g-mann17

This is only point I will address of yours, the rest just seems to be you being very misinformed.Due to NCAA restrictions no athletic facility can be paid for through student generated moneys. In other words, like the football stadium, a new arena would have to garner outside donations and bonds to be paid back from general operating revenues from said arena. So if an arena (which costs students nothing) is built it is in not in place of academic facilities, it is to bolster the student experience. Also, it's all pipe dreams right now anyway so don't get your tuba tarnished when this is something that is at least 5 years out from being in an actual planning stage.

Well, being that the bulk or our students are still unfortunately commuter students we really have to look at what we can do. (And that's not a dig at commuter students, I was one, I know how hard it is to drive back and forth to campus and find parking spots and leave after 5 - 7 hours of class and being in Bierce only to get home and think, man there was a game tonight)The first area of concentration for getting more students to the game is really getting Res Life, and the Greek council to really push it home to the people on campus that a Zips home game is where to be. This doesn't just go for Men's basketball, it goes for women's basketball, volleyball, swimming etc. It's building pride in the school. The AK-Rowdies seem to be a good student organization that is moving in the right direction. I didn't have a group like this when I attended. We did have groups that were "Suckeye" fans. And unless you became a fan you barely knew when anything was going on.WZIP 88 is another good tool. If you know people that are DJ's PD's etc, you have to make sure we are selling it that the sporting events are where it is at. We have a contender in Men's basketball every year; we have a contender in Men's Soccer every year; and it's just a plain exciting time for the football program. Not to be harsh on Z88 sports but when you have bio pics and only two of your crew are sporting University of Akron paraphernalia there is a major problem.

A: yes, we need a new arena, expansion (at least to have something special) is often times as costly as building new, especially since the city wants to be involved so we can actually spend less in the long run for a new arena. B: the MAC isn't going to move up, it doesn't happen, UCF, and Marshall, left, there is more money in other conferences, plain and simple. The MAC doesn't generate money the way the Big East does. It is best for all athletic programs at the University to be part of a larger more prestigious conference.Now back to the cost thing. When I was attending the University, and plans were in the works for the Student Rec center, Summa had approached the University to build (not help build, just build) a state of the art Rec center. Probably something that would even rival what we have now, especially from an athletics stand point because it would have included orthopedic rehabilitation equipment and experts. Needless to say certain individuals on the ASG felt that this would make the school a "sell out" and it wouldn't be "our rec center" and the hospitals could use it anytime they wanted. Well, let's just say that decision that was made was a poor choice, and we students ended up (and still are) footing the bill for this. Long story short, if someone or some group, wants to help build something that makes the University a better school, you take the money and run.

For the record, and you can correct me if I am wrong, but close to 50% of 300 million has been spent on classroom and technology upgrades to the campus. A lot has gone to dorms, but we do have an integrated WiFi setup for the campus, the Auburn Science center has a brand new science library, there is the College of Arts and Science, there are teaching and instruction areas in the student union and the recreation center. Leigh, Zook, Guzetta, Goodyear Science Center, and Kolbe, and Schrank North and South have had uprgrades. Not too mention what is going on with Medina, and Wayne campuses. Oh, and the fact Carrol Hall is being raised for a new classroom space and the that the stadium will have class room space.Now, on the subject of "not selling out the JAR". We don't, and I'm not going to give you a 'build and they will come' comment. But the fact is, that our school is trying to be taken more seriously, we do not receive 1 and 1 commitments from big time schools. Why? Because our facilities are not adequate enough to support a Duke, or Michigan or OSU. These schools bring 4-5 thousand fans where ever they go. They are not going to play in an arena that only seats 5000 period. We want to say it's "out of fear of losing" and some of it is, but the truth is that we do not have the state of the art facilities that are going to make a Major feel comfortable playing against us. When the football stadium is complete we will probably be able to get any tier 2 school from a major conference to play us at home. Why? Because if there is an injury the player can be treated on site, an X-Ray will be able to be done, we are minutes from nationally ranked hospitals. These factor hugely into what kind of team you can draw to your stadium/arena. So yes, the JAR is only 25 years old, but it is so far behind technologically speaking, that it might as well be 80 years old. When it was built, offices and nice locker rooms were the main thing, now you have to account for Sports Medicine facilities and fan experiences. And on that the JAR is horribly out of date.Now we have a mayor and city that is willing to work with the University to build something special, and I am pretty sure that the powers that be are leaning that way, because it gives the Campus a larger footprint if an arena were to be built downtown, and it is more impressive for the student/fan/athlete experience if it is wrapped up in a nice neat universal package that includes shopping and entertainment. Bottom line is, we need a new arena to be taken seriuosly. Can't is constantly improving the MAC Center and all we've done with the JAR is a Scoreboard and new court. A partnership with the city to build a 10-12,000 seat arena would make Akron the premier program in the MAC and maybe even give us the push we need to get into a real conference like the Big East.

