CDMac

I am an advocate of playing organized sports and specifically think football is the best of all of them in regards to teaching life lessons. Of course I am also an adrenaline junkie & former Marine who's done many things much less safe than football in my 46 years (and enjoyed every one of them). I look at all the hoopla surrounding the dangers of sports as sort of a natural selection process to some degree. Sure we'll lose some great athletes along the way but the majority of kids that don't play because of their parents' objections probably wouldn't be the next coming of Deacon Jones, Randy White, Lawrence Taylor, or JJWatt anyway. I guess I just feel like some kids will probably miss out on playing the greatest sport on earth but I don't have a desire to try to change their (or their parents') minds.

@K92 That's a great point. I guess I was just thinking that at some point, the public opinion may get balanced out with new studies, new information, etc. There will always be mommas that won't let their kids cross the street, let alone play football. Team sizes of the high schools in Texas would attest to the fact that we're not currently running short on players to field teams. I'm sure that's true in most "football states". In the end, as is with most things, you could probably find numerous studies to support both a pro and an anti-football stance. Where do you fall in regards to the question of whether to allow kids to play football? For some, it's an age thing (they don't want them to play until they are X years old), while, for others, it's a binary decision regardless of age.

Counter point A brain scientist explains why he’s letting his son play football Not sure we'll ever really have enough data to determine how safe or unsafe football is. It's certainly less safe than playing piano. Yet, is its inherent danger a risk to take due to the positive life benefits of having played the ultimate team game?

Great camera work, doc!

Yes, I know of the HustleBelt SBNation site. I agree they put out a lot of great info. Brainstorming ideas in ZNO would be a great way to flesh out ideas and see if any take root into something of substance. Maybe between now and the offseason we can develop some ideas and maybe even plans for more coverage of the team in 2018. I'm an amateur photographer and could possibly be available for some work in that regard and I fashion myself a writer; although I've never done any reporting. Maybe it's just a matter of gaining some level of access to the team for the folks that would be inclined to be involved in that regard.

Thanks for the info @Balsy

We're going to need a good hook to go along with the record. The "row the boat" slogan got so much play on ESPN.

@skip-zip - I'm a relative newcomer here to the board as my son is a freshman. I found ZNO because it was turned up the most in "Akron Zips football" Googling. You guys do a fantastic job here so I brought up the idea of collaborating on an online publication of sorts because I felt y'alls frustration in the lack of news about the team being disseminated by the local media. I guess ZNO is as good a place for the presentation of content as any. The biggest hurdle I see in doing something like this (even on a small scale) is getting the required "credentials" to actually be able to get in front of the players and coaches in order to report the news that others may be interested in hearing (getting roster updates, injury status, roster battles, etc). The BEST way that I can see that working would be to engage the Akron Communication Program students and get the University involved. I tried looking at the Buchtelite student paper and their sports coverage seems slight and the link to ZTVAkron.com (supposedly the online ZipsTV does not load any content). Do they Zips not have a student beat reporter that comes from their journalism or communications programs? <=== I'll need to investigate this.

@skip-zip - I was thinking more of digital media (I probably should have used a different word other than, "publication") so as to steer clear of the printing and distribution costs. I bring this up because with the expertise around this forum I think we could put together something but it would "take a village". We all bring different strengths to the table and I'm just thinking out loud about what is possible. I guess we can have others chime in on what they might be able to bring to the table. For me, I've been known to write a little; I am a application support engineer so I could handle some/most of the IT needs (or be able to coordinate it), and it appears I am the mastermind behind this evil plot to overthrow GT. I know of some HIGH SCHOOLS that have media departments that have their students cover games/events and some do radio/tv broadcasts/commentating. I'm talking about something by the fans, for the fans though; not necessarily something through the school - and very specifically football-centric. Does anyone know how strict Akron is about issuing media credentials for team events/gameday? What requirements are there to get issued a pass? I don't know if zipsnation would qualify as media or not (I know of some other forums have been trying to get media access for NFL teams for a while without luck). Then again, that's the NFL. I'm sure there are high quality videographers and those who would make good reporters that would love to have media access to the team. I'm just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks and see what interest might be there in undertaking something like this

Has there ever been a serious discussion about the avid Zips supporters starting their own publication? Anyone in the community here professionally linked to media? Maybe there is a coup to oust GT as the sole media voice covering Zips football and replace him with fan driven content??

I think he was making a funny because you said, "I have never heard anything but food things about him" Auto-correct strikes again changing "good" to 'food"!

Full pads Friday, June 4th.