I'm anti-non-football members but the reality is we aren't booting UALR and UTA so if we are going to be a mixed league we need to be the best possible mixed league.

Put me down in favor of inviting UAB.

Nothing wrong with adding blazer bball and baseball...if the bammers kill football. KB is good at throwing life lines...

Why the hell not.

If offered, Do you think they'd accept? . . . I certainly have no problem with it ... .

If they need a home then it makes sense... They're in the footprint, established, good facilities.

It's interesting that many of the USA and Troy faithful want to cast their lot in with the UAB folks...

You know, the same interests that have stunted the growth of every single school in the state. All this talk about UA's BOT and how awful they are and yet nobody is being honest with themselves... The interests of the city of Birmingham controlled that board for most of the last century. Have you ever asked why the medical school was moved? Have you ever asked yourself why schools like Troy and South Alabama have grown immensely in the last 20 years or so but were farm colleges or worse for most of their existence? The answer is because more rural interests have taken over in that time, people interested in places sort of like Tuscaloosa, and Troy, even Mobile--people not interested purely in whats good for Birmingham.

(12-01-2014 12:29 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  It's interesting that many of the USA and Troy faithful want to cast their lot in with the UAB folks...

You know, the same interests that have stunted the growth of every single school in the state. All this talk about UA's BOT and how awful they are and yet nobody is being honest with themselves... The interests of the city of Birmingham controlled that board for most of the last century. Have you ever asked why the medical school was moved? Have you ever asked yourself why schools like Troy and South Alabama have grown immensely in the last 20 years or so but were farm colleges or worse for most of their existence? The answer is because more rural interests have taken over in that time, people interested in places sort of like Tuscaloosa, and Troy, even Mobile--people not interested purely in whats good for Birmingham.

I know nothing about this situation other than what I've read here. Just curious, where was the med school moved to and when?

(12-01-2014 12:35 AM)SBEagle Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:29 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  It's interesting that many of the USA and Troy faithful want to cast their lot in with the UAB folks...

You know, the same interests that have stunted the growth of every single school in the state. All this talk about UA's BOT and how awful they are and yet nobody is being honest with themselves... The interests of the city of Birmingham controlled that board for most of the last century. Have you ever asked why the medical school was moved? Have you ever asked yourself why schools like Troy and South Alabama have grown immensely in the last 20 years or so but were farm colleges or worse for most of their existence? The answer is because more rural interests have taken over in that time, people interested in places sort of like Tuscaloosa, and Troy, even Mobile--people not interested purely in whats good for Birmingham.

I know nothing about this situation other than what I've read here. Just curious, where was the med school moved to and when?

Because the city of Birmingham wanted it.

Birmingham interests ran this state up until the last 20 years or so.

Birmingham wanted all the state football to played there, and it was. They didn't want UA to build a stadium in Tuscaloosa, so they didn't. They didn't want Auburn to expand their stadium, and they didn't.

What we have today isn't the big, nasty, UA BOT coming in and crushing the little guy. These are the death throes of Birmingham dominance over this whole state.

UAB was and is the sum total of over 100 years of Birmingham getting everything they wanted. Those days are over. When that power was broken, in the last 20-30 years, UA grew, Auburn grew, and schools like Troy and USA grew too. Before that, Birmingham called the shots.

UAB crying about not getting a stadium and being held back by the BOT is turnabout, and you know what they say about that.

(12-01-2014 12:29 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  It's interesting that many of the USA and Troy faithful want to cast their lot in with the UAB folks...

You know, the same interests that have stunted the growth of every single school in the state. All this talk about UA's BOT and how awful they are and yet nobody is being honest with themselves... The interests of the city of Birmingham controlled that board for most of the last century. Have you ever asked why the medical school was moved? Have you ever asked yourself why schools like Troy and South Alabama have grown immensely in the last 20 years or so but were farm colleges or worse for most of their existence? The answer is because more rural interests have taken over in that time, people interested in places sort of like Tuscaloosa, and Troy, even Mobile--people not interested purely in whats good for Birmingham.

Hey, don't drag us into this. Birmingham's politics have been screwed up for a long time, and blaming the rest of the State won't change that. I can't really comment on the rest because I don't follow what goes on in Birmingham, but one thing I do know is that USA has never been a "farm college or worse". Where did that come from?

(12-01-2014 12:43 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:35 AM)SBEagle Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:29 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  It's interesting that many of the USA and Troy faithful want to cast their lot in with the UAB folks...

