There is no bad time to read a good book, but there's never been a better time. We are medically threatened, physically distanced and spiritually challenged by the pervasive, destructive coronavirus pandemic. With so much free time forced upon us, there's never been a better time to bury yourself in an uplifting story. If faith, family and football play important roles in your life, Randy Pippin has just the story for you. It's called Deep in the Heart, which describes the st

Attendance has been one of the most-discussed subjects regarding UAB Football since its Football Bowl Subdivision introduction in 1996. It's been used to support countless narratives in favor of or in opposition to the program. As UAB fans have made their presence known at Legion Field since #TheReturn in 2017, critics have been forced to shrink into the shadows. Witness the 39,165 strong who made up the third-largest home crowd in UAB history Thursday night for the thrilling

On a banner night at Legion Field, with new decorations unveiled to celebrate an unprecedented conference championship and an inaugural bowl victory, two things came clear as college football returned to Birmingham for a Magic City Kickoff Classic. Alabama State isn't Savannah State - and UAB 2019 isn't UAB 2018. Not yet and not by a long shot, but take heart, Ever Loyalists. There's plenty of time in this young season and no shortage of talent on this fresh roster. Opening g

It's all gone now. The dentist office of a football building. The adjoining shed turned locker room. The brick-and-mortar reminders of what UAB Football used to be have been reduced to a pile of rubble. All that's left to do is sweep up the debris and haul it away. The timing is perfect with the Blazers preparing to kick off the 2019 season Thursday night at 7 against Alabama State at Legion Field. There's no looking back now, not even on the 2018 Conference USA Championship

Bill Clark is a busy man, but he should try to find a few moments before fall camp kicks off to take care of some correspondence. He should write a personal note to every single media member who voted in the Conference USA preseason poll. That poll predicts Clark's defending conference champions from UAB will follow up their epic 2018 season by finishing … fourth. Fourth? Fourth! And not fourth in the 14-team league. Fourth in the seven-team West Division. The poll spit out t

Shhh. Listen. Do you hear it? That sound echoing from Connecticut all the way to Birmingham? It's opportunity. It's knocking for UAB. Just when you thought conference realignment wasn't going to be reawakened for a few years until the next major round of television negotiations, boom. Here comes the news that UConn is about to leave the American Athletic Conference to return to the Big East. The Big East doesn't play football - neither does UConn, at least not well - but it s

Football is different in Alabama, and not just because we win more than you do. When we secure a particularly compelling victory or witness an especially iconic moment, we want to hold onto that memory, savor it and take pride in it for the rest of our days. Maybe even hang it on the wall to remind us of the best of us. So we don't just paint the town red for a night. We make an actual painting of the occasion. In crimson and white. Or blue and orange. And now in green and go