Tag Archives: UAB

New questions about the UAB situation for a Monday afternoon

UAB-Blaze-at-Bartow-ArenaI’ve been sitting back and watching all the buzz online today with regard to UAB while starting to get ready for my turn to manage a weekly online journalism chat, but I’ve got to share some of the thoughts and questions on my mind:

1) I’m still wondering why Jabo Waggoner has stayed so quiet for so long? Why is that what’s on my mind? A timeline I created for a presentation about this suggests both Williams AND Waggoner were present for a late October meeting with UAB officials. Williams has been quite vocal while Waggoner’s made very few statements.

2) Most of the buzz from today jives with earlier statements made. Just because we don’t always pay attention to what’s been said doesn’t mean it hasn’t been public. It may just mean that emotions are strong on this issue (and rightfully so).

3) Assuming the bill that requires UAB must field a team passes, how do we as a community make sure the university as a whole (and the athletics department in particular) is not in this same position in 4-5 years? If UAB is going to get back a football team (and I, for one, hope that’s the case at some point), how is a similar financial situation kept from happening again? We will be making history anyway as the first state in the country to require that a university field a football team, so we probably want to make sure it stays viable to field teams for as long as possible (especially as we wait to see how the state will attempt to handle its own funding gap in the coming months).

4) Why did so many folks “wait to be asked” to do something if it’s been an issue for years? I’m not talking about those who’ve long served faithfully as boosters to the program, but those who would’ve made the burden less stressful (i.e., major corporate citizens). If it’s always been suggested that we must volunteer to lead instead of waiting to be asked, why point to not being asked as a reason for sitting on the sidelines instead of seeing the need and filling it? Will “they” step up and serve if asked (as they will need to moving forward)?

Then again, perhaps that same question can be asked about several issues currently facing the city and the region…

5) Can we take a moment and say how proud we are of the men’s basketball team for their NCAA tournament run for a little while longer? They did their university and this city proud and will probably be on more than a few radars next year.

6) When we look back, will this be a case of attempting to see what will get the home rule debate before the state’s citizens in a palatable way? If you take out UAB and insert the name of any major city in the state, isn’t it really about home rule? Is a constitutional amendment regulating an athletic team as important as ones that deal with the issues truly affecting the state right now? I’m a home rule fan. I’m not a fan of home rule with strings attached being dictated by the Legislature as is the case right now (see Question #3).

It may be oversimplifying a lot of what’s going on today, but it’s what I’ve got. Chime in if you have a moment (or if I’ve missed some questions — and believe me, there are a lot more that need to be asked of all sides on this one).

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By the way: Before I forget, I’d like to acknowledge a former UAH athlete not getting a lot of attention in Alabama in recent weeks – Cam Talbot. Talbot is the backup goalie for the New York Rangers and, in the absence of their number 1 goalie due to a damaged blood vessel, he’s once again proven he’s, as the Wall Street Journal calls him, “the best insurance policy in the NHL.” 36 saves last night alone – insane.

André Natta is the stationmaster of bhamterminal.com.

A lack of bedside manners and options presented at UAB

DrRayWattsSrMD-232x300There’s a commonly held stereotype that doctors don’t all have the best bedside manner. I’ve been lucky to know a few doctors in my life (some as friends, at least one as family) that don’t measure up to that perception; they’re engaging, informative, and personable. Unfortunately, the last 48 hours have demonstrated that it might actually apply to UAB president Ray Watts (especially after the release of an extended video clip showing his interaction with members of the football team during their closed door meeting).

In February 2013 I wrote of the need for the next president of UAB to dreams bigger dreams while being willing to use the bully pulpit to do so. Recent events weren’t exactly what I had in mind.

There is something most doctors are normally good at doing – offering us options and encouraging us to get a second opinion. Even those with the worst bedside manner are capable of this feat. I haven’t found a real instance of the UAB president providing any to the student body. The document used to justify Tuesday’s announcement (merely part of the strategic plan that still needs to be made public upon its completion) took one off the table right off the bat – competing as a Football Championship Subivision (FCS) school instead of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Given the answers former UAB athletic director Brian Mackin wrote to UNC Charlotte during their exploratory process – ones shared in a this piece published on the Business of College Sports on December 3 – it’s understandable why; we are in the heart of the most rabid college football fan base in the country. (Incidentally, if you’re still attempting to blame Mackin for what happened even after you realize he basically gave up his post because he didn’t agree with it, stop.) Note, 14 of the 16 schools in Division I to discontinue football since 1995 are FCS schools as mentioned in this piece on the site’s front page today.