You know, the same interests that have stunted the growth of every single school in the state. All this talk about UA's BOT and how awful they are and yet nobody is being honest with themselves... The interests of the city of Birmingham controlled that board for most of the last century. Have you ever asked why the medical school was moved? Have you ever asked yourself why schools like Troy and South Alabama have grown immensely in the last 20 years or so but were farm colleges or worse for most of their existence? The answer is because more rural interests have taken over in that time, people interested in places sort of like Tuscaloosa, and Troy, even Mobile--people not interested purely in whats good for Birmingham.

I know nothing about this situation other than what I've read here. Just curious, where was the med school moved to and when?

Because the city of Birmingham wanted it.

Birmingham interests ran this state up until the last 20 years or so.

Birmingham wanted all the state football to played there, and it was. They didn't want UA to build a stadium in Tuscaloosa, so they didn't. They didn't want Auburn to expand their stadium, and they didn't.

What we have today isn't the big, nasty, UA BOT coming in and crushing the little guy. These are the death throes of Birmingham dominance over this whole state.

UAB was and is the sum total of over 100 years of Birmingham getting everything they wanted. Those days are over. When that power was broken, in the last 20-30 years, UA grew, Auburn grew, and schools like Troy and USA grew too. Before that, Birmingham called the shots.

UAB crying about not getting a stadium and being held back by the BOT is turnabout, and you know what they say about that.

You are wrong on so many counts it's not funny.

(12-01-2014 12:43 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:35 AM)SBEagle Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:29 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  It's interesting that many of the USA and Troy faithful want to cast their lot in with the UAB folks...

You know, the same interests that have stunted the growth of every single school in the state. All this talk about UA's BOT and how awful they are and yet nobody is being honest with themselves... The interests of the city of Birmingham controlled that board for most of the last century. Have you ever asked why the medical school was moved? Have you ever asked yourself why schools like Troy and South Alabama have grown immensely in the last 20 years or so but were farm colleges or worse for most of their existence? The answer is because more rural interests have taken over in that time, people interested in places sort of like Tuscaloosa, and Troy, even Mobile--people not interested purely in whats good for Birmingham.

I know nothing about this situation other than what I've read here. Just curious, where was the med school moved to and when?

Because the city of Birmingham wanted it.

Birmingham interests ran this state up until the last 20 years or so.

Birmingham wanted all the state football to played there, and it was. They didn't want UA to build a stadium in Tuscaloosa, so they didn't. They didn't want Auburn to expand their stadium, and they didn't.

What we have today isn't the big, nasty, UA BOT coming in and crushing the little guy. These are the death throes of Birmingham dominance over this whole state.

UAB was and is the sum total of over 100 years of Birmingham getting everything they wanted. Those days are over. When that power was broken, in the last 20-30 years, UA grew, Auburn grew, and schools like Troy and USA grew too. Before that, Birmingham called the shots.

UAB crying about not getting a stadium and being held back by the BOT is turnabout, and you know what they say about that.

Because it's so weird that a state's primary medical school is in the state's largest city. I can't understand why that would be the case. No state does that!

(12-01-2014 01:18 AM)HCJag Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:29 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  It's interesting that many of the USA and Troy faithful want to cast their lot in with the UAB folks...

You know, the same interests that have stunted the growth of every single school in the state. All this talk about UA's BOT and how awful they are and yet nobody is being honest with themselves... The interests of the city of Birmingham controlled that board for most of the last century. Have you ever asked why the medical school was moved? Have you ever asked yourself why schools like Troy and South Alabama have grown immensely in the last 20 years or so but were farm colleges or worse for most of their existence? The answer is because more rural interests have taken over in that time, people interested in places sort of like Tuscaloosa, and Troy, even Mobile--people not interested purely in whats good for Birmingham.

Hey, don't drag us into this. Birmingham's politics have been screwed up for a long time, and blaming the rest of the State won't change that. I can't really comment on the rest because I don't follow what goes on in Birmingham, but one thing I do know is that USA has never been a "farm college or worse". Where did that come from?

I was about to post along the same lines. Our first president (Whiddon) fought for a medical school and our own board at the very beginning and we got it. We've never been a "farm school". Way off base there.

(12-01-2014 01:18 AM)HCJag Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:29 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  It's interesting that many of the USA and Troy faithful want to cast their lot in with the UAB folks...

You know, the same interests that have stunted the growth of every single school in the state. All this talk about UA's BOT and how awful they are and yet nobody is being honest with themselves... The interests of the city of Birmingham controlled that board for most of the last century. Have you ever asked why the medical school was moved? Have you ever asked yourself why schools like Troy and South Alabama have grown immensely in the last 20 years or so but were farm colleges or worse for most of their existence? The answer is because more rural interests have taken over in that time, people interested in places sort of like Tuscaloosa, and Troy, even Mobile--people not interested purely in whats good for Birmingham.

