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We have a regular customer at the card shop that's a big Akron fan. He brought his son in who is probably 8-10 years old. He asked me where he can get some 3Peat merch. Luckily, I was gifted an extra hat the other day and had it in my bag. Gave it to him and, man, you should've seen the smile on his face. He went to dinner and came back a couple hours later with the tags off. I asked if he will ever take the hat off and he said, "Nope," with a huge smile. Never be afraid to talk Zips with people. Never know who you'll leave an impression on and foster life-long fandom. Also, 3Peat merch is a huge hit. Props to Wentz and the FTRC crew on creating great merch.

"Voluntary" workouts started today.... I was told over half the team was there this morning which is very exciting to me, considering last year I was told were this week of "Voluntary" workouts they had something like 12 players there... Next Monday is the first day of mandatory conditioning for the returning and transfer players... I hope they build a lot of momentum. Right now the Zips are tied for first in the MAC so things are looking GREAT !!!!!!

What we know so far....only games confirmed by other schools...are home games for the zips August 20 Dayton August 28 Wake Forest September 18 Butler (BE) October 11 Creighton (BE) October 24 Xavier (BE) Coach Embick and Coach Nanchoff have let fans know that Georgetown will be the 4th Big East home game. Based on past schedules, the zips will play Big East road games at DePaul, Marquette, Providence and Villanova. Zips coaches have previously mentioned attractive home games against Army, Cornell, Syracuse and Robert Morris. I am very excited about this year's team. Go, Zips !!!

MLS changed their roster rules a few years ago. A player can be drafted and return to college for 1 additional season. If the player were to remain in college for a 2nd season after being drafted, then the player would re-enter the draft is my understanding. Remi has the collegiate eligibility, but I don't expect he would return for a second season after being drafted by San Diego. As I recall, Dyson Clapier and Malik Henry returned for the Fall 2024 season after being drafted by Sporting KC and CF Montreal, respectively, in December 2023 (MLS 2024 Superdraft). Malik ended up at Toronto FC through a trade, not by re-entering the draft, https://en.cfmontreal.com/news/cf-montreal-acquires-up-to-75-000-in-general-allocation-money-and-third-round-pick-from-toronto-fc)

We had already heard the rumor of a match against Dayton to start the season but it's confirmed here by Dayton. August 20th at 7 pm. https://www.instagram.com/p/DZN1VTlGhpG/?igsh=MW9xaTltOG16ZWcyZA==

Incredible achievement in a time where distance running is rapidly improving this generation and into the next

Thank you. Am I understanding this correctly, that Akron isn't on the hook for any of Groce's bonuses from this past season? If that's the case, Akron essentially paid $500k for Groce last year after the buyout is taken out of the base salary. Wow. However, pertinent clauses in Groce's contract state the following: Payments of bonuses will be made in June, and if the coach were to terminate the contract (which Groce did a few months ago), the university's financial commitment to him would be limited to accrued but unpaid base salary and not include incentives. I like this. Not a very big bump, but it does place an emphasis on experience around Ford as he gets his feet wet as a HC. For three assistant coaches, Groce had a minimum base salary pool of $394,900. For three assistant coaches, Ford has a minimum base salary pool of $425,000 at his disposal.

I would say the one restricting item is it's in NCAAs basketball interest to keep March Madness in the calendar spot that it is currently. They fill a clear void in the sports calendar. Pushing it later would start making it interfere with other sports, like the Masters, start of MLB season, NHL/NBA playoffs. That would hurt ratings and diminish their cash cow. I do think there is room to add another 7-10 games though. Usually 1-2 times a year there are stretches where the Zips don't play for 7-10 days. They can also play in a 3rd game a few weeks.

How many games are played now vs 10 years ago? Since the players are professionals now, shouldn't we expect them to play many more games? Class AA baseball plays roughly 20% fewer games than MLB and many minor league baseball players at that level are the same age as CBB players. I don't think asking a low paid professional basketball player to play 50-55 games a year is out of the question. Start the season earlier and end it later. Want more money flowing into your program? Load up on big conference teams on the road. 10-15 games sounds about right. The MAC is a one bid league regardless of the regular season results. All the Zips need to do is win the Championship.

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.

Think we can get "We went 5-7!!!" merch?

If you're a degenerate/homer, the early line on the WF game is Zips +22.5 which I think might come down a bit later, especially if our new QB looks good in camp.

My company covers my phone? Seems like a booger of an expense not to cover...probably 0.001% of the cost of the Country Club membership + dues? Oh well...he's gone, and we move on.

Part two here

Interesting, thank you. For some reason - probably because both ended up with different teams - I thought Dyson and Malik had both been drafted a second time. But turns out both had their rights traded between being drafted and beginning their pro careers.

Another great interview. Remi is so well spoken. He made the interview interesting with well thought out answers. It is obvious he and his teammates believe this will be an exceptional season. I also believe them.

We'll have at least one Zip heading to Eugene for the national championships. Still a couple more opportunities for another to qualify but it's tough competition.

I like this. I'd go as far as to say "giving the P4s the middle finger" is the only path mid majors can take.

I know a guy who had a completely unremarkable 7 year NFL career. His key to longevity was his professionalism. He showed up to work on time, kept his mouth shut and always did what he was asked to do. Enrique could be a guy like that. He's not the type of talent that's sets the NBA on fire, but not everyone needs to be a superstar either. Sometimes you just need some people to show up to work and do their job. I'm sure he'd be happy to play 7 NBA seasons playing only 2-3 minutes a night.