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re: Were the annual AL/AU games played in Birmingham considered neutral
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:45 am to Outside looking in
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:45 am to Outside looking in
quote:
Except for the LARGE allotment of tickets that went to local politicians, friends and family, which were 99% bama fans.
And don't forget the local Birmingham businesses and personalities that owned "franchise" seats.
Guess who owned 99% of those?
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Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:46 am to beatbammer
quote:
No, it wasn't.
Keep telling yourself that.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:48 am to Indiana Tiger
quote:
I understand. It's just that I'm collecting some data for a personal project and I don't know how to handle that game. Arky in Little Rock is a home game. Bama playing LSU in Birmingham is a home game. This one is not clear.
Label it "neutral" within quotation marks.
It never was. But everybody wanted to pretend it was.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:49 am to Indiana Tiger
technically neutral, but the City of Birmingham had an alotment of tickets each year, and 99% of those ended in the hands of Bama fans.
It was never a true split crowd.
It was never a true split crowd.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:50 am to beatbammer
quote:
And don't forget the local Birmingham businesses and personalities that owned "franchise" seats.
Guess who owned 99% of those?
Auburn fan business owners could have gotten them as well.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:52 am to pvilleguru
It's impossible to get a true crowd split to for any neutral site game. Even if they split tickets between the schools, there are still people that will sell their tickets to an opposing fan.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:55 am to beatbammer
quote:
No, it wasn't.
Uh yes, it was. Each school got the exact same number of tickets.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:56 am to pvilleguru
I love the Auburn butthurt anytime this topic comes up.
I went to 2 Iron Bowls in the 80's and they were both pretty equally split. I'd say 60-40, With Bama a slight advantage. And the tickets we used were in the Auburn section, and given to us by an Auburn fan.
I went to 2 Iron Bowls in the 80's and they were both pretty equally split. I'd say 60-40, With Bama a slight advantage. And the tickets we used were in the Auburn section, and given to us by an Auburn fan.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:57 am to I-59 Tiger
this sounds about right... some moron said earlier 65/35... that's pretty ridiculuos... in a 70,00 seat stadium, that would be like 45,000 people.
The real thing that rubbed AU folks the wrong way was the fact that it was Bama's home field and we had to play there... and i realize AU played one game a year there as a home game.
The real thing that rubbed AU folks the wrong way was the fact that it was Bama's home field and we had to play there... and i realize AU played one game a year there as a home game.
quote:
The fly in the ointment was some individuals or groups were able to purchase what were known as "stadium certificates" sort of like the PSL in the NFL now where they could purchase tickets to any event at Legion Field. As it turned out a lot of those people (in most years) were for Alabama. Other than that the tickets were split. Even with the stadium certificates that amount was negligible maybe 2-3,000 out of 72,000 seats through 1977 and then 78,000 through the last "split" in 1987.
I went to 3 with the 'split' 1979,1981 and 1987. For the life of me I don't recall anyone thinking "wow,this really is an Alabama home game!" In fact, I would venture to say the Auburn people got hold of the "stadium certificates" in 1987 as it seemed like they had more fans.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 11:58 am to Evolved Simian
quote:
The "home field" mantra is pretty much bogus
No, its pretty much accurate.
quote:
AU played some home games there for decades, only ending in the 1980's.
The last non-Iron Bowl game AU played at Legion Field was against Tennessee in 1978.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:00 pm to The Spleen
The schools received an equal amount of tickets at around 33%, the other 33% was used by the city of Birmingham and for the most part were sold to the general public. The reason there were always more Alabama fans represents the fact that there are more Alabama fans in the state.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:00 pm to beatbammer
quote:
The last non-Iron Bowl game AU played at Legion Field was against Tennessee in 1978.
So an entire TEN years before the neutral site ended? How awful that must have been for you.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:00 pm to bigpapamac
quote:
And about all the local tickets being distributed to politicians, etc... That happens at every game like this. TX/OU, GA/FLA, SECCG so it's really not a big deal. Hell, even now state politicians have the right to buy Alabama-Auburn tickets at face value every year.
Birmingham city government officials and bureaucrats have no right at all to special deals or tickets to games in Auburn AL like they did in Birmingham AL.
You saying that Bama gives City of Birmingham officials and bureaucrats special deals to games in Bryant-Denny?
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:01 pm to GoT1de
quote:
The schools received an equal amount of tickets at around 33%, the other 33% was used by the city of Birmingham and for the most part were sold to the general public. The reason there were always more Alabama fans represents the fact that there are more Alabama fans in the state.
This. That's the definition of a 50/50 split with each school being given the same amount of tickets to distribute. Sad thing is this has been stated time and time again in this thread but barners be all pissy and butthurt over this stuff that ended 20 years ago it seems.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:02 pm to beatbammer
quote:
You saying that Bama gives City of Birmingham officials and bureaucrats special deals to games in Bryant-Denny?
Sounds like he was talking about neutral site games.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:03 pm to beatbammer
quote:
You saying that Bama gives City of Birmingham officials and bureaucrats special deals to games in Bryant-Denny?
Do you know the difference in "state politicians," which is what I said and "City of Birmingham officials and bureaucrats" which is what you said? God I hope so.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:03 pm to TheSandman
quote:
Sounds like he was talking about neutral site games.
No. Every year state senators and state congressmen have the ability to buy face value Iron Bowl tickets whether the game is at Auburn or Alabama. How do yall miss this? It's a political firestorm every year. The news/newspaper are your friends.
This post was edited on 10/20/11 at 12:04 pm
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:06 pm to pvilleguru
quote:
Keep telling yourself that.
I will. Know why?
Because if one side insists "this is totally fair" and the other side insists "this totally isn't fair" that is the very definition of NOT neutral.
So there's only one side pretending its neutral here and it ain't the barners.
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:07 pm to bigpapamac
Well other than the fact that Alabama played 4-5 home games their every year...
"Birmingham was as neutral as Normandy on D-Day..." - Fmr AU Athletic Director
"Birmingham was as neutral as Normandy on D-Day..." - Fmr AU Athletic Director
Posted on 10/20/11 at 12:10 pm to GoT1de
quote:
The reason there were always more Alabama fans represents the fact that there are more Alabama fans in the state.
Very true.
And on top of that Auburn's biggest number of graduates tended to be in engineering and the sciences so they tended to move out of state upon graduation being that, outside of Huntsville, the state of Alabama has never been a hot-bed of the technology industries then and now.
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