Tag Archives: UAB

UAB announces new soccer facility, $1.5 million BBVA Compass gift towards construction

Posted on November 10, 2014 | Leave a comment

BBVA Compass field rendering from SEBBVA Compass and UAB officials released a statement on Friday announcing a $1.5 million gift to be used to construct a new 2,500 seat stadium for the school’s men’s and women’s soccer teams. The unveiling of these plans follow recent public written statements (including one released by UAB president Dr. Ray Watts and another by the university’s athletic director Brian Mackin) in response to a letter penned by the members of the newly formed UAB Football Foundation and first published on SB Nation’s Underdog Dynasty. The exchange is leading many to wonder if the UAB football team will be taking the field in 2016 and beyond.

Digital renderings of the new facility, to be called BBVA Compass Field, were posted to the UAB men’s soccer team’s fan page on Facebook on Saturday morning, November 8. It would place two of athletic department’s top three performing programs (soccer and baseball) on prominent display for those arriving on campus from the west along University Boulevard. Its location is approximately where a proposed facility was suggested in the long-range plan for the university previously prepared by KPS Group. The field would replace the current team home, the West Campus Field. It is also not the global financial institution’s first foray into the naming-rights arena as BBVA Compass Stadium, a 22,000 seat facility in Houston, TX nicknamed “The Oven,” houses the MLS’s Houston Dynamo and NWSL’s Houston Dash; their Spanish-based parent company, BBVA Group, sponsors La Jiga — the top division in Spain’s soccer league system.

In related news, the men’s soccer team, currently ranked No. 22 in the nation, will play against Marshall at 3:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, November 12, in Norfolk, VA. in a quarterfinal match for the Conference USA championship. They will play the winner of the first match of the day — Kentucky vs. South Carolina (1 p.m. CT).

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Which university reigns supreme? TIME decides to build a web app for that

Posted on March 19, 2014 | Leave a comment

UAvsAUToday a screenshot has been making the rounds (via TIME’s Twitter account and this AL.com story) showing the results of a digital comparison between the University of Alabama and Auburn University. The web app that’s come to this conclusion is thanks to the intrepid folks at TIME Magazine. The publication recently redesigned their website using the WordPress.com VIP platform, adding more interactive features.

With all the talk about Alabama vs. Auburn, especially after the buzz surrounding yesterday’s announcement of the hiring of Bruce Pearl down on the Plains, we were wondering how the local state institution, UAB, would do. So, we checked to see if they were included in the list of alma maters being used, and they were.

The good news is the Blazers are closer in influence to Auburn than we are to the folks in Tuscaloosa. We’ll let the pictures speak for themselves though. First, UAB vs. Alabama:

UABvsUA309

Now, UAB vs. Auburn:

UABvsAU309

Granted, the algorithm being used to determine this is based on the length of entries associated with those of the “107,408 living people whose Wikipedia profiles list at least one alma mater in the U.S.” who actually attended the schools in question. That said, they’re encouraging your help in making sure the listings provide the most accurate results possible (see the bottom of this post for details).

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Big day for football in Birmingham (and beyond)

Posted on January 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

Joe Webb. Courtesy of Minnesota Vikings website.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.

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UAB’s The Edge of Chaos officially opens

Posted on October 22, 2012 | 1 comment

Johnson at The Edge of Chaos. acnatta/bhamterminal.comThis evening folks from across the city gathered for the official opening of The Edge of Chaos, a new collaborative multidisciplinary space at UAB on Birmingham’s Southside.

It wasn’t the first event held in the space, located on the fourth floor of the university’s Lister Hill Library and under construction since late last year. Since its soft opening during the summer, it’s hosted the most recent edition of Ignite Birmingham in addition to one of three Design for Good initiative–inspired workshops held across the country by AIGA. They’ve also given an opportunity for interested companies, thought-leaders and academics a taste of how the space could function not only during construction last October, but online as October 22 approached via video.

The reception was an opportunity for Steven Johnson (pictured above, standing), whose book “Where Good Ideas Come From”  inspired the space, see what his words led to in advance of his Samuelson lecture tomorrow at UAB’s Alumni House. It starts at 12 p.m. at is open to the public.

This video courtesy of the RSA Animates series may help some understand where the space is coming from, though you may also want to consider following its progress via Twitter or its blog.

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How did Birmingham fare on National Signing Day?

Posted on February 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

While much of the attention today was on who signed at Alabama and Auburn, it’d be silly to forget that there were colleges and universities in the immediate Birmingham metro area that got some commitments as well.

UAB Blazers logoUAB – The first national signing day of the Garrick McGee era seems to have Blazer fans excited. McGee seems committed to his pledge made shortly after he arrived that he’d focus on recruiting in-state; 18 of the 25 student-athletes that signed today are from Alabama. Nine of them are from metro Birmingham.

samford bulldogsSamford – Pat Sullivan’s program signed 18 student-athletes today. The school signed six players from the state of Alabama (and just as many from Florida), with three of them (Ben Tamburello, IIII – Hoover; Jake Wilks – Trussville; Denzel Williams – Columbiana) hailing from the metro area.

Miles College Golden BearsMiles – While the Golden Bears hadn’t officially posted their Signing Day list as of yet (the post will be updated with the link once they do), they did just so happen to share their 2012 football schedule yesterday. This year’s games include a meeting with the University of North Alabama at Legion Field for the sixth annual Golden Labor Day Classic and a homecoming match against Clark Atlanta.

BSC PanthersBSC – It just didn’t feel right to talk about the other institutions today and not mention Birmingham-Southern. Luckily they did have some good news to share with their fans – D3hoops.com has the men’s basketball team ranked No. 11 in the nation. Nice jobs, guys!

Now it’s only a matter of time… until the start of the 2012 college football season.

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UAB is going dancing on Tuesday

Posted on March 14, 2011 | Leave a comment

Congrats to the UAB Blazers mens basketball team for making it into this year’s NCAA Tournament! As you can tell from this video shared on CBS 42’s website last night, they were pretty excited about it themselves.

Last night UAB learned they’d be playing fellow No. 12 seed Clemson on Tuesday evening as one of the First Four games. Tip-off will be at 8 p.m. CT; the game will be played in Dayton, OH and aired on TruTV. They are one of two Conference USA teams in this year’s tournament, down from four last year. UAB brought home conference hardware last week, with Coach Mike Davis being named Conference USA coach of the year and guard Aaron Johnson garnering player of the year honors.

It will be the Blazers’ first trip to “The Dance” since the departure of former head coach Mike Anderson in 2006 and their 14th appearance overall.

Last night’s selection didn’t come without some folks questioning the choice (cue ESPN).

Video: CBS 42.

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Three years later, Einstein Bros. arrives

Posted on January 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

Einstein Bros. logoJust as Megabeth is preparing to leave Birmingham, AL, Einstein Bros. finally arrives in The Magic City. It just took a little longer than they thought it would…

The national bagel chain drew attention to itself more than three years ago when it announced  plans to offer franchising opportunities in Alabama and six other states.

The new location, the company’s first franchised location in metro Birmingham, is in fact the fourth one in the state – all located on college campuses (joining locations in Auburn, Mobile and Troy). This one is housed in UAB’s Learning Resource Center (located at 1714 9th Ave. South)

This UAB-produced video about the restaurant’s opening suggests that it fills a need for those working between the university’s student center and 20th Street South.

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