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Full Version: A Watts lie, and a Watts truth
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In the press conference he was specifically asked about the $2 million cost to break future game contracts, and he specifically said it wasn't that much. Said something along the lines of "I don't know the exact number, but it isn't that." Unless by that he meant it was more, he was either explicitly lying or didn't have a clue what the numbers actually were. I can believe either.

I will give him credit for being truthful about one thing, and I have hesitated to say this. He wasn't lying when he said football by and large hasn't been a part of the student experience at UAB. Student support for football, and basketball for that matter, has been pathetic. Blame it on whatever you want- Legion Field, bad coaches and terrible teams- but the fact is with a student body of nearly 20,000 or whatever it is now we probably had less than 1,000 at the football games.

It hurts to look in the mirror some times, but some introspection is necessary here. The students by and large did not support the football team. And neither did a lot of young alumni for that matter. There are a lot of people close to me that went to the games religiously as students, but over the years they faded away from UAB football. It is difficult to get people to support a loser, I know that. But I really think some share of the blame must go on the shoulders of people who have diplomas from UAB hanging on their walls and people sitting in class at UAB right now.

I will now accept the blasting I am sure to get, but somebody had to say it.
I was thinking the same thing. We all share some blame in this. I haven't seen more than 200 students at a basketball game (other than UNC and Memphis) since Haase has been here.
Student attendance is a red herring. They already paid for their seats through student fees. Thought this was all about the numbers Bama Ray? How about that increased attendance = ticket sales.

Wake me when the nightmare is over.
I have seen that comment made elsewhere, that if all those people marching and protesting had actually gone to games we might still have a football program.

There is enough truth to it that it is very hard to argue.
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote: [ -> ]I have seen that comment made elsewhere, that if all those people marching and protesting had actually gone to games we might still have a football program.

There is enough truth to it that it is very hard to argue.

We had more than 28,000 people marching and protesting yesterday? Weird, didn't look quite that big from my office window.
(12-03-2014 10:07 AM)BatesUAB Wrote: [ -> ]In the press conference he was specifically asked about the $2 million cost to break future game contracts, and he specifically said it wasn't that much. Said something along the lines of "I don't know the exact number, but it isn't that." Unless by that he meant it was more, he was either explicitly lying or didn't have a clue what the numbers actually were. I can believe either.

I will give him credit for being truthful about one thing, and I have hesitated to say this. He wasn't lying when he said football by and large hasn't been a part of the student experience at UAB. Student support for football, and basketball for that matter, has been pathetic. Blame it on whatever you want- Legion Field, bad coaches and terrible teams- but the fact is with a student body of nearly 20,000 or whatever it is now we probably had less than 1,000 at the football games.

It hurts to look in the mirror some times, but some introspection is necessary here. The students by and large did not support the football team. And neither did a lot of young alumni for that matter. There are a lot of people close to me that went to the games religiously as students, but over the years they faded away from UAB football. It is difficult to get people to support a loser, I know that. But I really think some share of the blame must go on the shoulders of people who have diplomas from UAB hanging on their walls and people sitting in class at UAB right now.

I will now accept the blasting I am sure to get, but somebody had to say it.

The one thing, and only one thing, that I thought Watts was truthful about was his statement that unfortunately only a minority of students attend games. That I agree with.

I've been waiting for the passion to come from the students, and it did this week. But how many of those angry students were directly affected by this decision? I suspect the majority were affected or expected to be affected by the decision.
(12-03-2014 10:17 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote: [ -> ]I have seen that comment made elsewhere, that if all those people marching and protesting had actually gone to games we might still have a football program.

There is enough truth to it that it is very hard to argue.

We had more than 28,000 people marching and protesting yesterday? Weird, didn't look quite that big from my office window.

University Boulevard is too big for our crowd. Makes it look smaller than it was. 05-stirthepot
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)braish Wrote: [ -> ]Student attendance is a red herring. They already paid for their seats through student fees. Thought this was all about the numbers Bama Ray? How about that increased attendance = ticket sales.

Wake me when the nightmare is over.

It isn't a red herring. I'm not talking about the student's money- I am talking about their giving a damn. If the students would give a damn, then maybe as alumni they would turn into supporters- financially, vocally and by just plain old showing up. If the young alumni would have continued their support over the years and not just faded away like so many of my own friends, what would the amount of support look like?
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)braish Wrote: [ -> ]Student attendance is a red herring. They already paid for their seats through student fees. Thought this was all about the numbers Bama Ray? How about that increased attendance = ticket sales.

Wake me when the nightmare is over.

Obviously, student attendance could have been much better, but...
I think the primary has more to do with games being off campus and lack of on campus housing. Walking from a dorm room to a game and back, stopping by the cafeteria along way, is a lot more palatable than driving from Hoover or Homewood to Legion Field and back or, even worse, catching a bus and being on someone else's timetable.

Also, this $20M savings...I'd bet my house tuition is increased again next year...
(12-03-2014 10:25 AM)BatesUAB Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)braish Wrote: [ -> ]Student attendance is a red herring. They already paid for their seats through student fees. Thought this was all about the numbers Bama Ray? How about that increased attendance = ticket sales.

Wake me when the nightmare is over.

It isn't a red herring. I'm not talking about the student's money- I am talking about their giving a damn. If the students would give a damn, then maybe as alumni they would turn into supporters- financially, vocally and by just plain old showing up. If the young alumni would have continued their support over the years and not just faded away like so many of my own friends, what would the amount of support look like?

