Month: November 2018

The UAB football team made history in Saturday night’s 26-23 overtime victory over Southern Miss at Legion Field – a result that gives the Blazers a 9-1 overall record, 7-0 mark in Conference USA and – here’s the biggie – a West Division title.

No matter what happens at College Station this coming Saturday or the following weekend in Murfreesboro, the Blazers will play for the league championship on December 1. There’s plenty of credit to go around, from the players who stuck it out through the death and resurrection of the program to Coach Bill Clark and his staff.

But moments after Spencer Brown scored the game-winning touchdown on a 17-yard dash, the first man I thought of was Gene Bartow.

The father of UAB athletics – who passed away in 2012 – would’ve been so proud to see the program he built take such a major step forward.

I was a nervous wreck the first time I ever got a sit-down interview with him.

I was a twentysomething nobody who was a newbie working for the UAB student newspaper, The Kaleidoscope, and he was … Gene Bartow.

A Final Four trip with Memphis, a Final Four trip with UCLA – the man that followed John Wooden at UCLA followed an uncharted path to UAB, starting an athletic program from nothing.

So there I was, making intermittent eye contact with one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time, stammering my way through an interview about the Blazers’ upcoming roundball season.

He was gracious and sincere because that’s the man he was, and he answered all my questions thoughtfully – even the stupid ones.

Over the next couple of years I spent a lot more time in his office – and got a lot more comfortable talking to him. We developed the type of relationship where he would tell me things “off the record.”

When he did, he knew he could trust me keep them that way. Shoot, there are some of our discussions I’ll take to my grave. Nothing nefarious, of course … he wasn’t called “Clean Gene” for nothing. But it was pretty cool to hear insider stuff from a man who decided I was worthy of his trust.

That being said, we spent a lot of time during a couple of summers talking about football.

Not football in general, but UAB football in particular. The school didn’t have a team and he thought it should.

I was thrilled he felt that way and, frankly, a little stunned.

I just assumed when Bartow came to Birmingham his goal was to make UAB a “basketball school” and UAB basketball a national force.

He did both, taking the team to the Sweet 16 in just its third year of existence and Elite 8 in its fourth.

But he was also an athletic director, and he wanted every team wearing the green and gold to succeed.

As an AD in the Deep South, he knew football was key to the overall success of a department.

“I really think we need it, Scott,” he’d say. “What do you think?”

Hey, Bartow had already worked a basketball miracle at my school. If he thought something else was needed athletics-wise, who was I to argue?

Not that I would have, anyway … I won’t say I was a step ahead of him, but I had imagined the possibility of UAB football from the moment I stepped on campus in 1979.

While UAB played in the Sun Belt Conference back in the day, I envisioned them moving to the Metro Conference. The Sun Belt was a quality hoops league during its heyday, but the Metro featured the likes of Louisville, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Memphis State, Tulane, Cincinnati and Saint Louis.

Most of those teams played Division 1-A football, and in my fantasy world, UAB would field a team, move to the Metro and we’d all live (and play) happily ever after, going to New Year’s day bowls and winning conference championships.

Of course it wasn’t long before I learned that the University of Alabama system – of which UAB is a part – wasn’t interested in having more than one football team.

The Board of Trustees’ opinion of the Blazers blazing a trail on the gridiron wasn’t so much “No!” as it was, “Oh, hell no!”

(See December 2, 2014, for details).

Bartow kept his thoughts on football under wraps in the early days, but he never gave up on the idea. And I wrote my share of columns promoting the concept, all of which made him smile.

Of course I knew if football ever happened, it’d be long after I graduated.

Club football was born in 1989, and over the next decade it would go through an evolution that took it to Division III, Division 1-AA and ultimately what we now call the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The 1996 season was Bartow’s last as Blazer basketball coach, although he did stay on until 2000 as AD.

I had moved on to daily newspaper work by 1987, and that would only occasionally lead me back to UAB. When it did, though, I’d always seek out Bartow, and he’d always make time for me.

After football had been established, most of our conversations centered on hoops. Still, there was one time – I think it was in the late 1990s – when he took me to lunch and we reminisced about the push for football that took root in the early 1980s.

“Becoming a big-time football program will be a hard road,” he said. “But we’ll get there.”

As usual, Coach Bartow was right.

We did.

You know how, when people get older, they tend to repeat the same stories over and over again?

That applies to chronologically advanced sportswriters, too.

Only difference is, we tend to write the same stories over and over again – or at least relive them.

Since it’s November 8 – the anniversary of one of my favorite tales – it seems as good a time as any to hit “replay.”

Here goes:

Like a lot of guys, I have a “fan cave” at my house.

Walk into the tiny converted attic room and you’ll find memorabilia from the World Football League, the World Hockey Association, United States Football League, XFL – to me they are remnants of days gone by as well as good old days.

One of my most prized possessions is a hockey puck commemorating the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team’s game against the Birmingham Bulls of the Central Hockey League. The other is a team photo of the squad autographed by coach Herb Brooks.

The “Miracle On Ice” took place on February 22, 1980, and if you’re an American hockey fan old enough to remember it, you most certainly do.

I saw that team on Nov. 8, 1979, when they visited Birmingham, Ala., to play the local minor league club in an exhibition at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum.

Birmingham, which was not part of the WHA’s limited merger with the NHL a year earlier, had resurfaced in the CHL, keeping the “Bulls” nickname but seeing its level of play take a dip. But a Triple A-type league offered just the kind of tune-ups the young U.S. squad needed.

Each team in the CHL played the Olympians that season, with the games actually counting in the league standings.

