Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Reasons why the NBA wouldn’t work in Birmingham

So recently Birmingham Mayor William Bell said that he would like to see the city of Birmingham pursue a NBA team. I am a Birmingham native and have lived here all of my life and I think this is a horrible idea. I have been outspoken in my dislike of the NBA but I will leave that out of this as I explain why this wouldn’t work.

The city of Birmingham has a history of failed sports teams both indoor and outdoor. Since 1980 Birmingham has seen five outdoor football teams, three hockey teams and one arena football team go under. Some of the reasons have been because the leagues themselves failed, but for the most part it has been because of lack of community support. Birmingham is what I would call a “new city.”  Meaning if it is new in Birmingham people will flock to it like it is the greatest thing ever. The new thing sees numbers that set records that raise the hopes of all parties involved. As the days, months, and years grow on this new thing and it loses its newness it also starts to see a decline in business. For restaurants it usually leads to cutting staff, cutting back on marketing and occasionally the shutting of the doors. Sports franchises see similar trends here. When they are the new team in town, getting a ticket a game can be difficult at times. As time goes on however the public slowly stops attending, the corporations stop advertising, and eventually no matter how successful the team is, eventually the team leaves town.

Currently the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) is the only arena in Birmingham that is large enough to host a NBA team. The BJCC website currently lists the seating capacity at 17,654. Not sure if that includes the four luxury boxes or not.  Even at capacity the Birmingham NBA team would only be 14th in the NBA average attendance.

My view is that the Birmingham NBA team’s attendance would be similar to the Atlanta Hawks who despite having the second best team in the Southeast Division only averaged 15,199 per game which is 81.2 percent capacity. If the Birmingham franchise averaged that percentage the nightly attendance would be 14,335 which would rank 29th in the NBA based on 2012 attendance rankings.

 So as much as I love living in Birmingham and supporting the area sports teams. I truly believe that bringing a NBA to Birmingham would be another eventual black-eye on the sports history of Birmingham which has already suffered enough black-eyes for a lifetime.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Fathers Day


Today is Father’s Day, created in 1910 as a complement to Mother’s Day, but was not officially recognized as a holiday until 1966. This is the day that children will give gifts of tacky ties, macaroni art, cards, dinners, and just about everything else under the sun. This however is not about the earthly fathers that we all know and love, but about the Father who loves us all, but some of us do not know. As you celebrate today with your earthly father, take time to celebrate the Heavenly Father who if not for his love for us, we would not have any hope for tomorrow.

Now I want to take some time to talk about my earthly father and person I was named after, Ronald E Hagood Sr. My father was born on March 31, 1941 and went to be with his Heavenly Father on February 4, 2005. He was a big man with an even bigger heart. A lot of what I am passionate about today, I got from him. He was not perfect, not even close, but he always did what he had to do to keep his family fed and was always there when I needed him. Around 1993 my father suffered a stroke of the retina in his left eye and in 1996 he suffered one in his right eye rendering him legally blind.  However despite being blind that did not stop him from being there to go with me when I decided to take my first sports road trip. It was a midweek hockey game for our then hometown hockey team the Birmingham Bulls to Biloxi, Mississippi. My dad was a very stubborn man, and that is one of the many things I got from him. Although towards the end he was often very difficult to deal with and we often fought, I never stopped loving him. So if your father is still with you today, no matter if it is your biological father or just the man who did such a wonderful job raising you that you call him father today. I hope that you take the time to go and spend a few minutes with him, and thank him for being there for you. While you’re at it don’t forget to stay thank you to the Heavenly Father who with his love, mercy and grace, we would all be in a world of trouble.

Till next time….