Articles about Jacksonville's hosting the Super Bowl

[Flasch186]

Please post here as I would like to get one spot where they all are so that we can start to see how the rest of the US and world is seeing J'ville. I still havn't read Kornheiser's but I heard he blasted us :)

[rkmsuf]

The media is going a tad overboard with this smear Jacksonville campaign. They are all pissed that they have to stay at the Motel 6.

Poor babies.

[ice4277]

I have heard that they are pissed that everything is so spread out around the city. On a side note, its too bad we couldn't have flipped venues between this year and next. The high temperature in Detroit is supposed to be pushing 50 on Super Bowl Sunday. You just know that next year we will have some gigantic ice storm the morning of the game.

[gstelmack]

The two big gripes have been:

- Limited taxis, no public transportation, downtown streets blocked off means people can't get anywhere in a timely manner. Bill Simmons griped about having to miss the NFL Experience this year because of transportation issues.

- Hotels spread out all over the sprawling city makes it difficult for people to get together. They had to bring in 5 cruise ships to get to the required minimum of 17,500 hotel rooms.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Flasch, is this is the sort of thing you were looking for?
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/0205/05jackson.html

Also, this fairly brief commentary from the state's 2nd largest paper
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/sports/10823114.htm
It's of little surprise that there's assorted whining about a Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

No surprise, since some factions whine upon waking up after having whiny dreams. The same group will grumble about nearly any host city, for they're too unfamiliar with the tale of Goldilocks, and nothing is ever just right. Plus, apparently graduating from junior high doesn't lessen how cool it is to automatically dis everything.

Every host city will have traffic, possible weather issues, assorted logistical problems, etc. Jacksonville has the river and the beach, some quality golf courses, good shopping.

A week at the Super Bowl as a fan is what? Eating, drinking, yelling, chest-thumping, high-fiving and buying stuff. Like suddenly museums and the local opera are going to be ove4rrun during the week? Uh, no.

J-ville doesn't have enough hotel rooms, but you'd have heard little griping from me if my room was in one of the cruise ships docked downtown.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I have heard that they are pissed that everything is so spread out around the city. On a side note, its too bad we couldn't have flipped venues between this year and next. The high temperature in Detroit is supposed to be pushing 50 on Super Bowl Sunday. You just know that next year we will have some gigantic ice storm the morning of the game.
The following quote, taken from an article in the St. Louis Dispatch, sums up the right attitude for next year:

"Hey, we're Detroit," one of the Motor City representatives told me. "You wanna insult us? Go ahead. What can you possibly say about us that hasn't already been said? That's our attitude. Is it going to be cold when you come to town next year? Of course it is. But you know what? We're still going to show you a good time. We don't fear the cold. We embrace it."

[EagleFan]

What I did find amusing is that they never checked to see if they had room for the cruise ships, or at least didn't double check, as only one could actually fit to make it there.

Hard to tell from the rest if it's just whiny media types just being used to getting things handed to them for Super Bowl week and don;t want to wait the extra time this year.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It might not be the most prepared place for the Super Bowl, or best suited, but probably isn't the complete disaster that some reporters would have you believe.

[Desnudo]

Nothing against Jacksonville or Houston, but if I were used to attending Super Bowls in San Diego, Miami and New Orleans, I'd be a little whiny too.

[EagleFan]

Kind of reminds me of a tech conference that I went to in Palm Springs a few years back. It was the first that I had gone to and I loved it. Granted it was hot as hell, but the rest of the experience was great. It was a chance to be exposed to different ideas and people. It's also nice to be out of the office for a bit. They had some nice gatherings for us in the evening, though nothing real fancy. Plus there were some interesting local things to see, like an arts festival they had on the street on one of the days, and went up to the top of the mountain that towers 8000 feet over the desert town (amazing how close it is and how different the environment is).

Anyway, I loved it but all of the people who had been to one before were ripping it as if it was some crime against humanity. I guess it's all about perspective.