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I come to watch the Zips regardless of the opponent. They are all interesting to me, I guess. I don't believe in the fabled "Joe Akron" who's going to show up in droves someday. . . when we start winning. . . when we start bringing in interesting opponents. I don't believe in fairy tales & pipe dreams. What I believe in is supporting the school that you attended and earned your degree from. I realize I am an oddball but that is what I believe in. Joe Akron didn't care about Indiana or Syracuse. The only people who did care were the Zips die-hards and the traveling fans from those 2 schools. The only opponent Joe Akron or the "average sports fan" as Zach puts it, is going to come out to see would be the Buckeyes, which is never happening.

That is the best half of soccer that I have seen from the Zips since the 2010 year. The young players have shown great improvement. Very happy for Jared Embick and the entire team. Go Zips!

Seriously??? Do you really think Maccabi Tel Aviv belongs on the same court as the San Antonio Spurs??? Or Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles should play in the World Series??? And the Super Bowl should have included the Saskatchewan Rough Riders??? I've seen a LOT of hyperbole in this thread but this is downright hilarious.

At the risk of giving the college football slant, I'll give the college football slant because I have extensive experience with it. I have Wake tickets and go to almost all of the games knowing this year they probably aren't going to win too many after allowing Jim Grobe to run the program into the ground for three years. ACC season tickets aren't cheap either. Traffic is easy and parking is great. It costs me over $100 per game for my wife and I go. As bad as they are, I don't regret spending the money. I also have no affiliation with the school. I enjoy tailgating. I enjoy football even if I know the outcome isn't going to be favorable for Wake. Wake's players play hard so I don't feel like I'm having my money stolen from me. The thought of me sitting around my house staring at the television for 8 hours watching teams I have no interest at all in on a 75 degree North Carolina day makes me almost sick to my stomach. The thought of me sitting around my house watching television commentators discuss, in early September, who is going to play in the 4 team playoff makes me want to throw myself off of a bridge. The ACC allows me to see some guys play in college who will be first round draft picks. Wake provides a generally pleasant game day experience by doing the best they can with what they have to offer. Wake has a bright coach who seems to be doing a good job with the cards he has been dealt. There is a certain type of happiness I get at college football games that I don't experience doing other things I enjoy. If you change all of the words above to Akron, one could say close to the same thing about those sentences. The rest is probably pretty similar to the feelings a lot of people have about college football. The sports fan I feel most sorry for is the person who spends all day tailgating with friends/family, has a great time, gets to avoid sitting in their house suffering through espn broadcasts of games they don't care about and they allow their day to be ruined when their team loses. I think this person has lost all perspective about sports/competition and what they should mean for the viewer. The players should be upset when they lose. The fans should go to their car and continue with a fun day. The fans are not guaranteed anything with their ticket other than the right to walk in a watch a game. Nothing guarantees a well played game. It's all about perspective. It's OK to care about whether or not a team wins or loses, but too many people allow the success or failure of their team to reflect on them personally and that's just stupid. So, what is the difference between us and YSU? My wife has a cousin who has season tickets for YSU through his company. They tailgate for every game and they are OSU grads. They told us a lot of people who tailgate don't go to the game and the stadium is pretty empty. Everyone still has a lot of fun. Maybe the fans of YSU have it right. It is more important to have fun with your family and friends than the game. Take your friends to a game and have a great time with them. Watch some football then continue on with the fun after. The fun is remembered long after the outcome of the game.

