UAZipster0305

Actually, if you rank by total attendance (and not average), we were #4 for 2009. Behind only UCSB, Maryland, and UConn in that order. I look for attendance to improve with upgraded facilities and an even bigger brand name for the program after the NCAAC appearance. Here's to another great season.

"Nexus of failure to the north..." I love it and couldn't agree more. What would it be like without the Cleveland Clinic and Case up there? Scary to think about. I agree, anything Akron can do to separate and distinguish itself is a good thing.

No offense taken. Keep having fun. The only serious subject on ZN.O is the final score of Zips games. I am always serious when I say that Can I get a ?

Then someone (not me) should update the UA Wikipedia page accordingly.

The other possible sites are Cincinnati(Nippert and Paul Brown), Ohio Stadium, and obviously, Stark County. Bowling Green and Toledo petitioned for a bid but both were denied. Who do you think gets it? Which would be the best decision? How do you feel about sharing it with Dicks( ) stadium? I'm tired of sharing stuff with Can't State! There are so many programs that are already shared and most prominently, the Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy. Both schools would have much stronger and well-recognized programs if Akron had the STEM graduate and professional programs (near the city where they should be) and Can't had the liberal arts graduate programs. The idea that sharing somehow benefits both schools and the region is ridiculous. In reality, it dilutes the contribution of any one university and leads to them competing against each other locally as opposed to being distinguished at the national and international level. Consider the programs that are unique to each school versus shared. Akron's nationally ranked programs in Polymer Science and Engineering and I/O Psychology don't exist at Can't State. I am sure there are other examples including the converse being true for mutual programs. Not to mention that Dix Stadium is a POS especially compared to the Info.

If the Big 11 takes: 1 school, then it will be Missouri 3 schools, they will be Missouri, Notre Dame, and Pitt 5 schools, they will be Missouri, Notre Dame, Pitt, West Virginia, and UConn/Rutgers. I think the best for UA would be that the Big 11 takes 3 schools leaving the Big East looking to add at least 2. UCF would probably be the leading contender with another spot unknown. If the Big 11 takes 5 schools, I think the Big East is done.

Dominant soccer, a great out of conference schedule, new facilities, the best coach in the NCAA, and soon to be Enough said! AKRON!

I'm not saying it creates chaos. I'm saying it creates a situation where a handful of drunks can create a public relations problem for the University. The ABJ paints every problem that happens in the sports programs as "the program is out of control". If one innocent person is hurt at a game by a drunk, the ABJ headline will read: "Zips Fan Hurt At Game: InfoCision Stadium Unsafe". Terry Pluto will have a story titled: "My Dad Was Right, Beer Shouldn't Be Served at Games". Every decision the AD makes should be made with the assumption the football program will be good and people will come to games to watch good football because it is entertaining. Serving beer at the stadium to generate lost revenue is making the assumption the football team will be bad. The only reason beer works so well at Can't is there is nobody at the games to get drunk and cause a problem. I'm all for getting drunk. Let's try getting good before we get drunk. Win or lose, $200-400k is still $200-400k. I would hope that with the reality of running a Department of Athletics that is always in the red and the financial burden on the students that within reason the AD would utilize all resources to maximize revenue. I believe selling beer at the stadium is within reason even though the decision is up to the Board of Trustees and not the AD directly.

