The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(09-30-2013 01:43 PM)Uncle BLAZER Wrote:  Well McGee said "we have the facilities to win right now." Should we not take him at his word?

Coming from a guy who makes a meazly fifty thousand dollars a month? Hmm? He wouldn't make a dime more, with or without a new stadium.

(09-30-2013 02:04 PM)Bham Blazer Wrote:  

(09-30-2013 02:02 PM)Matrix Wrote:  

(09-30-2013 01:58 PM)Bham Blazer Wrote:  

(09-30-2013 01:54 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(09-30-2013 01:39 PM)Matrix Wrote:  Perception is still a problem with the football program big time, and as mad as some of you are going to get about me saying it, I'm going to say it again, unless they get GTF out of "Lesion" Field and soon, that perception is not going to change. One very small example that stuck with me was during a youth flag football game I was officiating at Spain Park early Saturday morning, one kid on the sidelines was blowing a vuvuzela, and I laughed and happily said to him to come to a UAB Football game one day and bring that with you, we need all the fan noise we can get...The kid's mother was sitting right next to him when I said it, he smiled, but she responded by saying, "not there", I took it to mean they were never going to show there faces at a UAB football game as long as they were playing at that place. Fair or unfair, that is a component of the perception crisis that plagues this team.

Did she mean "not there" as Legion Field or "not there" as inside B'ham? If the latter, they won't come to an OCS either. The fact is that such prejudice exists in spite of the reality that there has NEVER been an act of violence at ANY UAB (or for that matter at any other college's) game in the history of our program. Poor concessions? YES; problems with bathroom paper? YES; cold water showers? perhaps still. Those with that implied attitude are not kept away by those deficiencies. It is something else that UAB can't change.

The same rhetoric was spewed by some before the Baron's moved downtown..........along with great attendance.

Amazing how a new venue like Regions Park can transform a given area. The same thing would take place with an OCS for UAB, I know it will...Unfortunately, so do the bastages on that board of trustees.

100% F-A-C-T!

Barons won another Southern League championship, the stadium won a national "Ballpark Of The Year" award, and all kinds of attendance records were broken, not to mention all the the Good People Brewery sold across the street from that place! I was ready to buy season tickets for the first 5 years in advance had the OCS proposal been approved as it should have been. But again, when you're in the midst of evil...

You know... I've got no problems with McGee coming in here with the mentality of changing the culture and trying to say things that inspire the masses... It's just that we ARE suffering from a wide array of issues that really are hurting UAB and the student athletes, and somebody with a big iron in the fire, i.e. an identified stakeholder more than JQ Fan, MUST COME OUT and say it like it is. So, I don't necessarily blame McGee for his attempts at guiding the tiger by it's tail.

That being said, I personally would appreciate one of these stakeholders coming out and saying something like this:

"UAB students, family, and fans-
We now that we face odds that aren't in our favor for building an established football program with a winning tradition. But, that is not what defines UAB.
We know that we are in a state were the lion's share of football loyalties are divided between the two haves, with the leftovers left to the other 2-3 have-nots. But, that is not what defines UAB.
We know that the best interest of the student athletes at UAB are not necessarily served by a Board of Trustees that seeks first to maintain its namesake university as the flagship, and the other two sister universities as the second or after thoughts. But, that is not what defines UAB.
We know that southern pride is largely composed of an hubris and an overriding sense of identity that has been demonstrated as counterproductive and often self-defeating many times throughout the turbulent history of the south. But, that is not what defines UAB.
But...
UAB stands for the underdog. UAB stands for the runt of the litter that won't allow the trough to be hogged by the two alpha dogs. UAB stands for the evolution of a south, not beholding nor chained to its history of intolerance, but a south that LEARNED from its history and EVOLVED.
It is against these known odds that we must fight the good fight. We must continue to push and tear for each and every scrap that we can, and use that energy and fire to power our resolve AND SUCCEED!
These things we know, and by knowing the enemy, WE can overcome any obstacles this enemy throws in our way. So we choose to fight, to do what is right, and to not settle for the scraps that fall to the floor. That is UAB! A university family with mettle, resolve, and promise as the essence of OUR CHARACTER. Yes, we know that our interests are not fully nor equally represented, but neither are we defined by such pettiness. Instead, we will not settle. WE WILL NOT RIDE IN THE BACK OF THE BUS!
So, we play at Legion Field... Then we make it our own. We have an old and dilapidated football office building- it is OURS. Nobody is going to give UAB a handout nor a hand-up. That is not UAB's way. We will make our own fate and choose our own destiny despite those that would try to decide otherwise.
WE ARE UAB! And, WE CHOOSE TO FIGHT!!!"

