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MDZip

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Everything posted by MDZip

  1. I followed an Elton Alexander link to the Bobcat board because their folks seem to be a little unhappy with their future football OOC schedules. One poster believes we're heading out soon. Even though it was posted on April 1st, I think he was sincere - Scroll down to Bobcat Poster Ohio69 "The only realistic option for the forseeable future is the MAC. Ohio does not support athletics financially very well at all. And, its not going to come up with the $5 million annually to take the next baby step to CUSA level in the current economic climate.Unlike the other 12 MAC coaches, I don't think Solich is looking to move up to BCS as soon as possible. So, Ohio has a great opportunity to go on a tear like Can't did with hoops and consistently win the MAC. It will be frustrating to watch Akron bolt for CUSA and reap all the benefits athletics can bring (enrollment, prestige, community support, etc.). Its gonna happen...."Given the choice of the MAC and C-USA I'd rather stick with the MAC, C-USA is just too geographically dispersed. Besides one poster later said we weren't well regarded enough academically. Maybe we can point him to the $1B research grants page ...
  2. And if every conference champion makes it, maybe it might help convince Notre Dame to join one so we don't have to keep seeing them every week, every year on NBC. Hasn't the viewing public suffered enough?
  3. It's also fun to play teams that have good, knowledgable fans like DistrictBaller. By the way, here is a quote from the article from Keith Dambrot about Shaka Smart."He's the guy who was telling a middle-aged man [at Akron], 'Hey, stay the course. Take four-year guys. Don't take any high-risk guys.' There's not many young people in America today who take that approach. He just has an understanding of what it takes to be successful."While that is obviously the Dambrot philosophy, I just want to know which one of you guys he was referring to.
  4. If you look at last years final teams the conference champs would be:ACC VTSEC FloridaB10 Penn StB12 OUBE CinPAC 10 USCMAC BuffaloWAC BoiseMWC UtahSunbelt TroyConfUSA ECUThe five at-large would likely be:AlabamaOSUTexasTCU Georgia, Oregon, TexTech (pick one)I don't think you could argue that a deserving team didn't get in, plus one more non-BCS team gets a slot (in TCU). And just like the NCAA tournament, there are teams that get in that wouldn't have if you just took the top teams (and none of them would have a chance at winning the national title in either sport) so even though the 12th, 13th or maybe even 14th ranked team might have an argument (just like the say 46th ranked team for the NCAA tournament) but none of them win it either. Plus it gives the higher ranked teams a potential "breather" with the possibility of a tremendous upset. In this scenario the only three teams you could argue with would be Buffalo, Troy and ECU and all of them were a champion on a FBS conference too and they all have the same disadvantages of competing again the Big Boys so recognize that and give them a shot or kick them out of FBS (of course we'd have to re-name FBS). Plus you could schedule the prelims in December and play the final three games after the "other" bowl games have concluded. 8 teams would get the same number of games anyway, 8 would play one extra game, 4 would play two extra games and and 2 would play three extra games. It is highly unlikely any conference would get more than three teams (in this one no one has more than two) and if you can't finish in the top three of your own conference you don't deserve to play for the national title.By the way my seedings would have been:1 Florida16 Troy8 VT9 OSU5 Utah12 TCU4 Penn St13 G/O/TT3 Oklahoma14 ECU6 Alabama11 Cincinnati7 Texas10 Boise St2 USC15 BuffaloWho wouldn't want to watch that?
  5. Needed to be a little more convincing on this day, but nice try.
  6. The Akrent Golden F-l-a-s-h-i-n-g Zippers?
  7. State of Utah sues BCS for anti-trustThey are doing it on behalf of the University of Utah and the more than half of the FBS schools who would never even have the opportunity to compete for a championship. While I think the odds of having one of those schools be the choice for a championship game are small, I think it could help open up eligibility for the other games, since non-BCS schools essentially get only one chance to get a BCS-bowl slot.The article mentions that the BCS has distributed over $70M to non-BCS conferences over the last nine years, it doesn't mention that it has given nearly $1B to the six BCS conferences. Utah is looking for other schools/states to join the fight. I can't see where anything negative would come out of this for Akron and the timing might just be perfect for us. I'd love to see the playoff come out of this - 16 teams, the 11 conference winners and 5 at large to be seeded just like a region of the NCAA basketball tournament. Of course that probably means the Sun Belt and MAC get the 16 and 15 seed every year.
  8. I was part of the student government at the time the JAR was built. We even discovered the name James A Rhodes arena in the architectural drawings and that raised a bit of stnk too until we were told that was pretty much the only way the arena was getting built, otherwise we were going to be stuck with Memorial Hall. Since this would have left us with Memorial right when we were moving to D-1, I think we really didn't have much of a choice. it was a huge upgrade over what we had. I don't think it had anything to do with the Natatorium.
