Zipgrad01

My excitement for today dropped about 50% after reading this. I hope your birdie is wrong. I have 2 new people coming today that have never been to UA games. It will be embarrassing if we are playing Syracuse in front of 10,000 people.

Folks, the Zip in Paradise would love the opp to see a Zips football game in the future, West of the Mississippi (prefer West of the Rockies), but in all seriousness, the only WAC/MWC schools that would even CONSIDER playing home and away with Akron would be NMSU, USU, Idaho, SJSU (unlikely they would travel to OH) and Wyoming. UNLV? unlikely, but let's give'em a call anyway! And someone please tell the I-Coach that he still owes a game @Hawaii from the Owens era. This better not be true. When Ianello said we would be excited about our future schedules it wasnt this garbage!

ME87, I am with you. The bickering needs to stop. I also regret that I made a snippy post toward you in the past. I totally understand your golf analogy and I feel the same way about golf as you do. However, I don't have a beef with golf fans. My beef with soccer fans is that it seems as if love for the sport is not enough. A lot of soccer fans feel the need to proselytize, promote their sport and marginalize mine. College football is number one. It is not debatable. Men's Basketball is a distant second. Thing is, no fans of the basketball, baseball, track, volleyball, cross country, softball, swim, field hockey, rifle, or tennis teams make posts on the football board to promote their sport at the expense of football. I think that is part of the huge bias against soccer fans. But let me say that I have a new found respect for you with your post and I hope you can understand my point of view a little bit as well. Let's go zips! No problem Keener. My posts on the football board were in reaction to football fans posting negative items on the soccer board. You may not read the soccer thread, since you're not interested in it, and may not have realized how many negative posts were put there first. Actually, I take very little of these posts personally (unless personally attacked as I was in one post, not yours), but it bothers me that any of our student athletes might read negative posts on this board from people who are supposedly their greatest supporters. BTW...I had a related discussion with George Van Horne...as he said, you can't talk about a sport to a donor who is interested in a different sport. You will quickly lose that donor's interest. Go Zips! I don't want to talk about soccer anyway, so not another word from me. This is a football thread.

This is what you hear because you are a soccer fan. You obviously hang out with other soccer fans. Soccer fans probably make up 5% of the university. The soccer program could vanish tomorrow and 95% of the people on campus and NE Ohio for that matter couldn't care less. You and your soccer student friends talk about football being a joke because you are jealous of people not caring about your sport. 95 % of the public talks about how much a joke soccer is regardless of wins and losses. Harsh, but a fact. And this is what you think because you're not on campus. More students showed up for a pre-season scrimmage against VCU than the entire amount of students, alumni, fans, and press that attended football's open scrimmage. More people show up for a D3 high school football game than the NCAA championship soccer game. I don't need to be on campus to know that. I do not find it surprising that students showed up for a soccer scrimmage against another school. I am also not surprised that they didnt go watch the football team practice against themselves. Who wants to watch practice?

This is what you hear because you are a soccer fan. You obviously hang out with other soccer fans. Soccer fans probably make up 5% of the university. The soccer program could vanish tomorrow and 95% of the people on campus and NE Ohio for that matter couldn't care less. You and your soccer student friends talk about football being a joke because you are jealous of people not caring about your sport. 95 % of the public talks about how much a joke soccer is regardless of wins and losses. Harsh, but a fact.

I don't believe this for a minute. I don't care if we win the national title every year for a decade....people don't care about soccer. Believe whatever you want. On campus, nobody is excited about football. Might have to do with the focus on marketing being "hey, we have a new coach, but that's all we really have going for us right now". The coach's face is plastered on everything related to the team but there's almost nothing about the actual team, who they play, or any of the actual players. A great marketing tool is to create a star player (we have several in Allen, Nicely, LaFrance, Wagner, and Sewell) and show that the game is about the players and what they can do on the field. We get none of that, though. If the UA campus was 8-10 year old boys and girls at the YMCA I would believe you. However, no college campus in North America (especially Ohio) is going to be excited about soccer season and not the football team. Nothing you can ever say that will convince me of that.

I don't believe this for a minute. I don't care if we win the national title every year for a decade....people don't care about soccer.

Now all of the sudden all 3 levels have tickets on ticketmaster. Hmm...

