Captain Kangaroo

You are welcome, UA. Please give me credit when it is used.

Basketball is a winner, statistically. But in the world of mid-major basketball (Note: Not "Major"), we aren't. Quality mid-majors beat us like a drum. We won 24 games last season, but it was a toothless tiger. We lost to VCU by double digits...got smoked by K.e.n.t. twice...lost at home in the CBI, not to mention following up our NCAA tourney appearance by blowing a 15-point home, late-2nd half lead to Austin Peay. Losing to Rhode Island, Texas A&M and NC State...gheezus... I spoke to someone high-up in UA athletics at the Wisconsin Green Bay game (you can probably figure it out because there were only about 12 people in attendance). That person also said "I can't figure out why more people don't come to basketball games...the team wins?" Coming from this person, that scared the sh!t out of me. We had a sh!tty 24-win basketball season last year, and "yes," such a thing is possible. And obviously Dambrot knows that he's gotta up his level of play. Hence the massive (by Dambrot standards) player turnover we've witnessed in the aftermath of 2010. Soccer had a special run, and they needed to bring in temporary bleachers to accommodate the fans...and there still weren't enough seats at year's end. Joe Akron exists. Basketball is the #2 winning sport, record-wise, at UA. And there is a laundry list of reasons why it doesn't draw fans (facilities, marketing, etc.). But pointing to a 20-win cake walk schedule and looking aghast at the JAR attendance...like LeBron, that one-time-out-of-50 that he shoots a lay up and doesn't get a foul call...is crazy. It's as plan as the nose on your face. All the Zips need to do is find 2,000 butts in the seats per game and the JAR is full. That should be easy. I saw 5,200 people watch the UA/K.e.n.t. game, and only about 300 were K.e.n.t. fans. Joe Akron is there. Just quit laying egg on his face. Quit blowing a tire and losing a fan belt every time the bandwagon exceeds 35MPH. And back to football -- 3k in attendance @ the JAR is equivalent to 14k at InfoCision. If the Zips football team won 7 or 8 games, they'd draw a "real" 13k. If anything, Joe Akron is consistent. It's up to Ianello to prove that. I agree with some of what you are saying. But, the highlighted area is all the proof that anyone should need about Joe Akron. Does anyone really believe that thousands more people in Akron suddenly became soccer fans? Or, that they just wanted to be associated with someone who was winning games? They started showing up because we were accomplishing something that had NATIONAL significance. We can't ever put this label on basketball or football. You are close... Basketball DOES need to do something of National Significance. But it doesn't need to be a "Butler" or a "Zips soccer" Final Two game. Just start beating some respected teams, and back it up the following year. Build something meaningful. OU beat Georgetown in the NCAA's. We need to accomplish something similar, or we're not catching Joe Akron's fancy. 15,000 people showed up @ Ford Field to see a barely-over-.500 Zips football team play Memphis. That's all the proof you need that Joe Akron will show up, if you give him a decent reason. Whether it's basketball or football...we can't back up our success. We either sink back into the abyss...or continue at a "decent" level. "Decent" is certainly better than "The Abyss," but neither will pack the house. Nor should it. There are too many other entertainment options out there today to expect people to pack the house for losing football, or Malone basketball beat-downs.

There's is a HUGE difference between people showing up for a Browns game and a Zips game. The Browns are on sports talk and TV pretty much 24/7. The Zips - Zero. The Browns are built into the fiber of the NE Ohio community. The Zips - Zero The Browns bring in nationally recognized opponents. Super Bowl champions. Hall of Famers. The Zips give you K.e.n.t. State, EMU and a bunch of players with talent closer to Youngstown State than Ohio State. And also - There is a big myth surrounding Browns attendance -- don't tell anyone, but Browns stadium is often "filled" to wayyyy under capacity. Hence why 30,000+ Steelers fans annually clogged the place throughout the 2000's. Even in NE Ohio, with the massive NFL/Browns marketing machine, people have their limits.

3-9 is work. 9-3 is a party. People want to work during the week, and party during the weekend. We might as well be holding "3rd Quarter Earnings" Power Point Presentations on the Info scoreboard on Saturdays. It has to stop.

Basketball is a winner, statistically. But in the world of mid-major basketball (Note: Not "Major"), we aren't. Quality mid-majors beat us like a drum. We won 24 games last season, but it was a toothless tiger. We lost to VCU by double digits...got smoked by K.e.n.t. twice...lost at home in the CBI, not to mention following up our NCAA tourney appearance by blowing a 15-point home, late-2nd half lead to Austin Peay. Losing to Rhode Island, Texas A&M and NC State...gheezus... I spoke to someone high-up in UA athletics at the Wisconsin Green Bay game (you can probably figure it out because there were only about 12 people in attendance). That person also said "I can't figure out why more people don't come to basketball games...the team wins?" Coming from this person, that scared the sh!t out of me. We had a sh!tty 24-win basketball season last year, and "yes," such a thing is possible. And obviously Dambrot knows that he's gotta up his level of play. Hence the massive (by Dambrot standards) player turnover we've witnessed in the aftermath of 2010. Soccer had a special run, and they needed to bring in temporary bleachers to accommodate the fans...and there still weren't enough seats at year's end. Joe Akron exists. Basketball is the #2 winning sport, record-wise, at UA. And there is a laundry list of reasons why it doesn't draw fans (facilities, marketing, etc.). But pointing to a 20-win cake walk schedule and looking aghast at the JAR attendance...like LeBron, that one-time-out-of-50 that he shoots a lay up and doesn't get a foul call...is crazy. It's as plan as the nose on your face. All the Zips need to do is find 2,000 butts in the seats per game and the JAR is full. That should be easy. I saw 5,200 people watch the UA/K.e.n.t. game, and only about 300 were K.e.n.t. fans. Joe Akron is there. Just quit laying egg on his face. Quit blowing a tire and losing a fan belt every time the bandwagon exceeds 35MPH. And back to football -- 3k in attendance @ the JAR is equivalent to 14k at InfoCision. If the Zips football team won 7 or 8 games, they'd draw a "real" 13k. If anything, Joe Akron is consistent. It's up to Ianello to prove that.

