Zipsrifle

Swing by, we'll have some Irish Coffee for you

We're a patient group.

Let me add, in addition, that I think GoZips has hit the nail on the head with tailgating. At the RB, there is essentially one good lot, the lower lot, and they can't charge everyone a premium to park in what is by far the largest lot, or nobody would go to the games. An on campus stadium is another matter. There is no "large lot", only a lot of smaller ones and people who want to attend games are going to expect the same in Akron as any other city, the closer you are to the stadium, the more you pay for parking. With that said, I expect UA to want to build a good pregame atmosphere prior to the game near the stadium. To accomplish this, they will probably allow open containers or open flames only in a few limited lots near the stadium and charge out the wazoo for those lots. People like us who like to tailgate will pony up the money, at least I know I will. Obviously the downside of all this is that it is going to get a LOT more expensive to tailgate. The upside is that I think the atmosphere will be much more festive. I expect that the lot behind the ONAT will be the main lot, and as I said before, I thought I read somewhere that Brown Street would have some spots for gameday as well. I do have one suggesting if this is the way things are to be done. I think we all know that the premium tailgating spots at the RB have been a joke. At the Western game last year, it was empty. It seems to me that the companies, people who buy these lots are not as diehard as others. I would like to see a points system established for the Tailgating spots where you get a point if you show up to tailgate, or have someone else show up in your spot to tailgate. Every game you show up, you get a point. At the end of the season, you add up the points, and those who have the highest points get first chance to buy spots. This would ensure that the diehard fans get spots close to the stadium. Obviously there will be some issues with how to enforce this. I would suggest that you need to be in your spot 3 hours before gametime to get credit. I know I have a hard time setting up all my stuff, having a goodtime, and tearing down prior to the game in less than 3 hours? Maybe they could also give points to the fans that tailgate at away games. Just some thoughts.

I'm still not that impressed with Mack, but I believe he has had a lot to do with the new stadium. If I remember correctly, he was behind a lot of money being raised at UTEP, and that is what was needed to get the Stadium done. I think UA knew a new stadium was needed, and he was brought in to make it happen. He has been able to keep KD and JD around, but I'm not that impressed with the other coaching changes. Seems like a lot of weird stuff has been happening with resignations and the like. I get the feeling there is a nasty relationship between the coaches and the administration. I wouldn't be suprised that as soon as this stadium is done, he moves on because of his accomplishment. This might be what UA was intending the entire time.

Here's a link to another forum I'm a big fan of. Specifically, this thread has to do with UA development and it has some good stuff in it not discussed here. Thought this might be of interest to those here.http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8063.new#new

They could, and might have shot in different "Lines", but a match takes a long time to shoot. In my days, a "Full Course" was 40 shots in each position. Standing, Kneeling, Prone. With setup and changeover time, you're looking at 2-2.5 hours per line. Also, this is where the "Competiton" comes in. Shooting is VERY mental. The reactions of the people around you can affect your performance. If the person next to you is frustrated, you can infer that they are doing badly. You can also look at the other targets of those around you, if you want, to gauge how you are doing. You could also, as I typically did, use every last minute of clock to keep the other shooters waiting which might get their mind off shooting, which can throw them off. These air rifles shoot pellets simiar to what a BB gun would shoot except that the pellets are of a much higher quality for precision air rifles. I would imagne that all of the rifles here used compressed air or CO2 at maybe 3000 psi. In my day you had to pump the air rifles before each shot, which made you get out of position and also raised your heart rate. These kids have it so easy! As for the backstop, I don't know exactly what it was, but pellets require much less of a backstop than smallbore bullets require. I'm sure the sheets you see are simply to match up with the color of the targets and there was probably something else behind the sheets to stop the pellets. Yes, you can shoot many different distances. I believe the high power shooters have a 1000 yard match. When I was shooting indoor, we shot .22's at 50 feet and air rifles at 10m. With indoor matches, windage is not an issue and the targets are pretty small. As the distances incease, the targets get larger. There are a lot of differnet types of shooting and I only know about the indoor shooting that is done at UA.Hope this info helps.