Not sure what you mean with the banners on the backside of the stands, but to the best of my knowledge, as of the last board of trustees meeting, it was decided to enclose the east stands with brick and glass as the current drawings dictate.

Yeah, I just wish Cleveland could keep their grubby little mits off of everything. If we are are going to be truly a "region", then we don't need redundancies like NEOUCOM campuses in Akron and Cleveland. Should NEOUCOM be in Akron? Yes. Should CSU be allowed to partner with the current consortium? Yes. Do we need a primary care physician training center in Cleveland? No. We need a good mass transit system between the two cities so we don't have to waste money on building countless medical training facilities.

http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/16887771.htmlThe ABJ today is reporting that the former volleyball coach is filing an age discrimination against the University.Now this sounds to me like a big hissy fit from a coach that has been underperforming.Take into account this.10-20 record this season27-64 over the past three yearsThat sounds to me like you aren't performing. Plus, we have Stow, Hoban, Hudson, St. V, Manchester, Green and Wadsworth right in our backyard, but we are unable to recruit competetively? I see no substance to this case

Except that only roughly 100 players get invited to the combine. Which is slightly less then the 3 rounds of picks would allow for on the first day. That still leaves the second day of the draft. Typically those people receiving an invite to the combine are so called "first day" picks.

Can't State is ranked right now. If they lose any of their last three games do you think they will still be ranked? They play at BGSU, home against Miami, and then at the JAR. There are two real loss possibilities in there. Don't go giving them an "at-large" just yet. If they are not ranked come the MAC tournament, and they don't win the MAC tournament, then the only thing they can say hello to is an NIT bid. Because that is what happens to teams in the MAC. Besides the fact that the only thing any fan on this board should be worrying about is beating them when they get in the JAR, and beating them at the Q.

So you are isolating the first portion of every game that accounts for 7 of our average 25.6 points ppg over the past 3 years. Which leaves 18.6 points over the remaining drives of the game. Assuming we answer the touchdown (which we didn't because of poor offense) that means the defense is playing competively. And that despite having to defend horrible field position they are only allowing 18.6 points. Sorry your point is completely invalid. The offense just has not been playing up to par. There is always room for improvement on both sides of the ball. But please quit trying to say the 3-3-5 and the defense is the sole problem when it's clearly not.

7+ years of coaching, planning, scouting. I didn't think it was that complicated. When you go 3 & out and give a team great field position for 22:30 of the first half. Yeah your defense is going to be tired. And what is your definition of a good defense? OSU? 10.5 points allowed per game? I think we would all love to have that. But How about we settle for a more realistic goal. Say the # 1 team in the country's points allowed per game. LSU and allowing 20.5 ppg. Hmm yeah we are really far off from that with our 25.6 ppg. And that is with LSU having 2 shut-outs. OSU technically had 1 against us where our defense put up more points then our offense. In fact I believe our horrible defense scored the first touchdown against Army if i'm not mistaken.

