Wally B

This has to go down as one of the stupidest threads ever. I, and everyone in the room is dumber for reading it NEWS flush: *a 1-10 record = low attendance *we are better off at 1-10 in the info and with the field house than we were at 1-10 in the bowl *if iCoach doesn't fix things, admin will get someone else percisely because of our 60mil investment can we move on now??

I have no problem with this. How many college soccer fans do you know that aren't fans of pro-soccer. In fact I would say the pro fans are migrating to the college ranks. Exposure to the likes of ManU (and now the world cup) has definitley influenced college soccer fans. I would expect our very own AKRowdies to be no different

Let me add a couple to the mix: The Buchtel Commons Ok seriously....... A group of Kangaroo's is called a "Mob". There's gotta be something we can do with that! the Lee Jackson (or Exchange St.) Mob

Philisophical quesstion: Harbaugh recently resigned from top ranked Stanford to coach the 49'ers. Given todays pro climate, i'm not sure i would have made this decision. Here's why: the pro-attitude. The climate is totally different for pro coaches. In just a few cases are the coaches supported by management over players. Pittsburgh, NewEngland come to mind. A recent example of what i'm referencing is Jeff Fisher -vs- Vince Young in Tennessee. Young was a cancer on the team. He had a history of problems with maturity. Fisher made a difficult decision to part ways, period. I feel in many cases this would have cost him his job. Amazingly, Tenn decided to stick with him and put Young in Limbo where i suspect his career will die or flounder further. flush FORWARD: San Fran underperforms for Singletary. His last moments were shown counselling a frustrated and troubled player who lost his cool towards the coach. The 49's went with the player and Harbaugh steps into that scenario. They didn't respect Singletary... SINGLETARY!!!! I can't imagine Harbaugh's pedigree will help overcome the player power structure that now plauges San Francisco. Intrerestingly, those teams that favor "team" over individual talents have been the most successful organizations over the last 10 years. the BIG ? Would you make the same decision? Personally i wouldn't have.

I'm rooting for the Ducks! Hopefully they've got enough teamwork to derail Cam Newton.

sans recruiting, i liked JD. All the best to him, and i hope we get a chance to see him in Ohio at some point.....

+1 With a type of infrastructure like HSR, you can't wait for demand to be there to begin working on implementing it. It takes forward-thinking to see mass-transit becoming increasingly in demand and putting yourself in position to best capitalize on the demand. Ohio definitely doesn't have people in charge who are capable of thinking that far ahead. And that goes for areas outside of HSR. To Quote Bart Simpson in his remedial class: "You want us to catch up by going slower?? Cucko, cucko..... " (From early episode "You Only Move Twice" w/ Hank Scorpio as Homers boss)

I think my comment that they all got "BCS" tramp stamps said it all!!

Rumor has it that they all got BCS tramp stamps

Ahhh yes, and Firestone wasn't involved in a scandal to eliminate the LA trolley lines and put people in busses and cars (lobbying works wonders doesn't it). After years of the exact same arguments you propose here, LA started rebuilding it's rail/subway service (creating demand). In the mid/late 90's there was another supposed scandal because the commission supposedly bought too many rail cars for lines many were asking to be abandoned due to cost overruns between Hollywood and Universal City. Now the service is popular and growing, and they have and EXTRA 1/2 BILLION DOLLARS to spend to enhance service across the great valley to SF. As for demand in Ohio, you're right we will not know for some time atleast. Phase1 was to start up the 3c service to build demand while the ignorant claimed it would be to establish 55mph high speed. Yes building a rail line can be expensive. But it has long been proven that this investment is FAR CHEAPER than building/expanding/maintaining/rebuilding highways. Remember, those Turnpike tolls that were supposed to go away once it was paid for They've doubled in the last 5 years alone. Gosh i wonder why that is. Certainly maintaining those "FREE" interstates is cheaper right? As for making us competitive in the global market? Establishing and maintaining such a system brings skilled positions to our state. We are centrally located betwen NY and Chicago. Perfect for maintenance. Gosh, isn't there an absolutely HUGE and empty facility in Mansfield right now? Gosh if only we could take advantage of that opportunity and put that region back to work with good paying jobs.... Too late we didn't invest like Illinois did Oh and look, a major european wind turbine manufacturer was looking for a centrally located inland port to establish operations in North America. Whoops, we didn't invest in and maintain our port in Cleveland, awww so sad Gosh, i wonder why Ohio is in the sh***er? Well atleast we saved a few bucks to keep in the pockets of those who invest in companies that are growing becasue they are working on major projects in other states Sorry if i'm ranting here. I shouldn't be so synical. Afterall, investing in innefficient modes of transportation, utilized by inefficient machines (compared to trains) only feeds our dependence on middle east oil, which we pay for with money borrowed from China who litterally owns us. But hey atleast we think we're spending less right ? Oh that's ok, you can enjoy your drive to your McJob because Ohio wasn't positioned nationally or globally Oh and don't forget to blame the national government for your woes!!

