Years ago, written in bold letters across the bottom of the upper deck at Legion Field in Birmingham were the words “Football Capital of the South.” 

Obviously, that is no longer true for Legion Field, but indeed, there was a time in days gone by when it was an honor for teams to play on the field known as “The Old Grey Lady.”

Most well known as the host site for the yearly contest we call “The Iron Bowl,” now during that same Saturday in the fall, while the Tide and Tigers swap home and home battles, Legion Field might host a few hundred fans for youth football.

But back in the day! Ah, the memories.

As a native of Birmingham, it is my opinion that Legion Field didn’t die, but was allowed to die.

I have heard the argument so many times that the reason Legion Field is in the shape it is in today is because of the part of town in which it is located.

I will agree that those 100-yards of football history lie in probably the worst, most dangerous part of Jefferson County.

But it was bad in the late 70s. I went to the Iron Bowl as a kid.  I remember my dad holding my hand tightly as we parked in some stranger’s front yard for $10 and quickly walked several city blocks to get to the game.  I always found it amazing that a field that once sat 83,000 never had more than 1,500 parking spaces.

It was worse in the 80s, even worse in the 90s. But it wasn’t the field that died.  It wasn’t the fact that the teams left to play home-and-home schedules. Sure that was part of it, but the reason things happened the way they did was because the local government never made any effort whatsoever to improve the situation.

For the past several years, local elected officials have brought up the idea of a domed stadium which usually gets laughs from both local residents and Alabama and Auburn fans as well.

You see, during the 70s and 80s when Legion Field was the seat of the SEC, that is when talk of a new facility should have begun. But nothing was done to ensure that for years to come, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia and others would want to continue to come and play in the Football Capital of the South. Local government and residents took it for granted.

How does this relate to our area?  So glad you asked.

Just six months into 2009, the Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission has surpassed its 2008 record of athletic room nights on Pleasure Island. Already this year, more than 10,000 rooms have been rented related specifically to sporting events taking place in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

No, we don’t have a domed stadium either, but what we do have are some very fine athletic facilities, and as word gets out, more and more teams are going to want to come to the Gulf Coast to play.

There are major soccer tournaments taking place here. The USSSA is bringing their World Series here. Just last month the AHSAA hosted both the Track and Field State Championships for all six classifications as well as Girls Softball.

While neither city is big enough or has the facilities to handle these events on their own, if we continue to see a joint effort, the sky is the limit as to what can happen here.

I just hope that we don’t do what Birmingham and so many other areas around the country have done, and that is to assume that teams, athletes and events will just keep on coming.

This is prime real estate, with first class amenities and dedicated leadership. Let’s keep on looking for ways to improve our facilities, to efficiently run tournaments, park cars, transport athletes and fans, and on and on I could go.

Legion Field didn’t die because of where it was located.  It died because nobody looked ahead.

Let’s keep our eye on the ball.

-Hit ‘em straight.

Dale Jones is a staff writer for The Islander. He can be reached at djones@gulfcoastnewspapers.com