Leaderboard

Thanks for coming to the board. I'm sure we'll be asking you for information as the game draws closer. I know there will be many of us making the short 3 hr. trip, including myself. Congratulations on your Championship last year. I know it's been a long, painful road for you guys getting back to that point. And your win over the Suckeyes last year may have been my single most enjoyable Saturday night of the entire college football season.

boo this man

People like myself will always come up with reasons for not attending. The only way to get guys like me to commit to attending more than the 1-2 games that I typically do is make the game day experience good enough that it outweighs any reason to not attend. That's why people pay the prices they do and spend the time that they do attending live sporting events instead of just watching it at home where they'll save money, time, and get a better view of the game in a more comfortable seat. I don't know what they could do to change it but 9,100 fans sitting staring at their phones in a 30k seat stadium just isn't entertaining. Edit: I'm not really a soccer fan, but I went to a Columbus Crew game a few years back and had a hell of a good time as the fans were into the game and the tailgating was top notch. Now anytime my buddy asks me if I want to go down for a game, I almost always say yes.

I see what you're saying. And I guess you'd be right if everyone who's in attendance is always from the group of the most avid fans. Without listing every other type of attendee that could be in that stadium on any given night, let me just give you this as an example... I will never forget when I was walking up and down the hallway up in the Suites 2 years ago, on the night that Michigan State beat OSWho in Columbus. I'd take a rough guess and say that 90% of the people cared far more about what was happening to Ohio State. If you had looked inside every door of nearly every Suite, everyone was standing in the lounge area, sulking while gluing themselves to the TV. They would have barely even been able to see what was going on in our stadium from where they were standing. Those people would not have been the Dr. Z's of our City. And sadly enough, it was on the same night that we clinched our first bowl eligibility in a decade.

Honestly, IMO, (and it was quite a...discussion...here on this forum) you guys should have been in the Championship Playoffs last year > the likes of State Ohio University. But oh well.. I, like skip, enjoyed that win of yours equally.

You could have enlarged that a little. I'm an old Drano chugger.

I was speaking of reasons for decreased attendance across the entire spectrum of college football. I make no excuses for our pi$$ poor attendance and never have. You must have me confused with a Kool-Aid drinker. Everyone (except you, I guess) knows I'm a Drano chugger.

It's almost as if there aren't 7 other FBS progrums, including a perennial national champ contender, to compete with in Iowa (kidding, and at the same time not kidding). If we win our first 2 games of the season also, it will definitely be a bowl-like feel for this game

You just HAD to bump this thread, didn't you @K92

What has been said in 2 plus months that triggered this post? April 3 was the last post in this topic before today. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone on this forum who is a respectable poster (not a troll) that doesn't acknowledge that KD elevated the program from where it was.

Some of the replies on this thread have me shaking my head. Did KD accomplish the ultimate goal of an NCAA Tournament run? He did not. But that doesn't mean he didn't move this program forward in a major way. In 12 seasons under Coleman Crawford and Dan Hipsher, the Zips had 3 winning records. Dambrot's teams had a winning record in each of his 13 seasons. In the 12 seasons prior to KD, they were 1-7 in the MAC Tournament with 5 years where they didn't qualify. The furthest they made it was the Quarterfinals. Under Dambrot, the Zips made it to the Semi-Finals 12 out of 13 seasons and the final in 9 of 13 seasons. In 37 years of Division I play, the Zips have made it to 4 NCAA Tournaments. 3 of those happened under Dambrot. To say he didn't elevate this program to much higher levels than where it was when he took over is just stubborn. Listen, I'm bummed KD left. I loved the stability, I enjoyed a lot of the kids he brought into the program, and I loved putting Saturday at The Q in my calendar every year. I also know how many unnecessary roadblocks were put in his way by others at UA, and how frustrating that was. I also know how much his father means to him, and how much Duquesne means to his father. I wasn't happy with his choice, but I can respect it. I'm just not sure why we can't be appreciative of what KD did here in elevating the program to a consistent winner while at the same time being excited for John Groce potentially taking us to that next level that KD couldn't. I'll be hoping for the best for KD and his staff at Duquesne, so long as we're not playing each other or battling for a recruit.

Mike Hughes - Duquesne's answer to Newman Williams.

I got two things out of that study which I agree with. Quality of opponent is huge. And hockey is the best sport to watch live.

A couple consecutive 10 win seasons might help too.

Sugar coat? Our attendance blows. See what you want to see, though.

I was traveling last weekend and got to hear an interesting conversation about attendance on XM radio. Paul Finebaum opined that the attendance woes are here to stay. For one reason, as silly as it may seem, poor Wi-Fi in the stadium. Also stated as a reason was the superior coverage on TV along with the dead time at the stadium for commercials. At a bar or at home you can switch to another game or go grab another beer during commercial breaks. I think Paul is on the right track here. At the very least, stadiums should have a score ticker scrolling at all times, for the conference at a minimum but probably for all of FBS. I don't know what it would take to do a deal with ESPN to air their in-game updates on the jumbotron but that would also be a big improvement. This could be a bargaining chip the next time the contract is renegotiated. Universities must get with the times.

You bet it's encouraging. I hope Woody comes back motivated with a chip on his shoulder to prove something. The team needs him. Hell we need him to restore our sanity after last season. I was talking with Bre Ford recently and he was super high on Austin Wolfe. be said Austin was a bitch to cover in practice, far more of a challenge than Lane. Be predicted Austin would have a breakout season. be said Gladney had trouble picking up the offense and that would hinder him again this year. be had more hope in Coney altho' he said Gladney had a world of physical talent. Bre is from Western PA (Bethel Park), same as Woodson, and he had a tough time understanding why TW didn't take conditioning seriously. He said TW needed a major attitude shift because so much rode on his shoulders this year. He wasn't sure TW was there yet. TW is rehabbing but not like a maniac like Bre would be if he was returning from injury. I guess we shall see but if he isn't ready to reach his potential I am glad Johns and Nelson are waiting in the wings. I thought Bre was being straight up and honest whereas when you talk with coaches you get the general statement "all will be well". Not exactly inspiring, but I respect coaches must say that because jobs are on the line.

Congratulations to Adam Najem for making the USL team of the week http://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/805818?referrer_id=2333971