(01-03-2020 03:35 PM)HiddenDragon Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 10:05 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I'd like to weigh in. Legion Field is in a bad part of Birmingham, true. But for a man with my lifestyle and tastes, the Ham, as a city overall, is like Paris compared to Mobile, Huntsville and Montgomery combined. Sloss, great zoo and art museum, Good People and Trim Tab breweries, Five Points, Peanut Depot ... I could go on. I admit I'm in the minority. Most fans going to bowls focus on the game and many take families so the game and a safe location are 95 percent of their focus. I get it. But I want to fully explore cities when I visit them. And I wanted to give Birmingham some props here.

Next year will be the last Birmingham Bowl played at Legion Field. It will be moving to the new Protective Stadium starting 2021 and the whole Uptown Area will be heads and shoulders above anything that Mobile will has to offer.

If this game had been played on Wednesday instead of Thursday the weather would have been perfect. Hell, the weather was great from the time the teams arrived in Birmingham on Sunday until early Thursday morning. But I didn't have an arc to attend the game in but I did run across some great BC and Cincy fans at the Summit and Lakeview area.

That is a big improvement moving to the new stadium.

(01-03-2020 04:44 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 03:35 PM)HiddenDragon Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 10:05 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I'd like to weigh in. Legion Field is in a bad part of Birmingham, true. But for a man with my lifestyle and tastes, the Ham, as a city overall, is like Paris compared to Mobile, Huntsville and Montgomery combined. Sloss, great zoo and art museum, Good People and Trim Tab breweries, Five Points, Peanut Depot ... I could go on. I admit I'm in the minority. Most fans going to bowls focus on the game and many take families so the game and a safe location are 95 percent of their focus. I get it. But I want to fully explore cities when I visit them. And I wanted to give Birmingham some props here.

Next year will be the last Birmingham Bowl played at Legion Field. It will be moving to the new Protective Stadium starting 2021 and the whole Uptown Area will be heads and shoulders above anything that Mobile will has to offer.

If this game had been played on Wednesday instead of Thursday the weather would have been perfect. Hell, the weather was great from the time the teams arrived in Birmingham on Sunday until early Thursday morning. But I didn't have an arc to attend the game in but I did run across some great BC and Cincy fans at the Summit and Lakeview area.

Off topic, but any word on whether or not Birmingham Legion FC will be moving into that stadium?

Don't know if you like soccer, but figured I would ask.

Nope. BBVA Field was renovated for the Legion. Story below:

BBVA Field

Been to mobile many times, this is the place to host a bowl , because in mobile you can go salt water fishing before and after the game, just be aware if your car has Texas plates, the police there love to ticket us Texas drivers, then they take your license to the police station , so u have to go there pay the ticket then get your license back, nice set up, real nice

(01-03-2020 01:52 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  I agree with all that. Mobile is an underrated location. If it was a bit warmer then I think a lot of people would be impressed. You've got the USS Alabama and a lot of other interesting historical sites as well like Fort Morgan.

I tend to think that game deserves a real name as well...

Call it the Botanical Bowl...or the Mardi Gras Bowl...or maybe the Gulf Breeze Bowl.

If the SEC needs to send a team to a minor bowl then it really should be there instead of Birmingham or Shreveport.

Sorry! Mobile is closed, the MAC and Sun Belt have it booked.

Of course if the SEC or AAC come calling the bowl will have no problem booting us out; has happened to the MAC a few times in our history, at one time we had direct tie-ins with the Tangerine (now Citrus), Las Vegas, and Detroit bowls but were replaced later. We're getting Detroit back next season, although that's not exactly a great blessing.

I'm actually going to Mobile tomorrow for Miami's game this Monday; I've never been to Alabama before but I'm psyched for the visit. You're right, something like the Mardi Gras Bowl has a better ring than a sponsor name; maybe they could change it next year when they move to the new Mobile stadium like how the St. Pete Bowl became the Gasparilla Bowl when they went to Tampa.

(01-03-2020 07:58 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 01:52 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  I agree with all that. Mobile is an underrated location. If it was a bit warmer then I think a lot of people would be impressed. You've got the USS Alabama and a lot of other interesting historical sites as well like Fort Morgan.

I tend to think that game deserves a real name as well...

Call it the Botanical Bowl...or the Mardi Gras Bowl...or maybe the Gulf Breeze Bowl.

If the SEC needs to send a team to a minor bowl then it really should be there instead of Birmingham or Shreveport.

Sorry! Mobile is closed, the MAC and Sun Belt have it booked.

Of course if the SEC or AAC come calling the bowl will have no problem booting us out; has happened to the MAC a few times in our history, at one time we had direct tie-ins with the Tangerine (now Citrus), Las Vegas, and Detroit bowls but were replaced later. We're getting Detroit back next season, although that's not exactly a great blessing.

I'm actually going to Mobile tomorrow for Miami's game this Monday; I've never been to Alabama before but I'm psyched for the visit. You're right, something like the Mardi Gras Bowl has a better ring than a sponsor name; maybe they could change it next year when they move to the new Mobile stadium like how the St. Pete Bowl became the Gasparilla Bowl when they went to Tampa.

Down in South Georgia the other day. It was 78 degrees and sunny when it was 40s and rainy in Atlanta. Mobile was probably even nicer. Although there is a front moving in.

