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

[cuda.1973]

Finebaum mentioned it on his show, called it "political".

Trolling for idiot callers. Not that he doesn't have any already lined up.

And speaking of idiots............

Saw a story, on that bastion of excellent sports journalism (aka Fox Sports), where our former QB (yes, that former QB..............the one who doesn't know when to shut up) extolls the people of Alabama to "stand up for UAB & help keep their football program alive."

Since he pays as much tax, in Alabama, as I do.............if he wants UAB to have a football program, then he should pony up the $$$$$$ to keep it going. Easy to tell others what to do when it isn't your money.

Of course, if he paid attention to what was going on, he would have realized the decision was already made.

 

[AlistarWills]

http://www.uab.edu/athleticsplan/

 

[cuda.1973]

NO BOWLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I am really mad.

 

[Bamaro]

Any UAB players that we might be interested in?

 

[imauafan]

In a few weeks (days?) this will be forgotten and no one will be talking about UAB football.

 

[JDCrimson]

Would it have made a difference if UAB had elected to share the Hoover Met with Hoover and play its game there? Not as big a stadium obviously but certainly in a more desirable area. Also, if you give the impression the venue is full then maybe it starts to create some demand. Filling a 10K Hoover Met might have done that...

 

[Jon]

Any UAB players that we might be interested in?

no.

 

[TideEngineer08]

I thought it was an uninformed opinion for sure. It seems most people outside of Alabama supporters think it's all big bad Bama's fault.

And that's something else I just don't understand. This thought process that the University of Alabama (or the BOT, or Paul Bryant Jr.) is out to get UAB. Why? Why would we have any reason to be mad at UAB football?

It makes utterly no sense at all.

 

[Hooks4bama]

Any UAB players that we might be interested in?

No, that's why they are at UAB

 

[Hooks4bama]

They axed the women's rifle team too. Why in the world would you have that anyway?!

 

[Titans&Tide]

What I don't get is that if it's a money decision, why did they say that they're going to leave the athletic budget the same and reallocate the funds, apparently subsidized, in place to be used by other "priority" sports. I mean, if the reason for eliminating football is because it's hemorrhaging money, why isn't there a budget cut for the athletic department happening along with eliminating the program?

I'm not saying UAB needs a football program, I just wonder about the authenticity of their reasoning.

 

[CB4]

And that's something else I just don't understand. This thought process that the University of Alabama (or the BOT, or Paul Bryant Jr.) is out to get UAB. Why? Why would we have any reason to be mad at UAB football?

It makes utterly no sense at all.

It all goes back to the early 1990's when there were some pretty heated basketball recruiting wars here in the state between UAB (Gene Bartow) and Wimp Sanderson. Gene, in a snit, fired off a letter demanding an NCAA investigation into the athletics program at the Capstone. He then went on to say some things about recruiting violations in both the football and basketball programs and that Coach Bryant was "the Headmaster" when it came to teaching coaches how to cheat.

Needless to say the relationship between the two programs went downhill after that.

Gene really screwed himself in the situation because he hacked many Alabama fans here in Birmingham that actually supported his basketball program. He actually admitted, a few years before he died, it was one of the biggest mistakes he made at UAB. Some want to call it an "apology". It really wasn't. It was more a "simple statement of fact".

People want to take the angle of this being revenge by Paul Bryant Jr and the member of the BOT. And there could be some of that in this. However, I contend that the football program was never going to be a success no matter how much money anyone threw at it.

 

[Tide1986]

They axed the women's rifle team too. Why in the world would you have that anyway?!

Title IX?

 

[Mamacalled]

What I don't get is that if it's a money decision, why did they say that they're going to leave the athletic budget the same and reallocate the funds, apparently subsidized, in place to be used by other "priority" sports. I mean, if the reason for eliminating football is because it's hemorrhaging money, why isn't there a budget cut for the athletic department happening along with eliminating the program?

I'm not saying UAB needs a football program, I just wonder about the authenticity of their reasoning.

From the information I got, they did a study on how much more money beyond what they were already spending to bring the program up to standards.. Based on that study, it was determined that it was going to be too much. If they would be able to keep the cost the same they would have kept the program but unfortunately, the cost were going to go up too much.
I went to Cal State Fullerton and this reminds me of when they went and spent millions of dollars to build an on campus stadium to only shut the program down one year later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Stadium_(Cal_State_Fullerton)

 

[nickel42]

I mean, if the reason for eliminating football is because it's hemorrhaging money, why isn't there a budget cut for the athletic department happening along with eliminating the program?

I don't think it's as much about the amount of $$$ as it is the ROI. As I understand it, the football program just isn't in the black. Especially looking forward at the money they'd have to spend on Legion Field upkeep.

At the end of the day, I really am sorry for the players/coaches, but I think this is overdue. If people wanted it to stay, they could've showed up and prevented scenes like this from becoming the norm:

 

[Crimson1967]

Did Gene complain when he inherited all the guys who were getting paid by the booster (name escapes me) at UCLA?

 

[russtang]

I don't think it's as much about the amount of $$$ as it is the ROI. As I understand it, the football program just isn't in the black. Especially looking forward at the money they'd have to spend on Legion Field upkeep.

At the end of the day, I really am sorry for the players/coaches, but I think this is overdue. If people wanted it to stay, they could've showed up and prevented scenes like this from becoming the norm:

According to a lot of UAB supporters, that's 25,000 paying fans.

 

[RobK]

My questions are these:

1. Does UAB disband immediately, or does it play in a bowl game (assuming Conference USA has a bowl slot for them)? Would the players want to stick together and play, or focus on transferring/enrolling elsewhere ahead of the spring semester?

2. What bowl would want them? Maybe there's a nostalgia hook to it, but I can't foresee any excitement for booster travel, etc....not that they're would've been much more under ordinary circumstances. Financially, most of the bottom feeder bowls are breakeven or worse for the teams to begin with.

 

[RTR91]

My questions are these:

1. Does UAB disband immediately, or does it play in a bowl game (assuming Conference USA has a bowl slot for them)? Would the players want to stick together and play, or focus on transferring/enrolling elsewhere ahead of the spring semester?

2. What bowl would want them? Maybe there's a nostalgia hook to it, but I can't foresee any excitement for booster travel, etc....not that they're would've been much more under ordinary circumstances. Financially, most of the bottom feeder bowls are breakeven or worse for the teams to begin with.

Easy. Get the Birmingham Bowl to take them. It'll be a good chance for all those fans to see them play one last time.


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[BamafanNPC]

On the bright side, they can say they finished the history of UAB football with a win.