Zipsrifle

I know alot of Cuse fans are staying north of Akron in Macedonia next to I-271. I've driven through the area and looks pretty nice. Any good late night restaurants around Macedonia that will still serve around 11pm? BTW, so where is "The Valley"? anyone have a street intersection? I googled it and it looked to be pretty far out in the suburbs. Macedonia? There's no way to get to campus from there without driving through major construction. Route 8 is still the fastest way, but you have to go through the Boston Heights speed trap. Macedonia is mostly chain restaurants and strip malls. It's about the most generic suburb that you'll ever see, unless you head off into the national park. As far as the Valley goes, it's still in Akron, but barely. We're used to having to drive to get places. Nothing's really centrally located in Akron, everything is spread out all over so we don't really think about it. It's where most of the complaints come from when people out of town complain that there's nothing to do, because they don't know where to go and wrongly assume that all the good stuff is concentrated downtown like in other cities. Appreciate all your inputs...but my small caraven group is driving over Friday night...getting in late around 11pm...most are getting up early to hit the HOF in Canton then to the tailgate. A couple of us not going are getting last minute tailgate supplies for 100. Then we are tailgating early afternoon, watching the game, be back to the hotel around 11pm...get up Sunday and drive home. Macedonia will work for us...others in my tailgate might find some of your other places to stay very useful...thanks. Keep it coming...BTW, Brubaker's looks awesome. Not sure I have time but would like to have a beer there. I see the downtown location is a short walk to Lot 34...hmmmm maybe a post game meetup there. I won't go to Brubaker's again. Last year for the OU game (the 2nd game at ICS), they were totally overwhelmed with Zips fans. You would think that you would be prepared for an event at a 30,000 seat stadium less than a mile from your establishment. Of course, the entire staff was dressed in Ohio State gear and the girls waitressing were more worried about helping out the college boys than the other fans where were there to eat. It was terrible, we walked in 90 minutes before kickoff, ordered our own food from the bar and thankfully had cash so we could just leave. We barely made kickoff!

Well, according to espn.com, we don't even play Syracuse this year.....

Wow, great idea! Glad to see they included all the sports too.

That is dumb. The whole away game thing hasn't been done very well for a long time. I've called the AD in years past (3-4 years ago) and they tell me they don't have tickets for away games. I go to the game anyway, and there are a bunch of what I assume are UA parents at the game sitting in an entirely different section. It's always nice to sit next to fellow Akron fans so why make it hard? We are planning on going to Philly this year but we'll be going a few days early to see the sights. Trying to knock off more stadiums on my "Tour of the MAC".

Rowdy, I think we sat in front of you for a few minutes before the actual scrimmage started. I was the one with the kids. Anyway, I don't think Rogers is 100% at this point, he was still limping a bit at times. I know he was against the 2nd team D, but Rogers seemed more comfortable to me this year when passing and he seemed to have more pop in his throws compared to last year. Nicely looked good, and he would go through his progressions, but he missed wide open receivers over the middle a couple of times. I think we don't go over the middle enough. Our cornerbacks have some speed and did a good job covering, but height might be a problem. Still, I was glad to see some solid coverage. If AA can stay healthy, he's going to be awesome. He looks very good and sometimes I wish he would just bowl over the defender, which he did when he scored the TD. Cambell crushed a couple of those punts! I don't know if it was because it was a scrimmage or what, but there were times when I didn't see the effort I would have liked. Blocking by the WR is still pretty bad, which drives me crazy. At one point, the QB scrambled to buy some time, threw a ball that was a little off and the receiver just gave up on it. Had he dived he may have been able to get it but didn't even try. Only a few good hits which may be a result of not trying to get people hurt. I have to say that I don't really know what to expect this year until we play a game. Today went just about as I expected it. I'm no football expert, just a fan but I didn't come away feeling any different than going in. UA did a good job with the whole event. My kids had an awesome time and my estimate of the turnout (which had some method to it) was between 1000 and 1300 people. Not bad.

Yea, I have to agree, that place is awesome. We swung by after the FB event as well and the soccer team must have completed practice a few minutes earlier. Coach Porter was admiring the new stadium, and that must have been a great feeling for him! I have only seen other College Soccer venues online, but I have to think this is one of the best college soccer stadiums in the country! Just like ICS, this place has exceeded my expectations.

I wouldn't consider income as a good measure or the quality of education either. I know some very smart, motivated people who could be making a hell of a lot more money than they do being an Engineer. Besides, I really don't put much into these polls. You get out of school what you put into school. Where I've worked so far, the Akron educated Engineers represent UofA very well.

Very nicely done. I haven't really done my homework on the existing staff so this was informative. Wish we could find more coverage like this.

