I am looking for positives from this bowl and I can't find any. The location sucks. It's in Alabama. The opponent sucks. Yes it's the SEC's number 9 team but how many times does the SEC have 9 bowl bound teams? It's happened once in the past 6 years. And on those once in a blue moon years it would probably be Ole Miss Miss St or Vandy in that bowl. So we are looking at a Sun belt team a majority of the time. Payout sucks beyond belief. Are you kidding me 300 K? Would it be better to just not have it at all? Isn't it better to send the 6th bowl elligible BE team to an at large bid then subject them to play a sunbelt team in alabama for 300 K? For USF and Cincy fans who went there how was your experience at that bowl?

I had a great time but my expectations had never been lower for any sporting event. Plus, UC did a hell of a job promoting and planning. Not only did UC provide a great package for students to attend, but they had a big tailgate before the game and a nice pep rally, etc. I went with a half dozen of my best friends and had a ball in downtown Birmingham, there's a district in particular I'm forgetting the name of which is outside the immediate downtown but very near the UAB campus with lots of great bars and entertainment. Although the drive from the hotel at UAB to Legion Field was pretty bad (I'm guessing we went through the heart of the poverty). All in all for $50 it was an experience I look back on fondly - but I'd be lying if I said it was totally thanks to the bowl game by itself. Plus, winning didn't hurt.

If I'm not mistaken, didn't the first 2 BE teams play C-USA teams in B'ham?

This trip for someone would be even worse considering they will be only getting $300,000 for the trip and playing a 6-6 Sun Belt team in front of probably less than 10,000 fans in a 70,000 seat old erector set stadium.

Festivities for bowl games will be nice I'm sure, but the game/setting/opponent will be dreadful. That being said, if Pitt gets stuck there (please no), I'll still probably spend the $$ and go.

Yosemite Panther Wrote:If I'm not mistaken, didn't the first 2 BE teams play C-USA teams in B'ham?

This trip for someone would be even worse considering they will be only getting $300,000 for the trip and playing a 6-6 Sun Belt team in front of probably less than 10,000 fans in a 70,000 seat old erector set stadium.

Festivities for bowl games will be nice I'm sure, but the game/setting/opponent will be dreadful. That being said, if Pitt gets stuck there (please no), I'll still probably spend the $$ and go.

Class.

the last 2 years the sec has had 10,9 teams eligible. So who knows.

TIGER-PAUL Wrote:the last 2 years the sec has had 10,9 teams eligible. So who knows.

Yea but in 2006 there were 2 BCS teams in LSU and Florida therefore they actually had 8 teams for their bowls and we still would have had a sunbelt team in Papajohns. 2007 is really the only year that an SEC team would have actually played in the papajohns.

I can't speak for others, but my family and I had a fun time at the inaugural Papajohns.com bowl. We ate some of the best BBQ I've ever had (Dreamland the night before the game, Jim N Nicks after the game) and really had no issues with parking or fans despite what others have said. It was the first ever game, so there really were no organized festivities, which was disappointing compared to the bowls in Charlotte and El Paso, but we still had a great time.

Then again, I truly think I'd have a good time if USF were shipped to any bowl, and it would take a lot for me not to go.

USFFan

for the 5 or 6 BE team, does it really matter that much? They got the sec, maybe 1 in 4 years and improved the date. The BE needs to concentrate on the 2-3-4 (inc ND) slots to guarantee the top 3 BE teams at least play a bcs team.

cdumpster11 Wrote:I had a great time but my expectations had never been lower for any sporting event. Plus, UC did a hell of a job promoting and planning. Not only did UC provide a great package for students to attend, but they had a big tailgate before the game and a nice pep rally, etc. I went with a half dozen of my best friends and had a ball in downtown Birmingham, there's a district in particular I'm forgetting the name of which is outside the immediate downtown but very near the UAB campus with lots of great bars and entertainment. Although the drive from the hotel at UAB to Legion Field was pretty bad (I'm guessing we went through the heart of the poverty). All in all for $50 it was an experience I look back on fondly - but I'd be lying if I said it was totally thanks to the bowl game by itself. Plus, winning didn't hurt.