Syracuse, Louisville, Marshall, East Carolina, Northwestern, Indiana, Purdue, UCF, Baylor, Kansas State, Kansas, Michigan State, Illinois, Southern Miss, Vandy, Houston, Washington State, Minnesota, Iowa State, Memphis, Duke, NC State, .....I could go on and on. According to your logic these teams should switch divisions too because they lose money and they rarely if ever compete with the big boys (top 20).

I won't speak for everyone, but the day we drop from D-1a I will no longer renew 6 priority reserved tickets. I doubt that I would even attend a game. You will never convince me that teams in places like Starkville, MS, Blacksburg, va or Morgantown, WV have anything on a team in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country in the heart of high school football talent. We just need the right pieces of the puzzle, but we havent found them yet.

We'll break 20k, I won't say easily, but we will. It's opening day, labor day weekend, 70 and sunny and a (crappy) Big East team in town. The team hasn't had a chance to get thwomped by some big boys yet so there is optimism in the general public that knows nothing of Zips football. (Disclaimer: I have optimism every year prior to the season, this year more than some others, but for those that know nothing of college football, every season might as well be a clean slate) Put me in the "We'll be lucky to have 15,000" camp. All the students will be home for Labor Day and nobody really knows Syracuse is in the BCS. Why would the students all be home for Labor day? Most of the students live within 30 miles for campus anyway. This isn't Christmas...students will be partying all weekend, not spending it with family. Sunday and Monday yes, but not Saturday evening.

You need to think harder. My posts have been centered around much more than money. Level competition has always been at the center of my posts. Ideas such as fans not getting ripped off for having to purchase tickets for Miami (OH) vs. Florida have also been at the center of my posts.....Florida is stealing from their fans, and Miami is whoring the football program out....How is that good for college football? If you do want to talk about money, we can do that. What are the expenses going to be to make the MAC and UofA a real D-1A school that can effectively compete with every other, and that means BCS schools out there? How much "building" can the Univeristy and taxpayers take?....We have a 25,000 seat stadium so how much woudl it be to tripple the size? Can they afford it? Can they support it if it is built. My opinion has less to do with saving money and more to do with the existing landscape of college football and a desire to watch teams in college football compete at the same level. We are a D-1A school in name only. The MAC is a D-1A conference in name only. There are going to be even more changes in college football over the next five year. The BCS schools are going to dictate the terms of those changes. Nobody is going to ask the MAC leadership what they think about BCS level changes in terms of a playoff and the size, membership and direction of their conference. The MAC is already a non-factor in those discussions. If the MAC needs to make a move on its own, it needs to do so before the BCS schools make the move for them. If that is a separate level of college football somewhere between D-1 and I-AA, then fine. There area already four divisions, would another really hurt? Would the walls of The Big Dialer really come crashing down if we played all of the same MAC schools and had a OOC schedule of Marshall, Florida Atlantic, Nevada and pick a I-AA school? That would be a Hell of a good schedule. Let the BCS schools play one another without their early season fodder and let the non-BCS schools play some games where they have a chance to win and a chance at a national championship. I-AA or another division could do that. So Akron pounding Morgan State and more than likely Gardner Webb isn't stealing from our fans? Get off the I-AA and moving down BS. It is stealing. It is also part of what is wrong with college football when intermixing of teams at vastly different capabilities is allowed. The problem is BCS teams load up on three non-bcs teams a year to pad their wins. I don't know if what I want is moving down or more of a reorganization of college football. I find it hard to believe that 130 DI teams compete at the same level. I know by the NCAA rules they do, but in reality they don't. Do some of you really not see the changes coming in the NCAA? If you don't, why not? If you do, what should we do about it is the question.... It seems as if the answer the MAC has is sit around and wait for everyone else to decide what they are going to do and just fall victim to the change. That's a terrible position to take. 300+D1 basketball teams dont compete on the same level either. I can't see college basketball ditching 3/4 of their schools to make things more competitive.

We'll break 20k, I won't say easily, but we will. It's opening day, labor day weekend, 70 and sunny and a (crappy) Big East team in town. The team hasn't had a chance to get thwomped by some big boys yet so there is optimism in the general public that knows nothing of Zips football. (Disclaimer: I have optimism every year prior to the season, this year more than some others, but for those that know nothing of college football, every season might as well be a clean slate) I am expecting between 20-25k for the game. Syracuse will bring 5k by themselves, so I am sure that we will draw fairly well. People will be optimistic because of a new coach, plus we are playing a name opponent. Like I said earlier...2 of the 3 pricing levels on ticketmaster show no tickets. I can't imagine that we would be saving tickets for game day walk up sales.

