Memphis, Tennessee, December 30 — Beale Street was packed with Cyclone fans the day before the Liberty Bowl for the parade. I’ve been through many an hour-and-a-half parade before, but never standing the whole time in wall-to-wall people while wearing a winter coat.
In a departure from usual parade protocol, legendary ISU football coach and grand marshal Johnny Majors was at the end of the parade along with the ISU band and pom squad. The parade organizers knew how to keep people hanging around.
Near the beginning was a set of floats carrying “America’s Homecoming Queens.” I didn’t know about this organization/competition, but it’s connected to the Liberty Bowl/St. Jude’s, awards scholarships, and is limited to real high school homecoming queens. I would later feel very, very sorry for them when I saw them wearing beautiful gowns to a cold, rainy football game (and walking along/out on the field in them!)
ISU pom squad and cheerleaders walk down Beale Street. Notice metalwork on right holding up building facade.
Johnny Majors in the Liberty Bowl parade.
After the parade, there was a pep rally near Beale and Fourth at W.C. Handy Park. Although it’s supposed to be for both teams, here again 95% to 99% of the crowd were ISU fans. We stuck around for the whole thing, but the setup was such that we could NOT see anything or anyone on stage.
While the day was a bit chilly, it was pleasant overall, and all the Cyclone fans were in high spirits. Little did we know what was in store…