Yep I did. Because I doubt very seriously you really know much of anything. Ah yes by your logic, we were outscored drasitcally in the first quarter. Despite Jacquemain having his best numbers in the first half. Why? Because the offense was off the field way too quickly. Too many 3 & outs. But yeah it's the defenses fault that they have to play 75% of the minutes in the first half. And shoot outs happen. It's football. Ah yes my magical number. You must use magical because you simply can't come to grips with logical thinking. Use magic to explain what you don't understand. LOL. Also you can't "throw out" games. I mean if that was the case we could just toss out all those shoot outs and say our defense was stellar. But you seem to only want to look at one variable for the losses we have. Not the overwhelming number of different variables. Poor offensive adjustments, poor QB decision making, a defense that played injured most of the season, no pressure on the opposing QB. There are lot of fixes, but the main focus needs to be on finding a way to keep the offense on the field and sustaining drives. Because whether you think offense or defense wins games or championships, the simple fact of the matter is that points are what win games. I don't think anyone thinks a QB is magically going to solve the problems. But an improved offensive scheme and better decision maker controlling that O is going to make a difference.

When JD first got here our defense wasn't bad. Teams in the MAC didn't know how to deal with our defense and we actually had some players to be able to run it with Kiki, Reed, etc. At this point, everyone has adjusted to the defense and it gets worse and worse and worse. It has lost us a lot of games. We shouldn't have to get into offensive shootouts week in and week out just to compete. Put together a defense that you can get the personel to run and that has been proven time and time again to be an effective defense and watch the results change dramatically.Hey Quick, where you coaching now? Also how many shoot outs did we have this year? What is your definition of a shootout? Mine is greater then one touchdown per quarter so a score higher then 28-28 would be a "shoot out"? So we would have had 6 shout outs. Two of which were just non-conference blow outs (UConn and IU).Sorry to say that, the biggest problem with our defense is how many minutes they have to spend on the field. Take a look at the TOP and for the most part we are on the losing side of that. But what do I know.

EA is currently having a "Vote for the cover" challenge for NCAA Football 2009. We are probably already a week behind in voting, but we have a very good chance of getting Zippy to be the cover mascot if we try.Go to the following site to cast your vote for Zippy.http://www.easports.com/ncaa09/

We sure do. So I think we move Manny's out to a swamp in Northwestern Ohio, until we find oil under his pub. GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly, I was discussing things with someone on here, and wondered the same thing the entire time...

You'll have to let me know how being a loser works out for you.And anyone that doesn't look into what is going on around a neighborhood before they buy their home is a loser. But that is besides the point, because you won't see a point of view other then your own. So I am done.

That's just it. It isn't about what you would do. What you or I would do in that situation doesn't matter. We have no choice. Pack your bags. You're gone.Actually you do have a choice. Keep your neighborhood and property up. Make wise property decisions. Buy a house in an established neighborhood, not one on the border of a business district or university.

What you said here, is true. Except we don't own land. You can't, you can own rights to land, you can own the property that sits on that land. But you can never "own" the land itself. The land in general belongs to the people."Oh, I'm sorry, I guess we are all just renting from the govt. Oh, thank you uncle sam for letting me squat here with my pretend deed for a while."Yes, what do you think a semi-annual property tax is? It's rent, to live in the city. Unfortunately 90% of the time eminent domain is used, the government has a very legal, and useful purpose for the property. Urban blight, progress, etc. Though apparently you think a road through someone's house is a viable reason, which it is not, unless all other avenues have been taken, but that is beside the point.1. These building had sat for 30 years, and until the last 2 years when it was leaked that that area was the prime real estate for the stadium that property saw little to no improvements. Just occupants milking the students of the university with high prices and shitty service.2. The city is trying to redevelop the Exchange and Market Street Corridors. Progress. Why should one person whose property is worth 350,000 dollars and is offered double that (and they were look at all the other purchases the U of A has offered anywhere from 50 - 100% above the value of the property) stand in the way. Oh that's right, a person who says you can't put a price tag on dreams and hard work, some how manages to put an exorbinant price tag on their dreams and hard work, and then wants special priveleges. Sorry! It doesn't work that way. One person should not get a million dollars for property in a blighted area when everyone else didn't. Don't kid yourself the plight of the Odd Corner, and the Nemers is not a plight of "I can't sell my dreams" it's a plight of "Give me, give me, give me I knew someday and expanding University of Akron was going to need this land for something, so now I want all the money I think I deserve, and F the tax payers, and the students, and the alumni whose money I have take with a smile on face year in and year out" That my friend is the bullshit part. They are taking advantage of the situation.Manny said he would work the the U? No he wanted the U to guarantee a spot for his troubled, underage serving bar and shitty coffee house. And it is shitty coffee. Am I for eminent domain? Yes when it serves a greater good for a greater amount of people. So let's see, force a couple of blighted businesses that are basically sucker fish on the edge of campus to move. Or give a school of 28,000 and a city of 208,000 a new sporting venue and all the media attention that occurs from such a move? Hmm, yeah I guess you are right, let's just pay those poor business owners 25,000,000 for their property so they can buy a little 200,000 dollar building and keep doing what they've been doing, and sucker fishing the school and it's students for profit.