That would certainly be a start, but honestly the basketball team has been winning for a while now and it's not like we're packing out the little ole JAR. In order to get more butts in the seats at a school like Akron it really comes down to the fact that the team has to do something significant that captures the public's imagination and makes it "cool" to be an Akron fan. The harsh reality is that we've got to somehow pull a Boise State, because winning the MAC is just not going to cut it. You're still going to get a "so what" from Joe Akron. We will never get more than a 15-20 k per game average unless we become significant in the college football world somehow, and we're a long way off from that. We're not even significant in the MAC at this point. I don't think we need to be Boise State. I do think we need to quit going 4-8, 5-6, 3-9, etc. Win 7 or 8 games and then ask the question. If we stay sub .500, the "Why won't fans come?" question is pretty pointless. NE Ohio fans see enough losing on Sundays. They want to at least go .500 for the weekend. Thus they root for Ohio State on Saturday. I can't blame them. Being a Zips fan is work. Until being a Zips fan is a party, Joe Akron remains in a coma.

I was thinking of transferring to Harvard or MIT after my Soph. year. For a myriad of reasons, it just didn't work out. South Fresno State University, or Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne...MAYBE. Hope he can fight through this tragedy and get back on the JAR floor next fall.

I've lost hope for our kicking game. But rather than pout, I've decided to embrace it. Week #2's Tailgate will highlight:

"CC" (as we called him) was an absolute STUD back-in-the-day:

Thank you to all the mom's out there who worked so hard so your sons and daughters could attend UA and get a great education! Thanks to the moms who bundle their kids up for a mid-week November Zips football game...then do it all over again for a Zips basketball game two days later! Thanks to the moms that participate on ZipsNation, and those who tolerate the husbands who participate on ZipsNation! Thanks to the moms who hold hold down the fort while their Coach husbands work their 70-hour weeks and spend weeks at a time on the road recruiting! Thanks to all the moms...enjoy your Day!

Rumor Mill Link

You are corrrect. It would be interesting to see him come to UA on the rebound, so-to-speak.

Well he's fine as a Zips fan, but I would rather he was my doctor. At every visit I know he would tell me I was in perfect health and was going to live forever. He has endless enthusiasm...you have endless sarcasm. You two are really more alike than you'd want to admit.

May there be no mice in your beer, DK.

One positive I found: Zip Mart was a convenient place to get botulism spores for Biology lab projects.

:rofl: :rofl:

I wish more people around here had d1real's enthusiasm. The football board would be more fun.

Hammy Issue Looking forward to him getting off the track and field training and on to pads and football.

More interesting to note - We have lost to 5 of those teams, a combined 9 times, within the past 4 seasons: Austin Peay (once), VCU (three times), Dayton (twice), Nevada (twice), UIC (once) We need to do a better job of beating those opponents where the public seems to have a heightened interest in the result.

The big question, to me, remains: "What did UA do to draw 5k?" What new ideas were implemented to increase attendance? Buehler...Buehler? Until UA tries something different to get butts in the seats, I really can't fret over attendance...if they aren't fretting, why should I? The local fan base has proven that they'll show up in 3k numbers if nothing changes. If nothing changes next season, look for 3k again. It isn't rocket science. There has been a lot of finger-pointing regarding the Zips attendance...and a lot of head scratching and shoulder shrugging...but no one is doing anything to solve the problem. UA tried to pack the house for one game this season - K.e.n.t. Guess what? They packed the house. Obviously, it can be done.

Mr. Football's & Mr. Basketball's with his attitude always seem to drop off the face of the earth. I predict he finishes his "career" at Tiffin.

Hooters girls are surprisingly well-schooled on economics. These girls were on Face the Nation discussing the Greek economic crisis last Sunday. First time I ever watched that show in it's entirety.

Dispatch Column For those of you that didn't have sufficient incentive to root against Ohio State...here's a gift for you. But honestly...after reading Howard's comments...Tressel can have him.

Not really. Moderators are ordinary posters...but with the added burden...I mean benefit of trying to keep relative order and letting people have their say. Nothing more. You should not try to follow anyone's model. As human beings, we have free will. Exercise it. If we all thought alike there would be no discussion. Just a bunch of "+1's."

Comedy isn't the message...it's all in the delivery.