Kristen and I and Todd met up with my extended family for yesterday’s Motor City Bowl in downtown Detroit. The game was pretty interesting considering the only thing I cared about either team is that my brother-in-law went to Memphis. It was a fun finish as Akron really came back and almost recovered their second onside kick to get the ball back with :55 left and down by 7. (They later caused and recovered a fumble that was called encroachment… a bad call!)
Here are my impressions of Ford Field. Don’t bother. The seats were uncomfortable. The sound system was overwhelming and you couldn’t talk to people sitting around you. (Something I love about games… they are social events!) The concessions were terribly expensive, at least twice your local movie theater… and they were molasses slow. I missed most of the 2nd quarter to get a nachos, 2 pops, and a pizza. That shouldn’t take 30 minutes and is inexcusable. Parking is always a problem in downtown Detroit. It’s chaotic and cramped down there for no reason. It costs too much money and the prices rarely make sense. But at least we found parking! The interior of Ford Field is cool looking and seemingly impressive. But I can tell you what is going to happen… Detroit will be completely embarrassed when they host Super Bowl XL in a few weeks. That high end clientele will blast Detroit mercilessly for the terrible management of Ford Field and downtown Detroit. It’s not too late, move the Super Bowl! All in all I wouldn’t suggest going to Ford Field unless you are really interested in seeing your team destroy the Lions. Like a lot of things I’ve done lately, the best part about it was time spent with friends and family.
Would I go again? Sadly, I think I would. I really want to see Detroit succeed as a revitalized city. But they are ages away, and miles of good leadership, away from seeing a renaissance like Chicago. People from the suburbs will likely NEVER move back to the city, no matter what you put down there.
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