Outside Mobile, Pensacola with its beaches and aviation museum isn't too far, nor are the Mississippi casinos in the other direction.

(01-03-2020 06:49 PM)JHS55 Wrote:  Been to mobile many times, this is the place to host a bowl , because in mobile you can go salt water fishing before and after the game, just be aware if your car has Texas plates, the police there love to ticket us Texas drivers, then they take your license to the police station , so u have to go there pay the ticket then get your license back, nice set up, real nice

You're in Alabama. What do you expect.

(01-03-2020 06:49 PM)JHS55 Wrote:  Been to mobile many times, this is the place to host a bowl , because in mobile you can go salt water fishing before and after the game, just be aware if your car has Texas plates, the police there love to ticket us Texas drivers, then they take your license to the police station , so u have to go there pay the ticket then get your license back, nice set up, real nice

I have been through there a million times with a Texas vehicle and never experienced anything remotely close to this. What are you doing here causing that to happen??

(01-03-2020 03:35 PM)HiddenDragon Wrote:  Next year will be the last Birmingham Bowl played at Legion Field. It will be moving to the new Protective Stadium starting 2021 and the whole Uptown Area will be heads and shoulders above anything that Mobile will has to offer.

Not to me. IMO for a city to be compelling for more than a couple hours, it has to have a lot going on culturally. Small cities like Birmingham just don't have that. Heck, sterile Houston barely has it, and only for a day or two.

Now the one thing that can compensate for that is if the town is in a desirable geographical location. E.g., there isn't much going on in downtown Jackson Hole, Wyoming but it is situated in beautiful western terrain with national parks all around so you can easily spend several days there. Mobile has that, as it is on the gulf coast, which gives it significantly better winter weather, plus it means you have outdoor options, such as beaches and boating nearby. BHam doesn't.

So while I am sure that BHam has more going on downtown than Mobile, it doesn't have nearly enough going on, and it doesn't have the natural environment to compensate. Thus, if forced to spend a 3-day weekend in either place, give me Mobile all day.

The BHam vs. Mobile debate is very subjective. My hobbies, interests and lifestyle much more so lend themselves to the Ham. If anything, it has a respectable amount of "urban fabric" — with building and people density — that I enjoy. It also offers an underrated craft beer scene, some good ethnic restaurants, a big-time art museum, a wonderful zoo with a strong collection of cats, the free trolley, English Village, the Vulcan statue and park (great views), the Highlands, Pepper Place, etc. I could spend three days and nights in the Ham and never get bored. Nothing against Mobile and I can fully see how many of you would prefer that city to Birmingham.

Typically, the larger the city ... the better for me. The Ham dwarfs Mobile, Huntsville and Montgomery in terms of population and urban buildings/districts.

But, again, it's very subjective.

(01-04-2020 08:19 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 03:35 PM)HiddenDragon Wrote:  Next year will be the last Birmingham Bowl played at Legion Field. It will be moving to the new Protective Stadium starting 2021 and the whole Uptown Area will be heads and shoulders above anything that Mobile will has to offer.

Not to me.

Of course not.

(01-04-2020 06:45 AM)BePcr07 Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 06:49 PM)JHS55 Wrote:  Been to mobile many times, this is the place to host a bowl , because in mobile you can go salt water fishing before and after the game, just be aware if your car has Texas plates, the police there love to ticket us Texas drivers, then they take your license to the police station , so u have to go there pay the ticket then get your license back, nice set up, real nice

I have been through there a million times with a Texas vehicle and never experienced anything remotely close to this. What are you doing here causing that to happen??

The people in that area depend desperately on tourist dollars. If they were stealing licenses from out of state residents then they wouldn't be in business very long.

Pretty sure such a thing would not even be legal and at the very least would result in a lawsuit.

BTW, I've gotten tickets out of state before. I'm not saying there aren't officers or state troopers that wouldn't ticket an out of state resident with the understanding they aren't coming all the way back to fight it. I mean, the ticket still has the weight of the law behind it. That's actually all the more reason you wouldn't take their possessions...serves no purpose.

With that said, the police in a tourist town aren't about to make life difficult for someone unless that person is really doing something crazy.

(01-04-2020 08:19 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 03:35 PM)HiddenDragon Wrote:  Next year will be the last Birmingham Bowl played at Legion Field. It will be moving to the new Protective Stadium starting 2021 and the whole Uptown Area will be heads and shoulders above anything that Mobile will has to offer.

Not to me. IMO for a city to be compelling for more than a couple hours, it has to have a lot going on culturally. Small cities like Birmingham just don't have that. Heck, sterile Houston barely has it, and only for a day or two.

Now the one thing that can compensate for that is if the town is in a desirable geographical location. E.g., there isn't much going on in downtown Jackson Hole, Wyoming but it is situated in beautiful western terrain with national parks all around so you can easily spend several days there. Mobile has that, as it is on the gulf coast, which gives it significantly better winter weather, plus it means you have outdoor options, such as beaches and boating nearby. BHam doesn't.

So while I am sure that BHam has more going on downtown than Mobile, it doesn't have nearly enough going on, and it doesn't have the natural environment to compensate. Thus, if forced to spend a 3-day weekend in either place, give me Mobile all day.

It is a football game. Fans go for a night maybe 2 if it is New Orleans. They go for the football game.