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

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Bama Reb said:
Let's back up a moment. Iirc, UAB was set to interview Jimbo Fisher and then possibly offer him the job. I don't believe there was an agreement in place so you have to wonder whether he would have accepted the job.
My guess is no. That's just mho and I'm sure others will disagree. Since none of us will ever know the truth of it, that pretty much makes the point moot.
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JimBo has actually said he had accepted the job, pending signing the contract. I am NOT a UAB apologist, and think it ignorant that you can blame the BoT for a program HEMORRHAGING money, but it is fact they had a deal in place with him.

My question to those on the UAB bandwagon, why would the UA systems ever think about letting UAB borrow 60 million+ on an on campus stadium when they would never get any of it paid back? The fan base would have turned out for a year, but then what? UAB killed themselves with too many restrictions causing a lack of recruiting of the talent base (they act like they're Vandy but in CUSA), having the City of Birmingham buying tickets just to meet NCAA ticket sales requirements, they finished 101st in ANNOUNCED attendance (they would have been even further down in ACTUAL attendance...way further down), and never working with the City who approached them about partnering to build a dome stadium (because they had rather take from the UA Systems because they knew they couldn't pay the bill).

People can blame this on a "good ol boys" mentality, but the reality is this is a BUSINESS decision...and UAB is a failed venture.
 
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Outside of metro Birmingham, UAB has no fan base at all - it simply does not exist. Why should the University System continue to subsidize a program without a fan base and an all-time record of 117–150–2 (.439)?
 
As for UAB players transfering...
I don't know how it was worked out when Pacific shut down their F'ball program. When SMU football was shut down, those players were allowed to transfer without sitting out a year. I believe the schools they went to were allowed sign SMU players without regard to scholarship numbers; there may have been (probably was) a limit to how many SMU players a school could sign. Seems we got an OL from SMU.
I'm thinking their scholarships are valid should they decide to stay in school at UAB.
 
If this is the Alabama BoT's doing, what a disgrace. In pure value to the state, UAB blows the Capstone out of the water. 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.
 
TomTide said:
If this is the Alabama BoT's doing, what a disgrace. In pure value to the state, UAB blows the Capstone out of the water. 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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Ok then you pay for it.
 
TomTide said:
If this is the Alabama BoT's doing, what a disgrace. In pure value to the state, UAB blows the Capstone out of the water. 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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I sort of agree .... since without the Alabama BoT , this endless money pit would've never been able to have maintained it's existence to begin with .
 
TomTide said:
If this is the Alabama BoT's doing, what a disgrace. In pure value to the state, UAB blows the Capstone out of the water. 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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You got $100,000,000+ to give them to put in that black hole which is what it is. If they had 50,000 plus fans showing up to support them at each game, it might be different. They've had years to sell this program. Hopefully, they can keep men's/women's basketball. But if the AD has lost his job, then I guess there's no one to captain this Titanic.

If only 3 people attended games in Legion Field? Maybe they could play at Hoover High if they paid the Hoover School District for use of the stadium. But 3 people can't fund a major collegiate sports program. What coach will work for no salary? Who will pay for scholarships?

This actually sounds like the Federal government. They would be deficit spending which is what's really been happening. It's a school that's athletic program is on WELFARE, the public dole.

Who is going to fund the program you want with 3 paying customers? I guess the BOT are just tired of that Black Hole or mega sink hole where all that money is evaporating/disappearing.
 
About time. It's been a money pit since its inception. Shut it down.

UAB is a great institution, but they do not need a football program, and never did.


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TomTide said:
In pure value to the state, UAB blows the Capstone out of the water.
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Throwing out some facts here. On the Jimbo "hire", that got shut down because yes there were private donors willing to take up half the salary, but for only ONE year, not the life of the contract. That would leave the school on the dole for the full bill for the remainder of the contract. Very bad deal for a program making zero dinero.
The Marshall game where there were 25K in the seats...wonder how many of those actually paid to get in. UAB employees were all given a voucher for 4 free tickets to that game.
 
I have two degrees from UAB. I've attended many UAB basketball games through the years (season ticker holder in the early 1980's) and a few (about a dozen) football games over the years. I also attend about a 6-8 Alabama basketball games a year and, on average, 2-3 Alabama football games a year. Like many here in Birmingham, I grew up a huge Crimson Tide fan but I chose a career in health professions and administration so the logical choice for my education was UAB. I was at the very first UAB basketball game against Nebraska in 1978.

With all that being said, UAB athletics has never had the ground swell of support from the rank and file of the university nor the student body. When the basketball program started under Gene Bartow, the support was from Birmingham basketball fans, not UAB basketball fans. The BJCC coliseum didn't fill up because of the school. Much of the support was from people like myself that grew up Alabama fans, attended UAB, and loved basketball. The commuter students at UAB like myself at the time worked a full time job and continued their education at UAB. And I, like many others, could support both.

All of that went out the window years ago when Bartow decided to get in a ****ing match with Wimp and the University. Bartow didn't realize how many fans like myself that supported his program from Birmingham area he had alienated with his antics.

The only way UAB football would have ever been able to succeed here would have been from the support of Birmingham football fans, (not UAB fans) that grew up with loyalties or ties to both schools in some way, but by in large, simply loved football. And all that got screwed years before the program ever got up and going.

So did the BOT sabotage the UAB football program? Nope. UAB and Gene did that years ago. Do some on the BOT have long memories? You better believe it and they certainly were not going to bend over backwards to help. Grudges and politics? Absolutely without question.

The sad thing is that both could coexist with good success if not for some purely childish behavior and egos. It made me "draw a line" and make a decision, as a fan, where my loyalty lies and which program vies for my entertainment dollars. And that is the program in Tuscaloosa.

I use to tell my kids as they grew up a simple thing to remember when it comes making an emotional or visceral response to a situation: "The face you slap today may be attached to the fanny you have to kiss tomorrow."
 
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What will be done with Legion Field? Is it used for anything else? Pardon my ignorance but I do not live in the area.
 
UAB is a great research institution but you'd be insane to think they have more value to the state than the main campus.
 
WSFA just did a report on this from UAB's Campus were a crowd has formed to protest this move and support the football program, even the pep band was there. Looked like there was more folks at this rally then most of their football games. They didn't care enough to go to the games but, now they care when cameras are present.

I do feel bad for the kids but the NCAA will grant them waivers but, they should also force UAB to honor any scholarship for a player who may not get a chance to transfer.
 
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