Eminent domain is more about protecting the tax payer and preventing the extortion of the government. It get's leaked that an area is going to offered a buyout. Then there is one person that decides "Ha, I'm the deciding factor in all of this. So I want one $1 billion dollars for my property or I won't sell" Do you really think that is about their love for the property? No it's about extorting the government. The same way the US government get's charged 200 dollars for a hammer. Private extortion of a government need.The fact of the matter is that the University went to all of these people, asked to buy the property for slightly above the bank appraised value. Or bought them when available on the open market. Now they own the majority of the land through fair purchasing. Except there are a bunch of greedy property owners that are more worried about making a dollar, then the public interest. They were offered very good money, and when the court determines how much they get, they are going to very sad at the fact that they will get 20% above the state appraised value. They only have themselves to blame.Like I said, eminent domain can be abused. But these people have been give years worth of opportunity to sell through private closed door offerings. And they didn't, because the money offered wasn't enough. All of these hold outs are people who are trying to cash in at the expense of everyone else in this state.

Unfortunately since the University is a public entity it could not. Even if they had to come to terms without the eminent domain there would be people that said "Those properties aren't worth $500,000 a piece!". No the problem is that the masses are filled with misinformation and misunderstanding. They all seem to think that Eminent Domain is some evil way for the government to seize property, but the truth is that it is a way to keep the tax payers from being railroaded by one individual. Does it get abused? Yes, but not nearly as often as people think, and most people walk out with a very good sum of money. Then they say that got shafted because they lost business. Well Boo hoo. You could have settled earlier and found a place to move to make the transition from one place to another go smoothly, but you got greedy and thought you could sucker more money out of the government.

While my post is short, it is exceedingly easy and quick to write. GP1 is the perpetual pessimist. "We will never be any good, ever, ever, ever!!!!"Then why do you even bother to follow the programs?

Six buildings purchase for a combined 3.5 million is 583,000 a piece. For property that is in the heart of downtown, and are mostly 2 - 3 story comercial buildings that is an incredibly reasonable purchase price.

It's a good deal because the city didn't have to spend more money to redevelop or refurbish buildings that for the most part were on the verge of being condemned. The management company is now going to spend 21 million to redo the buildings. Now imagine if the city had spent that on the properties and tried to bring in enterprises on their own? Yes huge loss of money, instead the city purchased the property and screened investors to make sure something that served the public interest went into this property instead of porn stores and Banana Joe's wantabes.

I support a playoff, I just feel it will never happen. The ideal format is to add one team to 1-a giving a total of 120 teams, then even all conferences out to 12 teams per conference. 10 conferences. Now here is were it get's interesting. Each conferences has a champion. 10 seeds. You take two at large teams (this is for a team like Georgia that had a superior record but didn't win its division in it's conference). You now have 12 teams and an NFL style playoff. The lowest ranked teams play the first week with the at large teams mixed into those games. The top 4 ranked teams sit out in a bye and wait for their opponents to be determined. Go from there.This works out to 11 games that can be played over 4-5 weeks following Conference Championship week. The real bowls (Cotton, Rose, Sugar, Orange) can be used for the 2nd week of the playoffs. The first week can be corporate sponsored or home field advantage. I say 4-5 weeks for it so that if necessary a hype week can be used before the National Championship game.Total potential games for a season (which is a big argument they use to keep the bowl system) 17; but it would probably be 15-16 for these 12 teams while the rest play 12. If need be the remainder of the top 25 can play in bowl games in and around the playoffs as consolation for being ranked but not making the playoffs.