UAB fires AD and is planning to shut down UAB football program

Jon said:

all of that said UAB brings far more money into the State than we do. Over 5 Billion a year and is either #1 or #2 (to redstone arsenal) depending on what stat you chose to use in employment in the state. The posters who claim they do more for the State are simply correct.

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Fair enough, but, if, as I suspect, this is research grant money, would UAB continue to bring in the same amount of money without a D1 football program?
How much medical research (or other research) grant money comes in because of UAB's football program?


I honestly have no dog in this fight, for what it's worth.

According to media folks at the current UAB rally/protest, the Bama fan in the picture walked by and was booed while other UAB folks chanted for him to take off his jacket.

Tidewater said:

Fair enough, but, if, as I suspect, this is research grant money, would UAB continue to bring in the same amount of money without a D1 football program?
How much medical research (or other research) grant money comes in because of UAB's football program?


I honestly have no dog in this fight, for what it's worth.

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Grant money from Football? Zero unless you count the useless contributions Allstate makes to schools when they kick a field goal

bamaga said:

Do you really think UAB would be what it us today if not for UA? If UAB could of decided their own fate in the 50s and 60s, UAB may not be in existence anymore. The UA system has greatly benefitted UAB

I have a solution, emancipate UAB, give it autonomy! call it Burmingham University and let UA take its medical school back. The city of Tuscaloosa is big enough now to support a full fledged training hospital.

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That would be like a renter wanting to separate from an apartment owner. To whom the reply would be simple: Take what's yours, leave what's mine.
When (if) UAB separates from the UA system, the system and all it has built will remain. The only thing gone will be the renter.

here is a video from their protest today. As you can see their "fans" are out in full force

RTR91 said:

According to media folks at the current UAB rally/protest, the Bama fan in the picture walked by and was booed while other UAB folks chanted for him to take off his jacket.

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And there you have the entire reason UAB has a football program. Jealousy of Alabama football.

Mystical said:

In football not quite that simple if you leave D1 to play D1 if the coach does not want you to leave it could cost you a year or 2 of eligibility. Sometimes even if the coach releases you the NCAA will deny the transfer unless it is a hardship transfer. Most of our guys that transfer do so with the coaches blessing because they were probably never going to see the field.

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Oh, don't get me wrong, I think the NCAA should grant waivers if needs be to insure they can go to the college of their choice without sitting out, I was just saying I don't see why the school should be on the hook for the scholarships since the players can just quit playing anytime they choose, which in this case is comparable to what the school would be doing, quitting...

Jon said:

Grant money from Football? Zero unless you count the useless contributions Allstate makes to schools when they kick a field goal

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Not from football, but due to football.
How many NIH grant committees tell their awards committee "go find a research hospital associated with a university with a D1 football program and give them the grant for cancer research?" I would guess none do this.
My point was that the money that UAB brings into the state has a lot to do with research grants and that research grant money probably has little to nothing to do with whether UAB has a football team or not. That money will come in depending on the quality of research grant proposals and cutting the strings to the financial albatross that is Blazer football might indirectly help that quality (by allowing that money to be spent on better research facilities, or attracting more up-and-coming medical researchers/doctors/grad students).

Tidewater said:

Not from football, but due to football.
How many NIH grant committees tell their awards committee "go find a research hospital associated with a university with a D1 football program and give them the grant for cancer research?" I would guess none do this.
My point was that the money that UAB brings into the state has a lot to do with research grants and that research grant money probably has little to nothing to do with whether UAB has a football team or not. That money will come in depending on the quality of research grant proposals and cutting the strings to the financial albatross that is Blazer football might indirectly help that quality (by allowing that money to be spent on better research facilities, or attracting more up-and-coming medical researchers/doctors/grad students).

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And yet, because of all that money coming in, UAB "deserves" a football program (so the logic goes).

The problem isn't that they have football but that they have too quickly pursued D-1A status in the 1990s. UAB football should have tried to be a premier FCS program in the state to establish a winning tradition then progress into FBS slowly.