  9. You underestimate the power of "new-ness". The first game could have been against the cheerleaders and it would sell out because the stadium is new. It will be "the place to be". Second the Ohio State game won't have any more impact than any other OSU game. The same waiting list of people will get the OSU allotment, Toledo will have their's and then the rest will go to OSU faithful and only 74000 people can fill Cleveland Browns Stadium. Which is about 28000 less than normally go to their games. It's actually less of an Impact than regular home game. The problem with attendance has been apathy. Nobody wants to go and watch a team that may or may not win when the atmoshphere and view is depressing. It makes you feel even worse if you lose. There is a a good buzz going into the season around the potential of the team, you have great buzz coming from The Info. Attendance should be the least of anyone's worries. Now if we are 3-5 going into the last stretch with no chance of getting into the MAC championship game, then yes people will use weather as an excuse and not show up for the Temple and EMU games. But on the other hand if we are 5-3 or 6-2 the place will be packed the entire season.To add one more quick note...I would rather have a 90% chance of a win coming in than Wyoming (who most people in the area could not care less about). Winning brings creates fans. Mount Union plays a bunch of nobodies every year until they get in the playoffs (and still plays only about 2 teams that anyone from the area ever heard of) and they have a following, because they win. Build it and they will come, win and they will stay.Exactly! Cleveland Browns Stadium holds LESS than the 'Shoe, so there will be enough people sitting at home to fill ICS! Here is what I wonder. It is a home game for Toledo is it not? I bet that the OSU season tictet holders and the Toledo Season Ticket Holders all get into that game. Can anyone confirm???It is a "home" game for Toledo so they hold almost all of the tickets. As a matter of fact, if you want a ticket for the games and are not a Toldeo season ticket holder, you have to make a $100 donation to the Toledo athletic dept to buy a ticket. Fricking brilliant!
  10. Colorado has Toledo now and BGSU got Boise St from Toledo's schedule. Wyoming was the odd man out from BGSU dropping them and they ended up with FAU. And it definitely is a good thing we are not competing with the OSU/Toledo game for our Stadium opener so it is good that we moved it up a week from that perspective.
  11. Appropriate that the article was written by Santa because that's what we feel we've gotten with the basketball team right now!
  12. While I'm disappointed to not have Miami again (couldn't we have NOT played someone else from the East this time?), the non-conference schedule (which we already knew) is very good, Penn State, Syracuse and Indiana is terrific, no problem with Morgan State as a 1-AA, just wish it wasn't the Info opener. Only one home game in all of October sucks, but at least we only have two away games against East competition - not looking forward to a trip to Mt. Pleasant, though. Overall, I think it's a pretty reasonable schedule (but we need to kick Temple out to stop this bizarre division scheduling).
  13. Tom Gaffney just confirmed it, Morgan State on Sep. 12th -http://www.ohio.com/sports/41823912.htmlI'm a little disappointed, would have preferred to open the Info with a bigger name opponent, but at least it gives six home games. Now being out of state I have to decide to make the first game or the more interesting game.
  14. Does Dennis Kennedy have any eligibility left? At least it's only spring ball.
  15. I set the DVR to catch the game while I was at it, and when I watched I when I got back, they only showed a few brief "look-ins" during the early part of the game but then switched over shortly after the last tie because all of the other games were concluded (or the outcome was not in question) since we were the latest start time of the 7 EST games. The bad part is that means the Mid-Atlantic area of the country saw only the worst part of the game (from our perspective) so it didn't leave a very favorable impression. Lots of folks I met were not only aware of the Zips but did have a favorable impression so at least we got that going for us.
  16. So don't keep us in suspense, what the heck happend with Alamo? I, on the other hand felt like I'd hit a minor lottery for the week. Happened to find an $89 dollar flight to Portland (man, I love Southwest) but took a risk because it only landed two hours before the game started, but it was the only flight I could find for less than $400. I found one out of Seattle (also Southwest) the next day at noon for $110. Got a rental car for $79 (including the one way dropoff fee) and after I got through all of the planning my sister called and told me she was going (plus her niece lived in Portland so we stayed with her). We called the Akron ticket office and they got us two seats together (thank you). Met Mike Bardo's mom and aunts in line waiting to get in (very nice folks) and in general it could not have gone better (I even got off the plane first in Portland, the rental car bus was waiting for me and it took maybe five minutes to get the rental car). I should have bought a lottery ticket that day. Since I saved a whole bunch of money and had so much fun, I think it's time for me to pay back. I am sending in another sizable chunk to the athletic department to futher what they need to do. This whole athletic program looks like it's about to bust through. I hope my donation is the tipping point.
  17. There are definite plans to do some upgrades at the JAR. I met one of the assistant athletic directors out in Portland and he was helping to raise the funds for the renovation. Didn't get a chance to ask what they were, though. I think a downtown arena would be great but it's a few years down the road, I'm afraid.
