(05-11-2012 01:41 PM)MTalum09 Wrote:  

(05-11-2012 01:33 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(05-11-2012 01:15 PM)MTalum09 Wrote:  If GoDaddy doesn't move the location of their bowl, they might as well just drop it. Absolutely the WORST stadium and bowl I've ever been to. And yes, it even topped Detroit and the Little Caesars Bowl.

Funny..seems like everyone else had a good time in Mobile. The GoDaddy Bowl has more financial backing than the New Orleans Bowl by the way.

Yes, our stadium is old.

When I visited for the MT vs. Ohio game, everything on Dauphin Street was closed. After the game, we literally had to drive to the other side of Mobile to find a restaurant that was open. There were parents with young kids at our hotel (the team hotel) that just wanted to get their children food, but due to a mix up with the hotel, they closed the restaurant (and room service) super early (before the game was over) so if you didn't own a car, then you were SOL. The team "locker rooms" at the stadium were tents...literally. Mobile just looked run down to me and that stadium needs a ridiculous amount of work. It was just an awful trip overall. I just can't believe GoDaddy puts that stadium on National TV. No offense, but with the bad location and huge need for improvements, I figured someone would have stepped up by now to change it.

Ladd-Peebles hosts not just GoDaddy, but the Senior Bowl, which is like the NFL's recruiting convention. How Mobile keeps the Senior Bowl, considering the condition of Ladd-Peebles, is a miracle. Because the Senior Bowl visitors have much deeper pockets and generally return every year for multiple days, the hotels and restaurants seem to be much better prepared for it. Out-of-city visitors to the GoDaddy Bowl are much more hit or miss, and they generally only stay one or two nights.

Ladd-Peebles is in a not-so-good neighborhood, with practically all of eastern Mobile being a hodge-podge of upscale areas vs ramshackle vs projects. West Mobile is mostly middle class, with the exception of the Spring Hill district (upscale) and a poor area immediately west of USA (USA's mismanagement is actually responsible for much of that terrible tenant housing). If USA ever built a stadium near campus, the game traffic would be absolutely horrid (West Mobile traffic is already a nightmare). Building near Hank Aaron baseball stadium would offer parking and better interstate access.