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

(03-02-2015 10:26 AM)CajunBlazer Wrote:  6. Most importantly, it makes our job in Montgomery so much easier. The easiest way to get a legislator on our side is show him/her that his constituents are on your side.

How so? It makes it easier for Central Alabama politicians (not Tuscaloosa), but we already sort of knew where they would be on this. The municipal/county proclamations did more for that cause. Where does the rest of the state stand and how does this poll influence them at all?

(03-02-2015 09:29 AM)CourtsideBlazer Wrote:  There were several more poll questions shown. Those are the only ones that WesternBlazer chose to share. This poll was taken from random calls across central Alabama from Pickens to Cherokee from Chilton to Cullman counties (excluding Tuscaloosa). There are also questions not shown this morning which concern support for legislators who support UAB that should also work in our favor.

I participated in this poll. The only legislator that was asked about was Jack Williams; no one else. Opinion on ray watts and the UA BOT was asked as well, but they aren't legislators.

Anyways; as far as the number of people polled-- these companies earn their money by making sure polls are accurate. They have people with doctorates in statistics telling them exactly the number of people needed to correctly sample the population. National presidential polls typically sample only 2000 people, and are intended to represent the whole nation. A sample of 300 people sounds very adequate.

Jack mentioned on Matt Murphy that he was surprised how positive the results were and was considering re-running the poll to include Tuscaloosa County as well.

(03-02-2015 10:38 AM)sadolakced Wrote:  

(03-02-2015 09:29 AM)CourtsideBlazer Wrote:  There were several more poll questions shown. Those are the only ones that WesternBlazer chose to share. This poll was taken from random calls across central Alabama from Pickens to Cherokee from Chilton to Cullman counties (excluding Tuscaloosa). There are also questions not shown this morning which concern support for legislators who support UAB that should also work in our favor.

I participated in this poll. The only legislator that was asked about was Jack Williams; no one else. Opinion on ray watts and the UA BOT was asked as well, but they aren't legislators.

Anyways; as far as the number of people polled-- these companies earn their money by making sure polls are accurate. They have people with doctorates in statistics telling them exactly the number of people needed to correctly sample the population. National presidential polls typically sample only 2000 people, and are intended to represent the whole nation. A sample of 300 people sounds very adequate.

It's already been established here that these companies give the customer the information they want to receive (See Carr report).

I just don't think a poll is going to help that much in Montgomery. These politicians see polls all the time. And the comment about it helping them know what their constituents want is laughable and naive.

(03-02-2015 10:40 AM)hooverblazer Wrote:  Jack mentioned on Matt Murphy that he was surprised how positive the results were and was considering re-running the poll to include Tuscaloosa County as well.

That would be interesting. It would prove either Tuscaloosa isn't as easily bamboozled as the board thinks or they're a total outlier compared to the rest of the area.

(03-02-2015 10:41 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(03-02-2015 10:38 AM)sadolakced Wrote:  

(03-02-2015 09:29 AM)CourtsideBlazer Wrote:  There were several more poll questions shown. Those are the only ones that WesternBlazer chose to share. This poll was taken from random calls across central Alabama from Pickens to Cherokee from Chilton to Cullman counties (excluding Tuscaloosa). There are also questions not shown this morning which concern support for legislators who support UAB that should also work in our favor.

I participated in this poll. The only legislator that was asked about was Jack Williams; no one else. Opinion on ray watts and the UA BOT was asked as well, but they aren't legislators.

Anyways; as far as the number of people polled-- these companies earn their money by making sure polls are accurate. They have people with doctorates in statistics telling them exactly the number of people needed to correctly sample the population. National presidential polls typically sample only 2000 people, and are intended to represent the whole nation. A sample of 300 people sounds very adequate.

It's already been established here that these companies give the customer the information they want to receive (See Carr report).

I just don't think a poll is going to help that much in Montgomery. These politicians see polls all the time. And the comment about it helping them know what their constituents want is laughable and naive.

This wasn't a push poll. It was a straight up poll with pretty good granularity. You're right they see polls all the time. But this along with the dozens of municipal resolutions is pretty clear evidence to legislators that this issue has to be addressed and soon. Getting legislators to listen is more than half the battle

It's important when used in conjunction with everything else.

(03-02-2015 10:29 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(03-02-2015 10:04 AM)CourtsideBlazer Wrote:  I believe Jack said the poll represented 300 people. TV ratings are done with fewer...

TV ratings use over 50,000 surveys using highly researched demographics.

This is a very small sample size.

Statistically 300 responses is a large sample. In statistics, as the target population increases the number of people that need to be sampled grows at a much smaller rate.

Surprisingly you could get a fairly accurate poll of the entire population of the United States with a sample of 300 respondents if those respondents are chosen properly. The firms who do polling usually are very good at choosing the proper sample size and those to be sampled. And by the way, the sample for this poll only includes likely voters which ought to impress legislator even more.

Carving out Tuscaloosa County from the sample group and not doing a statewide poll seems like a mistake to me. Tuscaloosa is part of the state.

