Zipsrifle

As we're on the topic of MAC Football Facilities, here's my thoughts of the stadiums I've been to and which ones I think are the best:1) Western Michigan - First time there this past season and it is a GREAT facility. Looked pretty rough when we drove by a few hours before the game as the home stands looked to be in rough shape. All that was blocked by the nearly sold out crowd come game time. Stands all around, new endzone facility and upgrades to the "Visitors" side. Big Time atmosphere! Good scoreboard as well along with some good signage. They are landlocked though being with a hill on one side and having a major road on the other. 2) Miami - The Cradle of Coaches facility in the endzone along with the new visitors stands are very nicely done. Overall, very nicely done, they just need to fill in the other endzone to give it that bigtime atmosphere.3) CMU - I love that place. Stands on 3 side, but there aren't that many rows. It gives a big game atmosphere but isn't all that big. 4) Akron - The most "Big time" looking stadium with the most "Big Time" atmosphere when there's a good crowd (Miami 2004). I think ICS will trump this!5) OU - Definately some history to this place, and, IMO, it should blow away all the other facilities except the expansions they have done look HORRIBLE! The hill in the endzone also doesn't enclose the facility which would give it that "Big Time" atmosphere.6) BG - Haven't been there since 2005, so I can't comment on the new endzone facility, but it looked like a glorified HS field and was pretty cookie cutter.7) EMU - I loved what the building in the one endzone that had their "Hall of Fame" or whatever. I think the BB arena was in there as well. But the place is just too big for EMU and was very cookie cutter. 8) Can't - Glorified HS field that wasn't well kept. I think the new upgrades will help it a LOT.Haven't been to the rest so I can't comment on those. Visiting every MAC stadium is on the list of things to do in my life, so hopefully I can make that happen.

I lurk on their page, and they talk about us a LOT. I'm glad we aren't so engrossed with our arch rival......or are we???? Actually, I think they would have built it. There is a facilities arms race going on in the MAC right now, and Can't is just trying to keep up. I think Miami started it with their new scoreboard and stands, then Akron built the field house and the outdoor practice facility. BG has finished their endzone facility, NIU has some nice upgrades along with Ball State. CMU put up a new scoreboard and, obviously, Akron will be winning the arms race as of fall 2009. There was a website somewhere summarizing this, but I can't seem to find it right now. I did manage to dig up this from MacReport Online.http://macreportonline.com/index.php/20080...n-Upgrades.htmlOutside of the Rubber Bowl, DIX was IMO, the WORST stadium in the MAC and an absolute DUMP! It was laughable how much it looked like a glorified HS football field. Isn't it true they have never had a sellout? They are throwing a little cash into it to keep it up, and will brag about how they have the most advanced jumbo-tron in the MAC. Personally, I would rather be in CMU's shoes, 2 time MAC Champs and picked for a 3-peat, than have ICS on the horizon! It looks like it will be a nice, and much needed upgrade. I'm actually looking forward to seeing it this season.

Agreed!

This isn't quite to the level of the Goodyear deal, but this is still HUGE. For as much as "The Don" butts heads with LP, He, the City, County, and the State have really done a great job keeping what remains of the rubber industry in Akron!! Of course, on the ABJ front page, this is BELOW the rebuilding of "Spanky's Carpet. http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/26065074.htmlHORRAY!!!!

Yea, it sucks, but we already knew that we wouldn't get the calls anyway. To be honest, I still can't believe we got the call at NC State. Remember, Money talks, Bull $#!+ walks!

I actually enjoyed digging through all that data. CMU really likes to play the B11 schools while OU has been late to the party. Also interesting to see which B10 teams heavily use the MAC to prop up the record.

Yea, they are cranking away today. Pouring Concrete on the visitors side and setting steel on the home side. AWESOME!

:blink: a concealed carry allows you to carry in your car..the moron who shot the officer had previously violated the concealed carry law and should have had the permit revoked...he went out and bought the gun he used to execute(3 to the head) the police officer AFTER he violated the concealed carry law...by the way the concealed carry REQUIRES that you announce the fact that you have the gun if a cop stops you..got no problem if you want to keep a gun at home...LEARN HOW TO USE IT>>>LEARN HOW TO STORE IT and hope when that guy breaks in in the middle of the night you have enough wits about you to get to it...and use it properly...you will be surprised how hard that is for you people who have litt;e or no formal training...thats most of you!Please, don't throw around phrases like "Statistically, guns in homes that ARE used are used against "loved" ones 90% of the time and not against intruders or home invaders." I know a LOT of people, even before I started target shooting, who had guns in the home, and you know what? They used them, and they weren't against people! That is simply ridiculous! The key point here is EDUCATION! Just like driving a car, people should be properly educated as to how to use, store, and care for a firearm. RESPONSIBILITY PEOPLE!!!! The idiots who keep the guns around the house in such a manner that their kids can get to them makes me crazy! I'm not going to go into a prolonged rant, but the bottom line is that the solution is NOT to take something away from the MANY people who use it responsibly, to protect against the FEW who use it irresponsibly. If this were a viable solution, then there should be A LOT of people banned from ever touching money again! Financial irresponsibility is hurting ALL OF US right now and I, as a responsible person, have been beaten up pretty badly as a result! never mentioned 'statistics' did I? or are you trying to obfuscate?...LIKE I SAID IF YOU WANT ONE IN THE HOUSE GO FOR IT!!!...LEARN HOW TO USE IT PROPERLY SO WHEN YOU ARE STANDING THERE IN YOU UNDERWEAR AT 3AM THE GUY WHO BROKE IN DOESN'T CAP YOU OR GET AWAY...NOW WHAT ABOUT THE GUN IN THE CAR?????!!!!...oh by the way...I have never seen anyone killed with a dollar bill...have you? usually takes a LETHAL weapon...Did you reread your post?....I think you did....Nice try Oh, and no, I've never seen a dollar bill kill anyone (maybe in a movie?) but I have seen plenty of cars, trucks, and planes kill people, so while we're at it, lets ban those too!

