Wally B

GLARING WEAKNESS!!!! - Community Relations I know this has been discussed ad-naseum But as an out-of-state-roo it's seriousness has only recently come into focus dor me. It's not about the cancelled golf outing, or the performance of the team, it's about iCoaches attitude.... PERIOD! He's made it clear that he's not invested in our school or community. THis isn't ND, Wisc, or any other stop he's had. I am proud to call Akron my hometown, and the Zips my team!!!! But unlike say an OSU or Mich or USC or UFlor fan my allegience isn't blind. There is no guarantee of tomorrow here and our players aren't "gods". But they do represent US and one of the best cities in the country right now (testament of a great city core, local nat. park, and prominent research) Display your disdain for the community, and students and we will not have faith in you. Win while pissing on us and we will not shed a tear when you move on. Solution - Humble yourself! Support the students, institution and city and we'll adopt you as one of our own. Even if your teams fail on the field..... see: Jerry Faust

Coldest winter i ever spent was a summer in San Francisco!

Awesome find! Click "Jerseys" on left hand side to view blues!

Briefly checked the boards over on BigSoccer... Seems there was a lot of tension at the CAL UCSB match! Zach, can you fill us in?

Can someone explain how making more empty seats helps? Even if there are two seats taken up per band member (which there aren't) there are still tons of empty seats. Heck, the whole drumline came and stood by the band for the first half and the other side was still 75% empty. The only time it was/will be an issue every year is high school band day and the Can't came when half the people down below are sitting down and/or texting the whole time instead of cheering. It will help by encouraging the upper levels to actually make noise. What is the purpose of having the band? Is it just to have more students cheering for the team? If that's the case you can just disband and let the members show up as normal students. The purpose of the band is to get the crowd pumped up. Right now they are either next to or playing directly at the people who need fired up the least. So what if the seats you vacate remain empty? I would have the upper bowl be rocking and a sparse but fired up student section than have the crowd be as boring as it is now. Or maybe you could listen to my suggestion of moving the students and filling up the end sections with reserved tickets. Then you solve both problems, the upper crowd is fired up by the band and the end seats aren't empty while also unifying the students into one force much louder than they can be currently. For the record, I love this idea. If all the ROWDIES had part of the reserved seats behind the opposing team's bench, and then maybe the South side remains as it is, with ROWDIES and then the band where we usually are. This still has students in two spots but its two adjacent spots that are essentially right next to each other. Also, I think (I could be mistaken) that it is just common practice for pep bands to be situated on the floor. In most areans though I don't think the sections behind the baskets are only four rows. Anyway like I said I like your new seating idea, I just don't know if any of the decision makers would actually be down for that. I like what this thread has turned into. Very creative brainstorming. Sadly, posters on ZN.O obviously put way more time, thought and passion into solving these problems than do the paid professionals in our UA Athletics Dept. If you want the prevailing wisdom all you need to do is look to Duke and NCState... Both have great atmosphere's. Duke's is legendary and fans pay premium $ to sit in bleachers ABOVE the students. NCState move into the RBC w/ the Carolina Hurricanes. Even though you'd pay major dough to sit in the lower bowl for a canes game, NCST students still have reserved seats behind the benches for all Wolfpack games. The very idea that you have to pamper alumni is ridicoulus. Students enjoying themselves creates an atmosphere where they want to come back as alumni. The empty seats prove my point.

This is a HUGE problem for us.... i know its been said before. Although its just one of many, of the THIS is one of the HUGE reasons students (future Alumni) aren't supporting the program iCoach could take lessons and maybe start with pizza's

THat's the thing about the MAC... Fortunes rise and fall...... FAST! Or in Kents case not at all If you watch the conference, you'll see we are actually in a great position right now. Small roster, newish coach, and great facilities. This is the perfect recruiting tool to perspective players that want to play FULL careers instead of riding the bench. Ball St., Buffalo, CMU, Fiaimi, Temps, they've all followed this formula to a certain degree. The biggest challenge going forward is managing the rise in a way that you don't see a collapse once said coach or his recruits begin to leave. In that regard, OhioU is a huge dissapointment to me. If Solich was half the coach he's reputed to be they should be dominating the conference right now. Much like NIU is, but consistently, season after season. C'mon, this is the MAC after all. Compare to soccer... Porter talks not only of winning now, but building and maintaining the program itself.....

