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

(12-09-2016 09:55 AM)BlazerGold09 Wrote:  I would give anything to be at the 84 game.

Would you give your life? If I could guarantee that you could go back and be at that game but that you'd die as soon as it was over, would you still do it?

https://twitter.com/UAB_MBB/status/807401760545525760

(12-09-2016 09:14 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  https://twitter.com/UAB_MBB/status/807401760545525760

That is so cool. The very first Blazer, big Daryl Braden holding court with the team. One thing you can't hate about Memphis is the great players the city game UAB.

Daryl still looks like he could be trouble in the paint in a half court game.

The team looks bored as hell in that pic

(12-10-2016 12:57 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  The team looks bored as hell in that pic

Haha haha

(12-09-2016 03:01 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  Can't remember who the tiggers played next but I do remember thinking it was winnable for either team still playing after that night. That was a Final Four appearance walking into the tunnel with the refs. What a great UAB team. Won the Great Alaska Shoot-out vs KU to start the season. I thought we were going to win the Memphis game right up until Turner hit that last shot. Sicker after that game than the UL loss in the Elite Eight.

A tough night but a great time to be a Blazer fan.

Loaded question, but do you guys think we can get back to this level? I currently consider the season a success if we just make the NCAA tournament and maybe win a game. The magical run in the 80's was before my time, but I wish I could've experienced that.

I know in present day it takes a tremendous amount of resources to consistenly compete at that level a la Creighton, VCU, Butler, etc with facilities & coaches' salaries. Was the resource gap not as big in the 80's or was Bartow just such a good coach he overcame that gap?

(12-10-2016 01:07 AM)hooverblazer Wrote:  

(12-09-2016 03:01 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  Can't remember who the tiggers played next but I do remember thinking it was winnable for either team still playing after that night. That was a Final Four appearance walking into the tunnel with the refs. What a great UAB team. Won the Great Alaska Shoot-out vs KU to start the season. I thought we were going to win the Memphis game right up until Turner hit that last shot. Sicker after that game than the UL loss in the Elite Eight.

A tough night but a great time to be a Blazer fan.

Loaded question, but do you guys think we can get back to this level? I currently consider the season a success if we just make the NCAA tournament and maybe win a game. The magical run in the 80's was before my time, but I wish I could've experienced that.

I know in present day it takes a tremendous amount of resources to consistenly compete at that level a la Creighton, VCU, Butler, etc with facilities & coaches' salaries. Was the resource gap not as big in the 80's or was Bartow just such a good coach he overcame that gap?

I doubt it. Unpopular opinion coming, but I think if we wouldn't have chosen to bring football back and commited those financial resources to other sports, primarily basketball, it could have happened. I think the occasional tournament appearance is the best we can hope for now.

I am not sure we can be a Gonzaga, VCU or Wichita State but with the current state of CUSA, we should be winning it all at least three or four years out of five. That means tournament appearances and who knows what happens once your there.

(12-10-2016 01:31 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I am not sure we can be a Gonzaga, VCU or Wichita State but with the current state of CUSA, we should be winning it all at least three or four years out of five. That means tournament appearances and who knows what happens once your there.

Kind of ageee. CUSA is bad enough that it will likely be a 1 bid league most years, which works against us. Because the conference is so bad though, we should always be able to compete for that one bid. However there's enough decent programs in this league (WKU, ODU, La Tech, MTSU) that care about basketball that I think it will be difficult for any team to dominate.

(12-10-2016 01:46 AM)BlazintheATL Wrote:  

(12-10-2016 01:31 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I am not sure we can be a Gonzaga, VCU or Wichita State but with the current state of CUSA, we should be winning it all at least three or four years out of five. That means tournament appearances and who knows what happens once your there.

Kind of ageee. CUSA is bad enough that it will likely be a 1 bid league most years, which works against us. Because the conference is so bad though, we should always be able to compete for that one bid. However there's enough decent programs in this league (WKU, ODU, La Tech, MTSU) that care about basketball that I think it will be difficult for any team to dominate.

I really think the league can and should get to 2 bids at least relatively soon. Problem is that we have a lot of good programs who are struggling OOC most years. For example this year: UAB, WKU, UTEP, Charlotte etc are all struggling OOC when we should be better than we are IMO. We just need 2-3 programs to have good OOC years at the right time. With UAB, WKU, UTEP, ODU, LT, MTSU, Charlotte that should be easily doable. Even Marshall and Rice are looking up so far this year. UAB certainly hasn't had great OOC RPIs in general in the past 6 years.

Hell, look at USM's bad timing. They had 7-8+ years of at least being top 150 RPI and in many cases being top 50 RPI wins for 3 or 4 years in a row. The past 3 years they have been 275-350 RPI. It's not the norm for a lot of our programs to be where they are and it seems like most are struggling at the same time. I think ODU had one of their worst seasons ever a couple years ago since moving to CUSA, etc. Bad timing all around.

UTEP prob has the worst looking team they've had in at least like 10 years? Who knows. It's crazy

without UAB and Memphis being in the same conference there is no rivalry. before they left there was one developing but unless we start playing them every year in football and basketball that's dead.

The FUTURE of the UAB vs Memphis Rivalry depends more on what happens in 2016 than what happened in the past. UAB must show that its team and program are competitive with teams in the P5 group and the AAC.

Both programs have new coaches and different players than when they last met so the result of this game could determine the value Memphis places on the rivalry we hold so dear. We see them as a contemporary once removed, but they may come to see UAB as a hitchhiker they dropped off on their way to bigger things.