Five Points South. It's on the Southside of downtown at 11th Ave and 20th St. UAB campus is just west of that...

Keep it until the BE gets a better deal somewhere else. It is a guaranteed bowl for a 6&6 team to go to, or the last bowl eligible team the BE has. The BE needs at least 7 bowls as long as ND is allowed in the BE bowl pecking order for their namesake for the Gator / Sun opportunities on NYD. The payout does suck so it should be worked on or replaced in the next bowl go around if the new commish can't get the payout up to at least $750k. I thought that with the SEC associated with it the payout would climb to at least $750k but apparently that isn't happening during this contract.

Perfect # 7 bowl, in time Bir gets thier dome built, local start supporting game, ESPN owns the game. the game has potetial to grow. With a little luck ArkSt beats Troy, Bir ends up with Troy.
Troy will help with the atmosphere & don't take them lightly

I went last year, had a good time. The venue sucks, but we still had fun tailgating before the game and then heading to the bars near our hotel (near UAB) after campus. I think you'll have fun there.

There is talk of building a dome down there and moving the game to the dome. That would really make this a nice bowl.

TIGER-PAUL Wrote:for the 5 or 6 BE team, does it really matter that much? They got the sec, maybe 1 in 4 years and improved the date. The BE needs to concentrate on the 2-3-4 (inc ND) slots to guarantee the top 3 BE teams at least play a bcs team.

That is correct. Unfortunately this is often the game for the 4 team. If Notre Dame gets in the mix that could be where the #2 (Pitt) ends up. It could be anyway. I know Cinci wasn't happy last year and they would have been screaming a little louder if they had played a Sun Belt team. The BE probably needs to implement a 1-win rule for bowl placements (including ND).
On the positive side you have Ruben Studdard and the Martini Shakers at the Street Fest Sunday night.:band:

mlb Wrote:There is talk of building a dome down there and moving the game to the dome. That would really make this a nice bowl.

Who's going to pay for said "dome" and who would play in it that would justify such a huge expenditure?

No idea, paintcan. I just know they mentioned it last year. My guess is UAB would be a big investor into it and play football and basketball there.

Move Birmingham Bowl to St. Pete and make it a Post Xmas Bowl game for Big East #2. Other BCS conferences would compete to be part of it. Big East would have two Florida Bowls plus BCS, Tire, and Gator/Sun Bowls plus whatever bowls.

mlb Wrote:No idea, paintcan. I just know they mentioned it last year. My guess is UAB would be a big investor into it and play football and basketball there.

It would be a Dome so it would be used as a convention center also. From reading their papers around the time we were down there last year, Birmingham politicians make our city council look good and thats a scary thing.

Watch what you say, grubs. The mayor of Birmingham was arrested today... :)

mlb Wrote:No idea, paintcan. I just know they mentioned it last year. My guess is UAB would be a big investor into it and play football and basketball there.

Would not count on UAB for much. Their football program is operating on less than fumes in the economic tank already. Attendance is in hundreds,not thousands. Honestly don't see how they pay the utility bills to play in Legion Field right now.
Now - if you're having chest pains they do a bang up job with heart attacks at UAB Hospital.

paintcan Wrote:

mlb Wrote:No idea, paintcan. I just know they mentioned it last year. My guess is UAB would be a big investor into it and play football and basketball there.

Would not count on UAB for much. Their football program is operating on less than fumes in the economic tank already. Attendance is in hundreds,not thousands. Honestly don't see how they pay the utility bills to play in Legion Field right now.
Now - if you're having chest pains they do a bang up job with heart attacks at UAB Hospital.

Ha.

I wonder if UAB's football playing days may be coming to an end.