You need to think harder. My posts have been centered around much more than money. Level competition has always been at the center of my posts. Ideas such as fans not getting ripped off for having to purchase tickets for Miami (OH) vs. Florida have also been at the center of my posts.....Florida is stealing from their fans, and Miami is whoring the football program out....How is that good for college football? If you do want to talk about money, we can do that. What are the expenses going to be to make the MAC and UofA a real D-1A school that can effectively compete with every other, and that means BCS schools out there? How much "building" can the Univeristy and taxpayers take?....We have a 25,000 seat stadium so how much woudl it be to tripple the size? Can they afford it? Can they support it if it is built. My opinion has less to do with saving money and more to do with the existing landscape of college football and a desire to watch teams in college football compete at the same level. We are a D-1A school in name only. The MAC is a D-1A conference in name only. There are going to be even more changes in college football over the next five year. The BCS schools are going to dictate the terms of those changes. Nobody is going to ask the MAC leadership what they think about BCS level changes in terms of a playoff and the size, membership and direction of their conference. The MAC is already a non-factor in those discussions. If the MAC needs to make a move on its own, it needs to do so before the BCS schools make the move for them. If that is a separate level of college football somewhere between D-1 and I-AA, then fine. There area already four divisions, would another really hurt? Would the walls of The Big Dialer really come crashing down if we played all of the same MAC schools and had a OOC schedule of Marshall, Florida Atlantic, Nevada and pick a I-AA school? That would be a Hell of a good schedule. Let the BCS schools play one another without their early season fodder and let the non-BCS schools play some games where they have a chance to win and a chance at a national championship. I-AA or another division could do that. So Akron pounding Morgan State and more than likely Gardner Webb isn't stealing from our fans? Get off the I-AA and moving down BS.

You are exactly right. Do you think all these kids want to go to Ohio State because it is the greatest school in the world? No. They want to go because of the sports teams. They grew up watching the football and basketball teams. It is the only reason that I visited the campus when I was looking at schools. I wanted to watch good sports! It is a huge part of the college experience and it is a huge pride factor.

Syracuse 24 Akron 7 Our offense stunk in spring ball and it doesn't sound like it was too much better at the scrimmage. I hope that I am wrong.

Does anyone know how ticket sales are going for this game? I just got on ticketmaster for the hell of it and 2 of the 3 ticket levels showed no tickets available. I have never seen that for a Zips game. Could we be looking at a sellout? That would make for an amazing environment, especially since I have a few people that I am bringing and it is their first Zips game.

Miami is not one of the schools I expected to be on the "move down" side of the MAC. I always thought their pride in their tradition would be enough to carry them through and make moving down an unthinkable proposition. Akron is quickly being isolated in the MAC as a school with a desire to improve athletics. Still, I think if the MAC dropped some weight then things would look better for the schools that stayed. I don't really disagree with your post. Since the 1970s, Miami has had spurts of being good with long stretches of being really bad being the norm. I believe Miami has made a decision to basically have a football team because they have to. What Miami really has is a nationally ranked hockey team and I believe that is going to be the focus of their AD. UofA could do the same thing with the soccer program. I've been saying for a long time on this board and I get crucified every time I say it, but it appears as if it is going to come true faster than I even thought it would. The MAC needs to drop down to I-AA before the BCS schools and the NCAA do it for them. If we do it on our terms, I will be the best scenario. If we do it on their terms, it will be a shitty deal. The league is a I-AA league right now that just calls itself D-1A. The party is over. MAC schools and our society in general don't have the money to sustain the costs it takes for everyone to constantly be in a "building process". What has been built in the MAC in terms of facilities is still small time in comparison to what BCS schools have. If you have any doubts, take a drive down to Columbus and drive around the basketball arena and look at their sports complex. Ours doesn't even come close to that. That statement is neither pro, nor con, tOSU.....It's just a fact. Us being behind is never going to change because the party is over and there is no more money to throw at sports teams. What we do have are really good facilities compared to the I-AA schools. The MAC would be the best I-AA conference and the champion would stand a good shot at winning the National Championship each year. Sorry guys...the party is over. I don't say that to be an a-hole or anything else. Just take a look around at our society. Is there anyone out there who believes there is money sitting around for UofA to become a BCS level school? We're freaking broke for crying out loud. It was fun to debate these issues the past few years, but the reality of our society in the past two years has changed everything. There is NO FREAKING MONEY. No money = no "building". I hope they tear down the stadium and get rid of the football program before they drop to I-AA. I have zero interest in I-AA ball.

