Day 172: When Best Laid Plans go Awry-Championship Week Day 4

     On January 26, 1986, the Chicago Bears finished off the New England Patriots in the Big Easy.  The very next day, there was supposed to be a parade downtown to celebrate the accomplishments of the team.  As it was stated, the plan was to have the parade wind its way downtown north on LaSalle St., and then eventually make its way back to Daley Plaza.  However, two variables that had not been accounted for reared their ugly heads at the parade.  First off, the organizers didn't in their wildest dreams think that the parade would attract even 250,000 people.  Guess what? They were right.  It actually drew well over 300,000(but even that figure looks puny compared to the 2 Million that came to the Blackhawks' parade in 2010).  The simple mass of people meant that some of the spectators were jammed up against other patrons, barricades, and even a bus, for the entire parade.  The aftermath was such a mess that one of the organizers declared that she "would never do another parade on LaSalle [Street]" 

     Another unaccounted for variable was the temperature.  This figured its way into affairs in two ways.  Firstly, it made organizers edit their guesses for attendees down, which contributed to the unexpected flood of people.  Secondly , the cold ended up damaging the instruments of a local marching band that was to perform in the parade.  The school ended up having to pay several thousand dollars to have the instruments repaired.  However, when you look at the grand scheme of things, it's not the worst thing that could happen.  I mean, its not like underestimating the weather led to people actually dying or anything like that?

     Unfortunately, the very next day in Florida(1/28), it did.  Believe it or not, this actually had an impact on the Bears.  After the disaster, President Reagan was much too busy comforting the nation to celebrate with a football team.  After the immediacy died down, the team was just kind of forgotten.  That is until 2011, when President Obama finally invited them to the White House to celebrate their title(albeit 25 years late). Since 1985, the Bears have not won another Super Bowl, and have had fluctuating fortunes as the years go by.  Just like with the Bulls, we'll see what happens in the future.