Below are some pics from the match. I have to say that is quite impressive. For those of you who haven't been to a match, usually we are burried somewhere in the bowels of a building far away from natural light. As I said before, I think coach really hit a homerun getting this at UA!http://uaim.dyndns.info:16080/photo_galler...800&SPSID=47843

We need to add another topic location on the main board. Can I request to have, just below the "MAC SMACK AND JOKES", a forum for: "ANNOYING POSTERS FROM DI-AA SCHOOLS THAT THINK THIER CITY AND SCHOOL ARE THE BEST EVER AND WILL READILY SPEND HOURS DIGGING UP USELESS INFORMATION TO SUPPORT THIS FACT"? Within this form, could we pin the following topics:1) Why Akron is scared to play DI-AA School2) Why Akron's facilities suck compared to DI-AA School3) Why Akron in general just sucks compared to DI-AA School4) Why the city of Akron is not as good as DI-AA town5) Ways to Kill DI-AA MascotsThis way, I can go to one place to read and discuss mindless babble about a school I really don't care about. You could also put a link there for chat rooms to DI-AA Schools so that I can go there and annoy their fans.Thank you!

DAMN THAT'S BEAUTIFUL!Outside of the lack of a clock tower, I think I pretty much called it. View in from Exchange street, nice scoreboard, grass endzone seating, visitors will be able to see Downtown Akron and UofA. What I didn't expect is how nicely it would look! I expected UA to cut corners somewhere, but I can't see where. I think the lights can be seen in the rendering, My guess is that it is a long bank of lights running the entire length of the pressbox. As for expansion...no problem. If we need to expand this place, there is room on the North AND South endzones. Add a few rows to the top and you've got a stadium to seat 60,000 easy. If we need to add that much space, then there will be pleanty of money to move the scoreboard!Tailgating: I thought I heard somewhere that Brown St would have spots available for a fee. Personally, I think UA should go through the lower lot at the RB first and offer them to people who actually attend games. The WMU game last year, all the paid for spots were empty! As for other spots, I think we should just spontaneously show up at Kathryn's place and get that place rocking like the old days. I don't like the idea of tailgating on a parking deck and I would like to be close to the stadium. If this is the stadium design, then it is, hands down the nicest stadium in the MAC. Beautiful! Simply Beautiful!

Actually, I shot for years without all the gear. When I did eventually get the pants, boots, etc, my scores went even higher! It's a lot harder when you don't have some of the special equipment.

Let's take the airdock and move it so we can continue that unique tailgating experience!I love the clock tower. I like the "U" shaped stadium as long as the open end is towards Exchange street with a nice big scoreboard, at least as big as Miami's. I also think it would be cool to drive down Exchange and get a glimpse into the stadium!I don't know if I'm too keen on the open corners. I can see less seating in the endzone, with pilings below ground for a future roof. It would also be great if there was a good view of Campus/Downtown from what I belive would be the Visitors side.

I have to say I'm amused by the lawsuit buisness. It could very well be the case that they are violating the law, but suing them won't make it public knowlege any earlier if Aug. 1st is indeed the date. I also wonder why Akron's most avid fans want to take money away from the university.....somehow this seems backwards. In the end, what is gained? I guess we would know the stadium design one month ahead of schedule. It won't get built any faster.

It's easy to cheer for a winning team. Nobody wants to go to work and talk about how their team lost.

Welcome G-Mann!

Apparently this guy is working to lock down the land for the stadium. Probably useless information, but here it is anyway:http://www.cbre.com/cbre/Templates/Corpora...CACHEHINT=Guest

We need to worry about consistently winning before we talk about jumping confrences. Those offers will come when no team in the MAC can touch us and we pull off some bigtime upsets!

