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He was money once they went down by 25

I have no marketing expert by any means either, I'm an RN. But like others I give my opinions, observations, and the usual fanspeak (FAN being short for fanatic). I see two areas that need better marketing. The University needs something to rebuild enrollment. I walk out of work and see a dark Quaker Hilton, once student dorms. I drive by Polsky's on my way home and I'm not sure the University even uses it anymore. Or the Medina County University Center which was underutilized when I was a student 12 years ago. Then there's athletics, butts in seats. I remember as a teen going to Acme Zip games and the Rubber Bowl was just about full. Now I go to games at the Dialer, much more modern and comfortable than the Rubber Bowl, and more often than not me and the boys have entire sections to ourselves. Soccer is a lot more popular now than it was then, and it's real soccer. Not "Human Pinball". But I don't see the same attendance I saw 10-12-15 years ago. I remember the Cleveland Force playing exhibition outdoor games at the Rubber Bowl and drawing nice crowds. But then Mr. Wolstein was a marketing guru, with bigger crowds for "human pinball" games than the Indians drew. There's something missing. I'm no expert but I know what I've seen. And what others on this forum have said over the years. It reminds me of the Cavalier's first head coach Bill Fitch. The first year of the Cavs, a fan called the office, nobody picked up so Bill answered the phone. A fan asked "What time does the game start tonight?" Bill in his usual candor answered "What time can you get here?" A market study and focused advertising isn't going to fix all of the Athletics Department's problems. But an uptick in ticket sales would make it more sustainable, maybe even increase the programs' budgets.

Kaulig Racing had a Row 3 start for today's race in California. Both cars were running Top 20 last I checked. (Disney+ is occupying my 65" TV; not what I intended to be on the screen when I bought the thing...)

It needs a track and some glass rails. Those upper seats are way too close.

After mentioning Kwan, I looked him up and he is playing in Madrid in the top league in Spain and is their 3rd leading scorer and 2nd leading rebounder. Glad to see a former Zip doing well. Does his home arena that seats 5400 remind anyone of the Jar?

Three point shooters have generally driven ZipsNation nuts. Josh Williams...Kwan Cheatham...Xeyrius...Trimble... Some of those guys though, like X and Kwan, had other ways to contribute when their shot was off. Trimble does not.

A great question @Illini Zip. I will also go with no. While the idea of a 3-point specialist even coming off of the bench for 10-15 minutes sounds like a great idea, I would hate to see it throw off the current chemistry and flow. Trimble is the forbidden fruit, tempting yet dangerous.

A little off topic but yesterday was a bad day for the house or the book keepers. The AP 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 9th teams all lost. In the top 10 teams only Duke at 7 and Baylor at 10 (who knocked off KU at 5) won and Villanova sitting at 8 didn't play but is still salting the loss of there last game, a loss to UConn. I guess not just the MAC where any team can win any night out.

Hmmmm, a university-owned arena downtown could break even. 😎 Looking at The Covelli Center, Canton Civic Center, and the Huntington Center, there are a lot of events for an appropriate sized arena. Downtown has long needed something to bring people downtown at night.

I don't believe Toledo can drop to the four but I feel like they are our worst matchup. So rooting for any of the other three to take the top seed. Don't really care who we draw in the 4/5 game. The worst we can finish is 12-8 and the five seed and the sixth seed is likely to be sub .500.

I look forward to EMU and CMU. There's a lot of talk in the blabosphere about eliminating conference divisions. I could do without the same routine of OU / Miami / BG year in and year out. Keep Can('t/ada) as rivals.

For football at least, a huge hurdle in this state is Ohio State. When people want to watch football on a Saturday, many many many want to watch Ohio State, even students at Akron. It's so annoying. The Zips have a horrid reputation of losing, so it's going to take steady winning, and positive coverage of them, to get people really interested. I was talking with my buddy the other day and I told him I wish Akron could some how land a recruit that wasn't on the radar for many, but came out of nowhere and had everyone's attention. Big Ben at Miami years ago, or heck, I even mentioned Johnny Manziel (not in terms of being an idiot, but in 2012, he was the IT guy suddenly and Texas A&M was everywhere). I mean, that may seem like a bunch of BS from me and out of left field, I know, but that kind of thing could really change things in an instant.

...and great hair!

Major League Soccer Colorado Rapids: Jon Lewis Columbus Crew: Evan Bush, Perry Kitchen, Darlington Nagbe Houston Dynamo: Zarek Valentin Inter Miami: DeAndre Yedlin Minnesota United: Wil Trapp Nashville SC: Teal Bunbury, Will Meyer Orlando City SC: Joao Moutinho Real Salt Lake: Scott Caldwell MLS Next Pro Chicago Fire FC II: Carlo Ritaccio Columbus Crew 2: Marco Micaletto, Abdi Mohamed Colorado Rapids 2: Dillon Serna USL Championship Austin Bold FC: Kofi Sarkodie (?) El Paso Locomotive: Nick Hinds Greenville Triumph: Nate Shultz Memphis 901 FC: David Egbo (loan from Vancouver Whitecaps) Phoenix Rising: Ben Lundt, Aodhan Quinn San Diego Loyal: Morgan Hackworth USL League One North Carolina FC: Chris Lue Young EFL Championship Nottingham Forest FC: Richie Laryea Macedonia, Macedonian First League FK Borec: Danilo Radjen Poland, Il Liga ZKS Olimpia Elbląg: Marcel Zajac