Wow, looks much bigger than I expected! The more I see of this the more I like! I really get the impression that this stadium will look like it has a much higher capacity than it actually does!

WOW, that will be impressive if the grand master plan comes to fruition. I also noticed that quite a few homes have been demolished near Summa on the East side of campus between Market and Buchtel. My guess there is that Summa will be expanding across Market street. The two big players in the University park Alliance are making things happen around campus.

No tickets here, hopefully tomorrow. No worries for my tailgating, I'm a lot 34 guy. I for one have been trying to keep my negativity in check but it's tough when you've been around a while. Bear with us, we're just a bunch of grumpy old men....

I think the entire season should be an interview period. In fact, I smell a reality TV show! ZNO can nominate 3 people. The UA Student body can nominate 3 people. The Community can nominate 3 people and the University can nominate 3 people. We set up a panel of judges and then have the zips fans vote! Profits go to paying for the Stadium Debt!

Wow, well, I'm staying out of that one. I like to think about how participating in athletics helps the student athletes and their fellow students. In many cases being able to participate is a motivating factor for many athletes in their academic studies. It provides some excitement for the other students on campus (AK Rowdies in particular) and something for the students on campus to get behind. Having athletic programs at the university will attract students to your campus. In my case, there were only 2 options for me in the State of Ohio and my disdain for OSU runs deep so the decision was easy. In fact, would argue that Rifle makes money for the University. Because of the scarcity of Collegiate shooting programs, competitive shooters seek out schools and we pay our way. Many student athletes are involved in other organizations. During my time we had many Engineers on the Rifle team and some of them were also involved in the successful SAE teams. It also helps build your alumni base. I know many of my former team members who are avid zips fans. At least 3 have personalized Zips license plates and make a point to attend a few sporting events every year. The impact to the university is indeed difficult to quantify, but it is hard to argue with how popular football is in this country. I wouldn't be typing right now if UofA didn't have a football program. Even though we aren't very good in football, and on paper we lose money, it generates quite a bit of buzz for UofA and pumps a good chunk of money into the University. Overall, I think it is an advantage to UofA even if it is hard to justify on a balance sheet.

Probably. My understanding is that if someone is making it for you, and you pay them, then it will be an issue. If you make it yourself, no problem. I don't know if somebody makes it and then gifts it to you if that is a problem. Of course, if it is a "Gift", then they are probably a "Friend" and you would give them something for their birthday, christmas, or maybe just because it is the 2nd Thursday of the month?

So, considering where we stand right now, we should avoid all good teams and schedule as many cupcakes as possible. We would , of course, have to actually defeat those cupcakes and somehow survive without the money games. At this point in time, I just want to be contending in the MAC, I don't even care about a national ranking.

Yea, but he'll be good for the first game......

Don't want him, let someone else deal with his issues. Now, where is that dead horse smilie????? Oh, here it is....

I'm loving these videos. Great job whoever thought of doing this!

Well, the fact that he was holding his daughter immediately after practice is a good sign for me! I can't imagine how much time these guys dedicate to their craft and how much the families sacrifice. It would be much easier to ignore the kid while you do an interview, but he instead makes time for her right there during an interview. I'm a family first kind of guy so I really liked that, especially since I have a daughter about that age. I'm trying not to judge the guy in any aspect until he has a chance to show me what he's capable of.

Yea, I saw that today. That's a pretty nice parking deck as parking decks go. Still, it is a bit of an eyesore. They should have put the parking deck where the new dorms are and put the new dorms where the parking deck is. What a way to kill a large section of street! I love he huge UA on the side though...no mistaking where you are!

Well, I stopped by the new Soccer stadium today and took some pictures....but of course my wife left the memory card at HOME in the COMPUTER! Anyway, it looks good. I think it will give quite a nice atmosphere. The east stands are elevated so that the Rowdies can stand in front and everyone else behind can see. Can't wait to hit a game this year!

I drove by the stadium today as well and it was open, though it looked far from finished. At least it appears they are making an effort to have it ready.

I'm starting to get excited about the season, but just because it's football season. I'm hoping for the best. Coach I needs to prove himself quickly.....

NO MU I don't think it will ever gain any traction...... Slides right off the tongue... I don't thing the name will stick.... And People thought driving around Akron in the winter was bad... Just a little vehicle dynamics humor for the engineers..

The more I look at the pictures of the stadium in this thread, the more I like it. I really like the seating behind the goal. Even though we don't have one large grandstand, I think this seating will give us a distinct Home Field Advantage. BTW, did anyone else notice that on Google Maps they have FINALLY updated the area around campus? It can't be more than a few weeks old as the soccer field is ripped up.