A message to the Pac-12 and Big Ten before this college football season begins: UAB feels your pain.
The Blazers understand.
Having your football seasons killed for reasons people can’t fully explain really stinks, but UAB can empathize. That was the Blazers back in 2014 only they tried to 86 UAB forever. Remember the hashtag #FreeUAB? Well, they did. Now the team its own university president couldn’t kill is kicking off a college football season that’s missing some of its most popular teams.
Fitting in a way. Tragic in another.
No Ohio State or Michigan this fall? Heartbreaking.
No Oregon or USC late at night? It all feels like a nightmare for true college football fans who love the game regardless of who’s on TV. There are a lot of those in Birmingham, which leads the country in college football television ratings every year.
College football fans at home and everywhere will be watching a lot of UAB over the next few weeks. UAB will become the first FBS team to play a game during the coronavirus pandemic when it hosts Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Legion Field. The Blazers then play at Miami next Thursday night, and go to Mobile for a game at South Alabama on Thursday, Sept.24.
G O O D M A N: A college football season like no other is here
The stage has never been so big for the Blazers, whose players amazingly haven’t lost a home game since their triumphant return to football in 2017. With 18 returning starters, including quarterback Tyler Johnston and star receiver Austin Watkins, any loss this season home or away will be a disappointment.
Undefeated UAB? It’s not out of the question. They’re going to be a good team, and maybe even a special one for fans looking for a positive story to follow in these maddening times.
Need to cry on some shoulder pads? UAB’s got you, and coach Bill Clark gets it.
Need a team to root for this fall? The Blazers might just be the one. They’re a Group of 5 team smack dab in the middle of SEC country, and represent a university and major medical center that has spearheaded the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in Alabama and the country.
Let’s put it this way. No one in Birmingham would be surprised if Dr. Anthony Fauci has UAB infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Saag on speed dial.
The times are strange indeed when a sports guy like me is hyping up a university’s superstar physician in a column about the start of football season. UAB’s players are tough, but they got nothing on the heroes in scrubs.
UAB football will be playing this season for healthcare workers on the frontlines, and the coronavirus patients they’re helping. UAB Hospital is fighting the virus on all fronts — from research to acute care to long-term therapy for people with lingering symptoms or long-lasting complications.
How do you play a football season during a pandemic when all of that is happening just a few blocks away? With pride that’s how.
G O O D M A N: Players harness power of Alabama football with march
An entire city came together to save UAB football a few years, so this team knows what it means to represent something bigger than itself. Students were marching in the streets back in 2014 and 2015 in the hopes of saving UAB football, and that energy and spirit rallied a town to action. Now there’s a new downtown stadium on the way, and this is the final season for the football team at Legion Field.
What an unbelievable story. What a testament to the power of a city that has been divided for a long time, but came together with pride for a common cause. This is going to blow the minds of people who suffered through years and years of UAB football neglect, but the seniors taking the field on Thursday night have never lost a game at Legion Field. They love the place.
UAB senior running back Spencer Brown and his signing class are 18-0 at home for their careers. It’s tied for the fourth-longest home winning streak in the country with Notre Dame. Only Clemson (22), Central Florida (21) and Ohio State (20) are ahead of UAB, but maybe only because the Blazers didn’t even play football during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
More perspective from the “crazy to think about” department of UAB football success: incoming freshmen on the Southside have no concept of terrible or even mediocre football at their school. They were in middle school the last time UAB lost a home game.
Did some of those freshmen go to UAB because of its popular football team? Can’t rule it out.
For one more year, the student body will make the trip over to Legion Field. Cherish the memory and the opportunity. A lot of students and a lot of fans around the country are missing out.
We’ve been knocking Legion Field for decades now, but she’s coming through in the clutch now. Plenty of social-distancing options on Graymont Avenue, and the historic stadium still has a little magic left to give.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.
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September 03, 2020 at 07:44PM
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Stage has never been bigger for UAB football - AL.com
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