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

(02-07-2019 01:26 PM)Blazer on the southside Wrote:  The NFL has won over college anywhere they have co-existed. Saying that, I would be shocked if Montgomery allowed B'ham to have an NFL team even if the league was knocking down our door. I believe they would find a way to stop it.

We definitely wouldn't have their blessings.

(02-08-2019 08:48 PM)Matrix Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 01:26 PM)Blazer on the southside Wrote:  The NFL has won over college anywhere they have co-existed. Saying that, I would be shocked if Montgomery allowed B'ham to have an NFL team even if the league was knocking down our door. I believe they would find a way to stop it.

We definitely wouldn't have their blessings.

And the NFL would give zero f’s. There are very few entities in this country that are more powerful than the NFL. If they wanted to be in Alabama, they would be here tomorrow.

(02-08-2019 07:43 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Only thing the state could do would be deny a new stadium for a team.
& shoot, I might actually go to an NFL game here if it ever happens.
That is in spite of the fact that a lot of the players don't respect America.

Strange enough though, an NFL team could play at 70,000 seat Legion Field but would not probably play at 40,000 BJCC Stadium.

I’m curious, how many NFL games have you watched this year? How many players did you see “disrespect” America?

(02-09-2019 01:09 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(02-08-2019 08:48 PM)Matrix Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 01:26 PM)Blazer on the southside Wrote:  The NFL has won over college anywhere they have co-existed. Saying that, I would be shocked if Montgomery allowed B'ham to have an NFL team even if the league was knocking down our door. I believe they would find a way to stop it.

We definitely wouldn't have their blessings.

And the NFL would give zero f’s. There are very few entities in this country that are more powerful than the NFL. If they wanted to be in Alabama, they would be here tomorrow.

I don't think anyone can name a location where the NFL elbowed its way into a city while telling that state's power leadership to "F-O". There are multiple reasons why the NFL did not come to B'ham back when it would have been easier, and it certainly won't come now since it is today surrounded by 4 or 5 NFL teams that consider it a market share area for them. Like the MPF, that ship has sailed away years ago.

For the foreseeable future, B'ham is a minor league city with minor league teams with minor league facilities -- even after renovations of the BJCC. As when you want to play the lottery, you must go to other states for regular season major league sports.

(02-09-2019 01:34 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  I don't think anyone can name a location where the NFL elbowed its way into a city while telling that state's power leadership to "F-O". There are multiple reasons why the NFL did not come to B'ham back when it would have been easier, and it certainly won't come now since it is today surrounded by 4 or 5 NFL teams that consider it a market share area for them. Like the MPF, that ship has sailed away years ago.

For the foreseeable future, B'ham is a minor league city with minor league teams with minor league facilities -- even after renovations of the BJCC. As when you want to play the lottery, you must go to other states for regular season major league sports.

Bitter much?

The best shot this city has at a "Major League" franchise is that little minor league team we all hold so dear. We have a world class university sitting in the heart of college football country. The sports complex our community is building at the BJCC will be P5 quality. You talk about us dreaming too little dreams but I see it as us finally reaching for the dreams of our UAB forefathers.

(02-09-2019 01:34 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(02-09-2019 01:09 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(02-08-2019 08:48 PM)Matrix Wrote:  

(02-07-2019 01:26 PM)Blazer on the southside Wrote:  The NFL has won over college anywhere they have co-existed. Saying that, I would be shocked if Montgomery allowed B'ham to have an NFL team even if the league was knocking down our door. I believe they would find a way to stop it.

We definitely wouldn't have their blessings.

And the NFL would give zero f’s. There are very few entities in this country that are more powerful than the NFL. If they wanted to be in Alabama, they would be here tomorrow.

I don't think anyone can name a location where the NFL elbowed its way into a city while telling that state's power leadership to "F-O". There are multiple reasons why the NFL did not come to B'ham back when it would have been easier, and it certainly won't come now since it is today surrounded by 4 or 5 NFL teams that consider it a market share area for them. Like the MPF, that ship has sailed away years ago.

For the foreseeable future, B'ham is a minor league city with minor league teams with minor league facilities -- even after renovations of the BJCC. As when you want to play the lottery, you must go to other states for regular season major league sports.

If you say so. If you think Montgomery is more powerful than the NFL, by all means continue that mindset.

Just throwing this nugget out there in case you haven’t paid attention: the Atlanta metro area has a population greater than the state of Alabama. I assure you that has something to do with why pro teams are there and not Birmingham.