Hey, don't drag us into this. Birmingham's politics have been screwed up for a long time, and blaming the rest of the State won't change that. I can't really comment on the rest because I don't follow what goes on in Birmingham, but one thing I do know is that USA has never been a "farm college or worse". Where did that come from?

Mobile has its issues with the 'rest of the state' but those largely aren't directed at Birmingham, but rather at a political structure that ignores us.

The state did try to annex USA in the mid to late 80's. That attempt was quashed as well as the state's attempt to take away our energy revenues.

That was the historical view. Basically up through the mid 1980's, Mobile was the red headed stepchild of the state, with no political influence and little support from the state. That doesn't appear to be the case now. There will always be cultural differences between Mobile and the rest of the state, and legitimate anger at what Mobilians see as stupid meddling in our business over issues like Casino gambling, liquor sales, and other issues, but we're largely good here.

But decades of neglect have taught Mobilians and USA supporters that we have do everything on our own. We don't expect Montgomery to pay attention to us or really help us. Expect the entire Mobile area legislative delegation (Republican and Democrat, Alabama and Auburn) to go bananas if they tried to step on USA's toes. Where were UAB's defenders in the legislature? Which brings up another point. There might be some issues between Baldwin County and Mobile County politically, but those issues immediately vanish when discussions of economic development start. And USA is recognized as a vital part of the economy down here.

With regards to UAB versus USA, the tables have turned. They turned a long time ago. USA, due to political and community support as well as distance, is truly independent of the Alabama v Auburn crap.

We're not laughing about what the state did to UAB, but rather grateful that we are largely exempt from that mess. I'd be happy to invite UAB to return to the Sun Belt as an oly member.

(11-30-2014 11:44 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  I'm anti-non-football members but the reality is we aren't booting UALR and UTA so if we are going to be a mixed league we need to be the best possible mixed league.

Put me down in favor of inviting UAB.

Hell why not. And maybe down the road they get an independent BOT and startup football again

(12-01-2014 06:02 AM)bladhmadh Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:43 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:35 AM)SBEagle Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:29 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  It's interesting that many of the USA and Troy faithful want to cast their lot in with the UAB folks...

You know, the same interests that have stunted the growth of every single school in the state. All this talk about UA's BOT and how awful they are and yet nobody is being honest with themselves... The interests of the city of Birmingham controlled that board for most of the last century. Have you ever asked why the medical school was moved? Have you ever asked yourself why schools like Troy and South Alabama have grown immensely in the last 20 years or so but were farm colleges or worse for most of their existence? The answer is because more rural interests have taken over in that time, people interested in places sort of like Tuscaloosa, and Troy, even Mobile--people not interested purely in whats good for Birmingham.

I know nothing about this situation other than what I've read here. Just curious, where was the med school moved to and when?

Because the city of Birmingham wanted it.

Birmingham interests ran this state up until the last 20 years or so.

Birmingham wanted all the state football to played there, and it was. They didn't want UA to build a stadium in Tuscaloosa, so they didn't. They didn't want Auburn to expand their stadium, and they didn't.

What we have today isn't the big, nasty, UA BOT coming in and crushing the little guy. These are the death throes of Birmingham dominance over this whole state.

UAB was and is the sum total of over 100 years of Birmingham getting everything they wanted. Those days are over. When that power was broken, in the last 20-30 years, UA grew, Auburn grew, and schools like Troy and USA grew too. Before that, Birmingham called the shots.

UAB crying about not getting a stadium and being held back by the BOT is turnabout, and you know what they say about that.

You are wrong on so many counts it's not funny.

Just a great illustrative post as to what is wrong in this whole situation. Holy Cow!

I thought about this the other day and cannot decide... how do we know the UA BOT slows their assault on UAB Athletics when football dies? Why would we invest in a program that has pretty substantial political instability?

My thought on this is: what would it cost UAB to get out from bama's umbrella and get their own charter? Or would that never be an option?

(12-01-2014 11:32 AM)YouCanUseaMint Wrote:  I thought about this the other day and cannot decide... how do we know the UA BOT slows their assault on UAB Athletics when football dies? Why would we invest in a program that has pretty substantial political instability?

Its a valid concern for any conference thinking about adding UAB.

Is there any certainty that athletics beyond football will even survive what's taking place there?

(12-01-2014 11:44 AM)bobcat09 Wrote:  My thought on this is: what would it cost UAB to get out from bama's umbrella and get their own charter? Or would that never be an option?

An Act of the state legislature and an amendment to the state constitution.