The new downtown stadium is going to be great for UAB and for Birmingham, but in a COVID-19 world Legion Field is the perfect place for a college football game.
Plenty of room here to stretch out, and the home team never loses. What a deal.
The Blazers played on Graymont Avenue on Thursday night, and it was glorious just to be outdoors and gathered with thousands of people in a collective celebration of sports. That’s the most important takeaway from the first FBS game of the season in the country. The things we took for granted before March, right?
Incredible night. Beautiful moon and skyline. UAB defeated Central Arkansas 45-35 in that kind of Alabama late-summer humidity that suspends whole mosquitos in mid-flight. The announced crowd for the modified, 62,000-seat stadium was 12,716.
R E L A T E D: Quarter-by-quarter breakdown of UAB’s 45-35 win against Central Arkansas
It was everything we wanted it to be, and most everyone, from what I could tell, followed the rules and wore masks. Nothing but Social Distancing All-Stars at Legion Field.
The football was a test of which team could make fewer mistakes — as one might expect from teams during a pandemic — but that actually kind of added to the fun. Like everyone, UAB seemed to play like they were just happy to be there. The theme of the night was quaint sloppiness.
Look, another fumble. How fun it is to feel drama and suspense about something other than viral contagions.
The pandemic never went away like they hoped it would, but in this neck of the country they figured out a way to begin the college football season anyway. They’re testing everyone every week, and keeping the players away from student bodies. It’s not perfect, and it’s controversial, but, let me tell you, having Legion Field really helps.
The historic stadium opened on Nov.19, 1927, and it’s as if they designed this place for viewing UAB football games during a pandemic. This is the last season for UAB at Legion Field, so of course that’s when I’m going to finally start appreciating the place like it deserves.
Need six feet for social distancing? Why not make it an entire section? Plenty were available. Even the band was distanced appropriately in the south end zone with hundreds and hundreds of feet to spare. (And nice job with the Billie Eilish, y’all.)
Buy a ticket or four to the next UAB home game (Oct.3 vs. USTA/homecoming). The canyon that is Legion Field never felt better. With 1:34 left in the third quarter, wandering children were running through empty sections in the upper reaches of the stands. They were in their own little worlds and making memories that will last a lifetime.
That’s why sports are important, too. I brought my children to Legion Field when they were young, and I still remember my youngest eating melted Skittles off the ground while we watched a game.
We were so proud that we nicknamed him Crumbsnatch that day, and I rarely ever call him anything else. Think of all the happy memories people have made at Legion Field through the years.
That day must have made a huge impression on ol’ Crumb. He’s now a freshman at UAB, and was in the crowd for UAB’s first home game of the season. I only mention all of this because these are the things you really appreciate when the sports finally return.
UAB was originally supposed to open the season with Alabama A&M, which would have been a party of profound possibilities and endless grilled meats. After A&M postponed its season to the spring, the Blazers found Central Arkansas to fill the schedule.
Central Arkansas has been picking up games wherever they can after losing most of them to the pandemic. The Bears just roam around the country looking for football in their post-apocalyptic FCS world. They’re playing Missouri State and Eastern Kentucky twice later this season. No kidding.
The Bears are tough, in other words, and so they made UAB work for its 19th home victory in a row. It was a milestone. The Blazers’ home winning streak is now an all-time Conference USA record. Houston had the old record back when Case Keenum was the Cougars’ quarterback.
Win No.19 in UAB’s run of greatness was special even if it wasn’t pretty. Pandemic football goes like this: UAB had a 28-7 lead late in the second quarter that suddenly turned into a narrow seven-point margin after a muffed punt and then a fumble return for a touchdown. UAB coach Bill Clark did not seem so happy to be back on the sidelines after that.
Embrace the chaos this season. It only makes this privilege we call college football during a pandemic more enjoyable.
UAB hasn’t lost a home game since its return to football in 2017, and it’s an incredible story. They’re walking out of Legion Field in style, and this place deserves nothing less for helping them do it. It almost didn’t happen at all, and that makes me so thankful the games are back.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.
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September 04, 2020 at 12:18PM
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A beautiful night for sloppy pandemic college football - AL.com
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