Goodyear was in some pretty dire straits over the past few years, but yea, you would think they would pony up enough cash to pay for a gate or something!

Zipsrifle, what were you speaking of with this quote. Did I miss an announcement or something, or have you noticed a trend over the past couple of years that escaped me?It's more a trend than anything, at Akron:2000: 2001: OSU, Purdue2002: Iowa2003: Wisconsin2004: Penn State2005: Purdue2006: Penn State2007: OSU, Indiana2008: Wisconsin2009: IndianaDoing a little research:BGSU:2000: Mich2001: NW'n2002: 2003: Purdue2004: 2005: Wisconsin 2006: Wisconsin, OSU2007: Minn, MSU2008: MinnesotaBSU:2000: 2001: 2002: 2003: 2004: Purdue2005: Iowa2006: Indiana, Purdue, Mich2007: Illinois, Indiana2008: IndianaBuffalo:2000: 2001: 2002: Minnesota2003: Iowa2004: 2005: 2006: Wisconsin 2007: PSU2008: CMU:2000: Purdue2001: MSU2002: Indiana 2003: Michigan2004: Indiana, MSU2005: Indiana, PSU2006: Michigan2007: PSU2008: Purdue, IndianaEMU:2000: 2001: 2002: MSU2003: 2004: 2005: Mich.2006: MSU, NW'n 2007: Mich. NW'n2008: MSUCan't:2000: Purdue 2001: Iowa2002: OSU2003: PSU2004: Iowa2005: MSU 2006: Minnesota2007: OSU2008: Miami:2000: OSU 2001: Mich., Iowa2002: Iowa2003: Iowa, NW'n2004: Mich.2005: OSU 2006: NW'n, Purdue2007: Minnesota2008: MichNIU:2000: NW'n2001: Illinois2002: Wisconsin2003: 2004: 2005: Mich, NW'n2006: OSU, Iowa2007: Iowa, Wisconsin2008: MinnesotaOU:2000: Minnesota2001: 2002: 2003: Minnesota2004: 2005: NW'n2006: Illinois2007: 2008: OSU, NW'nTemple:2000: 2001: 2002: 2003: PSU2004: 2005: Wisconsin2006: Minnesota, PSU2007: PSU2008: PSUToledo:2000: PSU 2001: Minnesota2002: Minnesota2003: 2004: Minnesota2005: 2006: 2007: Purdue2008: MichiganWMU:2000: Wisconsin, Iowa2001: Mich.2002: Mich, Purdue2003: MSU2004: Illinois2005: MSU2006: Indiana2007: Indiana, Iowa2008: IllinoisSo, yea, Each MAC school plays just about 1 B11 opponent every year since 2000. Looks like almost every MAC school has scheduled a B11 opponent for the last 4 years (including this year). When is Toledo gonna step up and play OSU? I thought the OSU signed a deal to play every Ohio MAC team? And whats with Indiana and Minnesota playing all the MAC teams? Also, I'm amazed at how WMU got Indiana at home last year and Illinois at home this year!

You're giving the folks at UA too much credit. Akron isn't the merchandising Giant that OSU is. Hell, I go to the hardware store and I can buy OSU flip flops The folks at UofA are probably celebrating that someone actually thinks about UofA enough to even consider putting a Kangaroo on their beer!

Is it me, or can you NEVER get a good view of the work on the Home side? Always seems dark, distant and fuzzy.

Hmmmmm......CK, I think your post is backfiring.

I think it is a good idea, but I wouldn't go for ALL of the non-conference games. Though I'm not a huge fan of us getting our heads kicked in every year by multiple Big, BCS Schools, I still think it is a requirement to play a major power ever other year for recruiting purposes. I would say we sign a deal with the BE for 2 games a year. I also prefer schools in the midwest, as I don't have the means to travel across the country once a year. I also think we should have one BCS school come to ICS at least every other year. Shell out the cash and hopefully down the road we can make it a yearly thing. Of course, this won't happen as the MAC wants us to be linked with the Big 11 which, lets just face it, is way out of our league. I hate the fact that we don't get good teams to come to Akron, it just increases the local stigma that we are a DI-AA caliber program. Bottom line, we need to have 6 games MINIMUM at ICS a year. No games in Cleveland, at "Neutral Home Site", and a maximum of ONE during a weeknight! It would be an outrage to shell out 50+ million to continue playing 4 games a year at home all on a Wednesday night!

