http://www.postherald.com/bl082003.shtml
UAB 'sells out' Legion Field with Tide's help By CARY ESTES BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD The UAB Blazers finally have sold out a home football game. On paper, at least. One aspect of every team's media guide is a brief look at that year's opponents. General information is given about each opponent, such as the team's schedule and number of returning starters. Some media guides also include a small photo of the opposing team's home stadium, usually an aerial shot. This year's media guides for Southern Mississippi, TCU, Baylor and Georgia include — on the page about UAB — an aerial shot of Legion Field. And that is where one can find the Blazers' home sellout. The picture shows a capacity crowd at the 83,091-seat stadium. And visible in each end zone are the words, "UAB Blazers." The problem with that is, the Blazers never have played a game at Legion Field in front of more than 30,000 people, and no sellout game at the facility has been held with UAB markings in the end zone. So where did the picture come from? According to UAB sports information director Norm Reilly, a man from Chattanooga named Jim Gumm called him earlier this year and asked if he had an aerial shot of Legion Field. Reilly said that he didn't, then suggested that the man try calling the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board. Reilly said he didn't think anything else about the call until three weeks later, when he received a copy of the photo from Gumm. The picture actually is a shot of the 1993 Southeastern Conference championship game between Alabama and Florida, but Gumm had used a computer to remove the SEC markings on the field and replace them with UAB's. Reilly said he liked the aerial view of the stadium much better than the picture of Legion Field he had been sending to opponents. That shot, which was close to the ground and did not include the entire stadium, also shows a sellout crowd, but there are no markings in the end zone to suggest that it is supposed to be a UAB game. Using pictures of a facility with other teams — and larger crowds — in it is not uncommon. South Florida, for example, promotes its games in Raymond James Stadium by showing pictures of sellout crowds watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who also play in thefacility. So when the media relations departments at other schools asked Reilly for a stadium shot this year, he decided to use the aerial view. He insists that he did not mean for the picture to imply that it was a soldout UAB home game. "I just saw it as a better-quality photo than what we had," Reillysaid. "It was not done with any intent to deceive." Alabama officials seemed slightly amused when they were shown the picture Tuesday, but sports information director Larry White had no official comment about the situation. "Some people might find it humorous, others might be offended, "Reilly said. "But it certainly wasn't meant to do that. It's simply a photograph of the facility we play in." Post-Herald reporter Greg Wallace contributed to this report. ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
