a-zip

I give some of the upperclassmen a break because they have been through so much chaos and turnover in their careers here - I actually commend them for even staying. If their development is not where some of you would like it to be, think about what these guys have been through. I totally expect that to change now.

The NCAA (governing body) is truly a mess and they have created all of this themselves. They are supposed to be about amateur sports and academics……it is all about the benjamins to them. I tell you what is going to be interesting is when the players of the "BIG" schools start unionizing to get paid. How are they going to control that? Will "MAC" players get paid the same as "SEC" or "BIG 10" players? When paying players is illegal (now), they still can't stop it…….GP - you are right, we could go on and on….. The fact that U of Maryland is going to pay at 60 MILLION DOLLAR penalty to leave the ACC (which I would kill for us to get in) is mind boggling.

Make no mistake, Sam is working this and HE is going to make plenty of money whether he makes the roster or not (he already has an endorsement deal with Visa too). While I am all for making a buck, I admire what he has achieved from where he came, and I feel he is extremely courageous to come out - it is all a bit much for me personally. I am not homophobic but I could do without the kissing and smashing cake in each others faces like groom and groom with the cameras ready. Seemed a bit staged to me. Seriously, did anyone think he would NOT get drafted? By him going in the last round - it kept people watching, tweeting, chatting, and talking about Michael Sam and the NFL draft. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out because every move, comment, tweet by coaches and players are going to be scrutinized……it will also be an incredible distraction to the team. If he gets cut…….oh boy….watch out!!!! I wish him well, I hope he earns and spot on the team and plays well.

yup

Yes, please explain.

YSU wins and will start to get a lot of pub from this!! Seriously, whoever argues about Tressel's credentials or "being an embarrassment" is F'd in the head. He is CLASS, has vision, a good manager of people AND another UA alumus that would have stayed forever and worked to have UA achieve its goals. There are few important people that have loyalty to Akron…..Keith Dambrot, Jim Dennison, Lebron James and Jim Tressel. 3 of the 4 are gone. I certainly wish Scarborough well but the pieces were in place to put us on the map….in my opinion Jim Tressel would have done that….now he is competition….look out.

Yea, I am 6'4".....Heisman Trophy winner................nobody will notice

Looks like they had a lot of fun making that.......I think it is great. If I am a recruit and watch it..........I have to think to myself that it looks like a fun place to be and fun people.

That was funny. By the looks of the Info, it must have been game day.

Perfect analysis….. My additions; Great turnout for an exhibition, beautiful day, good job by UA for providing the atmosphere for all the days games. Sloppy soccer game. Louisville goalie got an assist on the loan goal??? Souto - is funny….constantly talking smack and smiling - he is going to have to learn composure but I like him L Cross - looked clumsy, continuously got burned, maybe the Louisville offense is that good…..yikes Ken Lolla - when I pointed him out to my sons, they said what?…….he is the coach?…..he looks like he is going out to dinner. Almost seemed a bit pompous to me.

At the end of the scrimmage, I liked seeing KP16 speaking to the team (maybe just the offense) after TB spoke. He seemed to have the attention and command of the team and also seemed a bit animated. Good to see the leadership coming out.

GoZips, this is the exactly the dialog I tried to start on another thread, I guess I did not state it as clearly as you……so thanks. I am not sure what a realistic goal for us should be and the path to get there. I would love to get in to a better conference but don't think we are anywhere close to being on someone's radar. It is tricky and risky to make a move to another conference. The big fear I have is that the disparity between the power conferences that are being built and the smaller conferences will become so great that the days of upsetting a Big10, SEC, PAC10, Big12 school will never happen. These conferences are going to generate outrageous amounts of money to these schools that will enable them to build ridiculous facilities (academic and athletic). It will also enable them to pay serious $$ to assistants and coordinators that would dwarf the salaries of our head coaches. Seriously, look at Maryland moving from the ACC to the Big10. Hell, I would love to be in the ACC but Maryland feels it is not enough for them!!! Think about how vulnerable the ACC is - Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida St, Ga Tech, Miami, UNC, NCST, Pitt, Syracuse, UVA, VaTech, Wake Forest, Louisville. What happens if Miami and FSU leave (and I have to believe the SEC/Big10 are courting)? You have an awesome basketball conference and a deteriorating football conference. The Big10 and/or SEC become even more powerful and the ACC becomes less relevant just like the Big East and Conference USA have. This will all trickle down to conferences like the MAC and make us even weaker. I guess the good news might be that if FSU or Miami were to leave the ACC - the ACC would be looking to backfill…..I don't think we are even close to consideration for them (at least not at the moment). The best analogy I can thinks of is to compare to what is happening in the economy. The WalMarts, Costcos, Sam's Clubs, Targets are killing the small and medium businesses. In technology - IBM, EMC, HP, CA, Microsoft are buying up brilliant small technology companies that can't survive. That is where I fear things are headed in the NCAA. So, if anything I said makes sense above - would it be wise for us to invest and prepare to make a jump to a conference like the ACC in the next 5 years. Will the ACC even be relevant enough 5 years from now? If we made this commitment, we would have to improve basketball performance and facilities, start winning and making postseason football and fill the Info, soccer needs to continue their success AND we would have to pay all of our the coaches enough to keep them around all of this time. Then, even if we did all of these things…..would a conference that would accept us be worth moving to.

