Zip Watcher

Ok .. so now that we have a (near) sellout on our hands, we must as Zips fans turn to the hand wringing and worrying about whether the fans are good enough??! Really?This sounds to me like old ladies complaining at church that the younger crowd that's filling a church on Sunday isn't dressed to their standards. The point is .. the people are there. Getting fans in the seats to experience Zips Athletics has been a question and challenge for AD's, Coaches & Fans for years .. and now we have a full venue .. probably for 2 weeks in a row. How about we welcome one and all and hope they have a nice time rather than worrying about whether or not they have the right color shirt on or enough gold paint behind their ears.I'm not a Notre Dame fan .. not by a long shot for lots of reasons .. I'm a Boilermaker among several other things. But I will admit one thing .. when you go to a game @ ND, the locals, fans and staff at the facility and near it are quite welcoming. You go through the gate and the ticket guy looks you in the eye and says "Welcome to Notre Dame .. enjoy the game" .. same for the ushers .. and many fans. It's easy to see how someone can go to a game @ ND as a youngster and like it so much they become lifelong fans. Really easy.My friends and fellow Zips fans .. a tremendous opportunity lies before us over the next few days. One which may never exist again.The events of this weekend are going to be awesome. There's a huge buzz .. people are buying tickets .. lots of them. The tailgating and downtown atmosphere is going to be nutso crazy & all those things you find in places like Ann Arbor, Columbus and other places where lots of people join in revelry prior to a college football game in an urban setting.As committed Zips fans, we have a responsibility to put the best face forward for Zips football so that all the casual fans this weekend and next have a GREAT experience and want to come back again and again. Tom, Hunter, JD and staff can't possibly accomplish this by themselves. The FANS can do much of the heavy lifting. If you ever stopped by CK's spot by the fence at the Rubber Bowl, you know what I'm talking about. Welcoming, happy to see you .. offers you a beverage. Makes you want to come back.I'm issuing a challenge to the Zips Nation right here and now: You've chosen to "Be a Part from the Start' .. now DO YOUR PART .. have a great time, represent the Zips as you like them to represent you, and greet ALL fans with the same regard and congeniality that you greet those whom you know to be true Zips die hards. Saturday, we ARE the de facto University of Akron Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Let's make it our JOB to make sure people want to come back .. regardless of what happens on the field.Ignore it if you think that student isn't participating enough .. Ignore what they're wearing .. all colors are great in a full stadium. On this weekend and next, we should all strive to be color blind to the sports garb of attendees, and make this a place that they WANT to come back to. Eventually, the other things will take care of themselves. You think the flag pole is too short? .. keep it to yourself. Your pizza a little cold? .. great, you LIKE it that way. Line to get through the gate is slow? .. "isn't it great to have such a big crowd." Let's be positive, even if it's not in our nature .. positive for those around us on Saturday. The guy who asks you for directions or help will come back again because you helped make it a fun day. No one expects things to go perfectly .. but how the legions of die-hard fans react and represent will go a long way to a successful day.It starts now .. and continues through the weekends. There will be thousands of new people in our midst at a Zips event. Our actions by themselves might not convince fans to buy season tickets and donate millions. There are other factors (economy, the product on the field) .. I get that. But our actions CAN contribute to driving a casual fan away due to having a bad experience. Let's not be that fan that ruins it for others. As it pertains to growing the fanbase of Zips Athletics .. this weekend and next are probably as important as any time I can recall. It's not just an opportunity for JD & the team to impress .. it's a chance for Zips Fans to demonstrate that the Zips Nation is a great place to be, with teams more representative of the community, more accessible to fans .. and welcoming to families and small children.It's going to be great! GREAT! .. Let's all go have fun and enjoy the new reality that is Akron Zips Football .. Go Zips!! B) B) P.S. I know I'm speaking to the choir .. and it shouldn't need to be done .. but just in case ..

I think it's significantly overrated. This sounds like a bunch of whining to me.If a team / school wants to be treated & considered a big time team, they should act and perform like a big time team. Win big games .. build and maintain big time facilities .. treat the fans the way they are at big time programs. Act like you belong there .. learn how to belong there .. belong there. Ask for no breaks, and give no breaks. Earn it on the field.Are Boise and Gonzaga fans posting this on their forums today? I'd suspect not.Go Ziips

The image is graphic arts .. not a production blue print. Count the loges .. it's different. The goal of the item was to show how things are laid out .. not the specific details.It's a great piece .. but nothing to get concerned about if you don't see a trash can or something.Go Zips!!!

We're done here folks. It's over.Jupitertoo will be taking a brief break from the nation as he / she is trolling and flame baiting around these parts repeatedly. This doesn't add to the discussion here. As best I can tell, jupitertoo's motivation is to stir the pot and get under the skin of zips fans.This time, jupitertoo alone will be taking a hiatus from the Nation. Congratulations on earning what I think is only the third suspension / ban in the history of the Nation. You did earn it.Next time, those members of ZNO who are unable to avoid taking the bait and insist upon feeding the trolls will be joining him / her. Let this be a warning to all of you who just couldn't help yourselves.Don't feed the trolls.Go Zips!!

Walter Payton would have had negative yardage in the first half Saturday. DT wouldn't have made a difference.