I agree with Bladhmadh, if there is no conference rivalry, if we only play them once in a while, there is no rivalry game. As I said above, we also have to win some of these or its not a rivalry game, we're just a W on their schedule that they can count on. That's not a rivalry.

If it becomes a semi-regular series, preferably annually, I could see the rivalry continuing regardless of conference affiliation. I would agree though that it isn't likely to be very intense so long as it is this sporadic. Many of the current undergrads at UAB have no idea the history or intensity of some of these prior games.

Of course, I would ideally like to see UAB in a conference with Memphis again some day, but until then I hope the leadership in both athletic departments will see value in continuing the series.

There have been 47 games between the two schools. UAB has won 10 of those games. If it's a rivalry, it sure is lopsided.

If any of you Einsteins read the article, it is about the past rivalry. No one has said it is a current rivalry.

(12-09-2016 09:31 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(12-09-2016 09:14 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  https://twitter.com/UAB_MBB/status/807401760545525760

That is so cool. The very first Blazer, big Daryl Braden holding court with the team. One thing you can't hate about Memphis is the great players the city game UAB.

My son was a decent player at a young age and we spent half our time going from gym to gym for his games. One early Saturday morning we went to a "well used" gym in a part of town where even early in the morning a guy was walking down the sidewalk with a can in his hand covered by a paper bag and a young woman in a purple velvet dress was seeking "customers".

Across the street from that pair was a gym that was attached to a church than needed paint and a new roof a decade or more ago. The gym had a 8 or 10 foot fence around it with barbed wire tips at the top. We checked in the entrance by having a guard check us for weapons or (I assume) drugs,

When his game was ready to start a tall man came out to deliver the game ball and start the game with a prayer. He started with "Hi, my name is Daryl Braden, I run this gym and before we start, let me tell you my story.........."

Daryl is a good man doing good work in a neighborhood in need.

http://mamsports.org/2015/03/17/big-brea...er-addict/

Quote:Big break for former addict

USA Edition No. 35, February 2015, By Rosemary Barnes
Basing his whole identity around basketball was former NBA player Daryl Braden’s biggest mistake
IMG_1248
Daryl Braden helps children excel in their schooling and progress spiritually at neighborhood youth centers run by Memphis Athletic Ministries (MAM).
It is easy to envision former NBA player Daryl Braden gliding down the basketball court, evading defenders and making a signature dunk to the roar of the fans. The hard part is imagining how this gentle giant’s life spiraled out of control after his playing career ended at age 40.
For the best part of two decades Daryl enjoyed amazing international success as a small forward. He played pre-season for the NBALifeWay Bibles‘s San Antonio Spurs followed by stints in the national Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the European league, as well as league appearances in South America and Mexico.
“I enjoyed the game, the travel, the fame, the people I met and all that life had to offer,” Daryl remembers.
However, he had a serious problem that was only uncovered when his career ended.
“I had to trust God when others would not trust me””Frankly, the success in the game had made me arrogant. My ego helped me develop an ‘all about me’ attitude,'” Daryl admits.
As basketball was for him “all I knew, it was my identity,” Daryl honestly confesses that the sudden loss of prominence led to a crack cocaine addiction that lasted for 10 years.
Hoping to change his life, he moved from Memphis to Nashville, but ensuing homelessness led to stealing a car and a three-year prison term.
His wakeup call came when he asked for money for his addiction from his brother, who instead gave him the address of a drug treatment center.
“I was offended at first,” Daryl says. “But then, for the first time in 10 years, I saw I was not just hurting me but also those who loved me more than I could love myself.”
Daryl checked himself in to Harbor House, a Christian-based drug rehab center in Memphis.
Although he had been raised by parents who instilled “godly values” throughout his childhood and was baptized at age 12, Daryl says his understanding of God was very little, but he knew God was not finished with him.
“I was praying to God [during my time of addiction] to deliver me because I knew He was able. From an early age, I knew that if I wanted to be successful that God had to be head of my life.”
At Harbor House, Daryl says, “I grew closer to God like I had never experienced before.”
As he fully committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in Him for forgiveness and restoration before God, Daryl says that he came to know that “the real ‘Source’ of my life, peace and prosperity is Jesus!”
As an ex-addict and ex-convict, Darryl explains, “It is hard to find a job. People do not want to hire you; they do not trust you. I really had to trust God when others would not trust me.”
Since he has great expertise in sports, Daryl volunteered for six months for a Christian-based youth organization called Memphis Athletics Ministries, which offers year-round mentoring programs in 10 neighborhood centers, including academics, financial literacy, life skills, spiritual training, and sports, to youth, ages 8 to 18.
Daryl then completed the degree he had started at the University of Alabama at Birmingham decades ago, and says he went back to MAM because, “After I had graduated, I was standing in a meat locker at a job I had taken and thought ‘there has to be more in life for me than this'”.
Now free of his drug addiction for 11 years, Daryl returned to MAM to finish the work he had begun as a volunteer, mentoring youth to put God first, and education and good character second and third.
“At MAM, I have been rolling ever since from part-time guy, full-time youth coordinator, neighborhood director to area director.”
He does this, he says, because “God delivered me from a life of sin, and my arrogance and self-centered attitude, so I could be of service to Him.”
“Because of who God is, I try to be the best person I can be. I still make mistakes, of course, but God is faithful and forgives my sins,” Daryl concludes, quoting I Peter chapter 5, verse 10.
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” I Peter, chapter 5, verse 10.


By Anne Chambers

The former players that attended the practice were also at the game on Saturday. I saw Frank Holmes at the game as well.