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

Quote:As originally from Italy, where sport and education are totally separate, I might be somewhat missing how critical UAB football is for UAB but let's face it... even if enjoying going to Legion Field, having a season subscription, to be competitive we needed investments that the UA system was not going to support. Ever. Legion Field is way pass its expiration date and the crowd, although improved, still way too small for such a wide place like the Birmingham Greater Area. I am at UAB for 17+ years and it was always a struggling program. UA and Auburn are just too big, and we are not an independent institution able to take off on its own. We have not enough political strength to be able to detach from the UA system.
It is over, whenever we like it or not. Now what we need is not to get into votes or no confidence, protests, cutting our donations, lawsuits... what we need is to force the UAB administrators to keep their words that they will invest in the remaining sports and the additional ones that they needed to add to remain in the NCAA. Most likely we will be kicked out of the C-USA - their bylaws require having a football program. The first thing is to be sure we join a conference that can be the best for our remaining sports, that we often forget we have and that truly excel both academically and in competition. After that, get the best students athletes we can get, improve our facilities, support them all the way. This will sustain our undergraduate program even better than now, as we develop competitive teams at the national level and grow stellar athletes in track and field, golf (as we already did), etc.
Will what happened today affect negatively UAB recruitment, donations, image of the university at the national level? Of course, perhaps beyond our worst fears and for quite some time, and dramatically all the students, staff, coaches etc... directly or indirectly associated with the football program, but let's not forget... we are educators first. Sure, we are bitter, even more by the way they behaved, hiding behind a consulting firm for something that probably was decided long ago, but we need to move on. Our students expect us to get over this and focus on what WE CAN DO NOW to recover from this blow, starting right now. Rising hell if our administrators fail to keep their promises is what, as Senate, we can for sure do. It is part of our job description.