scottditzen

I guess I'm the minority in that I thought in the Spring game Dalton Williams looked like the best Akron QB since Luke Getsy. Yes he threw at least two very bad passes. That will happen when you throw 100 times. To my eyes, his play is so much more fluid than what we saw with Jacq, Nicely, Moore, etc. Especially Nicely and Moore, who when they dropped back always looked very stiff and robotic. Almost as if they were already locked in on their options and wearing blinders. Then there was the inconsistency...ie Moore would have one strong throw, then the next would be a wounded duck. On the other hand Dalton in the Spring game had the ability to quickly scan the field and make some very solid throws. His arm is consistently strong. Nevertheless, I predict TB's offense is going to result in a good number of open receivers and YAC. We're going to move the ball, and mock cheering for rare first downs will be a thing of the past.

Now why did a referees whistle just go off in my head when I read this!!!!

Agree 1,000 percent. I think the idea of thread is more about what can be done right now.

Haw yeah!!!!!

I'll drink to that!! Next season should be amazing. See ya at the Q!

Agree with both of your suggestions. With the lighting, though, IIRC it's been explained that the lights aren't able to function that manner. I wonder how much it would cost to improve? Upgrade food and food service. What we have now is a big time disappointment. Redesign the ticketing process in a way that the front entrance isn't a stupid clogged mess. Partner with local business for pre/post game food and drink specials. Invite EVERY media outlet in Northeast Ohio to have a presence within the JAR. "Moments in Akron Sports History" on the jumbotron. Hire a professional PA announcer. Improve sound quality/speakers. HD cameras for in-game video highlights. Cool prizes for ticketholders. DJ to play new, current music, who can sync up with cheerleaders/band/dance team.

Thanks GP1!

Operation Perfect Solution: Here's what ya do. First you get the "top" 36 teams at the end of the season. Just as in b-ball that list is filled with Conference champs and BCS rankings. Of course the power conferences will have several entries and MAC and Sun Belt being one bidders. I can live with that. Sound okay so far? Next you have a panel of ex-coaches and football expert types in a room. The top 4 teams have a "bye." The Panel studies the seedings (#5 vs. #36, #6 vs. #35 etc) and then discuss who would win in the first round matchups. There will be a "Big Board sponsored by Miller Lite" that will show the consensus winners of the first round. Also, there is an open bar. Of course this is televised. Excitement! Now, we're now down to 20 teams remaining. The top 4 teams STILL have a bye. So the remaining 16 go at it. And by that, I mean a select group of X-boxers simulate the games. Think of the highlights. Down to 12. Top 4 still have a bye. They've earned it. This is the "medal round" where we can get rid of 8 schools. Here's where a trained Octopus selects 5-12. It's choices are final and cannot be disputed. 12. Aluminum 11. Regular Steel 10. Stainless Steel 9. Brass 8. Bronze 7. Silver 6. Gold 5. Platinum Finally, the Top 4 actually face each other on the field, in real life, in a playoff format. The big bowl games rotate the championship game every year.

Sounds like a good question for Mr. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal. He may know. p.s. welcome to the forum!

I never once said the garage was a waste, or unnecessary. [edit: sorry after re-reading I could have been clearer on that point] The siting of it, however, is terrible. And I'll say that a million times. The most dead areas of a city are the areas along large parking garages. That's why in this day and age we should know better than to keep making mistakes like this. Akzipper I'm glad you brought up safety. The safest places have what's called "eyes on the street." You get this when a street is lined with residences and storefronts. (and I'm not talking ghetto-type storefronts like Thursdays Lounge or Zip Mart, but large glass windows). It's good that there are dorms across the street. Even still, this stretch of Exchange could've been much improved with better planning.

