Dave in Green

No harm, no foul.

Amen. A family friendly environment will encourage parents to bring their children. Those children are candidates to become lifelong Zips fans who will one day bring their children. That's one way to slowly build a large, loyal fan base.I love the taste of good beer. I savor at least one bottle every day, often more. But I'm also responsible. I don't get sloppy drunk and start cussing in front of women and children. Families and beer can coexist. Heck, in Germany, beer is an integral part of the family experience. There are right ways and wrong ways of doing it. Let's just be sure we get it right for UA.

University of Akron, Home of the First Football Center SnapAlso at Buchtel, Heisman had his hand in the first of many permanent alterations he would make to the sport: the center snap. This came out of necessity because the previous rule, which involved the center rolling the ball backwards, was too troublesome for Buchtel’s unusually tall quarterback, Harry Clark. At 6’4”, it became clear that if the ball was thrown to him, the play could go on with less complication. This evolved into a common practice now known as the snap that begins every play in present National Football League (NFL) games.

It is quality rather than quantity that matters. (Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 5 BC - 65 AD)I'd expect Lucius to say something like that since he has a 2 inch member. (Adius Bucacus Palatum, 10 BC - 66 AD)Palatum's "mine's bigger than yours" comments about Seneca were dismissed centuries ago as the juvenile rantings of a younger rival jealous of his elder's widely praised philosophical wisdom. (Wackypenia)

Yep, it does make a big difference to specify that there are 10k parking spaces on the campus alone. That means there are many thousands more parking spaces off campus that are still within walking distance.There's a trade-off to parking close to a large event -- the foot and vehicle traffic immediately around the event site can create gridlock. That's one of the reasons why I personally don't mind parking a reasonable walking distance away, where once you reach your car you can likely drive right away without getting caught up in the heaviest traffic around the facility.

I can see the story now:After signing a letter of intent with Anonymous U, Adreian Payne said he had been leaning toward the University of Akron."I don't know what happened with the Zips," Payne said. "I was impressed with Coach Dambrot and thought that Zeke Marshall and I playing together could help turn the program into a national power. But I guess they believed some so-called 'inside sources' who said I wasn't interested in Akron, and just gave up on me."

It is quality rather than quantity that matters. (Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 5 BC - 65 AD)

I like the John Heisman connection, especially the part where he coached UA (then Buchtel College) to a 12-6 victory over Ohio State during the 1893-4 season.

Having now looked at a detailed map a little more closely, there's no question that there is a lot of downtown parking that is a 1-mile walk or less from the stadium. This will be no problem for most people.

The parking situation statement that "Currently, there are approximately 10,000 parking spaces within walking distance of the stadium" is certainly open to interpretation. First would obviously be how one defines walking distance, as comfortable walking distances vary with age, health and weather conditions. And since those 10,000 parking spaces are not exclusively dedicated to the stadium, there's the matter of how many other activities will be vying for them, including non-football student needs, businesses, residences, etc.I'd like to see a realistic estimate of how many of those 10,000 parking places are typically filled when there isn't a football game going on, exactly how far away the 10,000th spot is and what to expect in that area during a sellout game.

Nothing startling in this PD article on JB moving to OSU:PD on JB at OSU

Maybe someone here is more creative than I am, but I just can't come up with any good reason why a highly rated recruit would even want to mention considering a school that does not have a nationally ranked basketball program unless he had at least a tiny bit of genuine interest in that school. Let's face it, there is nothing to be leveraged with the likes of Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, etc., etc., by saying you're also considering Akron. The only affect I can imagine that it would have on the powerhouse schools would be to make them think the kid doesn't have self-confidence or good judgment.So until Payne public states that he has eliminated UA from his list, why should we fans post here that we've already written him off? It just gives the powerhouse schools another talking point:"Even Zips fans know you're too good to sign with UA."

Wikipedia has a good discussion on the term mid-major:Wikipedia on Mid-Major

You might want to do a little more research on Rutgers. As recently as 2006, they were as high as #12 in the polls. Their coach, Greg Schiano, was Michigan's second choice after LSU's Les Miles to replace the retiring Lloyd Carr. But he instead elected to remain with Rugers with the hope of building it into a perennial power. Rutgers may have slipped a little in the last couple of years, but it's wishful thinking to believe the current Zips team could knock them off, easily or otherwise.

The story says that Payne "canceled the visit after Boals left the school." No evidence is presented that those events were necessarily directly related or just wishful thinking by a Columbus sportswriter. Did Payne unilaterally cancel the visit, or was it a mutual decision between him and UA? There are other interpretations rather than Payne losing interest in UA just because Boals was leaving.For example, it never made any sense to me why Payne would have to miss one of his AAU games just to visit UA. It always made more sense to reschedule the visit when there were no conflicts. It also makes more sense to visit after the assistant coaching staff has stabilized.

What else would you expect from a Columbus sportswriter who is spoiled to his beloved hometown team always getting its way with recruits over all the Ohio midget schools? I think we would all be disappointed in KD if he just totally gave up on Payne. Despite really long odds, you have to keep recruiting the best prospects right up until they declare if you want to grow the program to the next level. Boals' job at UA was to sell KD and the UA program to recruits, not himself. If he did his job right, then his departure should not automatically end all chances with those he was recruiting.

You were first to post, but the other thread is where the discussion is going on:Other Thread

Rasor has some good comments:Rasor on Green

A disappointing loss for Zips fans. But still encouraging to see that Akron was in the running right up to the final decision with the likes of Dayton, Butler, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame.Hill's statement at the end of the story also puts into perspective how much influence fans can have on these decisions:"It's amazing," he said of the UD Arena atmosphere, "probably the best I've ever seen."Filling the JAR with noisy, energetic fans could make the difference on whether or not some top recruits choose Akron. Obviously, the more top recruits Akron attracts, the better the team will perform and the more excited fans will get about packing the JAR for Zips games. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

My question would be how Holden compares to Brett McClanahan, who had a similar high school 3-point shooting reputation. Holden would have to be a better overall player than the 6-4 McClanahan to overcome the obvious height disadvantage. Sub-6-foot shooting guards are fairly rare at the D1 level.

In the slow climb up the ladder to being recognized as a nationally prominent college basketball program, getting highly rated recruits to even mention your school's name is not the ultimate goal, but it is a key milestone.

Good story by Tom Gaffney:Gaffney on Payne

Seems reasonable to assume that UA is not switching brands. But if someone absolutely, positively has to know for sure, they could contact the AD office as previously mentioned, or contact AstroTurf by phone at 1-877-887-3435 or e-mail at info@gsvenue.com .

sim·i·lar (sm-lr), adj. -- Related in appearance or nature; alike though not identical.As in: A winning team is similar to a losing team, the main difference being that a winning team generally wins and a losing team generally loses.Seems like a good question to me to want to nail down the exact brand and type of synthetic turf the Zips will be playing on a bit more than just "similar."But, obviously, no one here really knows, and people seem to be getting grumpy about being asked for an answer to a question they can't answer.So, good advice to make a direct query to the AD office.

As always, when we make comments about other people, our words reveal more about ourselves than those about whom we speak.