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Sun Belt towns

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Re: Sun Belt towns

Sun Belt towns

I have worked for the ASU team in the past so I've gotten to experience pretty much every sunbelt town -here are my 2 takes:

Denton, Texas-This is one of my favorite sunbelt trips to make. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is a really exciting city with tons of places to enjoy and experience. I also am a Rangers fan and enjoy the football culture of Texas which makes going there all the more exciting to me. Probably my biggest nag with the place is how large of an area it is and unless you have a handy GPS, map or just pretty familiar with  the area you can get lost very, very easily. As for the UNT campus…it's a very lovely campus with great architectural designs. There really isn't a lot of passion at the NT games but then again their program has been lacking for a while now obviously. Fouts Field definitely shows its age and the new stadium is coming without a moment to waste, though I must it was cool being at the same stadium that was used for the movie ''Necessary Roughness'' as well as standing on the field where ''stone cold steve austin'' played football was pretty neat IMO.

Perks-vast metropolitan area, many things to see and do.
Downers-fouts field is a very run down, old stadium and with awkward seating angles, and the seats are quite a ways back from the sideline because of the track. Local interest is moderate at best for the time being.



Monroe, Louisiana

The first Sunbelt Town i ever ventured to outside of Jonesboro was Monroe. I didn't quite get to see all of monroe during my time but from what I saw, it was very rural and seemed rather run down. It doesn't have a whole lot to offer in terms of night life (in fact i was taken to supposedly best bar in town which was located in the nearly desolate Monroe Airport). As for the campus itself, the library was a very gorgeous structure with a bayou running right along it and pretty nice dormitory/apartments near Malone Stadium. As for the game experience, Monroe has some of the more hostile fans of the sunbelt, as I nearly got involved in 2 altercations in my two times there (which is amazing considering the town shows virtually no support or dare I say acknowledgment of the Warhawks). The Grandstand is impressive however the general admission side is a complete joke. The wooden benches are almost rotting away, with grass and weeds growing out of control underneath the stands during my first trip there. ASU was completely stomped the first time back in 07 and then we lost a heartbreaker during the tuesday night monsoon game so all in all my experiences there was god awful to say the least.

Perks: Especially coming from Arkansas, a pretty easy and navigable trip to make. Sideline seats are pretty good view, get you in very close to the sidelines. The airport bar was a pretty happening place i have to admit! Considering how small the actual attendance is for both the games and the enrollment at the university, they have some of the more ''spirited'' fans of the belt.
Downers: More of a spread out rural town than an actual city….Really nothing there in terms of a night life activity, really is a sleepy town….Like I said, the fans can be quite hostile at times so definitely be ready for that. Parking really sucked.


Lafayette, Louisiana

To start off about Cajun land I immediately have to state that Without a doubt in my mind, Lafayette is one of the best tailgating experiences in the sunbelt. Made this trip back during the 2008 season and despite ASU blowing it in the last seconds, still a very enjoyable trip. Gamedays are exciting, with a feel of being a part of festival which takes place all around the stadium. Many Cajun fans were very cordial and invited myself and my friends that I traveled with to eat alongside them (some of the best cajun food i've had to this day!). The city of Lafayette is very diverse, with down town Lafayette being quite large and ''city like'' but still having a college town feel to it. There are quite of few options for the night life, as lafayette has many bars and clubs to pick from. I didn't really get to see Lafayette's campus as the stadium and the cajun dome are located on the edge of the campus. The Cajun Dome is a very impressive structure and i'd love to catch an event there someday at the venue. Cajun Field is a very unique layout with the stadium sitting in a hole and the teams come in from tunnels dug dug into the ground leading to the field. Like most of the stadiums in belt, Cajun field does show its age especially the scoreboard which actually went out two-three times during the la la-asu game. Not a real terrible seat in the place. All in all, if you ever want to make a trip to a road sunbelt game, I'd recommend going to CajunLand.

Perks: Great tailgating, a pretty passionate following for the Cajuns, city is a fun place to visit.
Downers: The weather is terrible (even when I was there in November!)…very muggy, humid and of course HOT. It's a long road trip for just about any visiting sunbelt fan (the drive from Jonesboro to lafayette was a little over 8 hours just to get there.) Parking sucked.

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

With MTSU being the closest sunbelt rival for asu, it was only a matter of time before I ventured to Blue Raider land. A pretty scenic drive for most of the way, Murfreesboro is a fastly growing city, with many construction projects going on while I was there. Murfreesboro has a quaint college town look to it. I can't really tell you about what the city has to offer in terms of entertainment and night life, but they have many places dedicated to music and the arts as well as some decent size shopping malls. Middle has one of the best stadiums in the belt and afterwards really understood why they called it the skillet. Before kickoff I was able to view their athletics museum which was very impressive as well peek into their basketball arena, Murphy Center. I had a few choice words with some fans, but all in all they were pretty behaved. Middle has a really nice fan following for their program along with the town of Murfreesboro.

