There’s been talk that UAB may discontinue its Division 1 football program. UAB boosters are joining ranks to save it.
It’s heartbreaking because Bill Clark and UAB are showing new life, but I think it’s unavoidable. There are just too many obstacles for UAB football to overcome.
Even though UAB is having a great turnaround season only 9,457 fans showed up at Legion Field this past week for UAB’s loss to Louisiana Tech. Continue reading 5 reasons why UAB will pull the plug on UAB football
Hold onto your seat.
I’m about to give you some numbers that will confound and amuse you.
On October 1st, Justin Connolly, Senior VP of ESPN Programming over College Networks, spoke to the Rotary Club of Birmingham about the new SEC Network. He said the SEC Network has been the most successful launch of a cable network in the history of television. (Oprah, eat your heart out)
Then he gave some numbers that made the audience break into spontaneous applause. Continue reading Birmingham: The greatest college football city in America
Last week’s ComebackTown blog was titled, “Our next Superintendent’s not going to save Birmingham Schools.”
The point of the piece was that there’s no person dead or alive who can save our school system—not Moses, not President Abraham Lincoln–not even Coach Nick Saban.
The piece received many comments—both online and in person—but a response I never expected was that we needed a ‘Krulak-like’ solution. Continue reading General Krulak for Superintendent of Birmingham Schools
Every editorial I read about hiring a new superintendent for Birmingham City Schools says it’s critical we recruit the right candidate. The future of Birmingham Schools and possibly the City of Birmingham may be at stake.
Unfortunately, our next superintendent has virtually no chance of being successful.
Every time we employ a new superintendent we think he/she’s the one. Continue reading Our next Superintendent’s not going to save Birmingham Schools
I love Alabama football.
I attended the University in the early ‘60’s when Bear Bryant was winning football games just as Nick Saban is today. By the way–even the Bear lost a game or two every once in a while.
My claim to fame is that while eating at the Little Cookie, a burger joint in Tuscaloosa, Joe Namath asked me to pass the salt.
And I take great pride in our University’s growth. Continue reading Should our self-worth hinge on Alabama football?
This is Birmingham’s time.
We are on a roll.
Our momentum is accelerating and it’s time for our hometown heroes to put their money with their mouth is.
Bo Jackson was quoted recently by the BBJ in an article titled, Would Bo invest in Birmingham?
“I have always thought about coming home to do something greater, but the timing just hasn’t been right. I have looked at doing things within the city at different times in the past and things just didn’t pan out. It could have been anything, like bringing restaurants and supermarkets to the downtown area. I am all about doing what I can to help people. I’m a firm believer that in order to be successful, you have to employ people. My main goal to come back home was to help employ some of the unemployed.”
Continue reading Charles Barkley & Bo Jackson make empty promises
There’s no way my wife and I could have been prepared for our first visit to Mi Pueblo—the new 44,186-square-foot multicultural supermarket that recently opened on Green Springs Highway.
The store is bright, clean, and stacked high with fresh meats and poultry, fresh seafood and fish with products from all over the world. My guess is that Mi Pueblo does more business in a day than the Food World it replaced did in a week. Continue reading Birmingham–the city too confused to hate
Folks in Birmingham squabble a lot, but there’s one thing we agree on —none of us want Birmingham to become another Atlanta.
Because the growth of metropolitan Birmingham has been so slow, I haven’t spent much time worrying about Birmingham getting too big. In fact, I’ve been much more concerned about Birmingham staying the size of Birmingham.
Then I read that researchers from North Carolina State project that the South’s explosive growth rate for the past 60 years will continue and metropolitan Birmingham could be part of an “urban megalopolis” by 2060. Continue reading Is Birmingham destined to become a suburb of Atlanta?
My daughter, Melanie, and I finished lunch at Niki’s West and drove onto I-65 from Finley Avenue towards downtown.
Suddenly the car ahead started swerving side to side. Then it veered to the left, hit the concrete barricade, and reversed direction hitting us head on. By the time we made impact both cars were moving slowly and fortunately no one was hurt.
But what happened next was truly remarkable. Continue reading 4 Reasons Birmingham may be the Garden of Eden
In September of 2002 Dave Adkisson, the then President of our Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce (now BBA), and I got up for an early morning jog. We were two of approximately one hundred Birmingham political and community leaders who had traveled to St. Louis to learn about the city and the Edward Jones Dome—home of the St. Louis Rams.
It was really dark and foggy that morning and we got lost. When we asked some local joggers for directions, they were curious as to why we were in St. Louis.
When we told them we came to learn about their city, they responded with an incredulous, “You want to learn about St. Louis?” Continue reading What Birmingham can learn from Ferguson Missouri