I would really hate this for our friends in Birmingham, especially now that they are turning things around.
We all hate chapel hill but what we deal with pales in comparison to what uab deals with.
Did UAB go after a 'Bama recruit or something? Or did they “steal” a few fans from 'Bama?
I will openly weep if we get relegated to the A-SUN.
I would openly weep if Alabama was the mothership anyways…bless you all
That is some b.s. Hope they remain our conference mates.
That this is remotely possible for this to happen is insane, best of luck to UAB.
Honestly, I thought this was going to happen a few years ago. Sad.
This makes me hate the Crimson Tide even more.
clt declares ua-t infidels.
Any UAB grads in the Alabama Legislature to threaten UA’s funding? Any UAB grads that are Alabama Judges that you could file a lawsuit in their court?
How pathetic for UA power brokers to be threatened by UAB.
God forbid anyone else have anything nice.
Seriously, what threat is UAB football to Alabama football? In recent years Alabama has either won the national championship or been in contention for the national championship. UAB is like a flea on the back of an elephant. It is ridiculous that UAB can’t build a new stadium or now even field a football team. Decision makers in AL have always been backward and stuck in their ways hence the reason the state continues to rank as one of the poorest in the country.
From what I’ve come to understand from talking to folks from the UAB board, it seems that this is more a personal vendetta by Paul Bryant, Jr. than a large group of decision makers. Unfortunately, PBJ is pretty powerful in the UA system.
Seems as if PBJ took the view that his father held towards the end of his career, when UAB was trying to start football - that UAB getting a football team could negatively effect recruiting for for Alabama - to heart. Seems as though Bear had that view from a self-preservation standpoint, as the landscape was drastically different back then and nobody could really predict what effect a new program in the state would have; but his son took that view and turned it into an all-around negative view towards both UAB and UAH athletics as a whole.
The BOT shut down UAH’s hockey program (was once a surprisingly strong program considering their location) a few years back… but UAH boosters and the mayor of Huntsville basically told them to take a long walk off of a short pier, and came up with the funding to continue the program themselves.
The Alabama people are afraid of them getting the occasional 3* that would provide depth for them (like we got Wynn when he was recruited by the big boys in state). Even if they only lose 1-2 of those players a year, that’s 1-2 too many for some. It really sucks for UAB too, their program has a ton of momentum this year, they seem to have found their coach, and attendance is up dramatically.
The powers that be have to know even the whisper of this will hurt recruiting, and the ability to hold onto their coach. The fact that it hasn’t been squashed already is very unsettling.
The city of Birmingham and the county voiced support for building an indoor practice facility for UAB yesterday night / this morning.
UAB isn’t going to go away without a fight.
ODU beat writer chimes in.
Somewhere there are JMU alumni/supporters hoping this happens. Clearest way for JMU to get into C-USA.
RT @dkurtenbach: UAB has shown the ability to fundraise, but they’re not doing it for football. Some say they’re declining football donations.Foreboding, no?