The last several days in Jacksonville have been interesting. The Alvin Brown vs. Shad Khan showdown was quite the entertainment none of us needed. Personally, I believe most of the hate and vehemence should be aimed at Wayne Weaver and Jack Del Rio for selling us a less than viable product for the last several years. I respect Wayne Weaver for bringing the Jaguars. But I believe the venom that is spewed toward Jacksonville, its team and fans is largely a result of Wayne Weaver not firing Jack Del Rio in a timely fashion. Like after the 2007 season. Because the Jaguars have not seen a playoff game or a better than 8-8 season in five years or so, they have become an easy target to the media. Easy Pickins as we call it in the south.
This week we had the crown jewel of events go down. After a very successful soccer match between the US and Scotland (if it's not Scottish it's crap), Jacksonville was riding high. The Jaguars submitted their pick for management of the stadium and facilities to the City of Jacksonville. The city promptly sends Shad Khan a letter saying, the decision was to be made jointly (which is not what the contract says. The Mayor just made it up. The Jaguars have the final say in who manages the stadium) and because it hadn't, the Jaguars and Shad Khan were in default in regards to their contract with the city. Rumor has it, that a management group who donated to Alvin Brown's Campaign for Mayor, was not given as big of a chance as they would've liked. Shad Khan responds with a "let me know what you want to do because I have a training camp that's supposed to take place in July and I need to know if I need to move the team to another city". Thank you Alvin Brown. I now have nightmares of Mayflower moving trucks driving down Bay Street, in the middle of the night, moving the team to the other end of I-10 (L.A.) ala Baltimore Colts to the Indianapolis Colts. Shad Khan does not play people. He spent 700 million dollars for his dream and he doesn't care about some podunk bull crap over picking the same management firm to run the stadium that's been running it for 18 years. Jacksonville doesn't even have a Mayoral Mansion.
The result of all of this was something I thought we might have put to bed. However, it is back with a vengeance. The media is now all over the Jaguars to L.A. story. It's very frustrating as a fan to listen and read all of that nonsense. I'm truly over it. Find a real story somewhere else and if you can't do that, please be quiet. That's as nice as it's going to get.
On a recent trip to Chicago, I wore a Jaguars sweatshirt on the plane (As a matter of fact, I make it a point to wear Jaguars gear all the time but especially when I fly into Chicago. You know because just because my franchise isn't a "storied" franchise, that doesn't make me any less of a fan.) I also had a Jaguar shirt under it. Did I mention I had my toenails painted Teal? It's the off season. Why am I still wearing my gear? Because I want to and because of all this nonsense about L.A. I'm sick of it. I'm not especially fond of the color teal, but I have all but made it my travel uniform. People have to know out there that there are real Jaguar fans. They are Season Ticket Holders. They sweat to death watching in the stadium on Sundays. I can't believe I'm going to say this, Jaguar fans have feelings too. And we get really mad when people keep dissing us.We don't appreciate people talking crap about us constantly. I have been a season ticket holder since 2005. Did you know we've been rebuilding since 2005? I'm still here and I'm still going to travel in Jaguars gear. Am I drinking the Kool-Aid? Quite possibly. But I still believe. Winning silences naysayers. Winning solves everything.
MDK in the House
We must protect this house.
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