Ryan

SnowRooster,
Technically, I think Issac Curtis qualifies as Anderson's favorite receiver as I believe they played together 10 years or so. Although, certainly Collinsworth caught more balls in the early 80s.

Barbara,
In terms of stadium financing, as long as cities define their self-worth as having a pro-sports franchise, there will be owners willing to take advantage of that fact.

Having been to a few SuperBowls, it is one of the few sports events where I think there is a municipal payback. The game is secondary to the level of spending that takes place to entertain clients. Local businesses do use the game to showcase their town and it does provide access to numerous CEO who come to town for the game.

snowrooster

Given that tinathetoad actually lives in the city she is defaming, I think she has the right to do so. Who knows it better than a current resident? Besides, I have to agree, Detroit is the pits (though they have good food in Greektown!).

snowrooster

Ryan - You are probably right about Curtis. I was ten at the time and we had just moved to Cincinnati from New Orleans. What a cruel thing for the football gods to do to a girl! From the Aints of New Orleans to a city full of hope with the Super Bowl bound Bengals. One Super Bowl loss, then another; followed by years of hopeless quaterbacks and coaches. I'm beginning to feel like a Red Sox fan.

placeu2

That second Bengals appearance would be the game played in January 1989. that is the famous Montana led comeback to win it with less than a minute left.

OK, I cheated (and went to superbowl.com) to find that out.

Barbara

Ryan, yes, I agree. This is something my city, San Diego, is going through right now.

jor

Too many city officials and state legislators are going to bed with team owning expensinve hookers. The tax payer is left with the bill to pay for these mega stadiums while the city officials are smoking the cigarette. But it didn't work in Minnesota. Red McComb must not have been very good in bed because he didn't get his new stadium and is now asking $600 million for the Vikings. He ain't all that good lookin. FYI Minnesota already has an indoor football stadium that meets NFL and MLB standards.

snowrooster

jor, I agree, but we taxpayers in small markets don't have choice. If we hadn't built Mike Brown his new stadium we would have lost our team and the NFL never would have given Cincinnati another team. Recently a county commissioner here sued the Bengals for not being competitive (not making the effort to do so and therefore not living up to their deal on the new stadium). However we sold out every home game this season even with an 8-8 record.

tinathetoad

As for as Gotravel...your sarcasm makes me laugh

I have not ever been to NYC and cannot comment on it

I love SanFran

As for New Orleans, my only thougt on everyone being to drunk is...why can't I be having a good time with them right now??

Thirdly, I do travel with my baby on my lap...

lastly...I am a great tipper in restaurants

Snowrooster is right...I have the right to defame my own city, and I do know what I am talking about when I say Detroit is a hole....

Just curious...GOtravel, have you ever been here?

snowrooster

Thanks for the chuckle, Tina.

Detroit is a hole. I got a job there after college and moved away after six months. My favorite story was about all the locals telling us about this great apple orchard. I was thrilled as I always went to orchards in the fall at home and picked apples. We went to this "orchard" to find it on a busy street corner. There were not tree (just bees) to speak of - only a store that SOLD apples from an orchard along w/donuts. You had to wait in line to buy anything and then sit in the parking lot to eat them. It makes me appreciate apple picking every fall now at an actual orchard w/trees!!

jor

snowrooster, yes you did have a choice. Its called "If a corporation doesn't have enough money to build their own facilities then let them go somewhere else to suck on the taxpayer's money so the corporation can whallow in the money". I suppose Mike Brown is some kind of Trophy Wife in Cincinnati. McCombs wanted Trophy Wife status in Minnesota but he has another family in San Antonio where he wanted his mistress (the Vikings) to move to.

snowrooster

jor - We didn't have a choice if we wanted to keep our team. Obviously we could have voted not to pay, but then the Bengals would be gone and I seriously doubt any other team would EVER have any interest in Cincinnati since it is a relatively small market. Either we payed or it was bye bye pro-football.

tinathetoad

Snowrooster

I like where I live, just don't like Detroit. As for the apple orchard...I am not sure where that was. I know a lot of orchards in more rural areas.

Sounds like you picked a better city to live in, Cincinnati is a nice city.

snowrooster

BTW, jor, Cincinnatians HATE Mike Brown. He blackmailed us into buying him the stadium if we wanted to keep the team. A couple of years ago the NFL was asked to intervene because he was making such bad decisions (like MLB did w/Marge Schott due to her racist comments). Now we're happy to be 8-8 and full of hope for next year.

ncgrrl

Back when George Shinn owned the Charlotte Hornets (NBA) team, he whined about moving the team if the city didn't build him a new stadium. The general attitude of the town was "don't let the door hit you on the way out." Now New Orleans has the Hornets.

Charlotte has a new NBA team, the Bobcats, and is building a lovely new stadium downtown for new owner, Bob Johnson.

Hornets was a great name for a team in Charlotte. When Corwallis was coming through the area as a lousy Brit officer in the Rev. war, he had a bunch of trouble in Charlotte. Refered to the town as a Hornet's nest. Great history, the new team is named after the owner (BOB Johnson, Charlotte BOBcats).

The Charlotte Panther's football stadium wasn't build large enough to accomodate a Super Bowl. After last year's SB run, I wonder if they are second guessing that decision.

snowrooster

It is annoying when a team leaves the city in which it was named but keeps the original name . . . like the Utah Jazz! Huh? Utah? Jazz? They came from New Orleans. Maybe if Utah hadn't kept the name New Orleans could have used it again (like the Cleveland Browns) and Charlotte could have kept the name Hornetts.

Ryan

You've got to give the NFL credit. They lose two LA franchises and use that event to turn-around and get new stadiums built from coast to coast. Not having a team in the number two media market makes every other city facing the financing decision paranoid because, unlike baseball, you do have a viable alternative to a Cincinnati or Indianapolis.

Don't know if it was intentional on the NFL's part, but it sure has worked out just as well as "New Coke."

Barbara

The only reason the NFL hasn't put a team into LA is that Los Angeles will not pay for a stadium with taxpayer money. Nevertheless, San Diego feels threatened by the potential of a much larger market just a few miles to the north.

buongiorno

The super bowl should be played in the city of one of the teams playing that has the best record.

beachbum

Ryan wrote, "..unlike baseball, you do have a viable alternative to a Cincinnati or Indianapolis."

Not sure how you make that assessment about Portland from where you live (NYC(?)), but I agree with you!

Ryan

Buongiorno,
That isn't going to happen. This isn't the NFL of the 1950's. This is a major corporate event that requires months of planning, thousands of caterers, and more importantly - the ability to get the people into the game that the league wants at the game. The NFL doesn't want 76,000 Patriots fans, it wants luxury boxes filled with sponsors and a stadium that has the rabid fan in equal numbers to the guy who decides how much shelf-space to give Michelob this year.

Who plays the game is the least important part of what REALLY goes on SuperBowl week. Beginning next Monday has very, very little to do with the Patriots and Eagles and significantly MORE to do with Anhueser-Busch, Merrill Lynch, Ford, GM, Chrysler, etc., etc.