I sure hope once you get off that train your final destination is within walking distance. zipsMan isn't concerned about things like that ever since he got his rocket pack. The fact that the 3c project died is a perfect example of journalism died in the US. FACT - the 55mph high speed was to establish service before investing money in "improvements" to make the line high speed FACT - this would actually upgrade already profitable commercial lines FACT - most of the stations are already built (cleveland/cincy) and simple ones for Medina are relatively innexpensive FACT - Stations are generally located in the heart of a community, making a cab ride MUCH less expensive than say one from an outlying airport FACT - Long term rail is undeniably less expensive to maintain and operate and more efficient that either air travel or highway maintenance/expansion. FACT - this project would have put skilled Ohio workers back to work and off unemployment. Which in turn would bolster our economy... instead they'll find work in florida... I'll repeat. WE GAVE AWAY A HALF-A-BILLION, YES BILLION, DOLLARS!!!

You mean the high speed rail that was going to cost 400 million dollars and predicted to cost 17 million a year and be a hole in the pockets of the state because it has no chance of breaking even? lol No i was thinking more along the lines of Ohio choosing not to invest in itself, and better position itself competitively in the global market. That approach has done wonders for my home state Then again we continue to reap "profits" from building (and subsidizing thereof) airports for the airlines and the "free" but gridlocked highways, afterall it's worked well for Ohio so far and hasn't cost us a dime!!!!

Times change. Plus, really? The Zips haven't gained any notoriety because of the soccer team? Take any notoriety the basketball or football team has, multiply it by 18 and you still aren't getting anywhere near the notoriety of the soccer team. Every soccer fan in the country knows who Akron is, whether it be because of the national championship or because of multiple MLS players. I would bet your average NFL or NBA fan couldn't name a single player from Akron (aside from Jason Taylor and I'd be surprised if they knew he went there). Trust me, out here in Boston, MA no one is impressed with the basketball or football team. It's all soccer, all the time. Please, tell me where I stated that we didn't earn any notoriety from our soccer championship? But, you did mention the key word yourself, "soccer fans" noticed our championship. But back to the response to this post topic. Making a heavy investment in women's soccer in order to possibly build a major college athletic program around men's and women's soccer combined is a bad idea. Let me ask you a question. The Akron men's soccer team (the best in the country) drew roughly a few thousand per game. The best football programs in the country can draw over 100,000 per game. If you wanted to grow the athletic prowess of your University, where would you invest your resources? Football and basketball are by far the kingpins of collegiate sports, and always will be. Easy there skippy!!!! Take two of these and go back to the fb/bb boards in the morning

Now only if we were smart enough to accept 1/2billion dollars for high speed rail...... wait no, too late

2 reasons why you don't like soccer: 1 - You have to know how to play it (sans the pee-wee stuff, that doesn't equate) 2 - You have to understand what is goings on in order to understand when the action is taking place (we mock what we don't understand) (sorry couldn't get John Cleese to attach)

Not to contribute to old and tired arguements about Columbus and Cleveland but i would like to add a few things to consider.... Akron is just starting to feel its own pride and others may take offense to that. Still, Akron is my town and my team! I don't dislike OSU or its' fans. The attitude of entitlement needs to be put in it's place. What you see here is a natural reaction to sentiments expressed by Gee and the obnoxious fans (which doesn't include all OSU fans). Agree that OSU doesn't need to be repeatedly brought up, and stop whining when it is because it's begining to sound like the old Can't State-why are they talking about us crap........ It's a rivalry people and it's starting to grow!!!!! Despite all the talk of a championship drought in Cleveland/NEOhio, are we to forget the 2005 MAC Football championship? How about the 3 Championships won by the Akron Aeros, and just for good measure, the World Champion 1920 Akron Pro's. Now we can add to that the 2010 Men's Soccer National Championship! God it feels good to say that. Just because i'm proud to be from Akron, doesn't mean Cleveland should fell less about themselves. That said, bad coverage is simply that, and one game good/bad isn't going to change the preception. Hey Cleveland.com MOVE us off the "other colleges" and "MAC" tabs!!!!!

