Not even matching orange and white wooden barricades lining Salina Street on Saturday could keep the throngs of similarly orange-clad fans from rushing onto the parade route to congratulate their team on brining home the national championship one last time.

The players and Coach Jim Boeheim, in his now-trademark giant orange cowboy hat, rode in convertibles and were flanked by a police motorcade as the parade rolled slowly down Salina Street toward Clinton Square. Strains of Syracuse University pep band the Sour Sitrus Society mixed with the blasts from blue plastic trumpets circulating through the crowd and the screech of teenage girls straining to catch a glimpse of Carmelo Anthony.

“It was a great, unbelievable experience,” said Rob Fields, a Liverpool resident and student at Onondaga Community College who plays with the SU’s Pride of Orange marching band during the football season. “The mob of people following Carmelo down to city hall was amazing.”

That mob was supposed to stop in Clinton Square, the terminus of the official parade route and the end of the barricades. But the crowd’s enthusiasm could not be contained and fans ended up following the players all the way to the back door of City Hall, where the team was spirited away to receive the keys to the city in a private ceremony.

Despite all the commotion, some area residents felt the city could have done more to get the crowd involved. Scott Claver of Liverpool thought the players should have been sitting higher so that they could be seen more easily over the crowd. Nancy Moses of Morrisville thought the parade paled in comparison to Thursday’s festivities in the Carrier Dome, while Chuck Goody of Saratoga was dismayed that more U.S. flags were not on display.

“I think the city of Syracuse needs a little practice in putting on a parade,” Claver said.

Gripes about the parade’s format didn’t stop the crowd from snapping up Final Four merchandise from vendors stationed along the parade route. Keith Lamber from N & D Sports in Hamdon, Conn., manned a set of folding tables heaped with T-shirts at the corner of Salina and Jefferson streets. Much of Lambert’s stock of magnets and keychain lanyards was left over from the trip to New Orleans.

“We moved about half of what we had when we got here,” Lambert said.

Once the parade was over and crews began picking up the orange and white barriers, revelers headed back to their cars or stuck around in Clinton Square, enjoying the moment. Dick Bilharz, who came with his son Jeff and wife Ann, said that even an entire week of celebration was not enough to do the team justice.

“It’s been a long winter,” Bilharz said. “What a great way to finish off the year.”

His wife Ann had another suggestion.

“The only thing missing was orange beer,” she said.

Published on April 13, 2003 at 12:00 pm