Why not soccer to the ACC? My god, that is our biggest draw and ACC soccer is the best in the country.

When you guys want to criticize KD on developing players there is one player nobody has factored in to the formulas……do I have to say his name? Hint…..best player on the planet.

I wish I knew how to move it. I thought I started it outside of a specific sport. If a facilitator thinks it warrants moving, please do so.

Sorry for bringing up the topic. I did not intend to make it so broad for ya'll. I tried to frame it to foster ideas for "thinking bigger" and what that means. The beginning of solving a problems is identifying the goal….meaning what is "thinking bigger". As I read the post from this and multiple threads on ZN.o, it apparently means winning a single NCAA tournament basketball game for some, for others it means winning a single monumental football game. That will happen one day if the stars align like they have for Florida Gulf Coast or Mercer (15 minutes of fame). I guess my ambitions of "thinking bigger' are higher….and that is for sustained success and support that will get us out of the MAC. I am convinced that if we stay in the MAC we are actually not thinking bigger and we should be satisfied with the results we are getting. You guys can bitch all you want about the coaches but I promise you the good ones will be gone soon. First prediction. Coach Kest ;-)………..Amato next, Bowden next. Oh BTW, Tressel somewhere in there too.

So, this thread starts to beg the question of what "thinking bigger" means. Are we talking just about basketball or our program as a whole.

That is what happens when you have 5 seniors starting

Thank you!! I do think KD's formula is sustainable. You made a great point on Florida Gulf Coast. They had a nice run, lost their coach and went 22-14 this year. I bet we never hear from them again. I don’t want that. I just checked and IPFW lost to Dayton by 1 point (who beat the dreaded Fuckeyes) - they are good, I do think we should have won though. I am not sure about the other MAC schools that made runs but my bet is they had a lot of upper classman on their teams and are not heard from again for a while. We are consistently good. Look at the roster of the Mercer team that just beat Duke. Think we will hear from them again? Go bless em' though, good luck. http://mercerbears.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/teams/mercer?view=lineup

Posted Today, 12:57 PM Ada Zip, on 21 Mar 2014 - 12:20 PM, said: Absolutely not. Love TB, but if he can't get it done, bring on somebody that will. _______________________________________________ If that happens, I think my point will have been made. If a Bowden cannot win a bowl game in 10 years it ain't ever going to happen in Akron - I don't care if Heismann rises from the grave to coach the team.

Seriously folks……I am not saying that we should not want more - I WANT MORE! I am saying I don't think we should expect too much more being in the MAC. I am asking if it is realistic for us to expect more being in the MAC? If, we want more (bigger) what jumps should we make? What is the plan to make that jump? How do we get there? I am looking for good ideas not wishes. Sorry for pasting multiple quotes Capt. “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin “You can't plow a field simply by turning it over in your mind.” ― Gordon B. Hinckley “When you establish a destination by defining what you want, then take physical action by making choices that move you towards that destination, the possibility for success is limitless and arrival at the destination is inevitable.” ― Steve Maraboli