There was a time when Atlanta's baseball team played the B'ham team as Southern League equals. The metro population was not as skewed as it is today. Alabama has clung to its 19th and early 20th century leadership values that created that differential you cite with Atlanta as well as with Nashville, Charlotte, NOLA and others.

If 2020 census projections are borne out and Alabama loses another seat in Congress (the ONLY southern sunbelt state so projected) while Georgia gains again (14 to our 6), UAB may find less federal grant money flowing in to finance research as other state's universities increase political influence (Texas is projected to add 3). Will our children talk of this time as "the good old days"?

It isn’t that time anymore. We literally cannot undo past mistakes.

(02-09-2019 06:55 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  It isn’t that time anymore. We literally cannot undo past mistakes.

You are correct about past mistakes, but this state keeps on replicating them into the present and seemingly is intent on continuing into the future. Look at the increasing number of Blazers on this forum who have taken their UAB degree and moved to other states. Does the quick closing of Brad's "Snoozy #2" have anything to do with so many (higher income) UAB fans leaving the state?

Those who are the "best & brightest" are the ones who are most portable. The Alabama Medicaid "Czar" stated that over half of Alabama's 4 million would qualify for Medicaid if it were expanded. Does that give anyone a clue as to who is staying and who is leaving?

(02-09-2019 09:17 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(02-09-2019 06:55 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  It isn’t that time anymore. We literally cannot undo past mistakes.

You are correct about past mistakes, but this state keeps on replicating them into the present and seemingly is intent on continuing into the future. Look at the increasing number of Blazers on this forum who have taken their UAB degree and moved to other states. Does the quick closing of Brad's "Snoozy #2" have anything to do with so many (higher income) UAB fans leaving the state?

Those who are the "best & brightest" are the ones who are most portable. The Alabama Medicaid "Czar" stated that over half of Alabama's 4 million would qualify for Medicaid if it were expanded. Does that give anyone a clue as to who is staying and who is leaving?

As an Alabama native and UAB graduate who left Alabama, I am sympathetic to the argument that more should be done to keep people like me from leaving, but the solution isn't building bigger football stadiums. That kind of stuff comes later, after you've fixed the actual underlying problems like education, transportation, backwards ass social issues, etc.

You're not going to retain neurosurgeons and computer programmers because there's a new 70,000 seat stadium in Birmingham built in hopes of attracting a team sometime down the road. You will retain those people by improving the quality of life in smaller but more concrete ways like parks, attracting new businesses, and in more important ways like education for their kids and in improving transportation by not having really bad roads or hour long commutes.

Atlanta did not tear down Ponce de Leon Park (home stadium of the AA "Atlanta Crackers") and immediately build the M-B MPF. The city and its state moved forward on many social, economic and political fronts leading from one to the other. They came to reject Lester Maddox's "Axe handle" methods while Alabama remains mired in that "poke America in the eyes" cultural/political outlook.

No one here claims Alabama is "too busy to hate". Our legislature is considering right now ending state marriage licenses as their way to avoid dealing with the legal same sex marriage situation. Perhaps they will just make all marriages illegal. We publicly identify "failing schools" but make no provision for their improvement. We accept prisons being at 200% of capacity but criticize the Parole Board for their releases. Their solutions involve borrowing billions for road and bridge work, more billions for new prisons (without provisions for staffing), for more State Troopers and new cars and assorted other state needs. The only tax being mentioned is on gasoline.

(02-11-2019 11:19 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Atlanta did not tear down Ponce de Leon Park (home stadium of the AA "Atlanta Crackers") and immediately build the M-B MPF. The city and its state moved forward on many social, economic and political fronts leading from one to the other. They came to reject Lester Maddox's "Axe handle" methods while Alabama remains mired in that "poke America in the eyes" cultural/political outlook.

No one here claims Alabama is "too busy to hate". Our legislature is considering right now ending state marriage licenses as their way to avoid dealing with the legal same sex marriage situation. Perhaps they will just make all marriages illegal. We publicly identify "failing schools" but make no provision for their improvement. We accept prisons being at 200% of capacity but criticize the Parole Board for their releases. Their solutions involve borrowing billions for road and bridge work, more billions for new prisons (without provisions for staffing), for more State Troopers and new cars and assorted other state needs. The only tax being mentioned is on gasoline.

It's really hard to figure out what you want Alabama and/or Birmingham to do. Earlier you are complaining that Birmingham needs to think bigger than minor league facilities and now you want Medicaid expansion, drastic increases in school spending, more State Troopers, and more.

