Marshall is playing for an unbeaten season. UAB is playing for its life.

I get that folks are low key about their allegiances and fandom here. "My alma mater did well...". No cheering in the pressbox. Gotcha. I'm not a journalist, though. I respect the local customs, but am making an exception here since they're trying to kill my program.

Full disclosure: I am a long time UAB fan. This one I know about and the program is once again facing the threat of a shutdown. I waited till the story broke nationally before I brought it here. I'm going link both background and current content.

Paul Bryant, Jr. is one of the most influential men in Alabama. He is the most powerful member of the The University of Alabama Board of Trustees. UA, as you might have heard, has a rather large cash flow, and being one of the people who negotiate and control where it goes yields significant clout. Bryant dislikes UAB Athletics and the BoT has interfered with UAB's football program before.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/9891201

The threat is back to close down the program is back. It's easier to throw a few links up for background and answer questions, so I'll start there.

This is pretty comprehensive. Solomon was a sportswriter in Birmingham for years and knows the territory.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/24806444

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/11/give_uab_football_what_it_need.html

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/11/dont_cry_freedom_uab_cry_respe.html

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/11/whats_possible_at_uab_10_years.html

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11907841/atlanta-falcons-wr-roddy-white-lobbies-save-uab-blazers-football-program

 

Re: Marshall is playing for an unbeaten season. UAB is playing for it's life.

Its

 

Re: Marshall is playing for an unbeaten season. UAB is playing for it's life.

Can someone do a "Where are they now?" piece on the underage girl who the UAB football team passed around about 12-13 years ago?

 

What does Marshall have to do with this story?

 

Shocked that Bear Bryant's son would grow up to be less than ethical.

 

They play UAB this week.

 

It's at UAB, so I'm guessing this could be the last home game.

 

Amateur athletics.

 

Oh. Then to answer my prior question: essentially nothing.

Some folks try too hard to get cute with thread titles.

 

You'll get over it. /Long Beach State grad

 

Having an FBS football program is not a right. If the program is losing so much money, maybe it ought to be shut down.

And unlike Marshall, Troy, Southern Miss and many others, UAB did not "pay its dues" in the lower divisions for decades before moving up to FBS/I-A. UAB did not even have a program until 1991, and fast-tracked its way to I-A within 5 years.

It's a commuter school with no historic fanbase. Many of the people who went to school there are also Alabama and Auburn fans, or at least grew up in Alabama or Auburn families.

They've never drawn well, even when they were good. Yeah, Legion Field is a dump, but put an Alabama or Auburn game there and see how fast it sells out.

This problem is not really unique to UAB, though. The proliferation of major college football on TV has killed the little guys. North Alabama, Jacksonville State and Troy don't draw like they used to either, because people would rather sit at home and watch Alabama and Auburn play on TV.

Great med school, decent basketball program, not sure they've earned a major college football program.

 

And Long Beach native and Long Beach State fan. The program died with George Allen.