UAB Blazers Shut Down FB Program
This is sad, even if it makes financial sense.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11967626/uab-blazers-shu…
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:53 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:57 AM ^
CC - Disbandment doesn't have a good ring to it.
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^
but EMU sure as heck should.
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
I've been looking at this thread on the board all day, and wondering why it's a big deal that they shut down their Facebook page.
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
Right about now, with the Harbaugh "news" out of footballscoops and the prospect of Schiano, Hoke or . . . who the hell knows, I am almost jealous of their fans.
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:58 AM ^
when my alma mater EMU is going to make this call as well.
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:58 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:58 AM ^
Blame Alabama.
Of course, we tried to shut down MSU once. I still think it's a good idea.
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
Like the Canadian baby seal hunt, MSU provides a healthy and beneficial couch population control mechanism.
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^
a couple days ago which basically spelled out the internal politics of UAB football and how essentially Bear Bryant's kid has tried everything in his power to kill UAB football. Basically the situation down there is somewhat equivalent to Shemy Schembechler doing everything he can including getting elected to the Board of Regents and forcing an unqualified coach to be hired to sabotage and kill Central Michigan because he was worried the Chips might challenge UM in a couple decades. Really wierd Antebellum politics and culture down there-- probably worthy of a John Grisham novel.
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
I guess one of the fears aside from the financial problems which the program faced always came back to the fact that UAB is under the control of a Board Of Trustees which oversees all the University Of Alabama campuses, a board overwhelmingly populated by people who graduated from the one in - you guessed it - Tuscaloosa. Even Bill Clark in some interviews last week talked about being worried that they could not "escape the past" and that their fate was not theirs to decide on many levels.
Sad to see a program which tried very hard to establish itself despite many obstacles get shut down like that, even if the move makes monetary sense.
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
I think there's more to this than it seems. FBS football among schools very similar to UAB has absolutely exploded around the South in the past decade-plus. Georgia State, Appalachian State, South Alabama, South Florida, Central Florida, ODU, Charlotte - the list of schools who see football as an important visibility investment is extremely long. And UAB doesn't have the stomach for it and is going against the grain here? Fishy. Something stinks. It's a real shame.
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:05 PM ^
Paul Bryant Jr (Bear Bryants son) is an Alabama trustee and has been openly sabotaging UAB football for years. He apparently refused to allow UAB to build an on campus stadium (forcing them to keep playing at decrepit Legion Field) and was partly resonsible for them not hiring Jimbo Fisher back in 2006. Apparently the contract was agreed upon and the Bama trustees voted against it.
UAB didn't decide to cancel football as much as the Alabama trustees decided to slowly suffocate UAB football over the course of a decade. Sad story
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:11 PM ^
there's another coach out there for us? /s In all honesty though isn't Cincy not in the B1G because Ohio State didn't want to compete with us and Cincy for recruits in Ohio?
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:09 PM ^
It's more likely that they haven't been considered because of their low academic ranking. They're more like Louisville than Northwestern in that area.
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^
built from its early years of basketball competition in the NCAA tournament. It's football program has always lived in the dark shadows of Auburn and Alabama, and as a safe landing spot for local guys who can't make the grade at the bigger programs.
I mean it took Bear Bryant scheduling a home game against USC to get his school and getting stomped by the likes of Sam Bam Cunningham and a great Trojan team to finally admit blacks into the Crimson Tide football program. UAB got started in about that time period. I think its amazing that UAB which has been around for less than 50 years has been able to compete at all in the football-crazy atmosphere of its locale, but that explains why the school and the program got started in the first place.
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^
built from its early years of basketball competition in the NCAA tournament. It's football program has always lived in the dark shadows of Auburn and Alabama, and as a safe landing spot for local guys who can't make the grade at the bigger programs.
I mean it took Bear Bryant scheduling a home game against USC to get his school and getting stomped by the likes of Sam Bam Cunningham and a great Trojan team to finally admit blacks into the Crimson Tide football program. UAB got started in about that time period. I think its amazing that UAB which has been around for less than 50 years has been able to compete at all in the football-crazy atmosphere of its locale, but that explains why the school and the program got started in the first place.
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^
Would not be surprised to see some other schools follow suit. Football is king where it is a cash cow, but that seems like a diminishing number of schools every year. Would not be the worst thing in the world if a decreased number of FBS schools with football ended up leading to fewer shitty bowl games
December 2nd, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^
Football is a big money loser for most of the non Power 5 FBS teams.
DIII football would be a small money loser. (No schollies, mostly bus travel, only need to maintain one all-purpose gameday field (for soccer, lacrosse, etc.)
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
I don't get it unless the university president hates football. They could have pushed down to D2 and become more "student athlete" as opposed to "athlete who might go to class".
However, first of many. In 5years you could see EMU gone as well. I think the lesser WAC, MAC, Conference USA etc. are all in trouble.
For that matter, watch what happens to high school hockey and then as participation fades high school football. Very expensive hobbies when asking teachers and admins to hold the line on salaries and benefits.
December 2nd, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
Not only has Alabama's trustees tried to crush this progam in the past, they refused to build an on campus (or near by campus) stadium. Instead they want the student body and fans to attend the game in the Ghetto of Birmingham at the delapodated Legion Field. The city just build a brand new single A baseball stadium for the Birmingham Barons blocks from Campus. No thought was put into making it a multi sport venue so the Blazers could play there minutes from campus. Shame on you University of Alabama and UAB.