"Throughout baseball history, Philadelphia has taken a backseat to New York City. Well, New York City can take this world championship . . . and stick it! 'Cause we're No. 1!"

He was right. And if Brad Lidge said the same thing today, he'd be right, too.

Of course, the conventional wisdom - especially in Philadelphia - is that expecting a win is the surest way to ensure a loss. As the Daily News' Catherine Lucey wrote last year after the Phils' dismissal of the Tampa Bay Rays: "The city has been cagey about releasing details of the parade before the end of the Series because the Phillies, who last won the World Series in 1980, were so fearful of a jinx."

I have no such reservations. Not with this team. Which is why I feel totally comfortable bypassing the rest of the Series and getting right to this year's celebration. For a city that went almost three decades without one, Philadelphia put on quite a championship parade last October. That said, a couple of parts of the party could use some tweaking. Good thing this year's team is poised to give the city another chance to get it right.

First, last year's noon launch gave parade-goers too much time for a liquid pregame and made the day stretch way too long. Sure, that 1980 parade started only a half-hour earlier. But it also took that team half as long to get to JFK Stadium, and city liquor stores were closed for the duration of the festivities. Bottom line: Start earlier, end earlier.

Speaking of that launch . . . Pat Burrell and the Clydesdales began last year's journey to Citizens Bank Park at 20th and Market Streets. There's nothing wrong with starting in Center City - the 1980 Phils began at 18th and JFK Boulevard. But why bypass everybody north of Market? The team should meet at Temple, drive down Broad Street and circle around City Hall.

Two thoughts on travel arrangements. First, forget the players' flatbeds. This year's event isn't likely to garner any less than the estimated two million people who lined Broad Street last year. The point? The players were hard to see, especially wearing street clothes and surrounded by their families and Phils staff. Give them each their own truck and label them so we know whom we're looking at.

And for the rest of us: Don't urge fans to use public transportation if you know the region doesn't have the resources to handle such a historic convergence on Center City. Full SEPTA trains were forced to pass crowded stations en route to the city before the parade. (One account had 10 trains passing by without stopping.) Both the regional rail and Broad Street subway lines carried more than twice their typical weekday haul last year. Some New Jersey-based fans left their cars and walked over the Ben Franklin Bridge.

It's not that SEPTA did a bad job. I'm sure it did what it could. But maybe an event of such magnitude would be better scheduled for over the weekend. That way, commuters are taken out of the equation and every seat on every train can be dedicated to parade-goers.

Yo, Philly. Act like Philly. Who cares if the New York Post deemed Philly and its fans "second-rate"? Aside from Shane Victorino tossing soft pretzels into the crowd, last year's parade lacked a certain local touch. Solution: Let the Mummers lead the way. The Overbrook High School marching band led the 1980 champs down Broad Street, and the Phils would be wise to follow a similar leader this year.

Get where you're going. Last year's caravan was supposed to take an hour and a half to get to Citizens Bank Park for the final ceremony. It took more than three hours. And when it finally arrived, the ballpark wasn't close to filled to capacity. Streamline the parade and fill those seats. Nobody likes a movie with an anticlimactic ending that runs an hour too long.

And one more thing. If Chase Utley is going to address the crowd again this year, make sure the TV and radio stations are on tape delay.