parade day in the brewery’s taproom.
”We might not be able to get everyone a beer but we can try,” they tweeted .
The city’s two subways will be free all day, but groupies coming in from the suburbs might have a trickier time getting into the city.
All 50,000 special parade day tickets for the regional railroad lines were sold out as of 1 p.m., said Andrew Busch, a spokesman for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Weekly and month passes are valid, however.
The rapid-transit system connecting Philadelphia and southern New Jersey planned to stop selling tickets by early Wednesday night for those wishing to take the commuter line to the parade.
PATCO also said having a ticket wouldn’t necessarily mean fans will get a ride, and suggested people also consider walking across the nearly 2-mile-long Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
Meanwhile, working off surveillance video Adidas Ryan Kesler Jersey , social media posts and eyewitness accounts, police announced Wednesday they had made at least eight arrests stemming from the violence and vandalism that occurred during street celebrations late Sunday and early Monday.
Among those arrested were a 28-year-old man accused of assaulting an Associated Press photographer who was taking pictures of street celebrations and vandalism near City Hall, and a 20-year-old who police say was one of seven men seen flipping a car onto its side. Police said the photographer was hit in the face with his camera and punched a number of times in in the head, suffering cuts, bruises and other injuries.
In a tweet , the department urged those involved the postgame mayhem to turn themselves in.
”What I don’t understand is how dumb people can really be,” the mayor said. ”These days, everything’s videotaped, and not only is it videotaped on security cameras, it’s videotaped by themselves and their friends and they post it on social media. So, I mean, you put your own wanted poster out on social media for all to see.”
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo had quite the dilemma when the game was stopped by rain for the second time in the middle of the fourth inning.
When the showers subsided, Lovullo gave the ball back to Zack Greinke, and the ace right-hander delivered.
Greinke pitched six scoreless innings, Paul Goldschmidt homered and the Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2 on Saturday for their third consecutive win.
”We were having debates in here whether we should send Zack out or not,” Lovullo said. ”He said he felt great and he wanted to keep pitching. Just felt like we had to do the right thing and take him off the mound, but he saved us today. He did a great job.”
David Peralta had two hits and two RBIs for NL West-leading Arizona. Goldschmidt also walked twice and scored three times.
Greinke (7-5) allowed two hits, struck out seven and walked none. He also doubled and scored on Jon Jay’s double in the fourth.
The Pirates hit just four balls out of the infield against Greinke Adidas Clayton Keller Jersey , who had never before stayed in through two rain delays. They combined to halt play for 1 hour, 21 minutes.
”Didn’t really know how to respond,” he said. ”Told Torey if it feels terrible, I’d let them know. It wasn’t too bad.”
Greinke’s extra-slow curveball was especially effective. Sitting around 69 mph at a big separation from his 89 mph fastball, it accounted for four of his strikeouts.
”It’s obviously a weapon that slows the hitters down because it’s such a slow pitch,” Arizona catcher Jeff Mathis said. “He has a good feel for it too. He’s always looking for an opportunity to drop it in there.”
Arizona grabbed control with five runs in the first four innings against Joe Musgrove (2-3).
Goldschmidt walked and scored on Peralta’s triple in the first. Peralta then scored when Sean Rodriguez’s relay throw landed in the Pirates’ dugout.
The duo combined for another run in the third when Goldschmidt walked again and scored on Peralta’s double. Chris Owings singled in Jake Lamb to make it 4-0.
”If I can’t control the inner half to the lefties, it’s a tough day for me to get them out,” Musgrove said. ”It showed today.”
Goldschmidt hit his 17th homer in the seventh, and Lamb added an RBI single in the ninth.
Musgrove’s day ended with the second rain stoppage. He allowed seven hits, struck out two and walked three.
ROUGH DAY
Rodriguez went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in addition to his error on his bobblehead day. He is hitting .149 on the season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: LHP Robbie Ray (strained right oblique) will make his third rehab start on Monday.
Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli, already on the seven-day disabled list, has been diagnosed with a concussion. There is no timeframe for his return. … LF Corey Dickerson returned from the Family Medical Emergency Leave List and started. INF/OF Adam Frazier was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1, 2.94 ERA) is expected to start the series finale on Sunday. In three starts on the road, he has a 2.12 ERA and is holding opponents to a .180 batting average.
Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (6-4, 4.00 ERA) is coming off one of his best outings of the season, when he struck out seven over seven one-hit innings Monday against Milwaukee.