Questions for. . . Confetti Guy Jason

Most Red Sox fans caught the rolling rally from the street or on television, but a few lucky fans got to experience the rally from the player’s perspective. We spoke to Jason, one of the confetti machine operators about what it’s like to experience the rally from the boats, if he’s met any of the players, and his confusion over marriage proposals.

You worked on this year’s rally, as well as the one in 2004. How did the crowds compare?
There is really no comparison to 2004. I held up the tail end of both parades and in 2004 the crowd was going strong and cheering for the entire parade, but this year the sound wasn’t quite as deafening. 2004 was a cathartic moment for the region and everybody wanted to be part of it. This year there were a lot of people, but it mostly skewed towards college students and professionals from the city. The first Sox rally was a mixture of young, old, families, people with signs saying they were from other regions of the country. 2004 was stacked the entire route. In 2007, there were places that were only 2-3 people deep.

What does it feel like to be on boats with thousands of people cheering?
It is pretty surreal. I had a “Let’s go confetti guy” chant going at one point. Its our job to help rev up the crowd, try to blow confetti at the little kids who are trying to catch it. I’m pretty sure I had a few marriage proposals too, but they may have been for Jason Varitek…

Did you get to meet any of the players?
I think its cool to be around them, but it’s their day so I’m not going to bother them unless they come to me first. I did the welcome home dinner in 2005 and was hanging out in the green room with the entire team. Trot Nixon came up to me a few times and said hello followed by an awkward moment of silence. I also told Kevin Millar where the bathroom was.

The biggest thing I miss about 2004 is Kelly Barons, the cute ball girl that was the ambassador to Red Sox Nation for a while. I got to stand awkwardly next to her in the pre-rally and in the welcome home dinner. I’m still in love.

As a fan, would you rather be in the crowd?
Its two different perspectives, I saw one of the Super Bowl parades a few years back from the crowd. It was neat to see the players dancing around cheering. You don’t get that when you are in the parade. The Dropkick Murphys and the dancing all were out of my sight line, as was the bullpen’s bongo drums. So really, I missed the parade. However, it is pretty incredible to be in the eye of the storm. Not too many people know the feeling of seeing millions of fans cheering at you.