Alabama doesn't have an unlimited tax base, so you're gonna have to pick something you want them to spend the money on and stick with it

(02-11-2019 06:23 PM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  

(02-11-2019 11:19 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Atlanta did not tear down Ponce de Leon Park (home stadium of the AA "Atlanta Crackers") and immediately build the M-B MPF. The city and its state moved forward on many social, economic and political fronts leading from one to the other. They came to reject Lester Maddox's "Axe handle" methods while Alabama remains mired in that "poke America in the eyes" cultural/political outlook.

No one here claims Alabama is "too busy to hate". Our legislature is considering right now ending state marriage licenses as their way to avoid dealing with the legal same sex marriage situation. Perhaps they will just make all marriages illegal. We publicly identify "failing schools" but make no provision for their improvement. We accept prisons being at 200% of capacity but criticize the Parole Board for their releases. Their solutions involve borrowing billions for road and bridge work, more billions for new prisons (without provisions for staffing), for more State Troopers and new cars and assorted other state needs. The only tax being mentioned is on gasoline.

It's really hard to figure out what you want Alabama and/or Birmingham to do. Earlier you are complaining that Birmingham needs to think bigger than minor league facilities and now you want Medicaid expansion, drastic increases in school spending, more State Troopers, and more.

Alabama doesn't have an unlimited tax base, so you're gonna have to pick something you want them to spend the money on and stick with it

NO STATE HAS "AN UNLIMITED TAX BASE" but somehow they get important things done that Alabama can't or won't do. In 2018 Alabama - and its municipal entities - are living amidst the political and economic whirlwind resulting from the state government sowing a terrible wind for the past century. Many of our state's best & brightest have already moved or are moving to those other states where things get done and pay / opportunities are better. They are finding that a low standard of living does not cover family needs.

The state legislature continues to shield the top 10% from equivalent state tax burden (now <3% of income) but adds to the state tax burden of the bottom 60% (now 10% or more). That is a 300% differential in favor of the very wealthy. Tax exemptions, tax credits and tax abatements allow huge profits for most or all of the state's major industrial employers.

I knew I should have paid attention in Finance class.

(02-11-2019 10:30 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(02-11-2019 06:23 PM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  

(02-11-2019 11:19 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Atlanta did not tear down Ponce de Leon Park (home stadium of the AA "Atlanta Crackers") and immediately build the M-B MPF. The city and its state moved forward on many social, economic and political fronts leading from one to the other. They came to reject Lester Maddox's "Axe handle" methods while Alabama remains mired in that "poke America in the eyes" cultural/political outlook.

No one here claims Alabama is "too busy to hate". Our legislature is considering right now ending state marriage licenses as their way to avoid dealing with the legal same sex marriage situation. Perhaps they will just make all marriages illegal. We publicly identify "failing schools" but make no provision for their improvement. We accept prisons being at 200% of capacity but criticize the Parole Board for their releases. Their solutions involve borrowing billions for road and bridge work, more billions for new prisons (without provisions for staffing), for more State Troopers and new cars and assorted other state needs. The only tax being mentioned is on gasoline.

It's really hard to figure out what you want Alabama and/or Birmingham to do. Earlier you are complaining that Birmingham needs to think bigger than minor league facilities and now you want Medicaid expansion, drastic increases in school spending, more State Troopers, and more.

Alabama doesn't have an unlimited tax base, so you're gonna have to pick something you want them to spend the money on and stick with it

NO STATE HAS "AN UNLIMITED TAX BASE" but somehow they get important things done that Alabama can't or won't do. In 2018 Alabama - and its municipal entities - are living amidst the political and economic whirlwind resulting from the state government sowing a terrible wind for the past century. Many of our state's best & brightest have already moved or are moving to those other states where things get done and pay / opportunities are better. They are finding that a low standard of living does not cover family needs.

The state legislature continues to shield the top 10% from equivalent state tax burden (now <3% of income) but adds to the state tax burden of the bottom 60% (now 10% or more). That is a 300% differential in favor of the very wealthy. Tax exemptions, tax credits and tax abatements allow huge profits for most or all of the state's major industrial employers.

