Another Alabama football program would be a waste

The last thing that Alabama needs is to be saddled with is the expense of another vanity football program at a public university.

The USA faculty senate last month voted heavily in favor of football at the Mobile university.

Apparently they and other supporters believe that a football program at USA will increase donations, alumni support and student enrollment.With proper marketing and alumni association involvement, donations and charitable contributions would help offset any losses resulting from the new football program, according to one enthusiast. Football could complement USA's thriving basketball program.

It seems rather naive to count on donations and charitable contributions to offset losses resulting from the football program, especially given the realities of today's economy.

But USA should take a hard look at the vanity football program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham before it takes the plunge. Football has been a financial millstone around UAB's neck.

The UAB football program was created with the help of Birmingham-area lawmakers who believed that the success of the university basketball team could be replicated on the gridiron. Basketball and football, however, are two entirely different creatures.

Since 1997, UAB has lost an average of more than $1.5 million annually in persisting to field an NCAA football team. The program's support is embarrassingly anemic. Home games are played before thousands of empty seats at a yawning Legion Field.

Education money in Alabama is thin at best and getting tighter. USA better take a more realistic approach and leave NCAA college football to the Auburns and Alabamas of this state.