The Barons won their home opener, defeating the Mississippi Braves 9-5 in front of a sell-out crowd at Regions Field last night. This scoreboard, located down the first base line, tells part of the story (and is one of two nods to Rickwood Field picked up by die hard baseball fans visiting the park last night); the Barons website tells the rest. Among the highlights was the go-ahead, tie-breaking two-run home run by Marcus Semien.
If you’re lucky enough to get over to Regions Field today, you’ll see work crews putting finishing touches on the $40 million facility. They were busy this morning doing things like installing this signage above the ballpark’s main entrance at the intersection of 14th Street and 1st Avenue South.
The public will get a chance to formally explore and admire their handiwork for the first time at 5 p.m. when the gates open and the buzz leading up to the Birmingham Barons‘ 2013 home opener will reach its climax. The ballpark, part of a larger $69 million project for the area currently set to include a museum looking at Birmingham’s Negro Leagues history, gives the city a pretty unique honor until next April. Until the Charlotte Knights finally move into North Carolina at that time (no, we’re not kidding), Birmingham can lay claim to being the home of both the oldest ballpark in the country (Rickwood Field) and the newest.
Obscure trivia knowledge aside, this will no doubt lead some die hard baseball fans to make the pilgrimage down here for the five-game Barons home stand against the Tennessee Smokies beginning May 28. The following day’s game will be the 18th annual Rickwood Classic. This means fans could see games in both the oldest and newest ballparks in the country on consecutive days if they so chose this year. Pretty cool, huh?
Local media outlets are doing extensive coverage of today’s festivities, with all of the local television stations placing reporters there throughout the day and both The Birmingham News and the Birmingham Business Journal running pieces about what not to miss.
First pitch for the sold-out game is at 7:05 p.m. and it will be available via WERC-FM (105.5 FM and online via live stream).
Of course, the real question is whether or not you’re going to any of the games during this first homestand…
There are some who drive along 14th Street daily to check on the progress of the new home for the Birmingham Barons, Regions Field. Many of them watch to see just how they’ll finish it in time for Opening Day in April.
Well, for the time being, those cars will need to be driving along 1st and 3rd Avenues South instead in order to check on progress as detour signs greet cars as they approach those intersections.
This is the way it is expected to be for approximately the next month as construction continues on the sporting venue located across the street from Railroad Park. One thing to note – Good People Brewing Company‘s taproom will maintain its current operating hours. It just means that you’ve got to park alongside Railroad Park or on 2nd Ave. S. between 14th and 15th Streets and walk to it. It also means the 2nd Annual Birmingham Brewnanza Brewery Collectible Show being hosted by the local chapter of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America is still on too, and that’s a good thing.
There’s some other stuff happening nearby as recapped on the Birmingham Business Journal‘s website earlier today as a result of another pending deal to build housing along the park.
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 37 days, you already know that the Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama will battle the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame tonight for the BCS Championship.
There are a lot of viewing parties taking place in metro Birmingham this evening. The Carmike Summit 16 has 285 seats available on a first-come, first served basis according to ABC 33/40’s website if you feel like venturing down 280.
If you’re thinking about staying a little closer to downtown after work (if you didn’t leave early to get ready for the game), you may want to think about what’s become WorkPlay’s annual watch party event starting at 4 p.m. Priscilla Wadsworth will be there along with some of her Crimson Tide-focused illustrations.
We know there are a lot of other parties going on this evening, including ones at Cantina in Pepper Place, and Crescendo Lounge on Southside.
Where are you watching the game? Who are you going to root for?
There are a lot of Crimson Tide fans getting ready for the BCS Championship game in Miami on Monday, January 7. They can’t say they’re enjoying a slow sports day today as they wait for their game against the Fighting Irish to begin.
Earlier today, Ole Miss represented the SEC well against Pittsburgh at the BBVA Compass Bowl, winning 38-17 at historic Legion Field. The announced attendance at today’s game, 59,135, is a record for the seven-year old postseason college football game. It is also at least 5,000 more than the number of folks who went to this year’s Sugar Bowl (the worst it’s been there since 1939).
This evening, football fans get another gift – in the form of a surprise from the NFL. UPDATE below.
After learning Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback Christian Ponder was declared ineligible for tonight’s playoff game against the Packers, local social media networks lit up after learning it meant former UAB standout and Birmingham native Joe Webb would get the starting nod. He will become the first NFL quarterback to start a playoff game after not making any passing attempts during the regular season according to Elias Sports Bureau. The game is scheduled to begin locally on Alabama’s 13 at 7 p.m.
Webb drew a great deal of attention locally in late 2010 when he not only scored his first NFL touchdown, but won his first ever start the following week.
UPDATE: Webb and the Vikings unfortunately weren’t able to pull out a victory at the Frozen Tundra, losing to the Green Bay Packers, 24-10.
So long as this site has operated, there’s been a serious interest in any story involving the launch of a pro team. This is especially true when it comes to football.
Earlier this week (Thursday to be exact), the folks from the new USFL held their first ever Google+ Hangout (yes, they have a Google+ account) as they attempted to explain some recent decisions and developments, including the one that pushes the launch of the league back to spring of 2014.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuz1WMGEic8]Of particular interest during this online event was a lengthy explanation of how they are going about determining where how those eight inaugural cities that will be determined. The league’s chief operating officer, Fred Biletnikoff Jr., pointed out that the league wasn’t necessarily looking to place teams in cities, but for “groups that come to us” in markets that are interested. Those ownership groups are required to fill out at 15-page application as part of the process; any potential owner that can claim five percent must also complete an application.
USFL president Jaime Cuadra reiterated their desire to have eight teams on the field when it launches, though there could be more based on interest shown and the additional time they now have. Cuadra did provide a list of cities where there was active interest and potential ownership groups. It included Salt Lake City; Tulsa/Oklahoma City; Akron, OH; Raleigh/Durham; Hartford, CT. He also spoke of interest being shown in Texas, southern Florida, and California and stressed that this list may change as they get closer to launch.
Birmingham was one of the cities involved in the original USFL during the mid-1980s.
With so much focus in recent weeks on one group’s hopes of landing an NBA franchise for Birmingham, we’ve been ignoring talk of plans to bring football back to the Magic City this spring.
As mentioned on the site and others back in May, the USFL has been looking at Birmingham as a possible location for one of eight franchises as the league is reimagined in 2013. A Birmingham News article filed on July 3 cites league president and CEO Jaime Cuadra as stating that there had not been significant talks with city officials as of yet.
This brings us to this evening, when Cuadra will join Steve West on 101.1 FM at approximately 7:15 p.m. (according to the league’s brand page on Facebook) to discuss “potential” plans for a team in Birmingham, AL. The league did release a new logo last Friday (seen to your left) along with unveiling a new website. They’ve also been touring cities long considered options for franchises in recent weeks.
Incidentally, another thing to keep in mind as all of this talk moves forward is NBC Sports reporting that the UFL (the league that tried to enter the Birmingham market back in 2007) may announce plans for a comeback with four team later this week. Their official website makes it look like it could be all but certain…
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