Also, UAB brings in a lot of money but grants are general revenue you can use to support athletics. Most of their money is earmarked for worthwhile socially and economically valuable projects that do enrich the state. The problem with UAB is all these metrics where they succeed so greatly compared to Alabama and Auburn has created a culture where their administration wants autonomy or even be the state flagship university. I think they're due an attitude adjustment on that score. I'd like the BoT to cut their undergraduate program while they're at it to let them know they're still just a satellite. Who in their right mind actually wants to be in Birmingham anyway? Montgomery and Birmingham are in a perpetual fight in my mind on which I would love to see fall off the map the most.

RTR91 said:

According to media folks at the current UAB rally/protest, the Bama fan in the picture walked by and was booed while other UAB folks chanted for him to take off his jacket.

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I don't see a protest. Must of been just UAB season ticket holders.

Jon said:

here is a video from their protest today. As you can see their "fans" are out in full force

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Seen larger crowds at a holiday flash mob.

Just saw a tweet where a UAB coach has ordered 50 Little Caesar's Pizzas and asked people to join them. And there in lies the problem: You have give away tickets to just to get people to show up for games and then have to give away pizza to get them to show up to protest.

CB4 said:

Seen larger crowds at a holiday flash mob.

Just saw a tweet where a UAB coach has ordered 50 Little Caesar's Pizzas and asked people to join them. And there in lies the problem: You have give away tickets to just to get people to show up for games and then have to give away pizza to get them to show up to protest.

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LOL

City of Birmingham buys ~$250k dollars a year in season tickets to UAB making them responsible for 50% of their season ticket sales.

bamaga said:

Do you really think UAB would be what it us today if not for UA? If UAB could of decided their own fate in the 50s and 60s, UAB may not be in existence anymore. The UA system has greatly benefitted UAB

I have a solution, emancipate UAB, give it autonomy! call it Birmingham University and let UA take its medical school back. The city of Tuscaloosa is big enough now to support a full fledged training hospital.

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That is what some of their nut job supporters want: cut all ties to the UA system.

Fine with me. Let Birmingham and Jefferson Co. run a university. Maybe it can double as a sewage treatment plant. We all know well that would work out.

I'm a lifelong Bama fan, Birmingham native, and a UAB MBA grad.
My grandfather gave a significant amount to UAB when he still lived, and my father still does.
I'll pull for UAB athletics in general, but when push comes to shove, I'm siding with the Crimson Tide.

I believe it is a mistake for UAB to try to compete with Alabama for the hearts, minds, and resources of the people of this state.

I am embarrassed and alienated by the general attitude of the UAB fan base. You want me to stop being a Bama fan? Not going to happen. Ever. If you want my support at all, you will stop trying to make me choose.
I am ashamed of the general attitude of the UA fan base toward UAB. UAB is more than its tryhard failure of an athletic program and jealous, loudmouth fan base.

They belong in different divisions, and I would be happy to be able to be a fan of both again without the constant bashing.

There is something in the water down in Jefferson County.


I think is lysergic acid diethylamide

cuda.1973 said:

That is what some of their nut job supporters want: cut all ties to the UA system.

Fine with me. Let Birmingham and Jefferson Co. run a university. Maybe it can double as a sewage treatment plant. We all know well that would work out.

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That's exactly what South Alabama did decades ago--get out of the UA system and develop their own curriculum and athletic priorities. USA is now an FBS school, with rising attendance and good community support. It also has premier medical, engineering and business curricula

Geography probably has more to do with USA's success in doing so than would UAB's. Mobile is a much longer drive from Tuscaloosa than is Birmingham, and USA's campus is located well away from the urban center of the city. Not so with UAB--they have facilities all over downtown and south side.

Culture probably also plays a role in the difference between USA and UAB. Mobile's culture, politics, religious affiliations and ethnic history are different from the rest of the state, and in stark contrast with Birmingham. At a USA home game, you will see fans sporting UA, AU and LSU gear. No one says a word to them. No booing, no harassment.

TomTide said:

If they want a football team, they should be able to have one, no matter if 3 people attend each game (I saw one earlier this year with at least 25,000 in the stands). UAB should be free of the Alabama BoT's influence, and I hope this fiasco finally does it for them.

There, I said it. I'm a lifelong fan of the Crimson Tide, but this is a disgrace.

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1) I'm assuming you are one of the three

2) 24,997 cardboard cutouts don't count

3) Why should the taxpayers have to pay for that? Seriously? The bottom line is money and the taxpayers are on the hook for it. I'll sit back and wait for a response.