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

I had this as a reply to Matrix' post regarding his conversation with a UAB student, but decided to break it out because of course I did (and I thought it was a bit of a derail):

Winning is a miracle tonic.

That said - and it really should be over and over and over again - for fans, facilities = Legion Field. That's understandable but it's really poisonous dialogue in regards to recruiting when we use, or participate in using, the term like that. Are our other facilities up to snuff? No, but that's not the point I'm making.

Our stadium (taken as it looks with 20k and less people inside) <<<<<< Typical CUSA stadiums

It's a huge gulf and one that it's easy to get discouraged staring at without even a scrap of wood around to think about building a bridge. But...

Non-stadium facilities << Typical CUSA non-stadium facilities

Now your talking about a river where at least we can see the other side. For this problem, we don't have to wait for a huge 8-9 figure announcement that seems as if it will never come (and will be years in becoming reality when it is announced). This is where announcements like "fieldhouse" and "FieldTurf" can have huge impacts on spanning the gap AND demonstrating progress. There are unmistakeable signs that those announcements are coming, too. Will that cure ALL of our recruiting/talent/fan support woes? Of course not. But with the negative crap out their on the recruiting trail right now, they will go further than they typically would. Those are part of the current fundraising drive, so make the call...

Material improvements are on the horizon.

Awesome.

It wasn't that long ago a stadium was on the horizon.

Yeah, a lot of people lined up to give money for the stadium. We see where that happened. "Make the call" with no guarantee that you're not throwing money down into a fire pit is tough to do.

What I have inquired about in terms of FACILITIES - or facilities - is what do we have - or not have - that is already in place for our competition? Having never played college level football, I can only read (or see on TV) about what is being done at other schools and wonder / ask what effect these additional material attributes bring to the playing field. It seems to me that if we see any common threads running through that list among those teams we struggle to defeat, then there is reason to seek them for UAB as well.

During WWII, it was well known that our Sherman tank was not a match 1-1 for the Tiger tank, but we had so many we overwhelmed them with numbers. UAB however is not allowed to put a larger number of players on the field than the opponent so we have to match them on a qualitative basis 11-11. What improvement in facilities does UAB need to do this?

If UAB is not financially able to compete facility-wise with our C-USA opponents, it's insane to be in C-USA. I'm not convinced we can compete facility-wise with the Sun Belt either.

UAB was left behind by our former C-USA schools due to football deficiencies. If UAB can't make a full commitment to football, why are we even playing football?

The Southern Miss game still scares the heck out of me!

(10-27-2013 01:54 PM)KevMo4UAB Wrote:  If UAB is not financially able to compete facility-wise with our C-USA opponents, it's insane to be in C-USA. I'm not convinced we can compete facility-wise with the Sun Belt either.

UAB was left behind by our former C-USA schools due to football deficiencies. If UAB can't make a full commitment to football, why are we even playing football?

This is what I keep saying over and over and over. Our other sports--notably basketball--are hurting conference-wise because football is dragging us down.

How much better off would we be as a university if half the stories in the paper weren't about how bad UAB sucks, or how the Board had f'd us over yet again, or how it's Tuscaloosa vs. Birmingham round 15? What kind of conference could UAB Basketball be in if the resources that have been poured down the drain for football been invested in basketball instead? If those resources could have been used to keep Mike Anderson or otherwise keep basketball from slipping into mediocrity for so many seasons?

I want UAB to succeed at football as much as anyone else. But, I don't want UAB to suck at it forever. If the things we need to succeed are impossible to get, it's time to move on.

(10-27-2013 02:22 PM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  

(10-27-2013 01:54 PM)KevMo4UAB Wrote:  If UAB is not financially able to compete facility-wise with our C-USA opponents, it's insane to be in C-USA. I'm not convinced we can compete facility-wise with the Sun Belt either.

UAB was left behind by our former C-USA schools due to football deficiencies. If UAB can't make a full commitment to football, why are we even playing football?

This is what I keep saying over and over and over. Our other sports--notably basketball--are hurting conference-wise because football is dragging us down.

