Zipsrifle

I guess I was aware of the donation for the "Outdoor Living Room", but I was not aware that Memorial Hall was going to be demolished and replaced by another building. This is where my concern is. I also understand that all of the construction is necessary to make the University more attractive to current students and improve enrollment. Believe me, I think the rennovations that have taken place already were desperately needed! I also am one who believes in moderation, and we have done a HELL of a lot of building in the past decade with what appears to be no end in sight. I think it is time to scale back, build a new building every 5 years or so and start to pay down some of this debt. $60 million for a new stadium, tens of millions more for dorms around the stadium, purchasing Quaker Square, that's a lot of money for what is basically going on right now. Add to this a replacement for Memorial Hall, a new arena, and potentially some additional money for this $150 million dollar surprise, and we're talking some serious cash above and beyond the $300+ million that was initially invested.

I've figured that out. Those calories go into hibernation in your joints and muscles until you hit 30. Then they all move to your waist and apparently trash their former home on the way out.

well, this thread has degraded quickly

Remember folks, all this construction comes at a price. As with almost everyone here, I am very impressed with the improvments so far, but I do have some concern with how heavily leveraged the univeristy is right now. There have been a LOT of bonds issued to pay for the construction so far, and at some point, we've got to pay for this stuff. Is 10 years of construction worth 30 years of stagnation????

Personally, I hope it is NOT a new BB arena and has something to do with academics. If we put 150 million into a BB facility, we should have just dropped 200 million on a very nice multipurpose indoor Soccer/BB/FB facility. Whatever it is, that is a LOT of money.

Boy, that YOU TUBE link thing would work well right now.... name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flush" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>"> name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flush" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350">

I heard that they are going to be removing the skywalk from Memorial Hall to the JAR.

Man, sounds like we are going to have a MONSTER team in a few years! I didn't know we were going to be this stacked. Imagine it.....The BB team makes a run deep into the NCAA tourney, and the Soccer and Rifle teams both win National Championships!

Another dynamic that may come into play here is that ICS is going to be quite a bit smaller than the RB. The capacity is listed at 30,000, but I think that includes the grass seating in both endzones and standing along the fence, so lets say that actual seats will be in the neighborhood of 25000. That means you won't have the luxury of walking into the stadium and being virturally guaranteed a seat for every game. This could hit in two ways. First, it could cause people to purchase their tickets earlier so that they are assured a good seat...on the other hand it could also be a deterrent.

Well, I'm going to get the Family pack for both '08 and '09. That is a pretty good deal IMO, besides, I'll need it. Even if you don't have kids, it is still a pretty good deal. You get in for cheaper than 2 general admission tickets and you get the tickets for the kids essentially free. Bring your nephews or nieces. Personally, I'm kinda torn on where I want to sit. The home stands will be nice, but I'll tell you what, it'll be quite a sight to see Downtown and the towers of the University peaking from behind the Home Grandstand. Of course, I'm sure they'll have a family section picked out or something. Hopefully there is a playland or something there. The kids and Mom's can go run around and all the Dad's can sit together and spew foul language at the officials.

Yep, that's right. Here, I'll clarify for you..Purdue = Big 10 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Akron = MAC -$

I'm sorry, but I don't buy the "Support for Student-Athletes is lacking" argument. Bottom line here is that a lot of these "Student Athletes" don't care about the student part of it. Back in my day, when I was paying for my school and shooting, you have no idea how many of these kids were completely blowing off their classes. And it's not like they were taking Engineering or something. If you needed help, you got it. These kids get WAY WAY WAY more help than non-student athletes. They simply need to stop screwing around and study. IMO, JD took some risks to quickly build the program and it looked good early on, but has backfired since then. Now we are paying the price. JD probably thought he would be long gone by now and not have to deal with it. Now that he's gonna be around for a while, he's changed his tune.

Out of sight, out of mind. That's the way it was when I was in school. Yea, we have a football team, but we don't really know where they play and what is this tailgating thing? A bus takes us there and we get dropped off just before the game starts. That first home game, when all of a sudden all of these old people show up on campus, clogging the streets in the city, flags flying, beer drinking they will figure out what to do before the game. Then when they walk into a stadium packed with 30,000+ people.....things will click! THAT is why an on-campus stadium is so important. Get the students hooked (like me), and they will come back. We can't screw up the opening of this thing. The first season good attendance is a given. We need to put a quality product on the field and make a solid run in the 2nd season. A packed house for 2 years straight will not only get a lot of fans hooked, but it will also look VERY good to those recurits who are trying to decide between Akron and say Miami.

So many things can be done with polymers, it really is amazing. Just another reason to have NEOCOM in Akron.

I was watching them today over lunch and they aren't screwing around! That place is a beehive of activity. I had some serious doubts about this place being ready for Sept. 09, but the way these guys are moving, no problem!