I agree with you, but the flaw has been the product on the field. I was a season ticket holder for 10 years, but as my family's schedule got more full, and the football team struggled more and more, it was a pretty easy decision to stop getting the tickets. That was $400 I could spend elsewhere and still go to some of the games when our schedule would allow. Does that make me a bad fan? Maybe, but 10 years of losing will wear you down and make you care a little less all the time.

My Blazer pride has always been thick, and nothing has made me happier than to see my boys wearing their UAB shirts and saying their team was UAB when all their friends are Bama and Auburn. But it has not been easy....

Being a Blazer fan has always been a struggle, being on the outside looking in for "team color day" and so forth. If the program had been given the resources and investments to be successful, those alumni would not have drifted away, the students would have been more energized. This year, we made time to go and I was actually considering a Blazer Club level commitment, because Coach Clark gave us a reason to go.
UAB is a young university, and it's athletics are even younger. So many strides were made since I first arrived in 2003, but so many missed opportunities also came about. Had we hired jumbo fisher instead of callaway, what would have happened? Had we hired anybody but Davis after Anderson, what would have happened? Had we built the OCS, what would have happened?

You can say the support wasn't there, but I say they never gave us a reason to support it. We finally have a coach who rejuvenates the school, the players, and the fan base, and that's when we decide to pull the plug? It's all bull****. You hold our ******* programs back intentionally and then point fingers at us because we don't like what's happening. This was a plan years in the making, and they finally got their way. **** em all, but I'm not blaming the students for one second for not wanting to watch what went on with callaway at the helm at leion field.
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote: [ -> ]I have seen that comment made elsewhere, that if all those people marching and protesting had actually gone to games we might still have a football program.

There is enough truth to it that it is very hard to argue.

Come on Band Dad, that's not like you. More butts in seats doesn't equal the elimination of a vendetta.

We could have done better as a fanbase, but no FBS school was in a more toxic situation than us.
(12-03-2014 10:17 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote: [ -> ]I have seen that comment made elsewhere, that if all those people marching and protesting had actually gone to games we might still have a football program.

There is enough truth to it that it is very hard to argue.

We had more than 28,000 people marching and protesting yesterday? Weird, didn't look quite that big from my office window.

Mixy, you know very damn well what I meant. That was against an unbeaten Marshall team when we knew we were fighting for our lives. Sure, it was getting better under Clark, but I know what the student section has looked like for five years before he got here.

Granted, it was painful to watch and I don't exactly blame them for not coming, but nontheless that student section was pretty empty.
There were games this year that, if UAB had built the stadium in 2011, there would not have been room for more students.
“I find that the three major administrative problems on a campus are sex for the students, athletics for the alumni and parking for the faculty.”

Clark Kerr, president, University of California
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote: [ -> ]I have seen that comment made elsewhere, that if all those people marching and protesting had actually gone to games we might still have a football program.

There is enough truth to it that it is very hard to argue.

This argument is really starting annoy me. The people marching and protesting were the ones at the games. If people making this argument are taking about all of the protesters on Facebook and Twitter, then it is technically true. However, it doesn't lessen these peoples' rights to point out an injustice when they see one.

Also, most of the uproar is coming from students, so their attendance wouldn't have made a difference on the all-powerful balance sheet.
(12-03-2014 10:25 AM)BatesUAB Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)braish Wrote: [ -> ]Student attendance is a red herring. They already paid for their seats through student fees. Thought this was all about the numbers Bama Ray? How about that increased attendance = ticket sales.

Wake me when the nightmare is over.

It isn't a red herring. I'm not talking about the student's money- I am talking about their giving a damn. If the students would give a damn, then maybe as alumni they would turn into supporters- financially, vocally and by just plain old showing up. If the young alumni would have continued their support over the years and not just faded away like so many of my own friends, what would the amount of support look like?

What makes you think young alums weren't supporting the program? If student attendance is what shuts down football then we have bigger problems. We were tasked by the BOT in 2011 to put butts in seats, not bolster student attendance solely.
(12-03-2014 10:41 AM)blazers9911 Wrote: [ -> ]You can say the support wasn't there, but I say they never gave us a reason to support it.

That is a crap argument. You should support it because it is your school and your team. I understand fairweather fans when it comes to the casual fans around the city. But students and alumni should support their school regardless. And I understand it is tough when you start having kids and pee wee, soccer, etc. get in the way, and I don't hold that against people. But to say "I don't blame people for not showing up because we lost games"..... That is a slap in the face of the guys we admire for standing up to Watts in that meeting yesterday.
(12-03-2014 10:56 AM)braish Wrote: [ -> ]What makes you think young alums weren't supporting the program?

I swear I am not just trying to be combative here, but what makes you think they are? I know some do, but not a great deal. Not nearly as many as there ought to be.
(12-03-2014 10:25 AM)BatesUAB Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-03-2014 10:14 AM)braish Wrote: [ -> ]Student attendance is a red herring. They already paid for their seats through student fees. Thought this was all about the numbers Bama Ray? How about that increased attendance = ticket sales.

Wake me when the nightmare is over.

It isn't a red herring. I'm not talking about the student's money- I am talking about their giving a damn. If the students would give a damn, then maybe as alumni they would turn into supporters- financially, vocally and by just plain old showing up. If the young alumni would have continued their support over the years and not just faded away like so many of my own friends, what would the amount of support look like?

Most students don't care to support teams that are losing. It's just not enjoyable enough to make it worth their time. When I started at UAB as a freshmen in 2005, we had really good student support in basketball and football because there was excitement around both sports. The students currently show up to soccer games because that's the only above average program we have right now. Tell me another school on our level where students show up in large numbers to support their struggling programs.
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