LosAngelesZipFan

That's truly awesome.

Agree that boxes are very important. If they do a straight stadium, it should be built at 30 but expandable. I have a lot of heart for the idea of going for a single multipurpose facility for both football and basketball. Tons more expensive but the JAR needs to get replaced within the next decade as well so why not do both and make it an city of Akron project as well? I have never been to Canal Park-- could it be retro-fitted to accomodate football? Could be a near-term solution if the Rubber Bowl is literally falling apart.

Watched on ESPN from here in Ca. Incredible to see the Zips on TV again. Game was enjoyable but obviously frustrating-- we really dominated the first quarter completely, but just couldn't put points up. The middle quarters through the last 5 minutes looked like the Zips that played Ball State-Miami-Buffalo. How did the secondary keep getting burned and the offensive line collapsing against a 3 man rush? And then, blammo, the Zips just got so on track. It was AWESOME that they never gave up, never died. You just had the feeling that given 2 more minutes, they could have taken the game. Would have been great, but saves something for next year!! Go Zips and thanks for the incredibly exciting year! (Now, on to basketball...)

In the BJ last week, Tom Reed wrote a mostly great article about the new energy on the Akron campus. However, he wrote the following: "None of it means UA is going to overtake Ohio State in popularity. Brookhart's success likely will soon earn him a job at a bigger school in a more prestigious conference just as it did for UA soccer coach Ken Lolla, who left the Zips for Louisville. That's how it works in places like Akron and Can't State. But becoming a top-tier athletic program within the MAC, a mid-major conference whose star already is rising, remains a reasonable goal. The Zips football team won its first conference title a season after quarterback Charlie Frye graduated." I'm interested in those that follow this BB whether they feel good about pursuing "reasonble" goals or whether they want to University to dream bigger? I always cringe when I hear something like this, the implication being that UA should be satisfied competing at the MAC-level. It just doesn't feel very aspirational. And this is about more than collegiate athletics-- it really is about what Akron and NEOhio wants to be, what type of community. The tremendous manufacturing base that once propelled the economy and all aspects of life is clearly never coming back. So what comes next? Seems like the best bet that could be made is on UA. UA's place in the athletic and academic spectrum is not a law of nature-- there are many examples of universities setting an aggressive vision and achieving it. I think UA should set its sights on being like Louisville and not be satisfied just being better than Youngstown State.

One thing they have to do next year is keep from imploding against Miami. I hate that.