Did Wayne Weaver mess up by putting up the tarps?

[duvaldude08]

Whatever stadium we have, it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than what we had with the aluminum seats in the old Gator Bowl.

That's why I never understood why anyone would call it 'Gator Bowl'. That concrete based stadium opened as 'Jacksonville Municipal Stadium' not the 'Gator Bowl'. The people that do call it that set us back twenty years. BTW, no one I know call it 'Gator Bowl', so it's overrated saying 'many people still call it that". Here's the Gator Bowl just in case anyone is confused, it looks nothing like Everbank, even with that little piece of West upper deck superstructure (not an original part of the stadium that was built in the 80's) that was saved.

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gator_Bowl_Stadium

Most people called  it the Gator Bowl. They have been calling it that for 20+ years. Growing up, my parents called it the Gator Bowl. (Im 30). I dont think it necessary "set us back". For a very very long time, Jacksonville was a college town, so Im not shocked people started calling it the Gator Bowl.

[duvaldude08]

It was my understanding that it was never called the Gator Bowl. That was just the name of the Bowl game held there for many many years.

Fairfield Stadium was built in 1925 (erroneously reported almost everywhere as 1928). The first Gator Bowl was held in 1946, when Fairfield's capacity was still under 8,000. Fairfield was expanded to 16,000 seats in 1948, and it was at this time that the stadium was officially renamed the Gator Bowl. The name stood until the city was awarded the Jaguars and the rebuilding efforts began. The new stadium was named Jacksonville Municipal Stadium until naming rights could be purchased. There was a loud outcry from a segment of the local population who wanted the stadium to remain known as the Gator Bowl, a situation that the Jaguars (understandably) found absurd. An even larger segment of the population wasn't happy with the Alltel deal, insisting that the word "Jacksonville" remain in the stadium name. I believe the city council even discussed buying naming rights themselves so the city's name remained on the stadium.

As for people still calling it the Gator Bowl, I've got no problem with that. Even as a card carrying Gator hater, I don't think people fully understand just how deep the Gator football tradition runs in this city. When the Jaguars arrived, the Gators had already been playing football in this city for 94 years, Florida-Georgia was going on nearly 70 years, and the Gator Bowl game itself had enjoyed five decades of success. Without Florida football, there would have been no Gator Bowl stadium. And without the Gator Bowl stadium, there would have absolutely been no Jacksonville Jaguars.

Seems goofy to me when people get angry and petty over the Gators fandom in this city, as if it's an affront to the Jaguars, when really, it's one of the city's most important and longest-standing cultural traditions.

You are right Ken. For example, I think it sucks we are held hostage with the stadium issue because of FL/GA, but as you stated, those games have been a deep rooted tradition in this city for almost 100 years. So I do understand them accomdating the FL/GA association with the capcity. Tradition wise, the Jaguars have a long road ahead. Were only at 17 years. I think around 30-35 years, with more and more generation of Jags fans coming up, we will start to see a balance between the Jaguar vs Gator hatred. lol