What happened at East Tennessee State?

Another option not readily offered was allowing students to decide if they’d be willing to increase student fees to offset the anticipated costs for the program. This is how East Tennessee State University will bring their team back to action next year to compete in the FCS. Their student government voted 22-5 to increase their student fees by $125/semester to support a return of football in 2013. Their university president was in attendance at the vote. This followed a controversial vote of the entire student body in 2007 (four years after the program wrapped up its final season at 3-6 knowing it was the last one) that failed to garner support. The vote in 2013 was not without some students voicing concern about how they would find another $1,000 over four years to pay for their college education (an extremely legitimate one), but the option was presented and considered.

Could their plan work if carried out at UAB?

Based on their plan (as it was passed by Tennessee’s state Board of Regents) and UAB’s currently listed total student population of 18,568, a similarly approved measure would generate $4,642,000 per year if implemented next academic year. Even if enrollment numbers did not increase, $23,210,000 would be available over a five-year period. If the UAB Football Foundation were also able to average $5 million in fund raising efforts per year for the next five years, UAB would have $48,210,000 available to use. Taking the level of passion showed in recent days into consideration and assuming the student body did continue to increase, it’s safe to say the $49 million deficit cited in the analysis could easily be filled – and that’s before the city, county, and state get involved – saving all three discontinued teams.

The timeline of events at East Tennessee State University reminds us neat and tidy is not always possible and that solutions could take time (something the current Blazers may not possess). The idea of an FBS team not taking the field in the Football Capital of the South does have some cringing and upset – after all, as former long-time Birmingham News sports editor Zipp Newman famously wrote, “Football is a religion of the Southland, played by the boys and lived and relived daily by their families.” I’m positive the ‘Dean of Southern sports writers’ would be calling for frank, candid discussions about the options available short and long-term. We need someone – maybe even the university president – to be more candid about what’s possible.

It’s also worth noting if the process necessary for an East Tennessee State-type of solution are carried out the same way here, the final decision would lie with the university system board of trustees. It would be a moment to see if they will listen to their students or if this is about something else. It’d also show if they were willing to take the words of their first chancellor (UAB’s first president, Joseph Volker) to heart about dreaming big dreams for Birmingham.

André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com.

Why is the downtown Publix really a game-changer?

newPublixbldgThe term “game-changer” has been batted about metro Birmingham a lot in recent days as news of a planned mixed-use development anchored by a Publix grocery store on the city’s Southside spread like wild fire. For those who haven’t heard yet, an article in the May 18 edition of The Birmingham News revealed the Lakeland, FL-based grocer as the main tenant of a $30 million development proposed to sit on the northwest corner of 20th Street and 3rd Avenue South.

Now, I’ve lived in the greater downtown area since 2004, and I’ve always had as few as four and as many as six major options available to choose from within 2 miles, but I had to drive to them. When people ask me “Where and how do you get groceries?” I admit I’ve long ago started replying by asking them, “Well, where and how do you get yours?” I get a stunned look, but most times they seem to get what I’m saying. That said, it’s not an option readily or easily available to a significant number of our city’s residents.

This leads to my first reason why it’s a game-changer:

It’s more about WALKING now than DRIVING. Yes, there’s a parking deck that will sit between the ground floor space and the 36 “loft-style” apartments planned for the top the building. The vehicles using these spaces though will be off-street and out of sight. The idea of needing to circle forever to find a spot or the installation of a surface parking lot to handle capacity doesn’t even come up in conversation – and that’s a great thing. It suggests developers realize there will be enough people within walking distance to support its operation. It takes away reliance on an automobile to make a development like this one work.

It means it should be easier to get other national and regional retailers to consider locating a business downtown. It also makes it easier to get those same retailers to start looking at options in neighborhoods throughout the city. It could potentially make the issue of placing parking immediately adjacent to their business less of a sticking point. Dare it be suggested it could also be the first step toward a re-write of the city’s parking regulations and a rethinking of its minimum requirements?