Oddly enough, I don't know if I like more bowl games for the MAC schools at this point in time. Right now, a Bowl game is a BIG DEAL for a MAC school, and I for one would like to keep it that way. We all know that MAC schools don't travel well, and making a Bowl game a run of the mill event will just contribute to lack-luster attendance at bowl games and continued bashing of the MAC schools. At this point in time, any team outside of the two teams who play for the MACC won't travel to a bowl game unless it is within a day's drive, just my opinion of MAC fans. This means the MCB or the International Bowl would likely fare well, but a bowl out west wouldn't. The top teams in the confrence may travel better as they are likely wanting to make a splash on the national stage, but the upper-middle MAC teams kinda know they will get thumped. I know if Akron went 7-5 and went to a bowl game in Colorado or something, it would require some thought. But if they went 7-5 and went to Toronto, no brainer!As for the "bad" schools in the BCS confrences going to bowl games, I think we all agree that some changes need to be made before we get away from this. Again money talks and BULL$#!+ walks, and those "Bad" schools still travel well, which is why they go to the bowl games.

I have an idea for the last game at the RB. We should have a "Fill the Bowl....with Rubber" night. Everyone brings a set of their old tires, and when the thing is over they all roll their tires down the bleachers. Then, everyone goes outside and we have the biggest bonfire in college history!

I agree that there should be some type of student involvement. The blimp is a good idea. In fact, for Homecoming it would be cool if there was some type of contest by the students. In Houghton, Mi at Michigan Tech, they have Winter Carnival. Each Frat House, student organization, etc. makes huge ice sculptures and there is a big party. It is THE event of the year. I could see something like this for Homecoming, that would be cool.

Well, it seems to me that if this team makes 1 or 2 deep runs into the NCAA tourney, they'll have no option but to start shelling out money for a new stadium. I don't think the administration is going to let a potential National Championship team suffer. Actually, from the pictures, it looks like the upgrades to the existing stadium aren't that far out of reach. I can see this happening WAY before a new BB arena! BTW, didn't they upgrade the soccer stadium just a few years ago? Sounds like it needs to be updated again. Personally, I've decided I have to attend at least one soccer game a year from this point forward. I don't know the first thing about soccer except that it is good when we kick the ball into their net and bad when they kick the ball into our net. Now, if I can just figure out which one is our goalie, I'll be all set!

I think it would be great for the Band to have a "Parade Route" prior to the games on the way to the stadium. At UofM, they march down the street towards the stadium and everyone lines up as the band goes by. I do have to say that the band marching into Ohio Stadium earlier this year was simply AMAZING! Here is what I envision for InfoCision. The band breaks into two groups well before the game. One group goes to the South Residence Hall Quad and the other Stages at Martin Fountain. They start playing the fight song, etc. to get the students out of their beds. The group from the south quad marches with students in tow towards the center of Campus where the two groups meet. The band then puts on a small pep rally for the students from the steps with John R. Buchtel overseeing the whole thing. This mass of students then moves East along Buchtel Common through the heart of Campus and down Union Street towards the Stadium. Immediately outside the front of the stadium they stop and play again for the mass of fans that is now gathering. They enter the stadium through the NW corner. I think the Parade thing MUST be done. Hell, I'll even stop tailgating early so I can follow the band on their route! Man, I'm getting pumped just thinking about it. When was the last time Akron had 35,000 people packed into the city for an event? Akron is gonna be rockin' like May Day in the early 90's come Sept. 19 2009!

Good topic, too bad someone had to ruin it. I for one am just as frustrated at the Akron fan base and their tendencies. It's easier to cheer for a team that wins all the time than have to answer why your team lost. IMO, that is the root of our issues. Start winning, and then things will change. As for the band, I have a lot of respect for those kids, they are out there every home game, in the good and bad weather and are usually the last ones in the stands.I for one am NOT going to have some Punk @$$ kid come in here and preach to me about the way things are done at Akron. There are MANY people on this board who were going to games when you were still crapping in your diaper, and they will still be going into game 5 years from now when the Zips are the last thing on your mind. There are people who post on this board who go to EVERY AKRON GAME, no matter where it is. Did you go to all the away games when you were in the band? Do you go to all the games now? I don't care if someone taught you the fight song. Some of us had to learn it before it was posted on the Internet for everyone to look up! You have issues dude!

Sorry to say it, but in addition to what Cap'n said, the MAC schools need to stay close to home for their bowl games. The MAC schools don't travel well and going to a bowl more than a day's drive away will keep away a lot of fans. I don't think a Bowl in Washington would bring in a good MAC crowd. I love the MCB, it's a GREAT location for the MAC schools. It's averaging well over 50,000 fans over the past 5 years with the MAC schools traveling well. I could see the International Bowl growing in a similar manner. Anything outside of the Midwest will have problems.

So for those of us not so well versed in Collegiate soccer, where does this class rank nationally?

Three houses in one day. Is that the limit or do they still have work to do to prep the other two? Can't wait until I can see Exchange street from the camera. Also, on your way to the Plasma Center see how far you can jump a backhoe off of that 2 story mound of dirt!

Come on guys. Though you might not want to admit it, Can't is better than Akron in educating students in certain areas and they do provide a benefit to the community. Fashion design is important to many people and we all know that NE Ohio is a center for Liquid Crystal manufacturing! What I would like to emphasize is that in the area of technology and engineering I believe Akron holds the advantage and in this day in age, that is a very important position to hold. Also, I for one wouldn't be bragging about having a law school...you know what they say about lawyers.