Looking back on Saturday, I'll say the following - As good as I thought our defense was/is, looking at Marshall's 11 defenders, we aren't in their league. Size, speed, athleticism, scheme...they looked like a BCS defense to me.In defense of the Zips defense...man, it gets old running back on to the field time-after-time-after-time as the offense goes 3-and-outI think I'm the only one that was PO'd when the waved the white flag and punted on 4th and 12 at the Marshall 40? There's 1:05 on the clock, and you're down 28 points. Can you at least try to score...show me you're trying to get back in the game? Punting the ball into the endzone when you are in that situation makes absolutely no sense to me.Where will the offense come from in 2014? Pohl is a decent QB. D'Orazio is a solid WR. After that, where does it come from? It's disappointing that, in Year #3 of TB's tenure, we have no offensive threats whatsoever.Watching the replays of the old Marshall games, which of our 2014 WR's would see time over Sparks, Irvin, Cherry or Montgomery? Probably only D'Orazio. Maybe LT Smith gets a few snaps.After watching #47 churn out the yards for the Herd Saturday, I'm starting to like the idea of Newman Williams in the backfield next year. If he plays LB, great...we sill need a running back that is capable of moving forward and getting 3-4 yards when we need it. And one that's a legit threat to take it to the house every so often. Brandon Payne, Jimmy Gray, Brett Biggs, Dennis Kennedy, Bobby Hendry, Culler, McCray these were all guys you could bank on to move the chains. They were "money" inside the 10. Why can't we find guys like that?We need Brumbaugh back. Of all our recent injury losses, his is causing the biggest concern. March is a close second.I would like to see the Marshall bandwagon if the Herd had 5 winning football records over the past 27 seasons. A big "F U" to any Marshall fan talking attendance smack.People who want to dumb-down the schedule to get some cheap cupcake wins need to take a step back to 5-10 years ago. This Marshall team we saw today...10 years ago we could have played with them. Now we get waxed. But we are capable of being as good as Marshall.If the Zips played to their capabilities Saturday, they'd have lost 48-24.In defense of Hakeem Lawrence - the guy hasn't carried a football in a real game in almost 3 years. He barely played in year #1, and redshirted last year. Give him some ball-security, rip drills and get him back on the field. We need his speed. If it turns-out he's just another track star who can't take the football contact, then bench him. But I would give him another shot sooner than later. He was in a tough position Saturday.We punt the ball into the endzone to much.Good to see Rossi in the backfield to start the game, if for no other reason than he's a fun guy to support. If you've ever coached a sport, event at the lowest level, you always love a kid that just wants to get on the field and will do anything you need.Our pass offense seems to be "toss it up and hope." Which I hate. When Brumbaugh returns, does Pohl have some time to get through his progressions? I hope so. Lobbing it up to your #1 option and hoping for a catch or flag ain't where it's at.Two weeks to prepare for Marshall, and we bungled and fumbled our way through the game. Marshall had 200 yards in penalties, and still clowned us at home. Part of me worries about how we're going to stop Pitt on Saturday. But overall, I still like our D. More of me worries if we are capable of putting the ball in the endszone against anyone this season. TONS of work to do on the offensive side of the ball.

This has gone well beyond Cleveland Browns Training Camp coming to UA. Whether or not we agree on that and the use of First Energy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field, I hope you've seen enough herein as I have to understand how blunders like hiring Rob Ianello occur. How many blunders like that can we afford and ever get anywhere with the football program and fixing the budget issues? I can't imagine anyone seeing omissions and miscues like those apparent here and believing this to even come close to appearing as "a disciplined organization, with disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought and actions". I wish Dr. Scarborough the best in getting things aligned with his vision.

The brutal truth That's an ass-whuppin'.

Article on college football attendance. More of the same from the past couple of seasons. The only time when I worry about attendance is when I think about the destruction the athletic directors in the MAC have heaped upon the schools they work for by playing Tuesday and Wednesday night games and guaranteeing empty stadiums on national television. Other than that, I could care less. I have no control over who goes to games or how many; therefore, I don't care.

I have news for you. Beating teams of little or no significance does more for your fan base than losing.

Big Zip, my rose colored glasses have been thrown in the trash. What everyone saw in the spring game and in preseason practice was no mirage. The offense has some huge problems. I don't pretend to know the answers but there need to he some big changes. How have we gone from a year one prolific passing attack with a run game that needed to take the next step to a year three sputtering passing game with a non-existent running threat? It is clear to see why Chisholm keeps his starting job. He is the best option. There is not one back on the roster that appears to be able to give him any competition whatsoever. Hundley is a nice back to have, but is is not a feature back. He is a change-up guy, a guy who can come in and get tough yards and make the tackler pay. He gets you the tough short yardage. Looking ahead, what are the prospects for the run game next year? We have got a terrible unproductive mess with NOBODY in the pipeline to replace your senior running back. How confident are you that there will be a newcomer ready to fill that spot? As far as the newspaper coverage you are absolutely correct. Winning is what is most important. That's why our scheduling needs to change. We need to have non-conference foes that we can beat. Winning is most important. The ATM games are fools gold. If these games are the only way we can fund the program, we need to stop playing football. Winning is most important. Marshall has a great shot to go undefeated this year. Because they play no one. Their soft schedule won't put a damper on their fan base's enjoyment. Theg are going to have a helluva time beating their chest about this perfect season. They will get lots of press from their smalltime rag of a newspaper. They will be having this thing called fun. We got a few hundred thousand bucks to be miserable fans of a 1-3 team looking at the schedule to find the MAC teams that are bad enough for us to beat. I'm tired of it. Winning is most important. If you want the ultimate example of how winning is most important you only need to look to Columbus. Ohio State has enjoyed a fantastic record over the past 2 coaching staffs. Of course they have played nobody and padded their record playing 8 home games against the MAC, 1-AA's & an awful Big 10. The weak schedule hasn't diminished their fan base 1 iota. No, they are more popular than ever. That's because winning is most important. People love a winner. People can even delude themselves that the team they root for is a lot better than it really is if they win all the time. That 66-0 smashing of Can't was a soothing balm for the case of the chapped ass. I am a little pissed off today. Today not tomorrow.