Again, I don't disagree with you. I think taxes in Alabama are too low. Also, you can get away with a lot even with low taxes (my taxes since moving to Atlanta aren't any higher than when I lived in Birmingham). But the tax *base* isn't big enough to do everything you want to do all at once. Alabama should focus on fixing the basics first like education, healthcare, and transportation. Adding professional sports arenas on top of that makes you sound like Larry Langford and is not feasible or advisable in any way

(02-12-2019 08:46 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  

(02-11-2019 10:30 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(02-11-2019 06:23 PM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  

(02-11-2019 11:19 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Atlanta did not tear down Ponce de Leon Park (home stadium of the AA "Atlanta Crackers") and immediately build the M-B MPF. The city and its state moved forward on many social, economic and political fronts leading from one to the other. They came to reject Lester Maddox's "Axe handle" methods while Alabama remains mired in that "poke America in the eyes" cultural/political outlook.

No one here claims Alabama is "too busy to hate". Our legislature is considering right now ending state marriage licenses as their way to avoid dealing with the legal same sex marriage situation. Perhaps they will just make all marriages illegal. We publicly identify "failing schools" but make no provision for their improvement. We accept prisons being at 200% of capacity but criticize the Parole Board for their releases. Their solutions involve borrowing billions for road and bridge work, more billions for new prisons (without provisions for staffing), for more State Troopers and new cars and assorted other state needs. The only tax being mentioned is on gasoline.

It's really hard to figure out what you want Alabama and/or Birmingham to do. Earlier you are complaining that Birmingham needs to think bigger than minor league facilities and now you want Medicaid expansion, drastic increases in school spending, more State Troopers, and more.

Alabama doesn't have an unlimited tax base, so you're gonna have to pick something you want them to spend the money on and stick with it

NO STATE HAS "AN UNLIMITED TAX BASE" but somehow they get important things done that Alabama can't or won't do. In 2018 Alabama - and its municipal entities - are living amidst the political and economic whirlwind resulting from the state government sowing a terrible wind for the past century. Many of our state's best & brightest have already moved or are moving to those other states where things get done and pay / opportunities are better. They are finding that a low standard of living does not cover family needs.

The state legislature continues to shield the top 10% from equivalent state tax burden (now <3% of income) but adds to the state tax burden of the bottom 60% (now 10% or more). That is a 300% differential in favor of the very wealthy. Tax exemptions, tax credits and tax abatements allow huge profits for most or all of the state's major industrial employers.

Again, I don't disagree with you. I think taxes in Alabama are too low. Also, you can get away with a lot even with low taxes (my taxes since moving to Atlanta aren't any higher than when I lived in Birmingham). But the tax *base* isn't big enough to do everything you want to do all at once. Alabama should focus on fixing the basics first like education, healthcare, and transportation. Adding professional sports arenas on top of that makes you sound like Larry Langford and is not feasible or advisable in any way

Indeed. Thankfully we've begun to embrace the Art of the Possible. Do what we can do, and what we're good at (college football), and leave the pies in the sky for somebody else.

Other southern cities who decades ago were Birmingham's equal have left us behind but it isn't because they were more progressive or cared more about education or invested in the arts. The city's largest economic engine is controlled by Tuscaloosa which is controlled by Montgomery. Money that should have been reinvested into our city for all these decades has been taken away from us and given to Montgomery and then other areas of the state. Most people in Birmingham don't care enough to put a stop to this arrangement because a tiny portion of the money is given to their favorite youth sports team 60 miles to the west. Montgomery can't risk an NFL team eroding the UAT fan base in the city and thus will do whatever it takes to stop this from happening. Can they fight off the NFL if they were determined? I don't know but why would the NFL deal with all that crap when they could select another suitable candidate for expansion when the time comes again?

Football capital of the south

You guys act like the NFL is beating down the door and the only impediment is Paul Bryant Jr standing in the doorway but I have news for you if the State of Alabama passed a law that said the NFL didn't have to pay a penny of taxes for the next 10,000 years and UA offered to release Nick Saban so he could coach the new team, they still wouldn't be putting a team in Birmingham

Theres probably 10 cities that would get an NFL team before Bham. Honestly I dont think Bham will ever get a top level pro sports team in my lifetime unless something completely unexpected happens and it has unprecedented growth over the next 30 years (think Nashville). Since that is unlikely to happen because Bham is still unfortunately located in the state of Alabama it shouldn't even be a focus. Bham has a lot of positives, a lot of forward momentum and it has vastly improved over the last decade, which is one reason I decided to come back here after initially going back home to Atlanta after school. Theres still A LOT of work to do in terms of crime, poverty, education, business growth, etc but theres a lot of people invested in seeing this city grow and get better now which is a stark contrast from the anti Bham attitude that existed amongst many of the metro area residents 10 years ago.