How much better off would we be as a university if half the stories in the paper weren't about how bad UAB sucks, or how the Board had f'd us over yet again, or how it's Tuscaloosa vs. Birmingham round 15? What kind of conference could UAB Basketball be in if the resources that have been poured down the drain for football been invested in basketball instead? If those resources could have been used to keep Mike Anderson or otherwise keep basketball from slipping into mediocrity for so many seasons?

I want UAB to succeed at football as much as anyone else. But, I don't want UAB to suck at it forever. If the things we need to succeed are impossible to get, it's time to move on.

I tend to agree with you, although I'm not quite ready to admit that what we need to win is impossible to have. I'm just wondering what our options for other spots would be if we didn't have football. At least in C-USA we play some pretty high level soccer competition, and the basketball league has a chance to be a multi-bid league some years.

(10-27-2013 02:28 PM)JeffUAB Wrote:  

(10-27-2013 02:22 PM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  

(10-27-2013 01:54 PM)KevMo4UAB Wrote:  If UAB is not financially able to compete facility-wise with our C-USA opponents, it's insane to be in C-USA. I'm not convinced we can compete facility-wise with the Sun Belt either.

UAB was left behind by our former C-USA schools due to football deficiencies. If UAB can't make a full commitment to football, why are we even playing football?

This is what I keep saying over and over and over. Our other sports--notably basketball--are hurting conference-wise because football is dragging us down.

How much better off would we be as a university if half the stories in the paper weren't about how bad UAB sucks, or how the Board had f'd us over yet again, or how it's Tuscaloosa vs. Birmingham round 15? What kind of conference could UAB Basketball be in if the resources that have been poured down the drain for football been invested in basketball instead? If those resources could have been used to keep Mike Anderson or otherwise keep basketball from slipping into mediocrity for so many seasons?

I want UAB to succeed at football as much as anyone else. But, I don't want UAB to suck at it forever. If the things we need to succeed are impossible to get, it's time to move on.

I tend to agree with you, although I'm not quite ready to admit that what we need to win is impossible to have. I'm just wondering what our options for other spots would be if we didn't have football. At least in C-USA we play some pretty high level soccer competition, and the basketball league has a chance to be a multi-bid league some years.

Well now we're stuck with C*USA, even if we were to drop football, I don't see us moving anywhere else. The time to be ready for realignment was before it happened. As it is we got left behind, though it's not *as* bad since the "AAC" got screwed with their pants on and the teams Memphis was chasing left them behind yet again.

(10-27-2013 02:22 PM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  

(10-27-2013 01:54 PM)KevMo4UAB Wrote:  If UAB is not financially able to compete facility-wise with our C-USA opponents, it's insane to be in C-USA. I'm not convinced we can compete facility-wise with the Sun Belt either.

UAB was left behind by our former C-USA schools due to football deficiencies. If UAB can't make a full commitment to football, why are we even playing football?

This is what I keep saying over and over and over. Our other sports--notably basketball--are hurting conference-wise because football is dragging us down.

How much better off would we be as a university if half the stories in the paper weren't about how bad UAB sucks, or how the Board had f'd us over yet again, or how it's Tuscaloosa vs. Birmingham round 15? What kind of conference could UAB Basketball be in if the resources that have been poured down the drain for football been invested in basketball instead? If those resources could have been used to keep Mike Anderson or otherwise keep basketball from slipping into mediocrity for so many seasons?

I want UAB to succeed at football as much as anyone else. But, I don't want UAB to suck at it forever. If the things we need to succeed are impossible to get, it's time to move on.

God knows, I don't want to agree with you on this...but, I've finally reached a point where I think I do.

Win some damn games and this fixes itself over time. Really. It's just that damn simple.

Chicken or egg.

(10-27-2013 02:53 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  Win some damn games and this fixes itself over time. Really. It's just that damn simple.

Chicken or egg.

Sounds easy, doesn't it?

chicken or egg
the answer is chicken
during evolution animal xyz produce an egg

To quote the Geezinslaw Brothers:

"This chicken and this egg was layin' in bed together, and the chicken reached over and lit up a cigarette, and the egg said, "Well, I guess that answers that age old question."

