There’s been a lot of talk of a blue wave in the last 24 hours, but today’s Valkyries parade was decidedly violet. Fans showed up across the Bay to celebrate their WNBA Finals champions with a ceremony in Oakland and a parade in San Francisco.
All along the Embarcadero, from the Ferry Building to the ball park, fans lined the streets with signs like “Thizz is the Bay Area” and “Trans people belong in sports.” There were also a few “We skipped school for this” posters, despite the email that went out last night to all San Francisco public school families notifying them that “attending the parade is not an excused absence.”
Led by a contingent of Dykes on Bikes, the parade for the Women’s National Basketball Association stars included low-riders, marching bands and celebrities like singer-songwriter and Oakland native Kehlani, who was joined by Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee in a purple wig.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie was there as well, as were Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and state Sen. Scott Wiener, who won the race to succeed her. But the real celebrities were the players themselves who sprayed champagne, sang karaoke and launched a couple “for the gays!” chants along the way.
Here’s what else Mission Local saw along the route:
High fives and autographs for lucky fans
Kristin, a fan from Alameda, crossed the Bay early this morning to be at the start of the parade route by 9 a.m., three hours before festivities were set to begin. She was lucky to be at Saturday’s winning Game 7, which she called the best Halloween of her life.
She got even luckier once the Valks arrived. Point guard Veronica Burton was high-fiving fans with fellow guard Kaitlyn Chen when she stopped right in front of Kristin, took out a purple pen and signed the sleeve of Kristin’s jacket — which had a Valkyrie on its back — with the initials “VB.”
“It’s such a great day!” Kristin gushed.
Valkyrie-itis strikes again
Due to scheduling challenges in Atlanta during the WNBA Finals, the Valkyries had to play Game 6 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time. Burton advised fans to call in sick — and fans did so again for Wednesday’s parade.
Some held signs referencing Burton’s advice.
Nayeli, 7, stood at one of the barricades waiting to see her favorite player, Tiffany Hayes.
Her mom, Stephanie, said it was special to share the moment of “making women’s history” with her daughter. “So we’re glad to be here.”
Bay Area has that dog in them
An iconic moment of the WNBA Finals came right before Game 7 on Halloween when Chen showed up in a hot dog costume, easing pregame tensions. Some took to social media to say that Chen “had that dog in her.”
Well, if Chen had that dog in her, so did the Bay Area. Along the parade route, Mission Local spotted several hot dogs. One fan, Ashley, made her own stickers of Chen in her hot dog costume, sunglasses and the WNBA trophy. Another fan said they bought the costume for this very day.
Nancy Pelosi and Scott Wiener on the same trolley
Nancy Pelosi was also in attendance — in a lavender pantsuit, of course. She hung out of a trolley window, waving a towel that said “This is Balhalla.”
On that same trolley was state Sen. Scott Wiener, who won the race to take over Pelosi’s seat in a race against San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan.
A purple wave
Everyone was bleeding purple, celebrating a team that has only existed for two years – though it felt far longer in our hearts.
One fan, who goes by Face, had a purple piercing on her upper lip, purple lipstick, a purple kukui nut lei, a purple shirt, a purple jacket and purple shoes.
Face, who has season tickets to the Golden State Warriors, said it meant a lot to finally have a women’s basketball team in the Bay.
A duo — Bee and Faustina — started crying when they saw Kehlani, a singer from Oakland, at the start of the parade.
When asked if they expected to cry more today, Faustina said: “Many, many, many more [times].” Then, they laughed.
