Senior Bowl moving to Tampa? Rumors are flying

The Senior Bowl leaving mobile? You will not find any answers on the official Senior Bowl website. You will not get anything of substance from the cute little girl that answers the main phone line. Yes, the meeker put in a call and no quicker than I could get the question out...."That is just a rumor and no one at the Senior bowl office has spoken to anyone in Tampa". This poor girl has spouted that line more times today than Tiny Simmons has thought about green beer. I never even mentioned Tampa!

So how did all this get started. For me it started with a post on a forum followed by a quick google search.....wait i just got a text that it is on the news. So are these people just lying? This could be a real blow for the city.

On the other hand, this could all be a clever marketing ploy to sale out the next couple years. "Oh no we are moving away unless we sell this thing out...Come on Mobile". I really hope this is just a "BuZZ" generator and not a real attempt to vacate the port city. It was only a matter of time. The whole pro draft thing is becoming its very own separate sport. Cities know that the Senior Bowl could and should be ten times the size and flair that it is right now. Mobile just has no shot at holding on to this thing if the best they can do is Ladd stadium. Somewhere like Tampa would market it in a huge stadium with celebrities everywhere. ESPN shows would be setting up shop and broadcasting the whole week. Other than the Super Bowl, this is the premier game. Mobile just doesn't have the ability or the people to do the game justice (not that they have not given 100%). I do not want to make the city or the Senior Bowl marketing folks out to be a bad guy here, but lets be honest.

I think the Senior Bowl has outgrown Mobile. I hope I am wrong but maybe someone should have been thinking about this day 10 years ago. You can't really blame this one on the city. Lets just call out the real reason Mobile has lost and will continue to lose so many great sports related things........ME and YOU. Mobile should just change the phrase on the city limit signs to: "The city of low attendance". It would be nice to step up and build a Senior Bowl complex that housed practice fields and museums. They could have a great looking stadium with all the fancy media setups and celebrity suites. That would be great....but Mobilian's would just find some NEW reason for not showing up.