Sunday, February 06, 2005

Are you ready for some Football?

And so here we are.

The one question that has continued unabated amongst sports columnists and fans since the beginning of our Super Bowl party was this: Why Jacksonville?

The jokes about Jacksonville being a cruddy, backass town have been constant. To show our good humor, one local columnist actually printed a long list of them to help visitors along. But beyond all the jabs at our town is main reason why Jacksonville is a great choice for a Super Bowl:

This is a city that loves football.

It's the one quality of Jacksonville that is of little doubt. Some of the most heated rivalries between some of the greatest College teams meet every year in and around Jacksonville. Some of the most passionate fans of those teams live right here. It was, in part, the passion of these fans that convinced the NFL to put the Jaguars here in the first place. And the passion continues to this day, whether the teams are the Jaguars, the Gators, the Seminoles, or any of the High School teams here in town which have produced their own NFL greats.

As I have said several times in the past week, I'm not a big football fan. However, I can appreciate and enjoy a good game. Most of the rest of Jacksonville's residents go way beyond that in their devotion. So, in the end, the gripes about roads, hotels, and how many friggin skyscrapers we have is irrelevant. When it comes right down to it, this is a Football town.

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