mrelegazna

I just pop in here every few weeks in the offseason, and when I saw how big this thread is, I was like, "Wow! The schedule must be coming together early, and/or there are some really interesting opponents!" But no, just Tulane and Bucknell so far, the rest is people arguing whether we should schedule Cleveland State and Youngstown State or not. I personally don't really care, with a slight lean towards "yeah, let's do it" for the following reasons, particularly with respect to Cleveland State: 1) Easy road game, and if Cleveland State's fan support is as bad as it apparently is, we can perhaps outnumber them in their own home, which is always great. 1a) As little interest as a CSU/Akron game or series might engender right now, I guarantee we play 3-4 OOC games each year that is even less interesting to both markets. At least. 2) Things change. 10 or 20 years from now, we might suck and CSU might be great. Especially with the fluidity you see in mid-major conferences. If you're not nice to people on the way up, they won't be nice to you on the way down. 2a) Cleveland State of course made an elite 8 appearance in the 80s, and wasn't it around that time that games against them and Mouse McFadden were breaking JAR attendance records for Zips MBK that still stand? (Fact check me on that). Maybe we can build that magic again, and it'd be helpful to lay the foundation for it now. 3) Some of you seem to be saying we should tell high majors to go to hell, while also espousing us to behave like mini high majors with respect to other mid and low majors. 3) Observations like "We can't give that CSU a home-and-home because that'd legitimize them" is way overthinking it IMO. It's highly unlikely our fates are gonna hinge on whether we scheduled the 2nd- or 5th-best Horizon League to a home-and-home, and it ain't all up to us anyway; these would all need to be two-party agreements, to state the obvious.

We know from earlier in the thread he has LCJ's endorsement. If he, a few years removed from the program, basically says "Hey Dustin Ford should get this job," that's pretty telling and a pretty meaningful endorsement. Clearly Ford had an impact on maybe a top 10 or 20 all-time Zip. The "career assistant coach" thing doesn't bother me. Everyone has to start off and put in years as an assistant coach, obviously. There's no reason to think "He's been an assistant coach for too long, therefore he can't be a good head coach."

I wish I could be this optimistic. The thing about "culture" as you describe it, is it not inherent. It takes work to not just build it, but maintain it. I am reminded of when I had a job as an opinion pollster for political candidates (Peter Hart Research, to be exact, who used to operate a phone bank in the Springfield/Lakemore area. I worked there). One question that we asked people a lot was this: Who does a better job of representing Hoosier values (if working on a statewide Indiana race in this example)? Candidate A or Candidate B? That question always rankled me. WTF are Hoosier values? It's a meaningless phrase, an unholy alliance of marketing and politicking. It's not a thing. You think humility, community, hard work, whatever the F, are unique to being Indianan? Almost everyone thinks of their state/community/tribe/however-you-want-to-demographic-it in this way! We have been very, VERY fortunate to have had as much success as we had under Dambrot and Groce. But there's nothing in the air that made those things happen. Akron is not special - no place is in and of itself, really, is my point. We have no inherent advantages. It worked because we had two damn good coaches. And if we don't hire a damn good coach to replace Groce, there's no parachute that prevents us from becoming a directional Michigan on the basketball court. I'm not all gloom and doom here. Obviously, if Ford becomes the new coach, that will help with stability, continuity, and make us less likely to crater. Even if we have a full on regime change, that doesn't mean it will fail. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking there's something in the water that makes "the culture around Akron basketball is a good one" and makes us immune from crashing out. Culture didn't build our success, people did.

Guys, I know this feels like big news, but can we please concentrate on what's really important? That NWAkron called this and was laughed at?

That's it? Gawd. I don't want to turn this thread into yet another intractable discussion about how to draw more fans, but after what we saw in Cleveland, there's got to be a way. I don't know what it is, but someone's got to be able to crack the code.

I mentioned before I'm not in NEO anymore. I once had an acquaintance pronounce it Ack-RON, which sounds like the name of a robot. I didn't think when I hit "play" on this video this newscaster would butcher it WORSE than that. I am impressed. P.S. This acquaintance was from Elkton, Maryland, so *all she had to do* was follow the same pronunciation style of her own city, but nope. LOL

To each his own, but I moved from Akron to Dallas (with a few stops in-between) and I would take Akron winters over Dallas summers any day of the week. Further, I *miss* "real" winter. The approximately 1 time a year snow accumulates here, I can't wait to get outside and hear my feet crunch in the snow and smell the cold air - all of the sensations I miss and feel "right" to me. Now, some people absolutely hate the kind of winters Akron has even if they grew up in it (sounds like maybe that number includes you?) But Groce, who by the looks of it has only spend four years of his life in a "nicer" climate than Akron, might not be one of them. I'd be really surprised if weather is anything but the most minor of factors in his decision.

I dunno man. This doesn't feel lateral to me, but a slight step down. The Coastal is just as much a one-bid league as the MAC is, and he'd be moving from an elite mid-major to a pretty good mid-major. Yes, it does seem like CofC can pay him more, but I dunno...is this really the first time in his tenure someone has offered him more money to go elsewhere? With Dambrot, it was "I want to coach in a league that can get more than one bid," but assuming a) Groce doesn't feel that way and b) he isn't a lot more bullish on the CAA than I am, I really don't understand why he would do this. I've always sort of thought that I'm not going to hold it against an Akron coach if he leaves for a high major, but for the second time in a row (if it happens), this is not that, and just like I rooted against Dambrot and Duquesne I'm gonna root against Groce and CofC if this comes to pass.

Maybe we can sort of consolidate this eternal debate. I'm quite curious where the majority stands.

Any of you guys use, or can recommend, a good Zips wallpaper for my laptop? Preferences: 1. Either football, basketball, or not sport-specific. 2. Not tied to a single year (so no schedule wallpapers or celebrating a specific championship season) 3. Is badass. Thanks in advance!

In my time in Akron Public Schools (1981-1994), they crowed about how Sojourner Truth's famous speech happened in Akron. #OGAkronite

This is CINEMA, man. I can't stop watching. Why I love sports boiled down 59 seconds. The agony of defeat here is beautiful in its own way ("Head up, head up! Head up.") We are fortunate to be on the other side of that.

THIS IS OUR TEAM! THIS IS OUR TEAM!

Did anyone catch the CBSSN announcer calling this "The Rubber City Rivalry?" I laughed out loud, and for posterity I want to register my agreement with the idea that the rivalry name refers to our city only.

This is going to expose me as a filthy casual, but I see that the below scholarship players (according to the chart on the recruiting board) did not play tonight. Can someone tell me which of these guys are injured, redshirting this year, or DNP-CD? Zachary Halligan Cody Head Halil Barre Rich Brisco Eric Mahaffey Tai Perkins Josh Henderson