Birmingham lost to Brooks’ charges, 5-2, in Minneapolis on Nov. 4, and four days later they faced off again in the Magic City. The crowd was announced at 3,696, and pucks were handed out to those in attendance as a way to celebrate and commemorate the occasion.

A little over three months later that puck would be like gold to me when the Olympians became sports icons.

You know the story.

When the Winter Games came to Lake Placid, N.Y., little was expected out of the U.S. in hockey, especially since its roster was made up of a bunch of kids. The medals would likely be divided up among powerhouse teams fielded by the Soviet Union, Finland and Canada, and the prospects of the Americans advancing beyond pool play seemed absurd.

Just days before the Games began, the U.S. was hammered by the Russians, 10-3, at Madison Square Garden. Yet when it was medal time in New York State, goalie Jim Craig turned away 36 shots by “The Red Army” to help the hosts shock the greatest hockey team in the world, 4-3.

For many it was a political victory as well as a sporting one because of the Cold War. I was acutely aware of the “more than a game” overtones, but frankly I was just thrilled to see guys my age pull off a feat that seemed impossible.

Phil Verchota scored three times in the Games and added two assists, while Rob McClanahan had five goals and three assists in seven matches. I bring their names up because they were the stars of the United States’ 6-4 victory over the Bulls.

Often lost in the euphoria of the victory over the Soviets is the Gold Medal match against Finland, which took place on Feb. 24, 1980.

Heading into the final period the United States trailed 2-1. But the Americans scored three unanswered goals in the third period in a too-good-to-be-true finish, claiming a 4-2 conquest and putting the final touches on one of the most unlikely sports stories ever written.

I sure am glad I decided to keep that old puck – even if it does cause me to repeat myself.

 

The 2018 Canadian Football League regular season comes to a close this weekend, which is a bummer because that means I’ll soon be seeing less CFL games.

On the plus side, the stage for the playoffs is mostly set, with only one bit of unfinished business remaining.

And thanks to scheduling, the Saskatchewan Roughriders can win the West by sitting at home Saturday and watching the other games on TV.

Going into Week 21, we already know the Ottawa Redblacks (10-7) are champions of the East.

They went 3-for-3 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8-9) – their only close competition in the division – so they’ll host the East title game.

Hamilton got a semifinal home game as a consolation prize for finishing as runners-up in the division, and will meet British Columbia (9-8) on Nov. 11 for the right to play Ottawa.

What, you say? BC in an East playoff?

Yep.

Article XII 12.01 of the CFL constitution mandates that if the fourth place team in one division has more points than the third place team in the other, it gets the crossover playoff spot in the opposite division.

This has happened multiple times, so it’s not some sort of rarity.

And considering Montreal and defending Grey Cup champion Toronto go into this weekend with 4-13 worksheets, the club from Vancouver earned the right to break in line.

As for the West, red-hot Winnipeg (10-7), winners of five in a row, will travel to either Saskatchewan (12-6) or Calgary (12-5) on Nov. 11 in a left-side semifinal.

Right now the Stampeders hold a half-game lead entering the BC showdown set for late Saturday night.

If Calgary wins or ties, the division crown is theirs, and they get to rest while the Riders play the Blue Bombers.

Should the Lions pull off the upset, though, Saskatchewan will win the division thanks to going 2-1 against Calgary during the regular season.

Thus, the only game that impacts the playoffs this weekend is that Western clash.

Toronto vs. Ottawa (tonight), Winnipeg vs. Edmonton (Saturday afternoon) and Montreal vs. Hamilton (Saturday night) will see non-playoff teams attempt to finish up on a winning note, while clubs bound for the postseason try to stay healthy.

So who’s the favorite to win it all?

That’s one of the beauties of the CFL. This league had parity before parity was cool, and it can be wildly unpredictable.

In 2016, Ottawa won the East with an 8-9-1 record and was expected (by me, anyway) to go quietly in the playoffs.

But that record was good enough to win the East, and the Redblacks defeated Edmonton, 35-23, to advance to the Grey Cup, and then stunned Calgary, 39-33, in overtime to claim the CFL championship.

Although I’m a Hamilton fan, that was one of my favorite Grey Cups of all-time. The Stampeders came into the game 16-2-1, and I thought they’d have the game put away by halftime.

Instead, it was a wild one from start to finish, even though the Redblacks never trailed.

And while that contest is two years removed from this season, it still gives me hope that perhaps the Ti-Cats can display some “playoff peak” and make a run.

Hamilton split with BC during the regular season, including a 40-10 victory in their last meeting on September 29. If June Jones’ charges survive the rubber game, they’ll get to find out if the fourth time’s the charm against the Redblacks.

It’s sad to see the season near its end, even though I’m excited about the playoffs.

Thanks to ESPN +, I’ve watched more CFL games in 2018 than I ever have before, and it solidified my fandom.

Three quarterbacks have passed for more than 5,000 yards –Edmonton’s Mike Reilly (5,242), Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli (5,209) and Ottawa’s Trevor Harris (5,116).

Calgary QB Bo Levi Mitchell has set the pace in TD passes with 34.

Seven players have hauled in more than 1,000 yards worth of receptions, led by Edmonton’s D’haquille Williams. He shows the way with 1,534 yards on 85 catches.

And even though this is a passing league, two players have rushed for more than 1,000 yards – Ottawa’s William Powell with 1,362, and Winnipeg’s Andrew Harris with 1,355.

Johnny Manziel might’ve drawn a few more U.S. eyes to the league in 2018, but perhaps those who tuned in because of him will consider sticking around after he’s gone.

If you’re not watching the Canadian game, you’re missing out on some really exciting football.