Did Alabama once play home games in Birmingham?
- Thread starter LSUgrad2BamaDad
- Start date
That's what I was thinking - I just didn't really know how to respond to that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Now there's a trick!
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Do i recall hearing of a few "double header" games with Awbarn and Alabama playing at Legion Field on the same day?
The smell of whiskey was pervasive at Legion field back then. Pure drunks were outnumbered by the barely functional but good grief we carried big flasks in there, barely concealed. There are still incidents, but going to a Bama game today is a much more civilized experience IMO.
There were double headers in the 60s (maybe) and early 70s. I think Auburn would play Tennessee early and then later in the day Bama might play LSU or Miss St. I doubt one stadium could pull that type of crowd off in this day and age.
You are absolutely 100% correct, sir. They also led the SEC in tobacco spitting.
Me too. Used to be, for about 20-25 years, all the really big games were at Legion Field.
It is threads like this that make me realize how old I'm getting despite not wanting to admit that (my getting bifocals today is another reminder). I saw the OP and I'm thinking, "How in the world can anyone actually ask that question when we used to play half a season's worth of games at Legion Field?"
And then I remember that our last game there was likewise the FIRST game I ever ordered on the old (primitive now) ESPN "order the game you want to see for $9.95 and get the rest of this Saturday's games as well." It was Shula's first game and was against the USF Bulls thirteen years ago this coming Tuesday.
In other words, a person has to be probably 23 years old to 'really' remember that that particular game was in Birmingham. We DID play the 9/11 delayed game against USM there as well. And then I realize that the Iron Bowl first moved in 1989, so to have even a minimal recollection of that detail (unless you were there, of course) makes a person nearly forty who knows anything about the controversy of moving that game to Auburn.
We used to play the REALLY BIG games at Legion Field, including the Iron Bowl. Some that come immediately to my mind include the 1980 (and 1986) Notre Dame games, the Iron Bowl every year I watched until 1989, and the incredible sequence of games with Tennessee in 1985-89-91-93.
And for those who really don't know about this - we went nineteen full years before losing a game in Bryant-Denny Stadium during the Coach Bryant years (losing to Florida on October 12, 1963 - that was six weeks before the JFK assassination and winning every game until November 13, 1982 against Southern Miss, which was two weeks before losing to Bo Jackson 'over the top' in the Iron Bowl).
Yeah, I know 'technically' that the 1963 game was in Denny Stadium (the Bryant was added in 1975 IIRC), but it was the same venue for Pete's sake.
And then I remember that our last game there was likewise the FIRST game I ever ordered on the old (primitive now) ESPN "order the game you want to see for $9.95 and get the rest of this Saturday's games as well." It was Shula's first game and was against the USF Bulls thirteen years ago this coming Tuesday.
In other words, a person has to be probably 23 years old to 'really' remember that that particular game was in Birmingham. We DID play the 9/11 delayed game against USM there as well. And then I realize that the Iron Bowl first moved in 1989, so to have even a minimal recollection of that detail (unless you were there, of course) makes a person nearly forty who knows anything about the controversy of moving that game to Auburn.
We used to play the REALLY BIG games at Legion Field, including the Iron Bowl. Some that come immediately to my mind include the 1980 (and 1986) Notre Dame games, the Iron Bowl every year I watched until 1989, and the incredible sequence of games with Tennessee in 1985-89-91-93.
And for those who really don't know about this - we went nineteen full years before losing a game in Bryant-Denny Stadium during the Coach Bryant years (losing to Florida on October 12, 1963 - that was six weeks before the JFK assassination and winning every game until November 13, 1982 against Southern Miss, which was two weeks before losing to Bo Jackson 'over the top' in the Iron Bowl).
Yeah, I know 'technically' that the 1963 game was in Denny Stadium (the Bryant was added in 1975 IIRC), but it was the same venue for Pete's sake.
My goodness, there's some high school stadiums that hold that or close to that right now.
Actually almost all of the old sorority row and some frat houses are now under the stadium...
For older alum, does the campus even look remotely like it did in your time?
I'm under a decade out of school and the campus in some spots is hardly like it was in my time. So I can hardly imagine how foreign it can look at times for those 15+ years a graduate. For example, I work in a building that wasn't even a part of the campus in my time.
I'm under a decade out of school and the campus in some spots is hardly like it was in my time. So I can hardly imagine how foreign it can look at times for those 15+ years a graduate. For example, I work in a building that wasn't even a part of the campus in my time.
I taught with a girl for a couple of years who graduated from Bama around 2003 or so. She was lamenting one day about how different the campus looked since she had graduated (and this was probably 4 or 5 years ago.) I looked at her and asked how she thought I felt considering I graduated in 1989.
Last year I took a friend with me to the Tennessee game. She's a barn fan (but I think I'm slowly getting her to admit she just might like Bama a little. :smile
I wanted to show her around the campus and take her to Bryant Museum. As we walked down Bryant Drive from the stadium toward the museum, I couldn't believe how must that side of campus has changed. We used to tailgate at Foster before the reno, so we would often walk over to the vendors on that side. We haven't tailgated since they ran everyone off from that area, so I hadn't seen any of the new construction. Frankly, I don't like it at all, but that's just me.
Some for the better.
Talked to my Oregon-based buddy today (Washington Huskies fan) and he said that the young Tide fans of today - say, those in their early 20s (born 1992-1997) REALLY have no earthly idea that what is going on now is NOT NORMAL in any sense of the term. How many GENUINE 7-year dynasties can you name during the television era?
Alabama 1960-1966 (and those were NOT title years at the beginning and end; three titles)
Oklahoma 1971-1980 (two titles)
Florida State 1987-2002 (two titles)
Miami 1983-1994 (four titles)
Nebraska 1993-2001 (three titles)
USC 2002-2008 (two titles)
Alabama 2008-???? (four titles)
I basically allowed a team one 'out of the norm' season but expected the other years to have ONE LOSS at most (two if the bowl game was the second). Some teams like Penn State in the late 70s and early 80s had two mini-dynasties, periods of very good records of 2-3 years with a 2-3 year gap in between; USC would win it all and then drop to a four-loss team and then climb back to the top about four years later (1962-67-72-74-78).
There is NOTHING normal about this in the actual competitive era of college football, and it will be a long time before we have another one. Yes, USC had a seven-year run where they were quite dominant, but go look at it a little closer (and I'm setting aside the old 'they got stripped for cheating' argument) - they lost to HUGE underdogs (2006 UCLA, 2007 Stanford) and weren't dominant season across season (they trailed several times by huge margins in 2005 in the third quarter). And even then, they got one title and shared a second one they technically didn't earn.
Young folks, this is NOT normal by any means. Enjoy it every day.
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