So where does the university get the extra $10 million for the athletic budget? I love Zips athetics, but unless the football team and BB teams get real good, real fast, no way the administration will add that kind of cash to the program.

UA did contact me, and others about a year ago about my thoughts on the stadium, so they have received fan input. Also, I like to believe that persons within the athletic dept. frequent this site, I know they used to. I read Mike's article and have a few thoughts. First, UA has a lot of money in this thing and a lot of lawyers in general that they work with. I think Mike has a steep, difficult uphill battle if he thinks he is going to force UA to show us plans before they are ready. As pathetic of an attempt as it was in honoring his request, they still made some attempt and IMO, that will buy them the time they need until they are ready to announce this thing. Also, people on this board have been doing a pretty good job of digging up stuff on the stadium. This has probably hurt things in that UA is going to be more careful before posting things as they have in the past. We all know the general media isn't going to push or dig for this stuff, and again, they probably just visit this board to dig up the dirt they need for their stories.

ZIP: Yea, I saw that there was a planned UA Soccer Stadium. But I also thought there was something in the stadium proposal to make it multiple use. I know little about soccer, but seems to me the fields are about the same size, and so making the new stadium fit both needs shouldn't be to hard. Also allows for any future MLS team to have a stadium. On the other hand, Soccer doesn't draw as many as football, so even a huge crowd for a UA Soccer match would probably feel tiny.

I expect things will go well, and with such great facilities, the NRA may ask to come back. I haven't been to the range in Schrank for a while, but Coach was doing a pretty good job of upgrading it as much as possible. The problem with the Schrank range is that it is so cramped during a match, no room to move around or have any spectators (yes, there are a few that show up). I hope a new range would be built, but I see a scheduling conflict with putting it in the stadium. If the stadium is going to be used for Football and Soccer, as well as other events, then it might be in use quite a bit in the fall. Matches are ususally on Saturday, and I for one would not want to try to shoot under a stadium with 35,000+ people cheering above me. Maybe if there is an annex connecting the fieldhouse with the stadium, something could be built there. Also, if they upgrade the JAR, that might be a spot. I wonder if the NRA would support part of the construction costs in return for a spot for National Matches?

They should do this at the Patriot Bowl! THAT would be cool and be sure to land us some time on the Cleveland News!

Looks to me that UA did what was required to fill your request, and not a bit more. I have to agree with most posts here, this design is underwhelming. We know that more detailed plans exist, and we have dug them up on the internet. If this is the actual design, here are my thoughts.1) I don't mind the seating layout. It appears to have both endzones grass, which means it is very flexible for capacity, and would be a "Bowl" for big games.2) Partially in ground. I like this, but not for any paticular reason. It is required for the grass endzone seating.3) Plazas as at the corners are a nice touch.4) I don't like how it is "Hidden" from Exchange and Brown streets. I would like to have a good look at the stadium from exchange, even if it is only as wide as the scoreboard.5) No big scoreboard? A nice, big scoreboard is an absolute must IMO.6) Looks a lot like Kelly-Shorts, similar to Doyt Perry, Yegar, Dix, etc. Very generic. I agree with who ever said it needs to be the best stadium in the MAC when it opens.7) I hope the seating in this picture is for about 25,000 WITHOUT the grass areas. That would indicate it could be upgraded to about 50,000 no problem. If we need it larger, the pressbox would be too low, and that would requre some serious cash to upgrade further without it looking like crap......Not a bad problem to have though.

Oh yea....Link:http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_...&ATCLID=1064820

I guess I didn't even know this was going on. IMO, this is HUGE for the rifle team. It really exposes the top shooting talent in the nation to the Great Facilities UA has to offer! Hopefully this is a regular thing! I know Coach Engle has been building a great program for years, and they are on the cusp of breaking into the National Championship match. This may help snag some of that top talent! Great job to those who worked to get this landed in Akron. Hopefully this becomes an annual thing!!