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Extreme situations require extreme measures.

(08-19-2015 10:07 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Extreme situations require extreme measures.

I totally disagree. Extreme situations call for thoughtful and calculated responses. For instance, when I first read that letter with Watts' signature my first response was extreme - I got hopping mad. My first extreme reaction was to swear that there was no way in hell they would be getting my money early.

This extreme reaction, had I continued on that path, would have been reacting exactly how Watts and the BOT wanted me to react.

These guys may be extremely evil, but they are also very smart. We dare not let them maneuver us in to reacting like their remote controlled puppets. We must keep our goal ever present in our minds and insure our every action will brings us closer to that goal, not further from it.

Mr. Miyagi.

(08-19-2015 11:15 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Mr. Miyagi.

I'll take that as a "extreme" compliment. I would like to think that over time the martial Arts has inevitably affected the way that I have come to react in many situations and how I approach life in generally, hopefully in a positive way.

(08-19-2015 09:58 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  I still don't understand how there can be a secret deadline, at an amount that hasn't been publicly acknowledged on a timeframe that has only been vaguely alluded to in a press release. Even after the lack of details from yesterday's pep rally/press conference, and with students being given NCAA waivers and being signed to the team, if they pull the rug out from under UAB football again after just two or three months then we will be in an intolerable situation.

IMHO tend to agree with you that a immediate shutdown of UAB football may not be their FIRST step. There are other nasty things that could be done by using our own promises against us.

First Many believe Coach Clark will not sign his contract unless needed facilities are guaranteed in it. We have committed to fund raise the initial facilities about thirteen million is needed. A common practice at UAB is not to start a project until fundraising is complete and usual to require around half be in hand before groundbreaking. So no signed CC contract could be a big blow and be blamed on failure to fundraise

Second, UAB athletics (not just football)had always been allowed a blank check internally to bust budgets on expenses and especially revenue side. We have almost always had a bigger than planned/increasing deficit. The SOM has always resented this. Now we have promised to fund raise 3 Million and we agreed the contribution from the SOM (and students) will be capped. For example in a normal department ether if department goals appear to not being met non essential expenditures are "frozen". Do you wish to give the administration the ability under normal UAB procedures to selectively say freeze the recruiting budget. You see a lot of nasty things could be done.

We need get that cash money in. It may not be fair and it will make me mad. But if we fail to call their bluff that could make smarter PR moves and simply starve/cripple football rather than end it immediately

I haven't the slightest bit of confidence that the fundraising targets will not continue to be moved until we slip up. I'm at a loss as to figure out an end game on that one.

(08-19-2015 11:54 AM)TPBlaze84 Wrote:  I haven't the slightest bit of confidence that the fundraising targets will not continue to be moved until we slip up. I'm at a loss as to figure out an end game on that one.

The end game is that we will win eventually regardless of how many roadblocks they put in front of us. The first step in getting something done is to believe it can be done. They haven't stopped us yet and now that the leaders of the Birmingham business community are with us, there is no way they are going stop us in the future. The business leaders have wisely made this more than just about just a football team or just about UAB, they have made it about the Birmingham area and that will bring in maximum support from all quarters.

BELIEVE!!! and get your pocketbook out and make it happen. They made this about money and they are going to regret making it about money. Money is not an abstract idea which can be manipulated. Money is real and can be counted - either goals are reached are they are not. Yea, they can try to move the goal posts, but they can't do so without being obvious as to their intentions and new goals will still be met.

BELIEVE!!! we are on the tipping point of something truly huge. We just need to keep it moving.

We only need to do two things: Have faith and do what we can.

Notre Dame has a longstanding policy of not beginning projects until 100% of the money is identified and 70% of it is on hand.

