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

(11-07-2014 03:19 PM)Matrix Wrote:  

(11-07-2014 02:16 PM)BlazerFire Wrote:  

(11-07-2014 01:28 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(11-07-2014 12:48 PM)No Bull Wrote:  The Florida college system is not rigged like the UAT. When Florida saw that UF and FSU were basicly built out, with super endowments; they began to throw resources at USF and UCF. Although there are some politics in the decisions that set which state school is considered which tier, Florida is pretty good about the equal dispersion of state funds.

And there's the difference. UAT is like a 3 year old. "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

I believe that originated from "the bar", didnt it?

NO pro ball for Bham. Would take away from the bar's boys.

That's what happened in the mid-1970's...Everytime you watch a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, remember this. They were nearly ours first...

Got 2 cousins that are Bucs season ticket holders. They thank me every few years at family reunions for this very thing.

My undestanding is that corporate sonsorships have been cut pretty heavily over the last several years. I still think Jr and his buddies want every penny of corporate sponsors from Bham. They want the money. There is never enough to build and maintain their palaces.

(11-06-2014 02:36 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(11-06-2014 02:22 PM)blzrclub80 Wrote:  

(11-06-2014 01:13 PM)nicknitro19 Wrote:  Well I need some hard evidence because I am skeptical of this. Bryant Jr already has the power to shut us down why does he need the Governor?

I agree. I doubt seriously the Governor would want this type of mess on his hands.

The Governor won't be campaigning again, its his second term. Oh, by the way, PBJ was his campaign manager in the first election.

One, the Governor is the nominal head of the BoT. Two, this whole thing was being orchestrated so that the BoT, and PBJ in particular, could accept the UAB President's recommendation to close UAB Football in the name of fiscal responsibility. It sets up as Watts ordering a study - and I cynically think that often the person who pays for a study tends to get the desired report. He publicly mentions that the football program might be closed, which kills Bill Clark's most crucial recruiting class and lets teams recruit against us by saying we won't even HAVE a team. Watts then goes to the board at the February meeting and presents the report and requests the program be closed in the name of financial responsibility.

PBJ looks very sad and says it is his duty to close the UAB Football program at the request of the UAB President. His hands are clean (riiiiight) as he walks away from his final meeting before his forced retirement due to his age with the scalp of UAB Football on his belt. So sad.

Of course, this implies a little dirty back room dealing, and we all know that the BoT is above such things.

Well, that sounds like a good theory, but it has one flaw - part of it simply isn't true. I have it from an excellent source that neither Watts or nor Mackin would have said a word about the study or the elimination of UAB football until it was done deal. It was Justin Craft and the UAB Football Foundation that blew up the situation in the press after trying for days to get answers to their questions about Coach Clark's short contract, the lack of scheduling of non conference games past 2016 and the refusal of the administration to discuss offers to build an indoor football practice with private money.

They were obviously concerned that if they didn't make the matter public now, there would be no way to fight announcement out of the blue later that the university was dropping football. The only reason made a statement was because he was forced to.

So you can forget about some plot to sabotage our recruiting. The BOT and their toddy Watts think bigger than that. They knew that once they made their announcement a month or two from now the 2016 season would be toast. Be thankful that Justin and the Foundation put the public spotlight on the secret plans to eliminate UAB football before anyone could do anything about it. At least now we have an opportunity to fight.

(11-07-2014 11:06 AM)VCUfan Wrote:  I'm sure most here don't care, but as a VCU fan, I'd be more than okay with having UAB basketball in the A-10. It would be a shame for UAB to lose football, get kicked out of C-USA, but then for good measure to have a proud basketball program have to play in a league like the SoCon or A-Sun.

We were kicked out of the Socon for dropping football. They may be looking for basketball-only schools now, but I'm not sure.

ETSU dropping football was a big mistake obviously, and the first thing our new president did was get it restarted. Athletics attendance had dropped, donations were down, and enrollment was dropping. We are a case study of what NOT to do.