This is strategic and great news. When 11 to 1 want football that helps the lobby effort greatly and when 13 or 14 to 1(going off memory, don't have poll in front of me) feel a separate board is warranted it's great news for efforts in montgomery. Those that are critical take your time, money and great ideas and do something. We are trying to change this for the better. Let's be part of the solution not the problem.

(03-02-2015 10:30 AM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(03-02-2015 10:26 AM)CajunBlazer Wrote:  6. Most importantly, it makes our job in Montgomery so much easier. The easiest way to get a legislator on our side is show him/her that his constituents are on your side.

How so? It makes it easier for Central Alabama politicians (not Tuscaloosa), but we already sort of knew where they would be on this. The municipal/county proclamations did more for that cause. Where does the rest of the state stand and how does this poll influence them at all?

I trust Jack's opinion on this and he feels the poll will be extremely helpful. The municipal/county proclamations are very useful that is true, but in the end those are typically the actions of 5 or 7 local politicians - you can probably count on the fingers of your hands the number of citizens who attend city council meetings on a regular basis. City Council meetings generally aren't well attended unless something big is going on. For instance when Trussville proclamation was voted on we had maybe 12 Blazer folks in attendance and we outnumbered everyone else there

You can be sure that legislators know all City Councils and proclamations work. On the other hand I can guarantee you that all politicians pay very close attention to statistically accurate polls. They are the best feedback they will ever get on how the voters feel - and by the way in this poll the sample contained only only likely voters - which is the kind of poll to which legislator should pay the closest attention.

(03-02-2015 10:29 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(03-02-2015 10:04 AM)CourtsideBlazer Wrote:  I believe Jack said the poll represented 300 people. TV ratings are done with fewer...

TV ratings use over 50,000 surveys using highly researched demographics.

This is a very small sample size.

I know polling. I worked closely with this guy:

http://escrippsnews.scrippsnet.com/node/2468

That's a very reasonable sample size for this type of poll.

Ray Watts and his actions are not, unfortunately, going to magically disappear. If we want them to, there is only one option: we fight.

This was very well done.

Very true. Sampling is extremely important, and to the common observer, may not seem like much. But, politically, where these are taken EXTREMELY seriously as they translate into votes, and ultimately, Pol livelihood, these are important. Even if there were a +/- 5% error, these are HUGE. It represents that public opinion is on the side of UAB and in this case especially, in support of UAB football. It also represents that Watts (and the BoT) are LOSING in the court of public opinion.

Another thing, Jack is doing more than just his JOB. He is spinning the positivity of all things UAB as well. He is 110% behind UAB, and he's waaaaay out in front of this.

(03-02-2015 11:07 AM)oldragon Wrote:  This is strategic and great news. When 11 to 1 want football that helps the lobby effort greatly and when 13 or 14 to 1(going off memory, don't have poll in front of me) feel a separate board is warranted it's great news for efforts in montgomery. Those that are critical take your time, money and great ideas and do something. We are trying to change this for the better. Let's be part of the solution not the problem.

Agree 100%

Polls come out favorable and our own shoot them down and then the DC minions read it and report back. I don't know why Fess wasted money on Direct Communications when some of our own fans can do a better job.

The poll only sampled likely voters and was done by a respected Washington DC polling firm. I think this poll, in conjunction with the city proclamations, will be a major tool as we head to Montgomery.

I forgot. This isn't a place where different opinions are welcome. I would think that criticism would allow answers to that criticism to be put out there. But I guess everyone should be robots and have the exact same opinion.

I hope the poll has some kind of magic ability to convince politicians to do their job and represent constituents instead of old money. It would be one of the few times.

(03-02-2015 11:07 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  Carving out Tuscaloosa County from the sample group and not doing a statewide poll seems like a mistake to me. Tuscaloosa is part of the state.

This was done to influence legislators. No reason to spend money on an area when you know they are not going to vote for it regardless of the outcome

It's okay if you want to continue to be skeptical about both the political process and our chances of winning this battle in Montgomery. You can continue to be a naysayer as long as you are still willing work as hard as the rest of us for the cause. (Though I have tell you that the heckling from the sidelines by those few that have done nothing to help is a bit annoying.)

Some people want to establish a cushion of doubt in case things don't turn out well. They don't want to have their hopes dashed against the rocks of reality yet again. I get that, and that's is perfectly okay.

But I can tell you that Jack and our legislative team don't intend to lose! In fact I am tell you right now we are going to win this war that has been declared against us! And we are going to win it in Montgomery once and for all! The opposition is still very powerful, but it has never been more vulnerable - now is the time to strike!!!

(03-02-2015 10:29 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(03-02-2015 10:04 AM)CourtsideBlazer Wrote:  I believe Jack said the poll represented 300 people. TV ratings are done with fewer...

TV ratings use over 50,000 surveys using highly researched demographics.

This is a very small sample size.

not on the local level....

We won't have a better chance to get something done about the way the BoT treats UAB. It's time to try to do something about it, because if we squander this chance it's all over but the slow death of UAB Athletics.

What are *you* going to do? Pitch in and help in any way you can, or sit and watch others fight?