Interesting thought. Can't imagine that the no-huddle is helping the D at this point.

Well capacity is 32,000, so that's about all you can squeeze into Bronco Stadium. The 34,127 was a record crowd there (Wiki Link). They have plans to expand to 50,000.Wiki LinkMy observation centers on the capacity of Bronco Stadium vs. the Info .. they're not sitting on a gold mine of 50K paid attendance to accelerate their rise to the top levels of the FBS. They've only been D1-A / FBS since 1996. It is the only game in town, I get that.But if it can happen there .. it can happen here. The Zips stadium is better .. for both the fans and players. B) Go Zips!!

Watched some of this game on TV last night .. missed the end, so I didn't see the punch live.What struck me about this game was the atmosphere .. the place was jammed. Fans into the game, a real home field advantage for the Broncos. I'm thinking this is a big home game for them, BCS team in town .. huge crowd, sellout .. BSU is on the fringes of being a BCS program while playing in a lower league. I also figure while I'm sitting there that in a state capital, biggest school in the state sports wise .. this must be a crowd of about 50k.Not so.Attendance: 34,127Very interesting to me.

Back & forth battle all day. Both teams score TD's on Offense, Defense & Special Teams.Zips get the ball at their 20 with 2:45 left in the 4th, trailing 28-27. Drive stalls at the PSU 34 with 5 seconds left.Rogovic from 51 yards for the win. Ends the day 3 for 3 on FG's. B) B) B) Go Zips!

Somewhere GoZips88 is either smiling or shaking his head.Go Zips!

You sir, have posted in that forum. Congratulations!

You mean this one?!

Zip Watcher's Lock of the Week: Igor won't shank any extra point kicks. Mark it down.

Just a quick note to add onto CK's excellent post:- Disappointed to report a 68. 5 under on the front, 1 over on the back. Greens were brutal for me. Brutal in that they were like putting on glass. Not used to that at all. I was pretty much an anchor on my team's hopes the entire afternoon.- Nice event .. nice course, good way to spend a day. Was nice to hear how things were going, and chat up the coaches for a little bit. Thanks go out to all of them for humoring this hoops addicted Zips fan and his endless questions.- Staff seems pretty upbeat on the team. Sounds like the summer conditioning and individual workouts went well, and everyone's starting the semester ready to go mentally. The recurrence of Humpty's injury is cause for concern, but it's September 1 and they sound hopeful it will be resolved in time. Back injuries suck and I feel for B McK .. we saw what that did to Andy .. let's hope this is something different.- Anyone who has ever sat at a Zips game, Toledo or otherwise, and questioned KD's passion, drive and motivation to have the Zips succeed needed to be at the discussion yesterday after the morning golfers had lunch. I was ready to go out and peddle GA seats on Public Square in CLE when I left. He believes that the Zips can accomplish a lot .. and I believe that too. They've got to be good, dedicated, committed .. and lucky .. but the opportunity is there. The fans have a role as well.- I'm extremely confident in our staff going forward. Great to have the stability that KD has enjoyed. I didn't meet Peters, but spoke with the others .. and they're hoops knowledge and willingness to discuss is pretty cool. Great guys all.- Nothing is ever all roses and brandy .. but I'm hearing that things went well this summer and the guys are ready to go, building on what was accomplished last year. Staff seems to have big expectations for Nikola and the other young guys, now that they have a full year in the system, and an off-season conditioning run. Pure speculation on my part here: what if Nikola had the type of conditioning season this summer that Brett McKnight had last summer? Could be scary.Golden Era Zips Fans!! B) B) Go Zips!

Here's a link to the new GoZips.Com Gameday Central. Everything you need to know and more!!!Game Day Central @ GoZips.ComGo Zips!!! B)

As a public service, I'm posting a recent message sent to many fans from the new Athletic Director, Tom Wistrcill. This was sent on Wednesday the 26th of August. The link in the email pointed to the YouTube message, which I've embedded below the text of his email.Go Zips!!!

Nice to have him reach out ... here's the text of the email:

I heard that answer a little differently than you I think.He said (paraphrasing) "I'm not coming into this job thinking about my next job .. it's not how I do things"

Announcement at GoZips.Com, including link for 3:30 PM Press Conference Feed

In 2 years there have been exactly zero comments to that posting. Not sure what the issue is other than a LAS professor with an axe to grind about athletics. Seems to me she should be in favor of the Gophers balancing their Athletic budget so that it's self-sufficient.

My first and immediate reaction to this is that it's interesting that we hire a guy away from the only other school also opening a new football stadium this year.

Indeed ... he who arrived at UA as the all time leading scorer in CO history.

B Hip?Closer .. but no.

No, sorry .. Johnny came later.

Rashon Brown transferred in to UA from Western Kentucky .. I think he was eligible from December 2000 through the 2001-02 season .. have to check to be sure.Unstoppable point guard. Good shooter, great with the ball. Had the ability (and desire) to get to the rim @ will. Brown was the starting point guard that got the Zips to the Q for the first time in 2002.Bonus points if you can name the other starting guard from that game against BG without looking it up.For me, Brown was a guy who could have played at any level in college ball. A treat to watch.