Go ZIPS!!!! Lolla's going down!

First of all, welcome. The one thing I would really like to see recruits say is, "I am coming to Akron for two reasons. First, I want to be part of a great turnaround. Second, I believe I can start right away and contribute to the winning." I want to see players talk about winning and not facilities or playing right away. Those are important, but winning is the most important of all. How about: "I didn't want to be just another OSU player, I want to be one of the players on the second Akron team to beat OSU!

My prediction...... PAIN

I would expect nothing less from a beacon reporter ........ That said, there's nothing wrong with pointing out the teams weakness' and realities early in the season, and noting that a lot of it stemmed from JD's lack or recruiting knowledge. From there it is easy to write "positive" articles on the development of position players, or the team coming together through adversity. It's not hard.... Slamming iCoach and calling for his head obviously isn't going to get you very far with him or the University. Waiting until after the season to say everything was a "mystery" is simply ignorant.

Dear Tom, The Congrove poll preidcted the Zips would go 1-11 in the PRE-SEASON! They had us barely beating GardnerWebb (Who beat ApSt during one of their championship runs btw (was also mentioned on ZN prior to the game )) and barely losing to Buffalo. Well, we barely lost to GW in ot, and beat Buffalo by a small margin. Other than that they nailed it! Apparently it wasn't a mystery to them, and to those who follow ZN closely, it think many of us saw it too, even if we prefer to wear our glasses of denial! The only mystery to me is why you treat the ZN as a seperate entity from the Akron community. Why didn't the Beacon report the realities of the Zips season? Why wasn't this information used to write an interesting series of articles on the fb teams progress and setbacks? Where's the discussion regarding players that were redshirted and how they might be used to start filling the holes? And given all this, why are we surprised there is a disconnect between the team and the community? This is why the Beacon is faltering, and ZN is flourishing.... we fill the void! Other than that... Great job

+1 Been thinking about that for awhile!

I have been visiting this site for about 2 weeks and I can agree with the above statements from the post I have read over just a few weeks. What do you want a PR coach or a football coach? If what is important to you is that the coach is a good guy and everyone likes him, even the students and members of the community...... What has your coach done to distain the community? I would hope that you would want a football program that other teams fear. A football team that is listed by everyone as the team you have to beat if you want to have any chance of winning the MAC. A football coaches #1 priority is to win football games. From what Zip football history I have located, you have fielded a football team every year, might have won a few games, but that is all. Therefore, the Zip Nation has no idea what a winning football program looks like. You want the local community to get excited about Zip Fooball. WIN You want the student body to get excited. WIN The best investment that a football coach can make for his University and community is, you got it "WIN BABY WIN" The only one that a football coach has to run a PR program with is his football players. And what is that sales job. Getting the players to buy in to the believe that they can win each and every week no matter who the other team is. Valley Boy, welcome to the NATION. I agree with your sentiments on winning, i think we all do. However, since you are new let me fill you in on the details of our dissent. While there are plenty to ANNUAL golf outing and defamation of student supporters. To put these events in perspective, immagine the next Browns coach comes into town, refuses to associate himself with the leaders of the community, refuses to talk to the press and craps on the Dog Pound. You get Belicheck in Cleveland No one here is asking for a golden calf. We know the history of our program. It doesn't take much. Jusst a game of golf and shake a few hands... oh and don't crap on the students. They will simply go to the soccer match instead where they are recognized as the best in the nation!!! As for WINNING? I remember the Denison era! Now back to the topic at hand.... Any news on next years kicking game?? Are there any redshirts from the soccer team that iCoach could borrow??

Two things to take with us from 2010 We're off the "Bottom10" Although we finished ranked #119 in the Congrove Computer Rankings Top 120 Our bowl buddies from Memphis are below us at #120 and finished #1 on the Bottom 10! Not much. but a little solace maybe

Some to links to info on the match and Cal Bears 6CAL -v- 2Akron Cal -v- Brown recap Goal.com 1/4finals preview