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Since this discussion has taken off, I suppose I'll add my 2 cents and try to not be too critical (even though as a member of the media you should be used to criticism). I'll start off by saying I completely understand the business perspective and have zero problems with the number of articles published about the Zips. I do take issue with what seems to be...lack of overall motivation/likeness of covering the Zips. Why do we always have to find out about recruit commitments through Zach doing a random twitter search or why can't statements that any real fan would know be correct (Mizell sitting out last season). Info such as commitments, observations at practice, recruiting targets, etc doesn't have to have a whole article dedicated to it. Tweets get the job done and give the fans that care information. It just comes off as disengaged and GT just covering the Zips because he has to, to me. While they may not be as talented as GT, I thoroughly enjoy reading Hustlebelt much more than ABJ because they are fans who are passionate about their teams and seem to care. Ex- the Penn St- cross blog- Q&A was already done earlier this week by Hustlebelt.

Thanks Zach for the Tommy Brown news. I have to believe Brown will start and play most of the game. The offense must have received a boost with this news and confidence is high today. Now, the longer we keep it close the more Akron will believe and Penn State will doubt. It's up to the defense early.

akzipper, I just don't see that. Akron's passing game will test our secondary if the weather stays nice; our passing attack will likewise test theirs. This game will end up being ten points or less apart.

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/ua-zips/university-of-akron-zips-blog-1.277207/zips-football-rt-tommy-brown-ruled-eligible-for-season-1.519897

My father left the newsroom in the 70s (the Maidenburg era, if that means anything to you), but I have worked in news much more recently. No doubt things have changed, particularly at the ABJ, but you have a tendency to throw out excuses and take great umbrage to any criticism. Further, I have attended more than a few Bowden and Dambrot press conferences and have been in the locker room in interview situations. You noted earlier in this thread that the SID hadn't clued you in to the shooting angle. No, I'm not suggesting you should have driven to Harrisburg without a tip, but I'm guessing you could have learned a lot about him by talking to his HS coach. It just seems to me that you feel the Zips, and mid-major sports in general, are somehow beneath you given your affinity for the football factory down south. With that, I'll shut up.

DrZ stole my thunder. If a book was written about the Cleveland sports media, some of the chapters would be: 1. Lebron James: A Love Story 2. I'm Bored 3. Waiting For Terry Pluto to Tell Me How to Think 4. I Take Cleveland Fans Serioiusly: But I Can't Remember Why. 5. Bill Belichick Isn't Nice To Me So He Is a Bad Coach 6. Study By Winking Lizard Bartender Proves LBJ Returning Will Save the Cleveland Economy 7. Free Chicken Wings in the Media Room vs. Developing A Good Story: Ranch or Blue Cheese I could go on. The Cleveland media is so lazy they can' t think of anything better to do than pander to fans by repeating their stupid ideas back to them in the hopes of getting more clicks on their websites. It's an insult to those few Cleveland fans who managed to not go insane between when the Browns left Cleveland and then came back. Quite honestly, I blame a lot of it on the fans of Cleveland teams and their constant desire for the next "savior" to come along to save their teams. It is the single greatest driving force in all of the nonsense.

The Zips haven't opened up a season with back-to-back losses since the 2002 season when they dropped games to North Carolina and Wake Forest on their way to a 10-8-2 campaign under then head coach Ken Lolla. Akron went on to win the MAC Tournament that year as well. http://www.gozips.com/sports/msoc/2014-15/releases/201409056no0nj

http://www.gozips.com/sports/msoc/2014-15/releases/201409056no0nj Goals in the highlights tell it all. Chaos abounds. #20 active... Bet was go with veterans to lead from the back and midfield. Not working. Weak goals, I get queasy every time other team around the 18. Bet was go with 3 players that feel very similar up top, not working. Holtfusen best of bunch. No target man or quick/dangerous attacker, miss Seremba. Bet was 2 transfers would help. Not working but not bad trade for those that left, just did not fill graduate's shoes. With so many key players leaving needed some better pick ups. Bet was Najem and midfield would have good start, not working without Souto. This has been the same game for the most part 4 times now. Hard to watch. Start by changing lineup. Veterans not leading and staying with same roster will probably generate similar results. They had their chance. Shake it up and make them work to get back in. Are Souders Najem and Fenlason untouchable? Is Radjen the guy? Will Saad stop taking it straight into pressure? Wake everyone up and worst case is you lose some more games and give your future some valuable experience. Imagine if we win a couple?!?! If that fails then I guess suggested staff changes on the line but that is really tough in short, condensed college season. That should be last resort. Maybe they get brave and make changes and come out heros by NCAAs and low seed entry via MAC and get to second round. (That is my prediction of what will happen, soon. Nothing to lose and everything to gain and staff goes last dollar on double sixes) Damn the torpedoes!!

Those teams don't want to play here because the odds of winning are slim. Go look at their OOC schedules. They look just like ours.

I was trying not to offend anyone by saying exactly that.

The internet has given newspapers a much better handle on what people want to read than they could ever get out of newsprint. Every click on ohio.com is recorded, and the metrics can be analyzed in excruciating detail. What GT is giving us is not his personal opinion on what Browns coverage vs. Zips coverage should be in the ABJ. What he's telling us is that the business side of the ABJ analyzes the metrics, and Browns stories get clicked on and read by way more people than Zips stories. Sports is an emotional subject, and most folks posting here are emotional about the Zips. Emotions can cloud logic. Business success is built on logical decisions. The ABJ is making logical decisions on the balance of Zips coverage vs. Browns coverage based on readers registering their votes by what stories they choose to read. In order to understand and appreciate this, Zips fans need to try to temporarily suspend their emotions and try to look at it from the business side. GT is doing his best to try to help us understand this.