As i started to read your post, 4 immediately poped into my head. Still given the lack of experience, that will still be a reach. 2011 is when i will look to see sustained improvement. 2012 is when i want to see us compete week in and week out.....

i'll drink to that! Best of luck

WOOT!!!!!!

oh crap!!!!

i'll count with you!! congrats to those that are still with us (players)

Well you've got the food! So who's bringing the fat lady? And what will she be singing?

It seems a few of you share my thoughts..... This team lacks that killer instinct. If they continue to let up on the gas we'll be in trouble......

Gp.... i tend to follow your line of reasoning. God i hope you're right on this one!

This station should call up CK and interview him once a week. I'm sure CK could break away from his desk or lock himself in his office for ten minutes. In other cities, people who own web pages are interviewed on a regular basis. One of my favorite web pages is Mondesishouse which is a Pittsburgh blog. He was a guy who started this blog and received a fan following because he had interesting things to say. He is now interviewed weekly on Pittsburgh sports stations. I'm sure CK knows more about UofA sports than these guys and if they just tossed softballs to him for ten minutes he could fill up the time. It really isn't that hard to do a ten minute interview. Oh Bill!! Are you listening? I second this motion

Our odds actually improved for the first time this year on Congrove120 pre-season L (+5.97) pre-game (+3.34). However 3.65 is the lowest power ranking i can remember.... Atleast the Buffy's aren't much better collegefootballpoll.com

GREAT move for Hawai'i !!! Just goes to show that football is driving the boat in the MWC. That said, i look at us as bing in more of a Cincy situation. We've got a decent basketball program (sans the nat ranking but also parole violations) but a sub-par football program. Other major differences, we have an incredible soccer team/facility, with an unparalelled fan base, and a great football infrastructure. Yes, i'd say we're on the radar. Develop the football team to a consistent +.500 performer and we would definitely be on the radar. Doubt we're going anywhere soon though

"Other than that Mrs. Lincoln how was the play?"

I'm curious, I've heard that iCoach only had 4 recruits this year... Is that true? What is their status?

+1 I didn't like the hire, but I'm also willing to admit that I'm just a clueless fan for the most part. If you recall, Syracuse ran into a severe numbers problem not long after Marrone arrived as well. Let's see what happens over the last two games and heading into next year. I'll say this. For the most part, the freshmen he has brought in (Holmes, Russell, Hall, Sconiers, Bailey) have all shown SOME promise over the course of the year. I just wish Georgio had decided to stick around. I too am reserving my final judgement... for now. I'm really interested in what comes out of the off-season and how players develop in the first half of 2011. That said a win this year would go a long way!

What scares me though is the Harris Poll We have a "rank" rating of 10.67. I have never seen a team go below double digits. Infact i can't remember anyone going this low before For comparison: 1 Boisie State 97.98 26 Temple 60.76 32 N.Illinois 58.50 59 Ohio 49.42

Granted our loss and tie came from instate opponents, but they are also from our non-conference rivals. Anyone conerned that we seemed flat against our soccer equivalents of Can't State?

I tend to relate the soccer polls to basketball, where a team can have a bad game, get a few blown calls or an average team plays waaaayyyyy beyond themselves and pulls the upset, yet due to sos the #1 doesn't fall in the polls.......

I would accept that mantra if our next meeting was for the College Cup Finals Truth is, this team worries me, they have started taking games off and not playing to their ability. That is what Porter was apologizing for!