SF not ready to think about Super Bowl victory parade

SAN FRANCISCO

It could be they just don't want to put the cart before the horse, or perhaps they don't want to jinx the team, so there is nothing on the drawing board right now, though the mayor says there will be some official something if the 49ers are victorious.

The Giants had two fabulous World Series championship parades, so why isn't there anything in the works for the 49ers?

The team spokesperson said Thursday, "We are solely focused on preparing for the Super Bowl and not discussing anything else right now."

A civic celebration is customary. Last time the 49ers won it all in the 94-95 season there was a blowout parade.

CEO Jed York has said despite the team's upcoming move to Santa Clara, if they win the Super Bowl there will be a victory procession on Market Street in San Francisco. Perhaps it's just superstitious to plan prematurely. ..

"It's about not talking about something until it really happens, that's part of the excitement; so I'm going to be very patient with this," Mayor Ed Lee said.

But there is no delay in devising a strategy to prevent post Super Bowl celebrations from getting out of hand like the mayhem that marred the Giants victory. Cars were overturned bonfires lit and a Muni bus smashed and torched.

City officials say they have learned some lessons from that chaos. The mayor plans to visit businesses suggesting they serve something other than what he calls "heavy" alcohol and the police department is asking liquor stores to sell cans instead of bottles.

They are also working with Muni.

"To ensure we have the right kind of buses that evening; we're not going to have the electric buses out, we're going to have more of the diesel buses that are able to maneuver around crowds and be re-directed easily," Deputy Chief Mike Biel said.

Something the mayor had hoped would contain the crowd is off the table -- a big screen to broadcast the big game outside City Hall like there was for the World Series. The NFL says no, it is copyrighted material.

"It's probably a business decision on their part and we'll respect that; I would love to have the opportunity because it helps us center some of the celebration but we're going to keep the city safe," Lee said.

Lee may stay in town to monitor the situation, but he's working on a friendly wager with Baltimore's mayor and preparing to savor last week's winning bet.

"I'm looking for recipes and desert chefs to help me do peach cobblers and peach pie because I've got 25 pounds of peaches that come from Georgia," Lee said.

The mayor will visit merchants next week and several city departments will meet to refine their strategy. Besides wanting everyone to be safe, the city wants to keep its reputation untarnished. The eyes of the 32 NFL owners are on the Bay Area as the 49ers submit a bid this spring to host Super Bowl L in 2016.

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