When I was at the basketball golf outing, during the Q & A session a guy asked KD (a set up, "softball" question of the year, with added $40million dollar exaggeration) -- "How do you feel about the football program getting a $100million dollar stadium, when you are playing in an old arena. And all you've done is win 20 games year-in-year-out, and you're coming off an NCAA Tourney berth?" Dambrot's reply is irrelevant. To me, what is relevant, is the basketball vs. football mentality that the guy exuded. The fact that he's baiting KD to bash the Zips football program was beyond shameful. Memo to "Basketball Guy": * The football team is the only program that can draw 30,000 people to a game. Basketball's best draw is 5,500. * The football team is the only program that can net $700,000 by playing an away game at Penn State * The football team sacrifices it's coach's record by playing a lot of essentially unwinnable BCS-level road games, to get cash for the Zips Athletic Department. * The Zips football program played in a total dump of a stadium for the past 25 years * Most importantly - Infocision Stadium is Zips Basketball Guy's only ticket out of this God-forsaken MAC Conference. Without it, you're watching home-home series with the Eastern Michigan's of the world for the rest of your life. This post isn't a rant against Zip_ME87, who is my buddy. But his post brought to the surface a complaint that's always bugged me. Basketball guy needs to quit directing his anger at Zips football, and find another scapegoat...villain...whatever you want to call it...for the basketball program's shortcomings. It is proven that a 20-win, MAC Champion Zips men's hoops team will draw, on-average, 3,000 fans. That ain't football's fault. Blame Dambrot, who considered this season a "rebuilding year" even though he only lost 1 player from an NCAA Tourney qualifier, and brought in a highly-touted 7-footer to replace him on the roster. Blame the soft schedule, that excited absolutely no one. Blame the lack of eye-catching wins over marquee teams (Florida State was long, long ago) Blame the team that won 24 games, yet got waxed by pretty much every decent team they competed against. Blame our lethargic approach to home games (remember when we NEVER lost at the JAR?) Blame the lack of a "star," must-see player. Blame the JAR team shop, who doesn't sell Zips Basketball replica jerseys (we wouldn't want little kids wearing such things to games, or around town, would we?) Blame the $3.00 hotdogs and understaffed concession lines (even with our weak crowds) Blame the lethargic blue hairs that seem to prefer staying home and watching "The Golden Girls" reruns to watching Zips hoops Blame the University for never successfully formulating, and following through with, a plan to get students to the games Blame the tragedy that is The Tommy Evans Lounge (what did poor Tommy ever do to get his name associated with it...whatever it was, it must have been really awful) Blame Marketing for lack of interesting promotions (boy, weren't halftimes a hoot this season?) Dambrot promised a brutal off-season for his returning players, in an attempt to toughen them up for 2010-11. It will be interesting to see if Winstrcill matches that change-of-approach with the other aspects of the basketball program such as Marketing and Promotions. There is a laundry list of basketball-related things proven to coma-tize Joe Akron. I don't want to see them again. If I do see them again, don't blame the football program. And as a final note of clarification - I attended 7 football games this year, and 20+ basketball games. And 7 soccer matches. Between season tickets and donations, UA is into my pocket for about $3,000 this past athletics season. I love Dambrot. I also love Zips football, and tailgating. If we want to fill seats, we needs to work together, not point fingers. Big changes are needed. No one should be happy with a 1/2 empty JAR. Please allow me to add to your list, CK: the loss at home to Austin Peay to start the season. Any Joe Akron who was interested and on the band wagon following the NCAA Tournament appearance quickly elected to jump off. Even if AP was really good, no one wants to see a home loss to a small (dare I say, no name) OVC school to start the season. If we are going to get beat at home to open the season, let's get beat by Purdue, Cincy, Xavier, Dayton, or Southern Illinois. At least those schools have recognizable programs and would not murder our RPI (cough, AP, cough). If we schedule a school like AP we HAVE to beat them...especially at home...no excuses.

Ask KD! Well technically the bball team played them in an exhibition game right? I think all the teams we played in the regular season were at least in Division 1, but I could be wrong. Also with basketball there are 30+ games, you have room for a few cupcake teams. Football's tougher. You only have a handful of home games, and saying that UA is avoiding scheduling MU is ridiculous. A team is good in D3? big deal! they wouldn't last 1 quarter against any D1 teams. It's a whole different ballgame. Those guys were most likely not recruited by any schools, and are not on scholarships. It might as well be club football. I think the Morgan State game showed how a pretty poor FBS team can do against the FCS. Of course you have the once in a blue moon App State game against Michigan, but still that's two D1 teams. We would not benefit anything, nor do I think we would even be allowed, to play a D3 team. It's a complete WASTE of time for everyone! The basketball team played Malone in a a regular season game on December 12 and won 62-30. I understand that this was finals week and if KD wants to make an argument about this being beneficial for STUDENT-athletes, I buy it. However, this is definitely not the way to garner the interest of Joe Akron or legitimize the program as being in the big leagues. If there is a similar option in the future, I would just prefer KD doesn't schedule a game leading up to or during finals. I know, I know...easier said than done because of other scheduling constraints, etc. Consider this horse beat!

