zipper

I like the "our town" theme. We're always fighting city hall (literally - hah!) when it comes to people around here seeing Akron as their hometown university. It's not like it's the theme for all time, but it's good for now to remind people.Fear the Roo, while obviously copied, was the best marketing campaign for UA in maybe ... ever. I remember that year that Akron won awards for that marketing campaign, so the "marketing genius" (UAM) might have implemented it differently from Maryland. GP, you have it in for Waddel, why I don't know. Did he give you a wedgie one time or something? I work out of town all the time now, and I'm in Cincy a lot and was in a bar once time talking about the Akron people who are down there now. They think the marketing, which I assume is under Waddel, is great and they really praised him. I just always feel the need to defend the guy after GP1 gets done ripping him. I thought the marketing under that regime was actually much better than now, but maybe that's just because it was such a huge upgrade at the time.One thing I hesitate to report, but it's true, is that when MT was here they had auditors at the gates with clickers making sure they didn't over-represent the actual attendance. I asked one of the clicker people about it and they said they didn't want to get caught exaggerating attendance, especially with those possible reforms of not staying division 1a if you were under some number of attendance. And I know we're stretching the numbers again now. So GP, while the numbers might have appeared to go down, they probably were even up. Just to be fair.

I like the mention of Dr. P. He gets very little credit for our athletic successes of late and he deserves most of it. It was he who fired Helsel and then hired Thomas from Virginia and now Mack. It was also him who gave these two support, both financially and politically. He hires the kind of guys who get things done the right way, and buildings built - the fieldhouse project was dead in the water when Thomas got here, now it's built as well as our new practice fields on campus, and Mack has done a great job of keeping the stadium project moving and to fruition. He hires good people who know how to make things happen, both on the field and in the offices (except our current marketing....aaargh...but I digress).Proenza also gets athletics and what it does for a university. I have a feeling not all presidents do. So even though he's not a "sports guy", he understands and appreciates the intangible value strong athletic programs bring to the university and the community.I could not be more pleased with him as our president, from an athletics standpoint. Of course, he's worked a few other miracles outside of athletics on this campus, as well

I cannot take this. C'mon Zips!

Come on now. We could have easily been 9-3. When some coaches are given enough time, they do improve. Not all - I was all for canning Owens when we did. His time was past. I'm not sure we're there yet with JD. LO was always about next year and never seemed to take responsibility for not getting over the hump. It was like ground hog day with him, and if we have another season like this year, I'll be thinking the same about JD.I'm more interested in if JD's the kind of coach (and guy) who is open to learning from his mistakes and gutsy enough to make changes. It appears he is, and is doing so. He's smart enough to get better, we'll just have to see if he's wise enough to be open to what needs to happen - no blinders in analyzing what he's doing. I'm all for moving Morehead down to another position, but it's tough to keep rotating coordinators - remember LO's carousel of DCs?You guys are gonna kill me for this, but I think JD gets two more years, especially if we see improvement next year.

If hiring an AD who wants to stay at Akron is the answer, Mike Waddell is not the person. Mike is a young guy who wants to move up just like everyone else his age. He would be another two and done AD.Believe me guys, Mike Waddell is not the same as Mike Thomas. Mike Thomas was a smart, thoughtful guy who seemed to be a cut above 90% of the people in college athletics. Mike Waddell was just like the other 90% who spends their days half working and half self promoting. You can put the other 90% in a bag, shake them up and they all come out together.I would agree Mike Waddell would move up the ladder and might not be the best choice for us. But for ANYONE to say he spent half his time here self-promoting is ludicrous. The guy worked his butt off for Akron. In very early, out late, and imho he completely changed the face of UA in our city. Nobody promoted the Zips the way he did, and in terms of hours worked, he might have been the most tireless worker of that whole administration. Be fair.

You know, I would make that decision based on the potential of improvement. This is JD's first head coaching job, and as he's admitted already he is going to have to adapt and learn. With Owens I felt he was languishing, not just unhappy in not taking it to the next level, but seriously treading water because he didn't know what else to do.IF, and it's a big "if," JD makes the changes in staffing and coaching assignments that obviously need to be made, and is open to trying things differently, I'm open to his development even if it takes a couple more years to show itself. We expect instant gratification in college athletics these days, and I'm just not sure it's valid or fair. You can look around the country at several BCS programs that took longer than five years to get it going. I'm just not sure, which is why I say I'd need to see willingness to adapt and make changes on his part. Just wipe the slate clean if you need to.

He will have lots of options.

I think we have to be fair to Mack and remember it's his first year (or now in his second) as the AD. He's probably still open to developing what kind of ad he's going to be, and I'd bet almost his entire first year was spent on getting his arms around the university and the athletic department. Look, just ask them - I think administrators in athletics at our level have got at least 60 hour work weeks, and maybe more. If they don't stop to talk to me, fine. I'll take effectiveness over friendliness every day. Both Mack and MT seem friendly enough as long as they're getting the job done, which both are (and did, in MT's case). And quite frankly, Bobinski probably had more time to call a student in and visit for 45 minutes, because less was being accomplished. The less AD availability, the more the AD is doing the stuff that actually produces big time results. Imagine if he took even 15 minutes to schedule office time with every student, booster, or season ticket holder that emailed.GP, you are the only one that is harsh on Waddell. We never had a marketing guy like him and probably never will again. Did he insult your wife or something? Geesh...

This is great news. If we can pay KD appropriately, I don't think he'd go, even for the big bucks.

Can we please take Huggins' picture out of the JAR now? Please?

Don't Anga' the Kanga'! That is really, really funny and I hope the new UAM picks it up. It's a great take off from Fear the Roo. Too good.