Just head of this on WKNR. Kenny Roda actually said "go to this event dadgummit!!!!" June Luncheon with Akron Zips Coach Terry Bowden Date: 06/29/2012 Time: 11:15 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Location: Infocision Stadium, Akron, OH Speaker: Football Coach Terry Bowden <h1 style="margin-top:15px;">Who We Are</h1> The Cleveland Sports & Business Alliance was formed with three things in mind: Sports, Business & Networking. Presented by ESPN Cleveland & 212 Capital Group, the Cleveland Sports & Business Alliance is uniting the area's top companies & their love of sports to create the most dynamic business-to-business networking group ANYWHERE! The Cleveland Sports & Business Alliance is the most unique business networking group in the metro area, focusing on the "team concept," in which membership is both fun & informative. This is not your average, run-of-the-mill, every week at 7 a.m. networking group. This group is for serious business people committed to sharing ideas, knowledge, & expertise, translating into solid business referrals & strong, lasting, business relationships. The Alliance meets twice a month; once for a member luncheon, and once for a happy hour. The luncheon will feature a sports celebrity speaker with ties to the Cleveland area, along with a featured business member of the month. The members will then have at least 45 minutes to network! During the monthly happy hours, socializing & networking are the only things on the lineup card. There will even be a few fun surprises in store for some of our upcoming happy hours that will further add to the group’s uniqueness! read more, or better yet, RSVP here: http://cleveland.sportsandbusiness.net/

Like you, I would absolutely LOVE to see the strip come alive again. We need it to! Unfortunately UA has not done a better job (yet) to jump start more restaurants, better bars, etc. At best UA has a mixed record in fostering that kind of retail comeback. Until UA shows a better grasp of urban planning, I have my doubts that the campus we'll be able to shed the dreaded commuter image soon enough. One example, we had a golden opportunity to increase walk-ability and improve the street scape along Exchange. Instead we got this looming parking garage fronting right up to the sidewalk. This is not good planning. This is planning for car culture/commuters, not for a top notch, walkable, lively neighborhood for students. http://www.uakron.edu/resize_image?id=1845070&w=430 ^ now maybe the ground floors can be converted to host retail? Below is parking garage hosted retail in Cleveland. http://images.citysearch.net/assets/imgdb/...5/7992808p1.jpg

First, Zips soccer is primarily a warm weather sport. you can't really compare. The gameday experience for soccer can be more geared to being outside, walking around a bit or tailgaiting. Basketball is different, the entire season is cold. Thus, I'll suggest (and I'm not saying you're arguing vs. this) in this case, for spinoff development to work it has to be in very close proximity. I agree Exchange might offer good opportunities someday. Right now downtown already has better quality restaurants and bars. House of Hunan, Bricco and Lockview are miles ahead. It's noteworthy, even perplexing, that to date Infocision has inspired zero surrounding retail development. Second, I'm glad you brought up the Crunch. Those fans drove straight into the parking garage and left en masse ten seconds after the games ended. No matter where our arena is located, we definitely don't want that happening at Akron. We want/need a retail and recreation infrastructure to support and foster people wanting to stick around; to patronize businesses on and all around campus. Again, whether downtown or Exchange, this will help UA shed the dreaded commuter image and to become a more lively and liveable place. Finally, like UA, Cleveland State is in the midst of an ambitious master plan to remake their entire campus. After years of Shrank-esque bad architecture and trying to shield itself from its surroundings, CSU is making headway. They aim to both become more green and to better situate itself by embracing the city ie Playhouse Square (1 million annual visitors!). I really disagree with your statement that CSU's campus growth is "just not going to happen." It ignores the history of our own great transformation process at Akron. [edit: I now see you may have been referring to CSU's attendance "not happening." Who knows you may be right. But it is still smart to understand what CSU did wrong in the past and make sure we don't make the same mistakes] http://www.csuohio.edu/alumni/enews/graphics/campusplan.jpg