Could ND's new stadium expansion concept be something UAB should consider, basically along woth the stadium upgrades, scholastic construction will be on the exterior of the stadium . It also goes along with Clark's idea of incorporating medical research / nutrition sciences into Athletics > check it out > http://m.southbendtribune.com/news/local...l?mode=jqm

(08-19-2015 02:36 PM)BlazerHam Wrote:  Notre Dame has a longstanding policy of not beginning projects until 100% of the money is identified and 70% of it is on hand.

Could ND's new stadium expansion concept be something UAB should consider, basically along woth the stadium upgrades, scholastic construction will be on the exterior of the stadium . It also goes along with Clark's idea of incorporating medical research / nutrition sciences into Athletics > check it out > http://m.southbendtribune.com/news/local...l?mode=jqm

Notre Dame also has a much richer history and legacy of alumni and supporters that they can tap like an ATM machine. The financial situation and ability of ND vs. UAB is not really the same. Not to mention UAB as a public institution has access to bond markets in a way ND doesn't.

Edit: Also, it seems that even though ND can't issue tax-free government bonds, they are still willing to borrow, which UAB is not: http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/15/news/com...rest-rate/

Tuscaloosa borrows for everything. Just sayin'

(08-19-2015 02:43 PM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  

(08-19-2015 02:36 PM)BlazerHam Wrote:  Notre Dame has a longstanding policy of not beginning projects until 100% of the money is identified and 70% of it is on hand.

Could ND's new stadium expansion concept be something UAB should consider, basically along woth the stadium upgrades, scholastic construction will be on the exterior of the stadium . It also goes along with Clark's idea of incorporating medical research / nutrition sciences into Athletics > check it out > http://m.southbendtribune.com/news/local...l?mode=jqm

Notre Dame also has a much richer history and legacy of alumni and supporters that they can tap like an ATM machine. The financial situation and ability of ND vs. UAB is not really the same. Not to mention UAB as a public institution has access to bond markets in a way ND doesn't.

Edit: Also, it seems that even though ND can't issue tax-free government bonds, they are still willing to borrow, which UAB is not: http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/15/news/com...rest-rate/

Well, that completely missed the point. I'm not sure what point you were commenting on. I am well aware of Notre Dame's history and wealthy alumni base. I'm also a lifelong fan & donor.

The point is, what great out-of-the-box thinking it is to incorporate stadium upgrades with academic upgrades. Just like Clark wants to intertwine UAB's TBI & Nutrition know how with Athletics.

(08-19-2015 09:48 AM)58-56 Wrote:  This is a very nasty, and well-thought-out, move by our friends on the Board. More sophisticated than I would have given them credit for, but it is dangerous to misunderestimate your enemies. Their skills in committing evil are considerable (they are the spiritual and often actual descendants of the same scum who kept Jim Crow alive for 100 years - one hundred years - after the Civil War).

It's not aimed at us. And it's not even aimed at inducing failure (that would be a bonus). They're sending a message to our new business-community allies re: who's really in charge. They probably also hope to peel off at least a few of them who don't want the fight (and naively just want to help their community). This is why there are ZERO Trustee-related businesses on the Committee.

We have finally awoken them to the real danger (as they see it): money from major donors flowing to the new Blazer Foundation instead of its rightful place in the Crimson Tide Foundation. If it's money that never had flowed to the CTF before, well that's even worse, because it means we ensnared prospects who should be giving to Tuscaloosa. Remember Karen Brooks's June statement: the Board's first (and only public) move in response to the reinstatement has been to place their own watchdog, Hays, in place to oversee finances instead of Smithers, who apparently wavered in his devotion to Pumpkinhead during the VP-level convulsions of late May.

We have entered a new phase of this struggle: an existential conflict between Birmingham and rural Alabama, between the past and the future. Now it's for real. This is the battle we've been waiting for, the one with actual stakes. We fight.

+1 million THIS!

(08-19-2015 10:05 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  58-56 is dead on.

one thing everyone forgets. Those board members DON'T CARE. They don't care what Joe Q Public thinks because when bama kicks off all will be forgotten.

And THIS.