The president supporting or condemning a program is probably the number 1 reason for deciding which direction this will go. We had one president who wanted it gone and was able to get support, then another who talked about how important it was and the same people got behind him.

Good luck to you guys - don't let them do this.

I think that's the plan of the BOT. And they do not need Bentleys's approval to shut down our program.

I think Watts & Mackin appear to be lobbying for it harder.

(11-08-2014 09:43 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  I think Watts & Mackin appear to be lobbying for it harder.

Lobbying hard against football?

Yep.

(11-08-2014 09:13 AM)blazed247 Wrote:  I think that's the plan of the BOT. And they do not need Bentleys's approval to shut down our program.

You do know that Bentley is on the BoT, right? And that PBJ was his campaign manager when he first got elected?

No, we don't know why he was contacted. We just don't think it was to do something good for UAB.

My hope is that Cubby Satan got word that we found out about the study & he wanted to get it done prior to us building steam against it.

While you are never certain, one would think & hope that Bentley would decide not to get involved in something like this especially right after he was re-elected.

If the report was commissioned to tell Watts what he wants to hear, then why does PBJ even need to go to the governor?

Because some of us are trying to halt things regardless of what some report should say.

I doubt a report for any program outside of 30 would look good given the same criteria.

Pay attention to the statements from Watts and Mackin. It's a "data-driven process." I believe the study will be written without definitive recommendations, but will state that football needs hefty investment to be viable into 2020. This is something everyone knows, and where the Foundation and City of Birmingham MUST work to show this funding in the most tangible way. The commitment for the IPF is a great start. The Foundation must continue to use the media and slow-play further announcements. We all have the old stadium plan. Let's go to those business and seek comprehensive university funding with the caveat that the funds go to football.

By that time Clark will be gone & you can crap benjamins til the cows come home & it would not matter.

(11-08-2014 06:53 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  By that time Clark will be gone & you can crap benjamins til the cows come home & it would not matter.

Yep. Something's gotta give soon, or we're toast. Clark won't wait around forever.

(11-08-2014 07:55 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  

(11-08-2014 06:53 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  By that time Clark will be gone & you can crap benjamins til the cows come home & it would not matter.

Yep. Something's gotta give soon, or we're toast. Clark won't wait around forever.

Clark is the best coach we have had in the past decade. If UAB can't meet its promises of facility upgrades along with a contract extension, he may be gone by 2016 anyways.

(11-08-2014 08:14 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(11-08-2014 07:55 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  

(11-08-2014 06:53 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  By that time Clark will be gone & you can crap benjamins til the cows come home & it would not matter.

Yep. Something's gotta give soon, or we're toast. Clark won't wait around forever.

Clark is the best coach we have had in the past decade. If UAB can't meet its promises of facility upgrades along with a contract extension, he may be gone by 2016 anyways.

By 2016 he'd be in his second year at another school. Agree about the quality of coach though. Losing a guy of his quality from UAB, professionally and personally, is a huge hit.

Again we were told that Bentkey said he was staying out of it.

(11-09-2014 08:29 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Again we were told that Bentkey said he was staying out of it.

That's shocking to me. Bentley has no backbone and goes with majority so I'm surprised he went against Jr.

There's no percentage in his getting involved.

(11-08-2014 06:51 PM)FNblazer Wrote:  Pay attention to the statements from Watts and Mackin. It's a "data-driven process." I believe the study will be written without definitive recommendations, but will state that football needs hefty investment to be viable into 2020. This is something everyone knows, and where the Foundation and City of Birmingham MUST work to show this funding in the most tangible way. The commitment for the IPF is a great start. The Foundation must continue to use the media and slow-play further announcements. We all have the old stadium plan. Let's go to those business and seek comprehensive university funding with the caveat that the funds go to football.

Perhaps do a counter study demonstrating the ability to fund a viable football program?