Okay, I'll bite. Forget about the Campus vs. Downtown thing for a second. The way I see it, what's best for the University is providing the arena with the tools to be the biggest draw it can possibly be. You measure that by the number of fans in attendance. Since this is a basketball arena we're talking about, you can bet that "game day experience" ways heavily into the equation. The better the overall product, the higher the demand from consumers. You may interpret exactly what that means different than I, and I respect your opinion to do that. From my experience, what is immediately surrounding a sporting complex can be every bit as important as what's inside. One example, CSU has a good program and a huge venue, in which they opted for a suburban-type design placed inside an entertainment dead zone. There is no surrounding energy. None. The venue isn't profitable. I personally think that this dead zone is a big factor in their lack of positive game day experience and in their awful attendance numbers. And I feel that the JAR and Akron Basketball has been placed in an identical situation. TL;DR: Good attendance is what's best for the University; I think overall game day experience plays a large role in attendance; there is no energy or street life surrounding either CSU/JAR and that's part of the reason both venues suck.

I'm actually not really impressed with BW-2's or Pints (is that still the name?) those places are well below average on the quality bar/restaurant scale. I'd rather see the baseball field remain green space. Finally, I'm not saying there's zero value to consolidating our football/bball sports venues, but really, what is the major benefit of doing that? There's current and future parking options all around campus. During basketball games the Info will likely be an empty and barren dead zone. I'd be more sold on an Exchange location IF a better entertainment district was in the works. Actually, I'm sure it is, but what is the time line on that? Plus, Route 8 is a barrier (industrial zone) that will limit growth in that direction down Exchange. On the other hand, almost the entirety of downtown is trending upward.

I respectfully disagree. I'm with Zach on this. When I return to Akron for basketball games I want a better and more lively game day experience all around. I want to be in an area with critical mass, in close proximity to bars and restaurants. The worst option mentioned imho is to build next to the JAR.

^ Wow. That's a bold plan with some much needed upgrades. Improving Bierce, EJ Thomas plaza, Law School, Buchtel Commons etc. will have a dramatic impact for the better. The designs look good. Anyhow, this alone should open the floodgates: Sasaki does not indicate which of the two sites it prefers (downtown or next to Infocision Stadium), and Ted Curtis has a third idea of his own.He suggests attaching a new arena with 7,000 seats to the Rhodes Arena and converting the existing space into two practice gyms. The pic of the JAR in the article is a reminder that it's a pig in need of a ton of lipstick. And that's just the outside. I'd be anxious to see some renderings of what a combined JAR/new arena could look like.

Right. I'm strictly speaking on measuring who I would want as a rival. I suppose familiarity breeds....boredom. Marshall has a great fanbase. I just don't care about a rivalry with them because of their back woods location, and I feel that overall we are a way better school. Maybe it's an anti-appalachian bias. But their athletics seem to be trending downward.

Toledo is the better program. One way I measure conference rivalries is the allure of attending away games. To be honest I'm not the least bit excited about the idea of going to neither Buffalo, Toledo nor Marshall.

I would love this.

Sinking in...one important thing I should mention. The interviewers (who again, Jeff and Ken are Akron alumni/fans) were very deferential, and lobbed more than a few softballs. Anyway, Coach answered each question in such a way that was refreshingly humble, reasonable and respectful. Not a trace of arrogance or overconfidence. I didn't come away with any negative inclination whatsoever. He sounds like a leader; a guy that's easy to rally around.

Great summary Dr Z! I missed the part about JT dotting the I...hilarious (damn work interfering with my radio listening ha ha).

Update: playing Akron fight song is a nice touch! 1. Recruiting will focus on OH/PA...huge talent base here. 2. His brand of football will be exciting 3. The facilities here provide a "Wow Factor" that will win over recruits; shows UA committed to football 4. The U wants to boost enrollment by 10,000!! 5. Tressel is NOT barred from football activity. Terry will actively work with him in talking to recruits and discussing football strategy.

Replay Here Guest hosts are Ken Carmen and Jeff Thomas....Both Akron grads!!!! p.s. right now they are discussing how horrible the Rubber Bowl was lol

That's a pretty good read. I'll be rooting for this kid.