Perks: Pretty easy city to navigate (wish i had more time to explore the place!). Floyd Stadium is very unique in it's design and has overall decent views throughout.
Downers: Because of the construction, traffic getting to and leaving was a pain.

Troy, Alabama

If there's one town that might be as bad if not worse than Monroe, it's Troy. Troy is a VERY, very small town (i believe the population is only right around 15,000 give or take). Though the downtown district is very quaint, the rest of the town has a 'podunk' look and feel to it. Not a whole lot of places to go or visit, both in entertainment and night life. The band is without a doubt the best in the belt (and they're the most hostile of the troy fans!) Formerly known as movie gallery veteran's stadium, the press box is very large and grand in it's design making the rest of the stadium itself small in comparison. All in all not the worst places I've been to, but certainly not the best.

Perks: Pretty good seats for the most part, very close to the sidelines. Band is entertaining.
Downers: The town is quite small so there's really not a whole to do. The fans can be quite smug.

Bowling Green, KY

I got to visit Bowling Green last year and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The town itself is nothing really special-typical college town that is spread out and all in all offers next to nothing in night life or entertainment. But the campus is beautiful! The buildings and the layout reminded me of SEC campus.' The stadium is the two face of the belt in that the newly renovated side looks fantastic while the older side definitely needs to be updated as it shows it's age and i gotta say…it's not pretty. Big Red might be the most ridiculous mascot I've ever seen and the student section was surprisingly rowdy (considering the football team hasn't been since it's Division I inception).

Perks: Campus is the most picturesque among the SBC
Downers: It can get pretty damn cold especially late in the year, WKU fanbase is minimal at best.

Jonesboro, Arkansas

Last but not least but stomping grounds, Jonesboogie, Arkansas. For the town itself, it's rural for the most part, extremely spread out. Until recently, there wasn't any drinking establishments in town but there now has been 3-4 bars that have opened up in the downtown district, along with many restaurants getting their liquor licenses approved. Nothing really "special" or "unique" in terms of entertainment, other than the usual movie theater, mall, bowling alley. The gameday experience at the beginning of the year is great, with many people turning out for tailgating as well as coming out for the game. As the season goes on, the support begins to dwindle. ASU stadium, though old, still looks pretty good. Not single bad seat in the place and i say this as unbiased as possible, but asu has some of the more passionate fans in the belt.

Perks: Awesome tailgating spots for both asu fans and vistor fans alike, great seats very close to the sidelines, great fans.
Downers: located in a dry county, so no local liquor stores in town. Most of the other ''bars'' and ''drinking establishments'' close early, even on weekend nights. Weather can quite bipolar.

I have yet to travel to either florida schools but i'm planning to be at the ASU-FIU game in Miami in November. Hope this has been helpful or at least entertaining to read
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Re: Sun Belt towns

haha what about FAU?
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Now - we play in an old hs stadium (20, 000) in the warehouse district of Ft. Lauderdale, enough said! (I played hs football in that stadium back in the early 70's).

The future - a new on-campus stadium (30,000), can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Re: Sun Belt towns

Excellent write up Red Wolf!!!!
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owlmart said

Excellent write up Red Wolf!!!!

Second!



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Not to be arrogant but when FAU has the on campus stadium next year we will be by far the best desination in the SunBelt.  Our school is where the elite vacation.

Teambeer is the most knowledgeable FAU sports fan I know, way smarter than me.
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walty12 said

Not to be arrogant but when FAU has the on campus stadium next year we will be by far the best desination in the SunBelt.  Our school is where the elite vacation.

No that didn't sound arrogant at all.  ;D

GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
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Re: Sun Belt towns

owlfan1 said

walty12 said

Not to be arrogant but when FAU has the on campus stadium next year we will be by far the best desination in the SunBelt.  Our school is where the elite vacation.

No that didn't sound arrogant at all.  ;D

GO OWLS!!!

Haha, I guess it was like saying "no offense but…." and then saying something offensive.

Teambeer is the most knowledgeable FAU sports fan I know, way smarter than me.
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Re: Sun Belt towns

walty12 said

owlfan1 said

walty12 said

Not to be arrogant but when FAU has the on campus stadium next year we will be by far the best desination in the SunBelt. Our school is where the elite vacation.

No that didn't sound arrogant at all.  ;D

GO OWLS!!!

Haha, I guess it was like saying "no offense but…." and then saying something offensive.

Walty for President!
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rdownin1 said

haha what about FAU?

FAU has been the ONLY belt school/town that i've yet to go. I'm hoping to take a leisure trip and check out the new stadium next year perhaps. I had several buddies go last year and they pretty much said "beautiful city…..crappy stadium" (no offense)

they did say they had an odd yet surprisingly delicious food item at the stadium right before the game…something like a chicken or steak on stick? haha
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