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re: The sad decline of an SEC landmark - Legion Field
Posted on 10/21/26 at 3:49 pm to Tigers Win Again
Posted on 10/21/26 at 3:49 pm to Tigers Win Again
I got to play a HS game there in ‘88. The old style Astro turf was hard as a rock and rough as a scotch brite pad. It was a great experience though.
Posted on 10/21/26 at 3:59 pm to Bamafig
I remember many players in my high school days getting rough treatment and broken bones on Astroturf at Turpin Stadium in Natchitoches, the Superdome.
Posted on 10/21/26 at 4:21 pm to AHM21
shite it looks better now than I remember it
Posted on 10/21/26 at 4:43 pm to AHM21
Back when I was 14, I went to the Iron Bowl with my parents but I did not have a ticket for myself. My dad sent me along with $30 to go find a scalper. So right about where the Bear memorial was, a gentleman walked up and pointed me to an officer and told me to give him the $30 and he would get me in the stadium. I remember walking up to him with my hand out full of cash and him saying something a long the lines of "Put that G-D money away". But long story short, he lead me through some sort of "lounge" that was under that south endzone and right into the stadium. I believe that was the one AU won 10-0.
Posted on 10/21/26 at 4:55 pm to AHM21
I covered a lot of games there and loved the place, but unfortunately you couldn’t pick it up and move it out of the anus of Birmingham.
One of the last games I covered there, I was sitting in my seat before the game and surveying the scenery over the opposite grandstands, and a friend of mine in the SID office came up and said, “Behold, Jefferson County’s premier crack houses.”
I did a quick scan of the thread and didn’t see that anyone had mentioned the actual, true, real reason Alabama stopped going to Tuscaloosa and put all its eggs into Bryant-Denny. The NCAA banned hosting recruits at off-campus games.
One of the last games I covered there, I was sitting in my seat before the game and surveying the scenery over the opposite grandstands, and a friend of mine in the SID office came up and said, “Behold, Jefferson County’s premier crack houses.”
I did a quick scan of the thread and didn’t see that anyone had mentioned the actual, true, real reason Alabama stopped going to Tuscaloosa and put all its eggs into Bryant-Denny. The NCAA banned hosting recruits at off-campus games.
Posted on 10/21/26 at 5:43 pm to InkStainedWretch
LSU defeated Alabama in the last 3 games they played in Legion Field. I was fortunate to see all 3 of those games in 1982, 84 and 86. The 1982 win was the first win by LSU at Legion Field since 1970. But my greatest Legion Field memory is watching my son play for Hoover High in 3 straight state championship games with 2 wins from 2000 to 2002. Sad to see its decline as there were a lot of great games and teams that played in the “Old Gray Lady”.
This post was edited on 10/21/26 at 11:32 pm
Posted on 10/21/26 at 6:14 pm to Bamafig
quote:
I got to play a HS game there in ‘88. The old style Astro turf was hard as a rock and rough as a scotch brite pad. It was a great experience though.
Funny story I played on that same turf but at a different location. When they removed that turf to put grass down for the 1996 Olympics they moved it to Lawson Field on Oporto Madrid in Irondale. I played on it in 2001 against Huffman. By the time we played Woodlawn there in 2003 they had ripped it up and installed field turf, which wasn’t bad at all.
This post was edited on 10/21/26 at 6:15 pm
Posted on 10/21/26 at 7:18 pm to LSU MBA
Legion was a classy old ballyard. A great place to watch a game not a production. Again, it sits in not just the anus but the unwiped anus of Birmingham.
Posted on 10/21/26 at 8:06 pm to AHM21
I saw George Strait and Tim McGraw sing there
Posted on 10/21/26 at 8:10 pm to InkStainedWretch
Is the Magic City classic not at Legion Field anymore?
Posted on 10/21/26 at 8:14 pm to PrattvilleTiger
Yeah it’s still there
Posted on 10/21/26 at 8:46 pm to AHM21
Just like Tuscaloosa. Everywhere Bama calls home turns to shite.