I really dont think that it will hurt attendance. The people that want to watch the zips will be at the game. The "casual" football fan in the area will more than likely be watching a higher profile game that is televised. I am sure some people will watch just to see what the local team has, but unlike the past we can't afford to lay an egg during every big opportunity that we get. The last thing we need is to stink and have the casual fan think "yep, they still suck. That is a waste of my time."

Exactly. Does anyone remember the first half of the Ohio game last year? Hint: 2 interceptions and a fumble into the end zone? 3 turnovers negated the 80 yards rushing. OK...since you bring up the Ohio game last year, lets talk about it.... Our starting QB fumbled while his leg was getting ripped off, while he was about to score the go-ahead TD against the eventual MAC East champs, during a half in which he was carry our offense both on the ground and through the air with almost 200 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, his replacement comes in and saves the day by completing only 9 of 23 passes, we muster nothing more than one 30-yard scoring drive, and the game becomes virtually out of reach early in the 4th quarter. Feel however you want about these two guys, who's better, etc. There's plenty that I don't like about BOTH of them. But, I'm completely baffled as to why you would point to the production of these two guys in the Ohio game as your supporting data in favor of Nicely? I feel as if I touched a nerve here. Not my intention to be a troll and stir the pot. I don't think it is fair to compare the performance of our quarterbacks within the Ohio game. Patrick Nicely was forced into duty in an emergency situation after #1 was kicked off the team and #2 was injured. I would never suggest that the Zips were better off with Nicely for the 2nd half. Matt Rodgers started the 2009 season as the #2 QB ready to play if CJ goes down. PN started the 2009 season as a true freshman who was going to be redshirted. Both were forced into duty under less than optimal circumstances. It is my belief that PN made better lemonade with his batch of lemons. I simply referenced the Ohio game since that was the last action MR saw in 2009. I referenced the first half of that game because he had the Indiana and Central Michigan starts under his belt at that time. If I wanted to trash the guy, I would have mentioned his Indiana performance where he threw for 165 yards and 4 interceptions. I don't want to trash him at all. Perhaps I just should have kept my opinion to myself and simply given Dr. Z a +1 response because I agree with him. Bottom line for me is this. Patrick Nicely showed me a few flushes of brilliance last year. Matt Rodgers did not. What Matt showed me was a lot of grit and determination, which I respect. Neither one have shown me a whole lot of anything so far this year to tell you the truth, but I am hopeful that Nicely will continue to develop. Nicely was a True freshman forced into duty. That kid was playing scout team at best and then in a matter of a few weeks he is under center. How many true freshman have you seen come in and be superstars? He had a 5th string running back, back up receivers, a shoddy offensive line and a team that mailed it in. I find it amazing that he played as well as he did. My entire family is made up of former D-1 football players and they overwhelmingly think this kid could be special. I agree with them.

I would be interested in attending some away games. I'm currently lining up a trip to go to Bloomington, it'd be icing on the cake if UA provided a bus. I already have my tickets for the Indiana game. Can't wait to get over there.

That's one I don't like. I don't want to lose recruits to other MAC Schools. I am completely with you on that. Losing to the bigger conference schools is one thing. Losing out to other MAC schools is ridiculous with the facilities we now have. We still have the small time loser stigma to overcome. I got into an argument yesterday with someone that said "come on...Akron isnt REAL football". Facilities are one thing....a reputation as a loser is another. We need to win some games, then the facilities seal the deal.

It was, yes

Got my tickets as well. I am thrilled to keep my lot 9 pass. My dad got his and he got upgraded from lot 10 to lot 9. This makes me think that season ticket sales have dropped quite a bit since last year. I hope that isn't the case.

Here is a link from the Erie paper. There goes my prediction against Syracuse Link I know it sounds bad to say, but this is probably a good thing. It is hard to believe a guy puts up no numbers and gets a scholarship because he runs a fast 40 time. Granted, he was in a run oriented offense, but that still makes the learning curve huge to jump to the D1 level as a receiver. I wish him luck in whatever he decides to do. Hopefully Ianello has another guy stashed away somewhere. He keeps bringing in guys at the last minute and they all seem like talented players.