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

(01-23-2015 04:03 PM)the Dragon Wrote:  

(01-23-2015 02:53 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  How about this? Why are you here? Do you know anything about our history? Do you know what we haven't been able to accomplish because some old crook wouldn't let us? Or are you just here to be another ******* telling us our program didn't make money so cry me a river?

Wow. Take it easy, man. He is just trying to help. He makes good points.

Why are we the only school in the entire damn country that needs money up front? That's what he's saying. Did Alabama start off with a 100,000 seat stadium and a coach making $7 million a year? They literally pay a coach what our budget is, and expect us to just sit there and take it. Tell us we need to be fiscally responsible? I'm tired of it. The money argument is trash because football programs were not created to be profitable ventures. A football game gets people back to campus who otherwise wouldn't go there. Add in the fact that they've repeatedly screwed us over, and you can see why I'm not going to take it easy. If somebody can answer how we are supposed to do all those things right now when we've been told no for years, i would love to hear that explanation.

I'm with 9911 here. Why should a robber rob us & then we have to justify getting our stuff back by showing that we could purchase the stolen stuff all over again & then some?

"Why are we the only school in the entire damn country that needs money up front?............"

Everything is a business. A business is very political. Not everyone is treated equally or fairly. You have to work around it.

I don't claim to be an expert. However, I have worked for a major corporation for many years and there are so many parallels to what the UAB football program has experienced. I have spent the majority of my working career responsible for programs that managers view as expenditures that don't add money to the bottom line. Convincing managers to spend tens of millions of dollars on maintenance, inspections, and other non revenue expenditures on an annual basis is no easy task. You need a political arm to push for action, but you also have to have an immediate and long term plan to present. Believe me, in the business world there are always those that get to take the easy path and have large budgets. I've always dealt with the more difficult paths. With that said, this forum is doing a great job on the political front. I was hoping to stimulate some discussion on how to approach the business side that will need to be presented. When the time comes, the argument can't be "it isn't fair that we don't have a team" or "if the program is restarted it can continue to operate within the current budget". The BOT or president would just assume ride out the storm than to hit the reset button if those are the only things brought to the table. Everything needs to be tactfully done applying both a certain amount of political pressure while presenting a long term business plan and model that demonstrates how the program will achieve higher levels. I'm not trying to be arrogant, I've just fought similar battles throughout my career.

Also, I'm not familiar with how capital projects are financed. Someone stated that the bonds were financed at 0% interest. I would think there is a finance charge somewhere. A second observation would be that $70M will no longer build the OCS. I would bet that number is somewhere around $120M today. I'm not sure what inflation factor to use for such a plan five years from now.

(01-23-2015 04:47 PM)Ramblin Wreck Wrote:  "Why are we the only school in the entire damn country that needs money up front?............"

Everything is a business. A business is very political. Not everyone is treated equally or fairly. You have to work around it.

Also, I'm not familiar with how capital projects are financed. Someone stated that the bonds were financed at 0% interest. I would think there is a finance charge somewhere. A second observation would be that $70M will no longer build the OCS. I would bet that number is somewhere around $120M today. I'm not sure what inflation factor to use for such a plan five years from now.

From news accounts, zero interest loans are made every year by state banks in Alabama to dozens of local school districts who run out of funds during the summer.(That is why many districts fire many of their younger teachers every May and must rehire them in August) They need the funds to get them through the summer to the Oct 1st beginning of the new fiscal year. They then pay back these loans using the first month's income from the state.

I would wonder how these loans could be justified to other customers if they would not be repaid so quickly. Does the administration find ways to repay them otherwise?