Wednesday, November 4, 2009

11/4 Draft: WORST bowl cities?




Yesterday we explored bowls that, all other things being equal (payout, prestige, etc.) would be our picks of where to go. There were no shortage of great locations! Heck, San Diego even got picked twice due to their two bowl games!

However, there are plenty of pretty crappy locations out there as well...it's great if you get to go to the Poinsettia Bowl or Hawai'i Bowl...but more than anything, you just don't want to wind up on this list.....

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1W) AdvoCare Independence Bowl: Shreveport, LA

Located in the middle of nowhere Louisiana.
Shreveport is probably the worst location I can think of to have a bowl, let alone
to try to do any touristy stuff. It's not only lacking night life, but it is lacking safety as well!!
Shreveport is a location for Habitat for Humanity to set up, not for a bowl to take place!


2M. Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Detroit, MI

Formerly the Motor City Bowl, the Little Caesars Pizza
Bowl is played in the decrepit, dying (if not already dead), cold, lifeless, shell of a city called Detroit. Hey kids, are you ready for a big holiday surprise? "Yeah, Dad! Yeah!!" Well guess what, kids...we're going to .... DETROIT!!

*crickets*

"The kids and I are going to stay with my mother. Call me in two weeks when you're starting to think straight."


3W) PapaJohns.com Bowl: Birmingham, AL

I guess I don't see the attraction here. And I only live an hour away.
Birmingham is a decently sized city, but there really isn't much that would drive people to come here
You never hear the kids say, hey mom! Let's go to Birmingham! And Legion Field is nothing to write home about either .
Who chose this place?


4M) GMAC Bowl: Mobile, AL

Hey, I like B'Ham! My sister's family lives there and it's really quite nice. Well, at least the nice area of town where they live in is. No flies on B'ham!

Listen, if you're going to use that Federal bail-out
money to frivolously plaster your name on one of the fifty somewhat meaningless bowls, don't freakin' drag me to Mobile. Seriously.

To paraphrase Lewis Black's thoughts on similar Biloxi (in my mind, at least): "When's the last time you heard someone say: "Hey, I've got two weeks vacation! I've got to get myself to Mobile!!!" It's like New Orleans, but without the Bourbon Street fun. I'll pass.


5W. R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: New Orleans, LA

I am still in awe over BCMike choosing this yesterday, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt, as he has
never been there. I will say Nawlins food is good, but I can order that here, without dealing
with the dirty stench that is New Orleans.. And if Anything, New Orleans isn't necessarily a kid friendly enviorment.




6M. Texas Bowl: Houston, TX

Here's a bowl that's so unbelievably bad--in football crazed Texas no less--that they haven't found a sponsor in three years.

Houston gets my vote for "largest crappy city". For those
who have not been, think of Providence, without the water, 30 degrees hotter at all times, without the somewhat neighboring nice Newport area, 20 times in actual size, smog that makes LA blush, with everyone extremely obese and sweating all the time. That's Houston.


7W. Roady's Truck Stops Humanitarian Bowl: Boise, ID
You know really, Boise isn't a bad place, Great skiing/snowboarding, great area, fairly cheap to get in
and out of.Great people etc. BUUUTTT. For a bowl location it sucks. The ACC needed to get out of Boise and I am glad
that it did. It's like getting excommunicated. Or almost a challenge. If you can live through Boise,
we will make a rule in your honor .. haha its a crazy snowy place. just not my ideal bowl location



8M. New Mexico Bowl: Albuquerque, NM

Yet another bowl so crappy they can't find a sponsor.

Hey, I've actually been to Albuquerque and it wasn't horrific, but given all of the nice possibilities out there, do you really want to pony up $2k in total expenses to go to Albuquerque? "Hey Hal, what did you do for the Holidays?" "well, I saved up for a couple of weeks to take the big trip out to watch that bowl game". "oh yeah, where did you go?"

"Albuquerque."

"Oh."


9W) Meineke Car Care Bowl: Charlotte, NC
ow hear me out on this one, I actually like Charlotte, its a nice town, its a Bankers town actually.
Plenty to eat, places to shop, etc. but there is really NOTHING to do at all.
At least in Boise you could plan some skiing around the trip, but Charlotte really doesn't offer anything like that.
And I'm not speaking as an unknown on this one either, I go to Charlotte about 15 times a year.
I really like the city, but its just not ideal for a Bowl game , where people are looking to make an extended stay vacation out
of thier plans. Such as an Orlando, Hawaii, or San Diego.



10M) International Bowl: Toronto, ON

I don't mind Charlotte, Wesley. Short drive for me. I'll be happy when they relocate the A3CG there.


Truth be told, I actually like Toronto. A lot, in fact. It's a wonderful city and has the same San Diego quality of never being dirty somehow. However, it's winter. The last thing I want to do is go some place where I'm going to be colder than what I am now. Out of the fridge and into the freezer? No thanks.




RECAP:

Wesley drafted: Shreveport, Birmingham, Nawlins, Boise, Charlotte
BCMike drafted: Detroit, Mobile, Houston, Albuquerque, Toronto





11-4 Draft: WORST bowl cities?
Wesley drafted: Shreveport, Birmingham, Nawlins, Boise, Charlotte
BCMike drafted: Detroit, Mobile, Houston, Albuquerque, Toronto
pollcode.com free polls


4 comments:

  1. How is Jacksonville not on this list? There is literally nothing to do there. Charlotte? At least there is a downtown area with restaurants and bars.

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  2. I can't speak for Wesley's picks, but I would put Jax in front of Detroit, Mobile, Houston, ABQ, and Toronto (in the winter). Jacksonville isn't fantastic by any means, but I don't believe it deserves to share the podium with these eyesores.

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  3. Please share your experience in Shreveport since you made them no. 1. There are too many of you guys that put down this bowl but have never gone there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Keith-

    I have never been to Shreveport...and god willing, I never will.

    ReplyDelete