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re: Iron Bowl question
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:36 pm to CapstoneGrad06
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:36 pm to CapstoneGrad06
That makes little sense..
This post was edited on 5/24/16 at 4:37 pm
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Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:39 pm to MSU5
Bham is an hour from Tuscaloosa, it is the largest city in AL and Alabama Football has been marketed to the entire state since George Denny in the early 1900s
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:39 pm to MSU5
Why? Before the facilities arm race, Legion Field was the better stadium. Then the city of Birmingham wanted to keep the 3-4 Alabama games a year there, without providing a modern facility. That's when Alabama started major rennovations in 1988, 1998, 2006, and 2010 to BDS. Ending any Alabama games in Birmigham in 2003.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:40 pm to CapstoneGrad06
quote:
Why? Before the facilities arm race, Legion Field was the better stadium. Then the city of Birmingham wanted to keep the 3-4 Alabama games a year there, without providing a modern facility. That's when Alabama started major rennovations in 1988, 1998, 2006, and 2010 to BDS. Ending any Alabama games in Birmigham in 2003
There we go! Preeshate it baw!
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:42 pm to MSU5
quote:
That would have pissed me off as a student.
I was a student at Bama in the 90's, and honestly Birmingham games were a lot more fun than Tuscaloosa games. BDS at that time was a drab, boring, lifeless stadium. It started getting some life when they added the East upper deck in 98. That was when they started moving the big games to Tuscaloosa. BYU that 98 season, the Tennessee game was first played in Tuscaloosa in 99, Auburn in 00. The LSU game had long ago moved to Tuscaloosa, but it really wasn't a big game until the late 90's.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:43 pm to MSU5
Auburn did play some "home games" in Birmingham,too. With the exception of 1974, they played Tennessee there from 1956 through 1978. Also they played Georgia Tech there through '68. Counting the Alabama game, they played three games there in 1968.
They'd play some September non-conference games there when Auburn was on the quarter system, but 25,000 for the 1974 Louisville game ended that practice.
They'd play some September non-conference games there when Auburn was on the quarter system, but 25,000 for the 1974 Louisville game ended that practice.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:45 pm to MSU5
quote:
That's why I thought this whole Birmingham thing was strange. There wasn't an iron bowl played in Tuscaloosa until 2000.. That would have pissed me off as a student.
It sucked. We took buses which could be fun but it was nowhere near as fun as games at BDS.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:45 pm to The Spleen
"Boring and lifeless" probably owed more to the fact that we only played cupcakes in Tuscaloosa than the quality of the stadium
This post was edited on 5/24/16 at 4:45 pm
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:45 pm to CapstoneGrad06
quote:
The city of Birmingam refused to update Legion Field.
That's not completely accurate. They added several thousand seats there as late as 1991.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:47 pm to The Spleen
quote:
I was a student at Bama in the 90's, and honestly Birmingham games were a lot more fun than Tuscaloosa games. BDS at that time was a drab, boring, lifeless stadium
I had the exact opposite experience at the same time. The strip would be packed at BDS games. There were band parties and house parties around the games. You would drive or ride to Bham watch the game and then come back to T-town and the town was not nearly as hopping as games at BDS
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:48 pm to genro
quote:
"Boring and lifeless" probably owed more to the fact that we only played cupcakes in Tuscaloosa than the quality of the stadium
There was that but we still played SEC teams at BDS in the 90s.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:48 pm to I-59 Tiger
It was a poor response to what Alabama wanted. Especially after the rennovations to BDS in 1987-1988.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:49 pm to genro
quote:
"Boring and lifeless" probably owed more to the fact that we only played cupcakes in Tuscaloosa than the quality of the stadium
Definitely. I just don't ever remember being pissed at having to go to Birmingham for some home games, and actually remember enjoying them a lot more. Even some of the cupcake games like Tulane, Southern Miss, and Memphis. They felt like road trips, and we'd pound beers and smoke joints the whole way up there. Then park in the projects and party with the residents. It was a blast.
I do remember probably the most electric atmosphere in Tuscaloosa I experienced was the 99 Tennessee game.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:51 pm to genro
quote:
usually dominated attendance at the IB.
I don't think that is accurate. I think that is a little Auburn revisionist history. It was usually close to 50-50 in the stadium.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:52 pm to StopRobot
I bet he's early 90s and you're mid-late 90s.
Transition was gradual and it took a while for the new reality to sink in. T-Town for decades was just the spot for Homecoming and maybe one other cupcake. By the end of the 90s the roles were flipped and we just had a couple cupcakes at Legion
Transition was gradual and it took a while for the new reality to sink in. T-Town for decades was just the spot for Homecoming and maybe one other cupcake. By the end of the 90s the roles were flipped and we just had a couple cupcakes at Legion
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:52 pm to CapstoneGrad06
True. But after the upper deck was built for the start of the 1988 season, Alabama started shifting more games to Tuscaloosa. LSU used to be in the Birmingham mix and LSU started playing there in 1988, plus Florida and Penn State in 1990.
Took my daughter to the Birmingham Bowl this past year. Kinda sad how its so beat up looking now. Park board can't even paint the rows and seats where the numbers are easily identifiable.
Took my daughter to the Birmingham Bowl this past year. Kinda sad how its so beat up looking now. Park board can't even paint the rows and seats where the numbers are easily identifiable.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:55 pm to cajunbama
quote:
I don't think that is accurate. I think that is a little Auburn revisionist history. It was usually close to 50-50 in the stadium.
where that number always got skewed was with the "stadium certificate seats" where you were entitled to a particular number of seats for any event. More times than not those fans would be more Alabama. But the tickets to the schools were 50-50.
Actually,I was at the 1987 game -- the last split. There seemed to be a few more Auburn fans,honestly.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:56 pm to genro
Yeah, I was a student from 91 through 96, then lived there after graduation until 99. Definitely witnessed the transition, and don't really remember it really taking shape until that 98 season with the east upper deck expansion.
Tuscaloosa games were fun for sure. I just had more fun going to the games in Birmingham. I also grew up in the Tuscaloosa area, so was used to the Birmingham/Tuscalooosa game split. I did have some friends from out of state that never understood why our home games were split.
Tuscaloosa games were fun for sure. I just had more fun going to the games in Birmingham. I also grew up in the Tuscaloosa area, so was used to the Birmingham/Tuscalooosa game split. I did have some friends from out of state that never understood why our home games were split.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:57 pm to MSU5
I remember reading somewhere some years ago that Bryant-Denny Stadium, in the 1980s, was one of the worst stadiums in all of college football. The players hated playing on it because the surface felt like concrete when they hit the ground. The stands were always dirty and were also falling apart.
In 1987, when they finally started adding an upper deck to the stadium, we played every single one of our home games at Legion Field.
In 1987, when they finally started adding an upper deck to the stadium, we played every single one of our home games at Legion Field.
Posted on 5/24/16 at 4:57 pm to I-59 Tiger
I haven't been to Legion Field since the USF game in 2003. It was pitiful looking then. It's in worse shape now. The City is to blame for letting a historical stadium fall in on itself.
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