View from the East Thursday, October 18, 2012 By Al Myatt

Pirates venture to historic venue

By Al Myatt
©2012 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

Despite its age, there is still a majestic quality about Legion Field in Birmingham. Built in the roaring 1920s with an initial capacity of 21,000, it grew to 81,000 seats and was the neutral site where ultra-rivals Alabama and Auburn met to stage their annual football showdown.

The initial cost was $439,000.

You couldn't even put another synthetic playing surface in there now for double that amount, much less the concrete and steel.

"The Old Gray Lady," as the stadium is sometimes called, has diminished in terms of prestige and size. An upper deck that seated 9,000 was removed in 2005 after it was deemed structurally unsafe. It can presently accommodate 72,000, although it never approaches sold-out status these days.

Legion Field is now operated by the City of Birmingham Recreation Department and is home to the UAB Blazers football program.

Alabama and Auburn played their last Iron Bowl there in 1998. UAB would like to leave the old structure behind, too, but its plans to build a smaller stadium on campus ran aground politically.

Still, the facility off Graymont Avenue with its spiraling walkways for spectators commands a certain homage. Crimson Tide coach Bear Bryant walked the sidelines there. Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson carried the ball there. Keith Jackson called games there.

Joe Willie Namath looked for receivers — and probably cheerleaders — there.

The stadium became host to the Papajohn's.com Bowl in 2006 with former East Carolina coach Skip Holtz taking the Pirates in to meet the South Florida program, which, coincidentally, he now coaches, in the inaugural contest. The Bulls took a 24-7 win. The matchup is now called the BBVA Compass Bowl and will send a Big East team against an SEC entry this season on Jan. 5 at Legion Field.

In his football coaching travels from Clemson to Texas Tech and many points in between and beyond, East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill had not been to Legion Field until the Pirates played there in 2010.

"I had watched it (on television) when Coach Bryant and all those were in there, but that was my first game," said the ECU coach. "I didn't realize it was in a neighborhood. It's not out in a fancy place but I liked that. It was in a community. ... When you went in the locker room, you thought about what team had dressed there and what coaches had been in the lockers you were in. I know they've refurbished them. You look at the field and think about the past games before we had stepped foot out there."

Pat Dye, once an Alabama assistant and McNeill's coach at ECU in the 1970s, probably did his share of strutting and fretting in the visitors' digs as Auburn's coach from 1981 to 1992.

McNeill found the facility acceptable.

"To have the experience that the stadium has on it, it's all pretty good to me," McNeill said. "I've been in some locker rooms that were really tough duty. If my memory serves me right, I thought everything was very good."

The outcome certainly agreed with Ruff as a 54-42 win on a Thursday night made the Pirates bowl eligible in his first season. ECU outscored UAB 27-7 in the fourth quarter after back-up quarterback Brad Wornick had spelled starter Dominique Davis when the current Atlanta Falcon rookie dinged a shoulder.

"Yeah, it was a scrap," McNeill said. "Dominique was running and got hit on the sideline. Dwayne Harris (Dallas Cowboys) took a return back to give us great field position. I can remember Micheal Bowman catching a (touchdown) pass. We caused a fumble on special teams and James Craig recovered. There were a lot of things that happened. There were five or six big plays in the game and we were able to capitalize on those plays that night."

Article continues below the following image.

Satellite photo of Legion Field taken
for the U.S. Geological Survey in 2004.
(Courtesy of the Wikipedia Commons)

That was only the Pirates' second win in five trips to play UAB.

ECU's first trip to Legion Field was in 1998 to play Alabama. The Pirates scored three touchdowns and kicked a field goal. The Crimson Tide scored three touchdowns and returned a blocked conversion kick for two points to win 23-22. Attendance at that game was 80,079. The Pirates made just one of three PATs.

The crowd the next year when ECU returned to take on UAB for the first time at Legion Field was announced at 18,062 but appeared smaller. The Pirates were ranked No. 17 at the time, having beaten West Virginia, South Carolina and Miami of Florida. ECU got out to a 17-3 lead but the Blazers rallied for their first win ever against a ranked team. Former Pirates graduate assistant Watson Brown was coaching UAB. Pirates radio analyst Kevin Monroe had a 25-yard fumble return for a score in that game to give ECU the lead.

Blazers corner Rodregis Brooks was taken off the field on a stretcher for a possible neck injury in the first half in 1999. X-rays in the Legion Field training room proved negative and medical personnel said Brooks could return to the game. His No. 21 jersey had been cut away during the examination process but his mother, Cathey, had worn his 1998 jersey to the game.

Brooks put on the jersey his mother was wearing. She donned a UAB T-shirt and he returned to action. Brooks was relieved that sensitivity had returned to his left arm and his teammates were inspired. He had a 59-yard punt return to set up a score and a 91-yard interception return for a touchdown as the Blazers came back for a stunning 36-17 win.

The Pirates, who had played before several sizeable crowds that season, including 82,605 at South Carolina, talked about the lack of energy at Legion Field.

That's not the kind of history the Pirates want to repeat. Neither is a 17-12 loss to the Blazers at Legion Field in 2006 in which Pirates receiver Philip Henry was stripped of the ball just short of the end zone in the closing seconds.

ECU will have to focus on remaining in contention in the Conference USA race for motivation with another relatively-small crowd expected for the 7 p.m. kickoff at the 85-year old stadium.

McNeill isn't looking for excuses.

"We can only worry about the things we can control," said the Pirates coach. "That's us and how we prepare and how we play. If we play well, it will be because we practiced well. ... We need to practice well (Thursday) and have great meetings on Friday once we arrive — walk-throughs and those things. We can't worry about who's there, whether it's 70- or 80-thousand or what have you. I know they'll be fired up and ready to go, UAB will."

First-year UAB coach Garrick McGee has said changes are in store after a 1-5 start. A lot of the Blazers struggles appear to have emanated from an inexperienced offensive line.

The Pirates will follow their usual routine, which means a movie on Friday night.

"It will be something with some action in it," McNeill said. "It will be action, not scary movies. I want the guys to sleep at night.

"We'll have something with some action in it. I think 'Alex Cross' is out. We've been seeing the previews. It's something with some action.

"If that's out and available, we may go see that."

That will take care of Friday night.

Saturday night, ECU has a date with "The Old Gray Lady."

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PAGE UPDATED 10/18/12 05:01 AM.