  18. The Gonzaga fans were great folks, they made the game fun too. Lots of good natured trash talking, they showed the Zips respect and they came out and supported their team - it doesn't matter whether they attended the school or not. If all you ever have are alumni supporting your team, you won't have that big of a following, especially at a school like Gonzaga (or Akron). They captured the hearts of the fans in Washington, we keep talking talking about doing the same for Joe Akron.College basketball (and most sports) are a great deal of fun, but it's far, far from life and death. We're all in this together and most people recognize that. It's not even close to an us vs. them mentality, it's living in the moment. I'd take Josh Heytvelt (and just about any of the Gonzaga palyers) on our team any time, just because they chose a different school doesn't make someone the devil incarnate. Get some perspective, work with some folks who have been in a real war and that might just change some of the rhetoric.</more experienced fan rant over>
  19. Well there's your admission of going to Can't, right there.
  20. I think Racer is just a huge e e cummings fan. I think he posts some good stuff too, but sometimes if it's too long I'll skip it because it is hard to read. I'd suggest anyone who doesn't like his style doesn't have to read it. I'm betting his feelings won't be hurt.
  21. Just got in the door from Portland. Tough trip going 6,000 miles in two days but well worth it. What an incredible experience. Zips fans were not many but were very into the game and very vocal. Zags fans were kind of sitting in stunned silence until they made their run and then it felt like it was a home game for them. It was quite fun walking around at halftime with the Zips leading. I believe the Zips have a chance to make it next year and hopefully it wil be a little closer so more people can enjoy the experience. As far as the game goes, Gonzaga is athletic as heck and very tall and the Zips did a great job holding them down and playing the game at our pace. Once it became a running game, that was pretty much it. There were a lot of great drives, hustle and tenacity which will bode well for next season.I think folks are a little hard on Bardo. His defense actually did cause Gonzaga to alter some shots and he did an acceptable job. I think a little confidence for him would go a long way. That's why I loved the dunk. Humpty was incredibly quick for the limited amount of time he got to play. He was the equal in quickness to anyone on the floor. Steve did a good job (other than shooting) in taking care of the ball and distributing it, but Humpty just adds another dimension when he's in. Great to be there celebrating with other Zips fans. I hope we get to do it again next year.
  22. The point is not in the population numbers, but in the nationwide interest. North Dakota in itself might not have a lot of people but the more widespread the interest is, the more inclusive the tournament becomes thereby continuing to raise that level of interest. Delaware is already interested since the Blue Hens have made it before , but sadly South Dakota is still not part of it, having never sent a team to the tournament (in fact, the same is also true for only New Hampshire and Alaska, but Alaska does not have any D-1 basketball teams).
  23. I was told that all 350 tickets that Akron got were sold. I just hope that means they all went to Zips fans..
  24. Jay Bilas wrote a column for ESPN (it is an insider column but you can read the begining and get the gist of it), where he bascially is saying the NCAA would be even better if it just included the best 64 teams in the country and left out all of these "lower" leagues. He was responding to whether the tournament should be expanded. He also suggested that the "lower" (he doesn't specifiy who those are) leagues shouldn't be allowed to have a conference tournament so that only the regular season champ could be included and not take a bid away from a more deserving school (Jay, would you like to discuss Mississippi St., who by the way got the same seed as Akron? So I guess we should be proud of that, we got the same seed as the SEC champ!)No to Expansion, Yes to Quality<rant>Articles like this annoy me since it shows a lack of understanding of what the heart of this tournament (at the size that it is right now) is all about. It is about having the quintessential college expereince and about everyone having a chance to be involved and be interested. This tournament as it is set up right now just got another entire state (North Dakota) interested in it - do you think that would have happened if just the usual suspects had been included? As the tournament is now getting included is a heck of an accomplishment no matter who you are, whether a one or a 16 seed. More teams would dilute that and just including the "big boys" lessens the interest. The upsets mean something, they are what makes the initial part of the tournament fun. None of them will win it and a worthy champion will emerge (maybe not the best team but definitely a worthy champion) regardless. You have now involved over 300 schools in the process and because of their conference tournaments all of them have hope. If you count that as the preliminaries, then really all of the teams do make the tournament, it is just single elimination for all of the smaller schools along the way. I did see someone make a comment on ESPN of where do you think there was more excitement - at the Big East final where both UConn and Syracuse knew they were getting in or the America East final? I'd guess the latter. And besides none of the last few "bubble" teams are winning it all either anyway. </rant>
  25. Me too but I think that may have been a fraternity pledge. :DI do remember two things that annoyed me that year. In a team capsule they pointed out that Holmes was the shortest starting center in the tournament (6'3") and asked whats a Zip? (and answered - Akron's chances of winning the tournament? Number of points they'll score?) so I was glad the Zips put forth an excellent effort.
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