Jacksonville bashing

As my hometown gets ready to host SuperBowl XXXIX, it seems like everyone in the national media is taking the easy way out and writing or talking about what a hick town Jacksonville is and how it is not ready to host the SuperBowl. As a matter of fact, when checking my referral statistics, I see that someone found my blog by searching Google for "jacksonville host city sucks superbowl." Now, I'm no cheerleader for this city, I think there are as many problems here as anywhere else. All the W stickers I see everyday are a constant reminder that people around here aren't too smart. Having said that, though, I've gotten a little irritated with some of the crap I've heard about Jacksonville leading up to the game next week. It seems that most of the people doing the complaining have never been here, or haven't for a long time. This city has grown quite a bit over the last ten years or so, and despite what people nationally seem to think, it isn't just filled with a bunch of hicks (although we do seem to have plenty of them). Anyway, I really just wish people would save their complaining until after the game, if they still think Jacksonville isn't ready, that's fair. But complaining about it before the game just doesn't make any sense to me.