There was much moaning, groaning and gnashing of teeth when UAB president Ray Watts announced that the school would dissolve its football, rifle and bowling teams. You would have thought he canceled Christmas or Spring Break. The outcry was loud and often hate filled.

I heard and read comments of what a travesty this was for the players, the coaches, the football program, the university and the city of Birmingham! While I certainly felt for the players who had committed to play football at UAB I did not share in the same level of outrage. My initial thought: "What took them so long?"

The curious thing to me was who were these people performing this UAB football program passion play? More importantly, where have they been? If all the people protesting and crying over the loss of the football program had actually attended UAB football games there would have never been a problem in the first place.

I must admit, I was never fond of the idea of UAB having a football to begin with. I thought it was an act in futility. There was already a college football program in town, Samford, that struggled to get people to attend...including its own students.

Weekends in the state of Alabama mean Alabama Crimson Tide or Auburn Tigers games. Students at Samford were not attending the games of their own school in order to go watch the Tide or the Tigers. Or even worse, staying home and watching college football on TV. Why did UAB think it would be any different? Samford was competing in a lower classification and UAB was supposed to be competing on the same Division I level as the teams in the SEC? Preposterous! (And before you accuse me of being an Alabama or Auburn honk know that I am not an active fan of either. I grew up in Illinois where the Illini have a decent team about every 10 years or so.)

When looking at the attendance figures UAB turned in to the NCAA, it barely met the minimum standard for staying on that level. Politics and the Board of Trustees aside, why would the university continue to support a program that was not consistently supported by attendance? Don't get me wrong, university president Ray Watts bungled this whole thing completely! So badly, in fact, that it will eventually cost him his job.

So now the announcement has come that UAB Football will rise from the ashes! Two weeks ago Watts announced that the corporate and public outcry had been heard and like a Donald Trump covert plan to save the American economy, the promises and commitment of donors had breathed life back into the program! What Watts didn't tell us is how soon; or on what scale. Is Legion Field still the venue? How soon will they be able to be competitive? How patient and/or interested will everyone be with a rebuilding program? Who wants to watch that again?

Bill Clark, the off again on again coach, will have an even harder time convincing a top tier athlete to believe the promises of major college football at UAB. Another question: Why would Clark even return? This is a train wreck that may never get back on the tracks again! Great pressure sits on UAB, Watts and Clark to Super Glue together a program that was blown up only a few months ago and has to be rebuilt using all new parts.

In spite of all the pressure on them, there may be even more on another group. Those people who came to the street raising their collective voice in "righteous" indignation over the killing of the program. Big money must step up, as promised. More importantly, it is no longer an option for that very vocal contingent of fans to stand on the "sidelines". They can no longer support the UAB football program with their voices alone. They are obligated to make UAB THEIR team.

When Georgia Southern began its football program it hired long-time Georgia assistant Erk Russell to be its head coach. Russell grew up in Birmingham and lettered in FOUR sports at Auburn. He define Georgia Southern as a football power in NCAA Division I-AA winning three National Championships. Russell would patrol the Georgia Southern campus where he would confront students wearing Georgia, Florida, Florida State or any other colleges paraphernalia. "Why", he would ask, "are you a student at Georgia Southern and rooting for another school?" Good question! I even heard stories of Russell threatening to rip a Georgia sweatshirt off a Georgia Southern student while on campus.

That might be a little extreme but for the "Bring Back UAB" advocates, you have no choice! You have jumped on that bandwagon and you must ride it until the bitter end or ultimate victory.

The talking has been done. Apparently corporate Birmingham has pledged financial support. UAB football will return or so we're told.

Now that supporters have spoken up, it is now time for them to take a seat...in attendance at UAB football games. Let the marketplace dictate the outcome. It takes more than financial pledges and outraged fans to support a team. Actual support will be seen when fans put there fannies in the stands. If they don't, there won't be another comeback for UAB Football.

Thanks for reading!