Quote:UAB stands for the underdog. UAB stands for the runt of the litter that won't allow the trough to be hogged by the two alpha dogs. UAB stands for the evolution of a south, not beholding nor chained to its history of intolerance, but a south that LEARNED from its history and EVOLVED.
It is against these known odds that we must fight the good fight. We must continue to push and tear for each and every scrap that we can, and use that energy and fire to power our resolve AND SUCCEED!
These things we know, and by knowing the enemy, WE can overcome any obstacles this enemy throws in our way. So we choose to fight, to do what is right, and to not settle for the scraps that fall to the floor. That is UAB! A university family with mettle, resolve, and promise as the essence of OUR CHARACTER. Yes, we know that our interests are not fully nor equally represented, but neither are we defined by such pettiness. Instead, we will not settle. WE WILL NOT RIDE IN THE BACK OF THE BUS!
So, we play at Legion Field... Then we make it our own. We have an old and dilapidated football office building- it is OURS. Nobody is going to give UAB a handout nor a hand-up. That is not UAB's way. We will make our own fate and choose our own destiny despite those that would try to decide otherwise.
WE ARE UAB! And, WE CHOOSE TO FIGHT!!!"

Awesome USAF. Send that in.

Any idiot can fall out of bed a gump (and many do). It takes grit to be a Blazer.

(09-30-2013 03:13 PM)USAFBlazerFan Wrote:  You know... I've got no problems with McGee coming in here with the mentality of changing the culture and trying to say things that inspire the masses... It's just that we ARE suffering from a wide array of issues that really are hurting UAB and the student athletes, and somebody with a big iron in the fire, i.e. an identified stakeholder more than JQ Fan, MUST COME OUT and say it like it is. So, I don't necessarily blame McGee for his attempts at guiding the tiger by it's tail.

That being said, I personally would appreciate one of these stakeholders coming out and saying something like this:

"UAB students, family, and fans-
We now that we face odds that aren't in our favor for building an established football program with a winning tradition. But, that is not what defines UAB.
We know that we are in a state were the lion's share of football loyalties are divided between the two haves, with the leftovers left to the other 2-3 have-nots. But, that is not what defines UAB.
We know that the best interest of the student athletes at UAB are not necessarily served by a Board of Trustees that seeks first to maintain its namesake university as the flagship, and the other two sister universities as the second or after thoughts. But, that is not what defines UAB.
We know that southern pride is largely composed of an hubris and an overriding sense of identity that has been demonstrated as counterproductive and often self-defeating many times throughout the turbulent history of the south. But, that is not what defines UAB.
But...
UAB stands for the underdog. UAB stands for the runt of the litter that won't allow the trough to be hogged by the two alpha dogs. UAB stands for the evolution of a south, not beholding nor chained to its history of intolerance, but a south that LEARNED from its history and EVOLVED.
It is against these known odds that we must fight the good fight. We must continue to push and tear for each and every scrap that we can, and use that energy and fire to power our resolve AND SUCCEED!
These things we know, and by knowing the enemy, WE can overcome any obstacles this enemy throws in our way. So we choose to fight, to do what is right, and to not settle for the scraps that fall to the floor. That is UAB! A university family with mettle, resolve, and promise as the essence of OUR CHARACTER. Yes, we know that our interests are not fully nor equally represented, but neither are we defined by such pettiness. Instead, we will not settle. WE WILL NOT RIDE IN THE BACK OF THE BUS!
So, we play at Legion Field... Then we make it our own. We have an old and dilapidated football office building- it is OURS. Nobody is going to give UAB a handout nor a hand-up. That is not UAB's way. We will make our own fate and choose our own destiny despite those that would try to decide otherwise.
WE ARE UAB! And, WE CHOOSE TO FIGHT!!!"