It’s downtown. Actually, this may be an even bigger issue for me and one I’m excited about watching evolve. The proposed building is sitting along 20th Street South. When I first moved here nearly ten years ago, I referred to that area as being downtown while having a conversation with a native; I was chastised immediately because “it was not downtown, it was Southside. Downtown starts on the other side of the tracks.”

It was weird, as most New Yorkers refer to pretty much all of Manhattan as “downtown” no matter which of the other four boroughs you live. I’d also moved here after working for an agency charged with the revitalization of “greater Downtown” Savannah, not just its famous historic district. As a result, I’ve long considered the areas surrounding the city center part of greater downtown Birmingham. It makes sense especially when you get a chance to see just how small the expanded area still is in relation to the rest of the city.

The announcement of this grocery store lends itself to a new approach involving population growth in the urban core focused on eventually seeing people choosing to live in the single-family home dense portions of Druid Hills, Fountain Heights, and Norwood (in addition to others like Titusville, Smithfield, and College Hills) after spending a couple of years living in an apartment located nearby in the city center. Every major news outlet in the city referred to the project’s location area as downtown, suggesting the shift in perspective (one long championed by REV Birmingham and its predecessors) is finally starting to happen. The change in perspective also means a realization about the choices available to someone thinking about their next move.

The changes that come as a result of this and other projects will be quick. The changes at face value will be good for the city. The question right now as we get ready to start watching this happen is “Are we ready for what we’ve been asking for all of these years?”

André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com.

Time for a “Green Out” on Saturday?

UAB Blazers logoThere have been protests, tweets and columns all written about the recent decision by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees’ decision to not include discussion about a proposed football stadium for the UAB Blazers as part of the agenda for their upcoming meeting.

I’ve got a better idea – why not pack out Legion Field on Saturday night as the first step at showing the trustees that there is Blazer pride for more than basketball in Birmingham, AL? Incidentally, I’d be curious to know how many tickets are sold for Saturday’s game compared to how many folks will be at Bartow this evening for the preseason opener against Florida Tech (starting at 8 PM CT)…

A crowd of more than 32,000 would be a much louder message than having 100+ fans protesting the trustees meeting. It would be one that locals would have to pay attention to as well – especially considering all of the attention being shown to the game of the century happening about an hour down the road Saturday evening between the Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers (at the same time no less).

There will be 101,000 fans in Bryant-Denny and countless more milling about outside. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the Old Gray Lady looking a little more like herself on Saturday, almost in a way defying the belief that the state of Alabama can’t support three large crowds in one day. It’d also be interesting since all of UAB’s top 10 attendance totals at Legion Field are before 2006. Granted, there hasn’t been a winning season since 2004 (and they haven’t finished higher than fourth in their Conference USA division since then either).

Those facts make it tough to not understand why the trustees didn’t necessarily vote the Blazers’ way. The largest crowd in Blazer football history – 44,669 – showed up primarily to see Ruben Studdard perform back in 2003, though the Blazers did put on a show, barely losing to Southern Miss by a score of 12-17. No doubt many of them wanted to try to score tickets to the Velvet Teddy Bear’s concert the next night at the BJCC. The closest they came to that total again that season was for homecoming against Army, with a gathered crowd of 22,020.

Some folks would argue that the home field should be closer to UAB’s campus. A quick drive down Graymont Avenue towards their current home reminds you of just how close it is to campus (though not as close as most supporters of the new stadium would want) and how powerful the experience could be if some folks felt like investing in redevelopment along the street – not just for UAB fans approaching from campus, area interstates and Highway 280, but also for those attending other sporting events like the Magic City Classic and the SWAC Championship among other things.

A UAB campus creeping ever so closer towards Birmingham’s Entrepreneurial district would make it easier to do those types of projects and help accelerate many of the long held dreams for that part of the city, though probably not soon enough for those who want to see something happen as soon as possible.

That said, Legion Field has issues and they’re more than enough to justify wanting a new home or a commitment of some sort towards a significant renovation – something not necessarily in the immediate future during these difficult economic times.

A new stadium would have humble beginnings if built, especially considering it’d be a little larger than Legion Field was when it was first constructed in 1926 (it originally held 21,000). Perhaps playing in cozier quarters would help gain some additional fan support. That would be something difficult to come by considering the large contingents of Alabama and Auburn fans in the metro area.

