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I can't take full responsibility (or blame) for these ideas, but a few of us got together the other day and discussed attendance in general. Playing the rival twice was the most promising suggestion to come out of that. I added a few more of my own. Possible Steps to Address MAC Football Attendance Woes: Ditch ESPN and the weekday games (I know, preaching to the choir here). Create a MAC Internet Football Network and stream a MAC Game of the Week, selecting this based on level of importance as the season progresses (forget TV). Allow each team to play their rival TWICE in one season (home and home). One game would be a designated conference game and the other a non-conference game Offer significant monetary advantages to STUDENTS for PERFECT attendance (not just one game) Offer minor monetary advantages (or even just the chance of winning something) for STUDENTS attending any game

More Online Classes, Less Research Could that be a future newspaper headline about UA? It was used in the Dallas Observer about another university with an oblique connection to UA. The full headline was: The Proposed Future of UNT-Dallas: More Online Classes, Less Research. The connection to UA is that one of the people leading the charge in the University of North Texas System was previously Dr. Scarborough's most vocal ally in pushing the plan for the University of Toledo to cut a deal with Higher Ed Holdings (aka Academic Partnerships). At UT, Provost Rosemary Haggett angered faculty by blaming them in a widely circulated e-mail for lack of cooperation that killed the Academic Partnerships deal, which faculty angrily denied, as all documented in this Inside Higher Ed story. It wasn't long after this that Haggett left UT for a new job offer at UNT in Dallas to serve as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Student Success. Oddly enough her new office happened to be located less than a half mile away from the Dallas corporate headquarters of Randy Best's many companies, including Academic Partnerships. She must have felt right at home at UNT, which was also in the process of angering its faculty as documented in this Dallas Observer story entitled The UNT-Dallas Faculty Really, Really Doesn't Trust the School's Leaders. The New University Model mentioned in the above story, which has similarities to some of Dr. Scarborough's announced plans for UA, was developed by Bain & Company in a pro bono partnership with UNT, which created a new Office of Innovation/Strategy to implement Bain's plan and named Haggett to head the new department. UNT faculty wasn't buying into the Bain/UNT plan any more than UT faculty bought into the Scarborough/Haggett plan, according to the Dallas Observer story entitled Faculty Panel Pans Bain's Vision For UNT-Dallas. The Dallas Observer story referenced in the first paragraph says the plan calls for a heavy emphasis on online courses, less research and degree programs that "won't be determined by some Socratic ideal of education but by what job opportunities are available in the Dallas area." We already know about Dr. Scarborough's plans to hook up UA with Academic Partnerships for the online part. But what about research? UA is recognized as a research university. What happens if research is reduced at a research university? Are there any signs of that happening at UA?

So many choices as to where to put this, but I'll try here. Former Akron sports writer Terry Pluto, uses a lot of words in this article about baseball, football, the confernce and money. • For years, Akron had problems with its baseball program. Nearby Can't State dwarfed the Zips in terms of recruiting and success on the field. The Golden Flashes went to the 2012 College World Series. They have been to the NCAA tournament in six of the last nine seasons. • It makes little sense (and saves relatively few dollars) for Akron to leave the MAC in football to play FCS (the old Division 1-AA). • And the truth is that simply going down a level wouldn't help the bottom line very much, and it would dearly hurt the other athletic programs."Akron has been very successful in basketball, soccer and track," said Steinbrecher. "That's important to remember."

If we're talkinga bout attendance woes at Akron, how about a competition between student groups, with the prize being a donation to the group's charity. There is a lot of student groups that do charity work in the community. Maybe it would get groups to encourage their own members to attend, increase their own membership, to get points (extra points (or double points) for checking out at the end of the game (etc)). Couple that with a entries for a scholarship drawing, I think it could potentially have an impact.

K-Roo and Dr. Z get it. This is the time when strong leadership is required. Scarborough...Van Horne...whomever...needs to come out guns-a-blazin' and say: "How the F#*k does some wing nut faculty member's uneducated, self-serving opinions get any media traction whatsoever? We are D-1A, we'll always be D1-A, we have a great team this season that will contend for a MAC title. We have a great coach and great kids whom we support 100%. The last 6 years are ancient history. It is time to move forward and get the football program back on a Championship track. Our team this season will be great. Get your tickets now and come down and have some fun." "Furthermore, to address the issue of revenue - our last AD made a horrific football HC hire. We've been politically correct in ignoring this fact for some time....but in light of the shadow he cast over our program, it is time to call a spade a spade. At a time where it was critical to put our collective foot on the gas pedal he single-handedly set our program back 10 years. The hole he put us in was unprecedented, but we are finally out of it and moving forward. It is short-sighted and ignorant to look at the past 5 or 6 seasons of Akron football and InfoCision and say that is our fate. Instead, the football program and this 30,000 seat stadium are our way OUT of our financial bind. That stadium is a way to galvanize the local community, generate revenue, get alumni and prospective students on our campus...it is a sleeping giant that we are committed to awakening in 2015." "There is one reason to drop to 1-AA. That's to save 22 scholarships. But why would we do that? You can't tell me with the facilities you see on campus, the coaching staff, the student athletes...that Akron football can't compete with Bowling Green, K.e.n.t. State, Toledo, Ball State, etc? That's insane. We can compete at the 1-A level. We can, and should compete for a MAC Championship every season. And after enduring and overcoming what Tom Wistercill and Rob Ianello did to the football program, the winning starts now. If you want to discuss dropping to 1-AA, have an educated discussion with me after the 2015 season. Until then, discuss Cate Jenner or deflated footballs or Johnny Manziel or whatever other "sports" topics you "sports" guys discuss for 12 hours every day. Leave Akron Football alone, because, to be quite honest, you know nothing about it."

Don't blame Scarborough. This is Louis Proenza's bills coming due! SS is jut the adult stepping in and trying to balance the checkbook and make the credit card payment. UA's athletic subsidy is twice the entire annual disbursement of UA's endowment. It is fully 5% of the university's entire budget. Somebody explain to me why this should be considered proper.