Dude, there are friggin tons of schools with the capital A. If we are stupid enough to go back to that I'm killing myself, seriously.Several years ago every sport had their own logo. Now THAT was a mess. They don't have the freedom to just go out and get their own stuff anymore, which is good. When someone sees the logo now, they know who it is - Akron!

That menu is for a weekend night, not a week night. And WHERE ARE THE ZIPPY COOKIES??? I live for those!

The old gozips.com was as sharp as I've seen. I also hate the new one.

Since we can now assume Marketing is reading this forum, let me give you guys a little insight: fans like consistency. Sure, you can change things....OVER TIME. The ship was headed in the right direction, and you guys came in and thought you knew better, or let your egos get in the way of continuing much of the marketing that was happening here. I've said this often to people, but please tell me Hunter contacted Waddel before he did anything, if for no other reason than to find out WHY the prior administration marketed like they did. That would have helped avoid some of these fiascos, imho.I HATE it when people come in new and try to reinvent the wheel when it's spinning around just fine, or at least better than it had been for several years. You guys were hired to continue the success of the administration, not create your own. You put your mark on the program when you have the ability AND the humility to continue the upward trajectory. Please rethink your approach.

I thought Waddel did the best job we've ever had here, and when you think about it, for his first years here he did it with Owens and Hipsher - not the easiest products, competition wise, to market. I'd love to see what he would have had going this year. I am disappointed in the marketing this year. Sometimes I think new administrations change things just to change them, instead of analyzing what's going well and not messing with it. I hope Hunter had the insight and enough common sense to call Waddel and ask about the history of some of these things so they could hit the ground running instead of reinventing the wheel. The cartoon for just one example. Bring it back, it was worth getting to my seats early game after game just to see it.I don't mind capitalizing on Fear the Roo, IF it's done correctly, as many have pointed out. And I think the billboards got a lot of play last year - people at least talked about them, which means they were noticed. I feel like we were on a roll in this area and building excitement. Now it's like it's nonexistent.

We better be careful what we wish for ... Cincinnati, Mike Thomas' new job, apparently will have a head coach opening after this morning. One thing I do NOT want is to start over with a new staff. Coaches are going to have up and down years, and I have confidence in Brookhart's intelligence and with his business background his willingness to make change where needed, at the end of the day.The timing of an "off" year at Akron may be just right. I'm sure Cincinnati will be at least looking at this year's top MAC coaches. Brookhart may be off limits this year at least.If you had told me five years ago that we'd have the MAC coach of the year, a MAC championship, and a bowl game last year, I'd have bet my first born child against it. Not to mention what the hiring of Dambrot has done for Akron. I'll take the off year in football - some of the best coaches in the country have this happen.

Oh please. Analyst you continue to push your basketball only agenda. Problem is, you're very short sighted.Let's see, under Brookhart we've had two very good years, one average year, and you want to discontinue football. I hope football recruits don't read your posts as anything but rubbish. And to prove it, let me just add:The university has just spent millions on an indoor football facility, they built new outdoor practice fields ON CAMPUS, and now they're spending a huge chunk of money finishing out the second floor of the fieldhouse for football offices. They've invested in real estate, and just ponied up another $2 mil for the plans for the new stadium. They're NOT going to drop football, period, end of story. Can you please let it go? Tell you what, why not just post positives about basketball without tearing down football? Keith's recruiting is helped when football does well, and vice-versa. Don't kid yourself, and both head coaches know this as well. You can't buy the kind of advertising Akron got in two nationally televised games last year. It used to be I had to explain my Zips wear when I traveled, now I can't believe how many people across the country - even Cali and the east coast - recognize it and say something along the lines of, "Hey, that's the Zips!" Then they talk about how they saw us play last fall.The success of the flagship sports is not mutually exclusive, and in fact is mutually beneficial. Let it go, man.

I remember UAM had that problem with the paper - even after he proofed ads they'd be wrong - especially on multiple run days. They'd get it right the first day and then, I guess due to laziness, they'd not check and then run the old version on the next day. Now as far as the sign being wrong on campus, that's a learning curve for Hunter, no doubt. But he'll get there.

The later it gets in the season the better day games become. Personally a little later in the afternoon is best - say 2:30 or 3:00. You're still tailgating in the warm of the day, and starting the game at the warmest. Plus more people are done with their kids activities and sports by that time. 1:00 is not ideal, but it ain't that bad, either.

Add women's golf. We have some of the best golf facilities with Firestone and the new indoor golf area in the fieldhouse. More people care about and follow golf. This is a no brainer.

Of course Amato's not on the hot seat. You guys had a little trouble getting a basketball coach last spring, if I remember correctly. I'm thinking your administration doesn't want to go through that public relations disaster so soon again.

And this is exactly why we need to pay JD and KD well - to keep on attracting high performing coaches to our profile head coaching openings.If JD or Dambrot feels the administration is messing with them, and they are successful and leave, it will be "known" in the coaching world. No one will touch either one of these jobs without first calling JD or KD and asking about how this admin is to work for and if they are willing to pay them what they deserve.I also think if Mack gets the stadium project finished he will also be on a lot of short lists. Remember, even though Thomas and co. set it up with excellent hires in fb and mbb, the great marketing, the new fieldhouse, and a hunk of the money already raised for the stadium, Mack's going to be seen as the closer and probably look desirable to many other schools.I've accepted that we're a stepping stone school, now I just want us to do the things that will continue to attract the best and the brightest on their way up.

I have waited years for this. Congrats JD and company. You did us proud, and we are starting to get used to this feeling.... PRIDE. Thank you.

I thought the old site was one of the best I'd ever seen. Can't believe they messed it up. Hey guys, you don't have to change everything just to make your mark. Keep the good, change the bad. Maybe they should have observed for a year or so and then decided what needed changing. Clue: keep the header photos at the top. They were excellent.