EchoBooming in Birmingham

The southern gent just tagged me….

But UAB lost, I had one too many beers, and I’m tired… I’ll probably get to it tomorrow….

UAB faces 3rd ranked Memphis tonight @ 7pm in the FedEx Forum. The first of what will likely be 3 meetings between these teams. UAB and Memphis both play full court press basketball. This will probably be THE fastest 40 minutes of basketball that we play this year… It’s not to be missed…

Viewing party at On Tap 280.
$2 pints, and supposedly a playmate working the tables

I’ll also take this opportunity to post a link that I found the other day on BlazerTalk:

Here is a scan of the program from UAB’s first Basketball game on November 24, 1978.
Can’t miss items: the sweet fros, the daisy dukes (on the basketball players), and the superfly disco ad from Parisian on the last page.

helluva was looking for the UAB master plan image and I remembered finding it in some document on UAB site…

I found it here deep inside of a PDF.

Here’s a JPG of the master plan (click for HUGE version).

I’ve got to say that in addition to loving the old houses in our neighborhood, one of the main reasons I want to stay in the City of Birmingham is the continued growth of UAB. It makes me feel good seeing my alma mater grow like this!

Richard Margison, UAB Vice President for Finance and Administration, will take on the additional responsibility of administering the Blazer Athletics department on an interim basis, effective immediately, allowing Watson Brown to devote all his energies to his head football coaching duties.

That means that UAB hasn’t had a full time AD since Clean Gene.
(Herman Frazier was PT AD, PT Olympic Committee member).

Someone with inside info had this to say on http://blazertalk.com:

OK, I still have some connections at UAB from my old days, and this one has administrative connections that puts her in the know. BTW, she didn’t know any of this until the past week, when it was put in motion, and she had to handle some of the details.

She says the following:

Margison will be AD through June, likely no longer. A quiet search is already underway, led by Garrison, with no input from Brown, but apparently lots of input from CMA. While Bartow has received tons of support, Garrison has no intention of putting him in power, even as a two-year or so interim. She considers that a step backward.

Brown has been told in no uncertain terms no conference title game next year, no more employment. Apparently, he doesn’t have to win it, he just has to have us playing in it, and in a bowl game. It’s assumed if we play in the title game, we’ll go to a bowl.

He has been told to “make corrections” to his staff, which is clearly inadequate. She doesn’t know more than that, but she said he’s very resistant to making any changes on his staff.

With his AD duties stripped, so is his salary. By half.

he knows little about sports, but she said this stuff is pretty common knowledge around her office. I doubt she’s making any of it up. She also said Brown wasn’t happy with any of it. She thinks, as did several administrators, that the MTSU thing was almost a done deal, and that Brown may still be looking because he’s feeling mistreated by the adminstration (sic). However, she did say Brown was given a choice between head coach and AD, and he decided he wanted to coach. She said Garrison and Margison both would have preferred he made the other choice.

It’s a step in the right direction, and I hope that the ultimatums that Garrison has placed on Watson are true. He needs a fire under his ass…

It’s been nothing but UAB posts over the last few weeks…

ABC 33/40 does a great sports show called The Zone on Sunday nights. It is hosted by Mike Raita and it features Ray Melick and Doug Segrest of the Birmingham News. They spent a good 4 mins or so talking about the Athletic Department at UAB. Give it a listen: 4.1 MB MP3 Audio.

I had the opportunity to converse back and forth with a huge sports fan with an inside contact in the UAB Athletic Department. I can say that everything that we debated back and forth about was touched on by the reporters on The Zone. From the horrible morale issues within the department, to the importance of a football program at UAB; excellent, entertaining reporting from these 3 fellows.

Also, more from the rumor mill:

A local blazer supporter from Attalla had the opportunity to eat lunch with Clean Gene Bartow (yes in Birmingham at Full Moon BBQ) here’s what he was able to share from their conversation:

1. I can confirm … Coach Bartow wanting to return.
2. I won’t repeat what was said about (Lee) Moon (Asst. AD at UAB) but let’s just say he would be in line with a majority of this board (http://blazertalk.com) on the subject.
3. When I told him about all the people pulling for him to return as AD along with the letters to (UAB President Carol) Garrison etc, it seemed to make his day. He was somewhat giddy about it and he wanted me to tell everyone thank you. He REALLY appreciates it.
4. He said I Doubt if “they” would let it happen but holds out hope. (They being the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees)
5. I really believe he could solidify this fractured fan base and do some good. You can tell a fire still burns inside him for UAB.
6. I now have to attend a Grizzlies game. I (Attalla) will have nice seats though.

I’m pumped, let’s bring back Bartow!!!