And, Laughable. "against my will"... Give me a break. "entitled to public support"... You respond as if I or anyone else has asked you to support them. If they have, ignore them.
You do understand that it's a public university, and one that's part of Alabama's university system at that? That's my issue, if this was all private, voluntarily funded dollars they were wasting, good for them. But it's not... My dislike for their program is intertwined with the fact that they are spending money that they are not entitled to spend and was not provided voluntarily. I'm a taxpayer in the state of Alabama, who also voluntarily supports Alabama's athletic department. Those funds, go to the athletic department, which has been putting millions of dollars each year back into the university's coffers... which is part of the same system.
This means that most of college football's "puppies" should be taken to the shelter, as many lose money every year. So all of the "kids" need be blamed in every instance? Or are we just talking about UAB. Here.
Not just talking about UAB. I've said several times there should be under 100 FBS programs. It's not even that I think UAB shouldn't have a football program, but clearly, they don't warrant an FBS program. Look at Alabama A&M, their athletic department operates at a fraction of UAB's, their football program has a more robust history, and they've actually been to more bowl games.
This never, ever, on my part has been only about UAB. I'm enrolled at South Alabama, and I've been adamantly against their football program since it's inception, and it's a waste I am directly on the hook for, in more ways than one.
Alabama's athletic department made over 20 million. UAB lost around 17 million. South Alabama lost around 14 million. Alabama A&M spent far less, and their loss was around 5 million. Is it too much to ask UAB, South Alabama, and the other, overly-entitled programs out there to behave more responsibly? They have no prestige in football, they have no history and tradition, they are just wasting money and up until recently not being held accountable for it.
This does extend beyond the state, but look at Alabama's population. They had no business having 5 FBS programs, and there's a reason that the bottom three's attendance combined couldn't match the #2 program in attendance. Most athletic departments are losing money, yes. Most FBS programs are losing money, yes. I'm not saying they all should go, but if you can't even meet minimum NCAA attendance requirements? By rule you should lose your program (that would apply to UAB). If your athletic department is losing over ten million a year, and you're a public university? Cuts need to be made. It's no coincidence that the programs losing the most money tend to have FBS football programs, it's a very expensive thing to operate.