Derail complete, my work here is done.

(10-27-2013 01:54 PM)KevMo4UAB Wrote:  UAB was left behind by our former C-USA schools due to football deficiencies. If UAB can't make a full commitment to football, why are we even playing football?

I am fully committed as I have been for years. So, I will ride the UAB football bandwagon to the top of the hill, the bottom of the valley, or anywhere in between. But I will never support giving up, and saying, "If UAB can't..." is giving up. UAB CAN! The question is will we? I say, "Yes. Eventually, but it will take all of us doing our part and having incredible patience, as we have already had to have.

The ride has been tougher than I ever thought, but I'll keep hanging on.

(10-27-2013 11:12 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  Yeah, a lot of people lined up to give money for the stadium. We see where that happened. "Make the call" with no guarantee that you're not throwing money down into a fire pit is tough to do.

Not sure this correlation is accurate. Some key donors and business leaders in Bham were PRIVATELY asked to PLEDGE money for the OCS which is what you have to do when putting together a proposal for a capital spending project (typically, one has to prove the new or redirected revenue, but donations are the public school equivalent).

The current fundraising effort is public and the facilities, particularly athletic ones, are right there to see. If you think us building anything short of an OCS will not help and is akin to a fire pit then go ahead and pick another team to follow on Saturdays.

the first and easiest thing to fix is changing our entrance requirements to the same as the rest of the conference.

(10-27-2013 10:44 AM)Smaug Wrote:  Material improvements are on the horizon.

Awesome.

It wasn't that long ago a stadium was on the horizon.

This....

(10-28-2013 01:58 AM)blazr Wrote:  

(10-27-2013 11:12 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  Yeah, a lot of people lined up to give money for the stadium. We see where that happened. "Make the call" with no guarantee that you're not throwing money down into a fire pit is tough to do.

Not sure this correlation is accurate. Some key donors and business leaders in Bham were PRIVATELY asked to PLEDGE money for the OCS which is what you have to do when putting together a proposal for a capital spending project (typically, one has to prove the new or redirected revenue, but donations are the public school equivalent).

The current fundraising effort is public and the facilities, particularly athletic ones, are right there to see. If you think us building anything short of an OCS will not help and is akin to a fire pit then go ahead and pick another team to follow on Saturdays.

It's good enough for me, & I'd like to learn a bit more about the athletic items on the list of priorities, even though "Smaugweiser" stated in a post a while back that UAB needs more than an OCS, this item is, IMO, the most desired and significant...But I do not trust THIS system to allow it to come to fruition whatsoever. Their agenda is crimson and white, not Green and Gold, when it comes to athletics. And the long-suffering of our football program is exactly what they want...& are getting...

(10-27-2013 11:12 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  Yeah, a lot of people lined up to give money for the stadium. We see where that happened. "Make the call" with no guarantee that you're not throwing money down into a fire pit is tough to do.

It's definitely an issue of trust with me...I'll gladly make an additional financial sacrifice if I knew for sure it would translate into what the majority of the fan base wants to see take place, but as long as there are "snakes" on the plane, it's going to be very hard for me to consider getting on board.

"...you can't create the future...by clinging to the past..." 11/2

(10-28-2013 07:39 AM)Matrix Wrote:  

(10-27-2013 11:12 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  Yeah, a lot of people lined up to give money for the stadium. We see where that happened. "Make the call" with no guarantee that you're not throwing money down into a fire pit is tough to do.

It's definitely an issue of trust with me...I'll gladly make an additional financial sacrifice if I knew for sure it would translate into what the majority of the fan base wants to see take place, but as long as there are "snakes" on the plane, it's going to be very hard for me to consider getting on board.

"...you can't create the future...by clinging to the past..." 11/2

So you would not and will not contribute to the building of a football fieldhouse or even installing FieldTurf on a practice field (there are other similar-sized initiatives) because we can't get an OCS right now? I don't understand how that's any LESS damaging to UAB football than the actions of the Cabal...