Ask KD!

http://www.mlssoccer.com/content/ironclad-...ets-qwest-field "For Seattle, Steve Zakuani led the charge, who had his way with New York right back Jeremy Hall. On several occasions, Zakuani beat him one-on-one and sent in dangerous balls for Seattle to attack. None found the net, though, and Seattle didn’t have anything to show for its franchise-record nine corner kicks in the first half. In the second half, New York stepped on the gas. Kandji forced a diving save from Kasey Keller off some excellent buildup play in the 52nd minute. And Coundoul continued his unbeatable performance. Zakuani turned in a superlative individual effort on a blazing run down the left, but Coundoul, one of the best pure shot-stoppers in the league, tipped the low effort past his far post." Attendance of 36,000+...impressive.

You're joking right? You refuse to go to any Clippers, Blue Jackets, or Crew games because Ohio State is less than 10 miles from all of those stadiums? I sometimes feel like when I am that close to OSWho....that's correct. Doesn't the presence of high concentrations of Red and Silver make you ill as well? But regardless, I don't have an interest in making a 4-hour round trip to see any of those teams you mentioned, and don't really care much for Cowlumbus as a whole, beyond using their highways to get to other places south of here. I agree 100%, I also have desire to go to Columbus anytime soon. Same reason no one would want to go to Pittsburgh. Some cities are just full of idiots.... I take exception to that!!! well as long as your a zips fan I can let it slide... just keep your women away from athletes around there in pittsburgh Yeah, I have heard personally from girls that have had run-ins with some of the players you regularly see on the news and they have attested to those guys being total d-bags. They think they are entitled to having anything and anyone they want because for the most part, they get treated like gods around here. Rant over.

You're joking right? You refuse to go to any Clippers, Blue Jackets, or Crew games because Ohio State is less than 10 miles from all of those stadiums? I sometimes feel like when I am that close to OSWho....that's correct. Doesn't the presence of high concentrations of Red and Silver make you ill as well? But regardless, I don't have an interest in making a 4-hour round trip to see any of those teams you mentioned, and don't really care much for Cowlumbus as a whole, beyond using their highways to get to other places south of here. I agree 100%, I also have desire to go to Columbus anytime soon. Same reason no one would want to go to Pittsburgh. Some cities are just full of idiots.... I take exception to that!!!

+++ Back atcha Cap'n. But, a chance at bringing the Zips West of the Rockies looks like an improvement to Z.I.P. Last time Akron played in Boise I was a freshman and the Broncos kicked their butts. Akron has played Boise? I don't think it has been in my 10 year tenure with UA.

Larry Dawson doesn't need the athletic scholarship. He is part of some deal through a local attorney that awards a number of scholarships to inner city kids. He goes to school for free as long as he maintains a 3.0 or better. I didn't know that. That's a cool program. But I really do wonder about the extra scholarship and any others that might open up over the course of spring practice. Looking at Rivals, there are some good recruits at positions we need help at who have yet to verbal to a school and have an offer from Akron. Could you be more specific for those of us who don't have a subscription to Rivals?

Sadly though, the Zips ended at #27, which I believe breaks a 4 year string of being ranked in the final Mad-Major top 25 poll. That is sad although I think the ranking is accurate. After getting lit up by our rival at home to end the season with the championship and NIT bid on the line, losing the MACC, then sleep walking in a loss at home in the CBI, we don't deserve the top 25. Getting lit up in the MACT by every starting guard we played against didn't help either even if two of three games were wins. It exposed a huge weakness of ours relative to many of the other top 25 teams. I am not complaining. The program is on track to continue growing, and I believe KD is the man to do it. We'll get them next year!