Posted on 10/21/26 at 8:51 pm to Liberace
quote:
Exactly like the bama football team, that stadium is quickly becoming a relic of the past.
How about winning a Natty this century before talking this bullshite???
Posted on 10/21/26 at 9:43 pm to RollingwiththeTide
quote:
lol. I wasn’t there for the Manning game but I was for the game 1,2,3 years earlier when they Bama and Tennessee tied. That may be the only ballgame I have ever attended in person that ended in a tie. 17-17 final score. Bama scored with about 20 something seconds left in the game and then got a 2pt conversion.
It's funny you mention that game. For me that game is one of my formative experiences as a college football fan. I was just 8 years old but I remember it like yesterday. It was so exciting because for the most part Tennessee played very well and was definitely the better team for the duration of the game. Alabama put together a very clutch two minute drive and two point conversion for the 17-17 tie. I'm pretty sure David Palmer was the Alabama player who did it. I'll always remember that game for how exciting it was and how disappointed I felt at the end.
It was one of those games where a tie definitely felt like a loss for us and it felt like getting a call from the governor while you're on the lethal injection table for Alabama.
Posted on 10/21/26 at 9:57 pm to Hyperion
It was David Palmer that ran in the 2pointer. Jay Barker scored the touchdown I think. David Palmer is one of the most electrifying players I have ever watched play ball. That guys moves had moves. Every time he caught a punt to return it you just knew he was about to take it the distance in some crazy electrifying way. If he could come back in his prime and play today he would probably set college football on fire with the way offense is now played.
Posted on 10/21/26 at 10:13 pm to dstone12
My Dad was there. He was in the end zone. Said it was one of the coldest games he ever experienced.
Posted on 10/21/26 at 11:34 pm to RollingwiththeTide
quote:
David Palmer is one of the most electrifying players
We played against him in HS. He was a sophomore at the time. I was on the OL and he picked off a pass and was coming down the sideline. I thought I had him lined up and the next thing I know, I’m over amongst the cheerleaders. He wasn’t the least bit worried about me tackling him. I felt better when I saw him doing the same thing to D1 athletes.
Side note: they were undefeated but we won 22-7. Glory days
Posted on 10/22/26 at 8:08 am to dukkbill
quote:Ah, the good-ol-days... When they were outrageously priced at $100 / ticket.
Saw the Rolling Stones there
Saw many games there. Though, I was never privileged to go to the Iron Bowl (Bama vs Auburn) but it sure was great times... until you started having to pay $20 to have someone ensure your window wasn't broken while you were gone. I Then moved to busses.
Stallions, Americans and being fortunate to play on it myself in high-school was a highlight.
That field was fast (and hard), and one of the first times to play on artificial turf. Learned, wear two pairs of socks, reversed to keep feet from sliding in shoes.
It helped me well through college.
Posted on 10/22/26 at 8:23 am to TouchdownTony
I saw some great games there, but I don't miss parking in the hood, walking past bums warming themselves over a fire in a 55-gallon drum, the crunch of broken pint liquor bottles underfoot, the smell of cheap cigars and cheaper whiskey. All to go into a nasty, erector set dump of a stadium with cramped walkways, crappy concessions, and an awful sound system. It's past time for the Grey Lady to be put down.
I took my daughter there to see the last AU vs bama game played there. She had been to many games in Jordan-Hare, some in Sanford and other on-campus SEC stadiums -- it was a rude awakening for her.
I took my daughter there to see the last AU vs bama game played there. She had been to many games in Jordan-Hare, some in Sanford and other on-campus SEC stadiums -- it was a rude awakening for her.
Posted on 10/22/26 at 11:50 am to Hback
quote:
Bryant’s first game as HC at Alabama was in Mobile, at Ladd Stadium on 1958 versus LSU . . . temporary wooden bleachers were added which collapsed during the game.
Actually, the bleachers were there in August 1958 with tape stating they were condemned. i was there for boy scout jamboree then and remember seeing them excluded from use. i also went to the game in September, my first college football game.
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