Yessir

Thought I would start a new thread on the "Thinking Bigger" theme that keeps surfacing. To me, at UoA, "thinking bigger" means different things to different sports. For Men’s soccer - it should be National Championships, for Football it should now be a winning record and possibly bowl game, for Men’s basketball it should be winning MAC championships, Women’s basketball should be about winning MAC championships, track should now be thinking on a national level, etc, etc. IMHO, our coaches are doing amazing things with what they have and collectively the combined successes of our teams means the AD and administration are doing a great job too. Frankly, I am amazed we have been able to retain the coaches we have. They are all approaching their ceilings while competing in the MAC. If we stay in the MAC, these goals above are realistic. We have the best coaches we can afford and they are doing a great job with the resources they have. It is nice to want things but if your goals are unrealistic/ unachievable, you will constantly be disappointed. Haven’t we all experienced this in our professional careers? If you want more, there has to be more dramatic changes and a well thought out plan. To me, “Thinking Bigger” is not about being critical of individual coaches when our season ends, it about carefully thinking what that next steps should be. Are there tweaks KD, JE, TB, JK can make individually? Sure, and I am confident they will make them. To me, “Thinking Bigger” means we need to get in to a bigger conference. This is not an easy task to take on and could have catastrophic impacts on the school and community if not successful. I do believe national success with our athletic teams will create notoriety for the school, which will subsequently benefit the city of Akron. Before taking on a move this monumental, I think the first questions that need to be asked are………”Does NE Ohio and the city of Akron want to “think bigger” too? Is there enough room/support/demand for another high profile athletic program in Ohio? I along with all of you on ZN.o want more, but does the rest of the community feel the same way? I am not confident they do. I live in Washington DC and the University of Maryland is having the same debate on their own “Thinking Bigger” initiative. They decided a move from the ACC for the Big 10 is the way to go. They are in a large thriving market with a much larger fan base and more money. They are thinking bigger but let me tell you there are many people that think their move will be a disaster. While the UoM is on a different scale than us, the issues/questions are the same as our (coaches, facilities, recruits, money, losing records). I copied a couple of bits from articles on the UoM move below. I am not trying to argue with anyone but I think given our current situation in the MAC, we will continue to be disappointed if our expectations are not realistic. I want more but I am content at the moment because my expectations are realistic. _____________________________________________ Maryland joined the Big Ten largely because of its financial problems and the increased revenues it would bring in from league membership. But to compete in the Big Ten, Maryland had to make investments in its top programs. The school followed through Tuesday, signing offensive coordinator Mike Locksley to a three-year contract, according to multiple media reports. CBSsports.com's Bruce Feldman was first to report Lockley's contract. Locksley had two seasons left on his initial contract with Maryland, and the new deal goes through the 2016 season and coincides with the deals for head coach Randy Edsall and defensive coordinator Brian Stewart. Locksley reportedly will earn around $600,000 per year, about $100,000 more than his initial contract. He has Big Ten ties as the offensive coordinator at Illinois from 2005-08. A Washington D.C. native, Locksley is one of the top recruiters in the area. In college football more than any sport, the winningest schools have the deepest pockets. It shows in the quality of a school’s athletic facilities. The Terrapins’ facilities will be — by far — the worst in their division. For Maryland, the trouble begins with Byrd Stadium. The school says its capacity is 54,000, making it among the division’s smallest. The stadiums at Penn State and Michigan accommodate more than 107,000. At Ohio State, capacity is around 102,000. Beginning next season, three of Maryland’s division rivals will have the potential, based on the size of their stadiums, to more than double the school’s game-day revenue from ticket, parking, food and souvenir sales. Profits can be funneled back into the football program to upgrade facilities and increase salaries to lure the best coaches. You don’t need to be a numbers whiz to realize the math adds up poorly for the Terrapins. The support Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State receive from their huge fan bases is another hurdle for Maryland. If all the current Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State season-ticket holders canceled their tickets, there would be a long list of people eager to buy them — and keep the cash registers turned on. Maryland doesn’t have the money to add 50,000 seats or more to Byrd Stadium. And even if the financing were available, it would be foolish for the school to invest in a major expansion project. There isn’t enough interest in the Terrapins’ product. As much as Byrd Stadium will put the Terrapins at an economic disadvantage, their sub-standard training facilities figure to hurt more in terms of preparation. Maryland will be the only member of the Big Ten without an indoor practice facility. Coaches believe you play as well as you practice. No matter the weather in Ann Arbor, Columbus or State College, practice goes on as usual. Not so in College Park. For safety reasons, the Terrapins can’t work outdoors in extreme weather conditions. Although coaches would rather not cut short practice time and alter well-planned schedules, they have no choice when the weather could jeopardize the health of players. Recruiting players is easier for Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. Beyond the intangible benefits of having rich traditions to sell, coaches of longtime top-25 programs have more practical advantages in the use of private planes, allowing them to make more recruiting stops (per NCAA rules, of course) free from the shackles of commercial flight schedules. Edsall is faring well in recruiting despite having to do it the old-fashioned way. But consider this: Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer doesn’t have to worry about getting stuck in the ‘C’ boarding group on Southwest. The good news for Maryland is that Edsall is doing all he can to overcome the university’s brick-and-mortar issues. Talk to high school coaches, and they’ll tell you Edsall has done a great job in persuading some of the top players in Maryland and the District to sign with the Terrapins. Edsall and Athletic Director Kevin Anderson actually care about educating players. They want to build an honorable program that’s also successful.

OK, it is fine to want it but how does it get done? What is a good plan/strategy? This is an open forum so we can wish for anything we want, say anything we want. Hell, I want it too!!! There are fiscal responsibilities that come with taking the next step - it is not going to happen in the MAC I can tell you that! We need better recruits and we need to get in a different conference, in order to do that it, we need money. I hate to say this BUT - there are many passionate/caring fans on ZN.o I don't think the rest of Akron gives a crap.

OK, I've got that… But what does that mean? You guys are missing my point, which is……..with the resources KD has, he is doing a great job and making the most out of what he has. So when you KEEP SAYING "Think Bigger" are you talking about KD, the AD, the fan base…….who? AD - give KD a bigger budget to attract better quality assistants? Build a new arena? Joe Akron - get your ass to the games so the school sees there is interest and a new arena is warranted? So recruits really want to come here? Look at Akron soccer….the support is the best in the country. Guess what, we compete on a national level, win championships, attract the best recruits, get the best coaches. Why? Because of a rabid fan base and support. We need to attract better recruits and keep the good coaches we have….period. We are getting MAC recruits right now and doing very well with them. "It aint about the Xs and Os, it is all about the Jimmys and Joes" - Bobby Bowden