Can't we ask Goodyear to fly the real blimp over The Info for our home games? It's certainly going to be a community event and I see the blimp out flying around all the time anyway.If people in Akron don't buy Goodyear replacement tires for their vehicle, seeing the blimp over UofA events won't change their mind. In the end, the Blimp is an advertising platform and 25,000 people at ICS pales in comparison to the 100,000+ and TV exposure they would get in Happy Valley or Ann Arbor. I think we see the Goodyear blimp when ICS opens, but not much after that.

I agree on the blimp. The only problem is that it would likely have to follow a wire around the stadium as those little blimps they sell would likely not be able to overcome any strong gusts of wind! I couldn't believe that Can't has a blimp at the BB game last year and we did NOT! I wonder about WTF the pomotional people do with all their time.

Yea, the only problem is the larger the tire, the heavier it will be. Some of the really big tires probably weigh several TONS! This would pose a problem if the tire tipped over. I'm sure the engineering dept. could come up with something. Low tech (an outrigger) or high tech (a gyroscopic balancing device). After our $1.5 million dollar investment to get a tire to become a drum, we could boast that it is the most advanced drum in the world!

This was brought up on another post, but I thought a poll would be nice to pass the time. Back in the day, UofA had a tire drum. I think we need some tradition and this is something unique that no other school can claim! What do you think?

so does this mean the band will bring back the tire drum? I sure hope soI hear THAT! That is definately a great idea. We need to establish some traditions, and this is something we can bring back from the past! We could get the biggest tire we could find, have the engineering students rig up some type of motorized drive for the thing and have it ready for opening day at ICS! The crowd would go WILD!!!

Excellent point, we don't have any big name players, so yea, I guess I'm one of the people who are concerned. I think this is the first year that I can remember when we didn't have ANY real standout players returning. That isn't to say we wont' make waves, and some outstanding guys won't pop up.....there just aren't any sure bets anywhere. One of the reasons I think I love College athletics over Pro is that there are so many unknowns every season. I don't have very high hopes, so it won't take much for me to be plesantly suprised. I think that on the board the general attitude has been to support the staff when they tell players who are not team players, trouble makers, or don't get the grades to take a hike. I know I don't want our program to be known as a bunch of stupid thugs.

GOOD because I'm NOT rich and everything I touch seems to lose value!

:blink: a concealed carry allows you to carry in your car..the moron who shot the officer had previously violated the concealed carry law and should have had the permit revoked...he went out and bought the gun he used to execute(3 to the head) the police officer AFTER he violated the concealed carry law...by the way the concealed carry REQUIRES that you announce the fact that you have the gun if a cop stops you..got no problem if you want to keep a gun at home...LEARN HOW TO USE IT>>>LEARN HOW TO STORE IT and hope when that guy breaks in in the middle of the night you have enough wits about you to get to it...and use it properly...you will be surprised how hard that is for you people who have litt;e or no formal training...thats most of you!Please, don't throw around phrases like "Statistically, guns in homes that ARE used are used against "loved" ones 90% of the time and not against intruders or home invaders." I know a LOT of people, even before I started target shooting, who had guns in the home, and you know what? They used them, and they weren't against people! That is simply ridiculous! The key point here is EDUCATION! Just like driving a car, people should be properly educated as to how to use, store, and care for a firearm. RESPONSIBILITY PEOPLE!!!! The idiots who keep the guns around the house in such a manner that their kids can get to them makes me crazy! I'm not going to go into a prolonged rant, but the bottom line is that the solution is NOT to take something away from the MANY people who use it responsibly, to protect against the FEW who use it irresponsibly. If this were a viable solution, then there should be A LOT of people banned from ever touching money again! Financial irresponsibility is hurting ALL OF US right now and I, as a responsible person, have been beaten up pretty badly as a result!

Ah, yes, you are right, they need the catch basin. I would imagine this is something that is permanent. If so, I hope they dress it up so that it doesn't look like a catch basin. Maybe have a minimum water level with a fountain or something like that.

I'm thinking they need to pull ahead the field drainage work. There is STILL a small pond at the bottom of that hole! On the up side, I guess we could always flood the place and host the Civil Engineers Concrete Canoe competition.

Got a year or two before that can be set in stone haha... then you'll have us beat. But we'll still have Cant beat!And I know about the rule, but like the one poster said, perhaps petition it for just one game here in Youngstown.This is prob the first time in 4-5 months I even read this site... Been following politics.Yea, right!Isn't it funny how the topic of this thread ends with "End of Discussion" yet it has spurred even more discussion?