Shrine Game moving to Florida

[painekiller]

In a move that was expected, the Shrine Game is moving to Orlando. There is also talk about moving the Senior Bowl to Orlando. That would be back to back all games in Orlando.

East-West Shrine Game leaves Houston for Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. — The East-West Shrine Game, college football’s longest running all-star game, will be played at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in 2010.

Florida Citrus Sports announced Wednesday that Orlando will be home to the Shrine Game for at least the next two years.

The game has been played at Reliant Stadium the past two years.


The game got its start in the San Francisco Bay area in 1925, and was played there for 80 years.

A lag in ticket sales and interest in the game from San Francisco officials, as well as a desire to have the game more centrally located, prompted a move to the Alamodome in San Antonio for the 2006 game.

[painekiller]

That will hurt our scouting efforts, it seems we draft a few players every year from that game. Plus another snub by the NFL of Houston for Florida.

[nunusguy]

I can understand them wanting to move the Senior bowl out of Mobile. Its a small-medium size city which probably has less than adequate accomadations and I'd imagine its a hastle to get there by air. And the SB is big-time event which should be a big draw in a larger city.
We just never turned out for the Shriner game here in Houston and really don't deserve to have it, though admittidly it wasn't really much of an attraction with mainly second & third tier talent. We'll see if FLA does much better with the game than Houston did ? I got my doubts ?

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

I can understand them wanting to move the Senior bowl out of Mobile. Its a small-medium size city which probably has less than adequate accomadations and I'd imagine its a hastle to get there by air. And the SB is big-time event which should be a big draw in a larger city.

and now you contradict yourself with this:

We just never turned out for the Shriner game here in Houston and really don't deserve to have it, though admittidly it wasn't really much of an attraction with mainly second & third tier talent. We'll see if FLA does much better with the game than Houston did ? I got my doubts ?

The Senior Bowl *is* a big attraction in Mobile because they don't have an NFL team or, for that matter, a college team to root for. Other than the fairly new GMAC Bowl, the Senior Bowl is all they have and it is a huge source of civic pride.

With Biloxi, MS and Pensacola, FL within a couple of hours drive, there's enough hotel/motel space for everyone. What it lacks is a nightlife or any of the major attractions to attend when not attending practices or the game. So the media moans like they've been stuck in podunkville.

If you take the Senior Bowl away from Mobile, it is a big wound to their local economy and pride. If you then give it to a city like Orlando or Tampa, they will simply yawn over it and treat it like a third-rate attraction.

Since the East-West Shrine game has already uprooted once and moved from their historical setting, I'm not bothered by them leaving Houston but I would be upset if they moved the Senior Bowl.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

and now you contradict yourself with this:



The Senior Bowl *is* a big attraction in Mobile because they don't have an NFL team or, for that matter, a college team to root for. Other than the fairly new GMAC Bowl, the Senior Bowl is all they have and it is a huge source of civic pride.

With Biloxi, MS and Pensacola, FL within a couple of hours drive, there's enough hotel/motel space for everyone. What it lacks is a nightlife or any of the major attractions to attend when not attending practices or the game. So the media moans like they've been stuck in podunkville.

If you take the Senior Bowl away from Mobile, it is a big wound to their local economy and pride. If you then give it to a city like Orlando or Tampa, they will simply yawn over it and treat it like a third-rate attraction.

Since the East-West Shrine game has already uprooted once and moved from their historical setting, I'm not bothered by them leaving Houston but I would be upset if they moved the Senior Bowl.

Hey I'm sympathetic for Mobil. Its a huge loss for them but this event has a lot more potential (financially speaking) in a bigger metro area. I wish we could have gotten it here but I doubt that we were considered given how sorry our support of the E-W Shrine game was the short-time it was here.
Personally I never bothered to attend any Shrine games or practices, while on the other hand I've actually thought of going to Mobile for the SB so you know I'd attend the action here in Houston.