You are lapsing into classic UAkid nonsense here. Good to know that it's not just the new UA hires that get thrown under the ZN.O bus before their first day on the job. Equal opportunity for opponents too! ZNO does not drive a bus...it is more like a tank. Glad I haven't been thrown under it.

+1. Thanks, Mods. I read ZNO more closely and often than the newspaper. ZNO makes every Zips success and failure more interesting. It is a welcome distraction from my everyday work. I would love to meet some of the members of ZNO and particularly the mods at future Zips events. Would be awesome to put faces with the screen names. I am overjoyed that ZNO is yet another dimension that makes us a "cut above" that wasteland of an institution to the east.

11. KD and the gang didn't want to distract from other programs' new found success (i.e. woman's basketball and tennis) by making a deep run in the CBI.

I like this idea. Let's start the country's first collegiate auto racing team. This fits within Title IX, and UA might as well buy the entire Fulton Airport and convert the runway into a track like at Burke with IRL. by default.

You poo poo a lot of the sports based off your pre-conceived notions and not legitimate reasoning. CSU has fencing, well they also have basketball and soccer, OSU had all those sports before either of us. Plus fencing isn't about fan support it's about catering to a type of student (foreign). It would be as low cost as Rifle and is Coed. Rowing doesn't have a body of water? Nimisilla is a 3000 meter body of water, rowing requires 2000 meters. Lacrosse has to use the soccer field? No not really, you have the Track field, and the practice field that can be converted, and not to mention Buchtel Field. Title IX only requires that for every scholarship offered a male an equal scholarship is offered to a female. Assuming the largest size team (Lacrosse, which is roughly 30) you could eat that up by adding women's Lacrosse or gymnastics and field hockey. Hockey is at max 18 scholarships. And nobody said let's add sports, I believe I prefaced the whole thing with "assuming we could eventually add sports". I didn't mean to "poo poo" on anything. I was just trying to be realistic about the situation. Your points about rowing and fencing are valid, but they still require additional infrastructure (regardless of how minor). The woman's tennis team currently hosts matches off campus and the rifle team is worthy of upgraded facilities as well. The soccer programs play at an inferior facility and who could forget the basketball arena issue? Let's focus on those first. Also, consider the last program that was added: woman's golf. Justified by being small and paired with the already established men's program.

Provide us with some details concerning how football = swimming and diving + volleyball + tennis. Is it: A. number of scholarships B. number of bodies C. size of budget D. an equation you just pulled out of your rear You can't go wrong with bowling. It's coed and you can rent the shoes. This was an estimation based on scholarships, number of student-athletes participating, and consideration for the parity in all other sports.

Title IX dictates that it would not make sense to add a large men's prrogram/team such as hockey. I love the sport, but it is not going to happen. We won't add wresting or gymnastics because Can't is already established and dominant in theset sports and we'd be setting ourselves up to be an inferior program to our rivals...the same reason Can't does not have men's soccer....so, not going to happen. Lacrosse and field hockey require new facilities or to share a field with our #1 soccer team that already shares with the woman's program and is torn up by the end of fall...not going to happen. CSU already has fencing and there is not enough national (let alone local) participation or interest to establish a program. Rowing?...We don't have a local body of water worthy of supporting a program. The only thing that makes sense to add would be men's tennis because of the parity with the woman's team and the relatively small roster and cost. At UA, now, because of Title IX, football = swimming & diving + volleyball + tennis. I don't look for it to happen though. We already have 19 programs. Look at a much larger and more prominent school like Pitt...they only have 17 total programs. You could argue we are already overextended as it is. I would love to see UA add men's tennis. However, until we regularly win Reese and Jacoby trophies and move onto the national stage in sports other than rifle and soccer, we should focus on improving the programs that are here and now.

Saint Louis beat Indiana State. And oh surprise, VCU beat George Washington.