We used to have leadership that embodied that spirit. Unfortunately, those giants have passed on and have been replaced by cringing bureaucrats. If our current leadership was in place during the early 1990's, UAB would be in the Atlantic Sun.

We need a real ball-buster like Ann Reynolds.

Oh, wait.

(10-01-2013 06:45 AM)Smaug Wrote:  We need a real ball-buster like Ann Reynolds.

Oh, wait.

Former President J. Claude Bennett was run out of office for approving UAB's move to 1A. I guess he should have done the safe thing and just shot it down. He would have probably had that job several more years and collected quite a few nice paychecks.

We used to have real leaders that would put themselves on the line for UAB and weren't afraid to speak truth to power. Everything good that has happened for UAB in sports such as hiring Coach Bartow, building the Arena, moving to the Great Midwest/C-USA, starting football and it moving to FBS, was either done behind the BOT's backs or in spite of their opposition. Kissing their ass has never yielded anything but pain.

That was a different BOT too.

(10-01-2013 07:48 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  That was a different BOT too.

YEP! This time around, it's a real "Who done it!"

Paul Bryant has a lot of influence on this one. The new stadium won't come under his watch.

(10-01-2013 08:00 AM)TheGORILLA Wrote:  

(10-01-2013 07:48 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  That was a different BOT too.

YEP! This time around, it's a real "Who done it!"

Paul Bryant has a lot of influence on this one. The new stadium won't come under his watch.

He's an old man with reputedly unhealthy habits, and I am a patient man.

(10-01-2013 07:32 AM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  Kissing their ass has never yielded anything but pain.

And balking at this particular bunch hasn't exactly been mai tais and Yahtzee, has it?

(10-01-2013 08:49 AM)Smaug Wrote:  

(10-01-2013 08:00 AM)TheGORILLA Wrote:  

(10-01-2013 07:48 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  That was a different BOT too.

YEP! This time around, it's a real "Who done it!"

Paul Bryant has a lot of influence on this one. The new stadium won't come under his watch.

He's an old man with reputedly unhealthy habits, and I am a patient man.

These old anti-UAB geezers will have to die out before we can move forward.

OR, let's say that some particular person decides to run as governor & gets it.

That person then would be over the BOT & could clean house as he desired.

Are you suggesting it's time activate our Manchurian candidate?

(10-01-2013 09:21 AM)Bham Blazer Wrote:  

(10-01-2013 08:49 AM)Smaug Wrote:  

(10-01-2013 08:00 AM)TheGORILLA Wrote:  

(10-01-2013 07:48 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  That was a different BOT too.

YEP! This time around, it's a real "Who done it!"

Paul Bryant has a lot of influence on this one. The new stadium won't come under his watch.

He's an old man with reputedly unhealthy habits, and I am a patient man.

These old anti-UAB geezers will have to die out before we can move forward.

Their progeny will somehow be elected to take their positions of power. It is the way a monarchy works.

Like all monarchies, all that inbreeding has got to catch up with them sooner or later.

(10-01-2013 10:49 AM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  Their progeny will somehow be elected to take their positions of power. It is the way a monarchy works.

Very true, and they don't have to be their biological progeny either. New members will be carefully vetted to make sure they stand firmly in the ideological Bryant family. Bear Jr. will be replaced by another Finis or Sid McDonald. Just like the Greek system in Tuscaloser, without someone on the inside courageous enough to stand up and shed light on the cockroaches, things will never change.

(10-01-2013 09:32 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  OR, let's say that some particular person decides to run as governor & gets it.

That person then would be over the BOT & could clean house as he desired.

All other state university's BOTs are directly appointed by the governor, but the UA System BOT is self appointing and the governor is only an ex officio member of it. Paul Bryant, Jr's power on the BOT is as close to absolute as it can get in Alabama.