If success – on the field and in the box office – followed though it wouldn’t stay cozy for long. That’s one reason why suggestions to make changes to the proposed plan for a baseball-only stadium adjacent to Railroad Park accommodate the Blazers seem a little far-fetched. The Barons already play in the largest home field in the Southern League (10,800); any future expansion necessary to suit the needs of the Blazers would force them to be looking for a new home a lot faster. Considering the Barons would still be the primary tenant of such a facility (six month baseball season vs. 2½ month football season), I don’t see that ending well for the Blazers long term either.

Which takes us back to Saturday…

It’d be a powerful message to the team and the trustees – and one that would do more to move forward efforts for a new home in the long term – if they saw a sea of green and gold at Legion Field on Saturday night. A crowd somewhere around 40,000 wouldn’t hurt either. You’ll still get to see a BCS team play too – and it may not be on television locally.

There’s still time to trade in your tickets to the game of the century in Tuscaloosa for a ticket to Legion Field. I’ve got a feeling this one may also mean more in the future – for the team and the city – than the hotel rooms occupied for the showdown an hour south.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below…

André Natta is The Terminal’s stationmaster.

Why the star to the north matters

Have you ever noticed that no one ever talks about how Birmingham, AL looks from the north?

Birmingham's skyline from it's highest point. acnatta/FlickrI went looking for photos online showing what the view would be like and I couldn’t find anything.

A few specific images seem etched in my mind from drives coming back into the city from trips north. I wasn’t sure if I was just imagining things or not, so I went for a drive on Thursday morning.

I took I-65 north to the Walkers Chapel Road exit, bought some gas and then got back on the interstate to see if my suspicion was correct.

It was. It was also an interesting reminder of how many should be looking at the city’s north side as development shifts to this side of Red Mountain in the relatively near future.

The first building you’ll see after getting off a completed Interstate 22 from Memphis and seeing the “Birmingham City Limits” sign will be Carver High School.

The first time you see the city’s skyline as it appears to rise from the treetops over Druid Hills to your left, you’ll also notice a blue star, not shining as brightly as it once did, sitting atop a complex of buildings.

Physicians Medical Center Carraway. dystopos/FlickrIt’s the former Carraway Hospital.

It’s also the first impression that we’ll get to make on folks driving in from Huntsville and Memphis and a complex at the middle of a heated debate that has the potential to impact how we view the heart of Jones Valley for some time to come.

This is something that should be considered as discussions about what to do with the former hospital complex continue to take place. There is currently one proposal to convert the property into the home for a re-entry program and other nonprofit organizations.

I’m thinking that very few people (if any) are thinking about the property’s location and significance as a visual landmark when crafting their arguments for or against the proposal.

There is a significantly large group of homeowners (and renters) living in Druid Hills, Fountain Heights and Norwood hoping that the site will be used for a purpose that brings significant additional reinvestment into the surrounding community who understandibly do not see a project like The Village fulfilling that role.

The thing is there aren’t that many other proposals out there, despite the site’s location.

There have been rumblings suggesting that perhaps our local VA hospital could benefit a move from a landlocked property surrounded by UAB to a place that provides a chance to grow and serve more people. It also wouldn’t hurt from better overall interstate access. There’s no doubt that there would be continued interest in providing new restaurants and retail to serve those working at and using such a facility.

That same highway access and proximity to new construction adjacent to the BJCC suggests that a mixed-use development with shops and condos would give residents one more area to explore and support without needing to drive south. It would also provide another form of revenue for the city as it would give folks a reason to shop within the city limits.

Why should it matter? Why should it not just be about the jobs but about the overall impact to the city and the surrounding community? Think about that first impression. When someone asks you what’s that blue star all about, think about what you want to tell someone is going on there. Think of the story that can be told and why something is located along a road that is bound to see increased traffic in the next few years.

It’s also where we’ll be going to do more shopping and living in metro Birmingham if we continue to ignore or put off the issues affecting traffic conditions along Highway 280 and I-65 southbound.

It suddenly makes you at least start to think about why what ends up there matters, doesn’t it?

André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com. He is also lives in Birmingham’s Norwood neighborhood.

Photos: Birmingham’s skyline from it’s highest point. acnatta/Flickr; Physicians Medical Center Carraway. Dystopos/Flickr