you am i

the next football excitement is when the season ticket holders for the Info get to go in and pick there seats...thats according to the ticket orifice...I am pretty curious as to what procedure they intend to use for this whole "pick your seat" thing. Does anyone have any insight?If its like at other new sports facilities, the season ticket purchasers show up on a given day and are told to pick any seats with a specific color tag. They are then turned loose and can choose from whatever seats still have the tags of the appropriate color. Once the tag is removed, the seat is off the market. I've never done it but I've heard its like a gold rush for the first people in the park.

Its being reported that Gregg Brandon has been fired from BGSU. He was: 6-6 this year; 44-30 overall in 6 years; 3 bowl appearances.

If they want to reach down in the college ranks for a coach Kyle Whittingham (Utah) would be an interesting choice. They might look at him as the second coming of Urban Meyer. Kelly would be a nice pick but he hasn't established a good enough track record yet. And even if he was chosen I can't see JD getting named as his replacement. I see some Tennessee fans want Bill Cowher, but isn't he going to be the next Browns coach?

Thanks. Very interesting article. I thought I knew my Browns history but I had no idea they played at the RB for some preseason games. You never hear it mentioned. One thing I question is the statement that the Browns played a preseason game there in 1951 against the New York Yankees, which was a competitor from the All America Football Conference. The AAFC disbanded after the 1949 season with only the Browns, the 49s, and the Colts merging with the NFL, so its hard to see how the Browns could have played the Yankees at the RB in 1951.

The great singer and future civil rights/political activist Paul Robeson played for the Akron Pros when they won the championship. I've been trying to find out what field they played on in Akron, but no luck so far.

Last year I went to a game with a friend (his first Akron game) and he was kind of let down when he saw Zippy. He loved the "Fear The Roo" marketing campaign and was expecting to see something along those lines. I love Zippy but I could see how he felt, although I'm not sure you could take the "Fear The Roo" charcater and translate it into a true mascot. You couldn't match the intensity in the caricature. That's such a great artist rendering. And I would not want just another generic mascot. Zippy is definitely not generic. I would like to see the persons in the suit do a little more with him, though.

According to a wikipedia entry on this subject, the NCCA rule is that the home team wears dark unless the visiting team consents otherwise. But there is an exception where conference rules state that the home team will have its choice as to uniform, as is the case with the SEC.Who's going to tell Joe Paterno PSU can't wear white at home?

You would feel very safe saying that, as your opinion. On a case by case basis, when you are speaking in reference to an american citizen who was not convicted of a crime, then when you say you feel they were guilty, you are stating your opinion... legally, they are innocent regardless of how you feel.Yeah, that's my opinion, based on 24 years of courtroom experience.BTW, there's a specific proceeding in which an acquitted defendant can get a declaration of innocence, usually for the purpose of collecting damages from the state. Sam Shepard's son tried that route a few years ago and failed. I'm sure we both hope that Devoe has no further legal troubles and has a productive career at UA and beyond.

If a person is not convicted after a trial it means there was not proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty. And sometimes cases are dismissed prior to trial because of an evidence or procedural problem, even though the defendant comitted the act charged. So, "not guilty" or "case dismissed" does not mean innocent.I work in the judicial system and based on my experience, I would feel very safe saying that many criminal defendants who are not convicted after a trial did, in fact, commit the offense charged. Frequently, jurors who acquit will admit afterwards that they thought the defendant was probably guilty, but it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. If so, they properly found the defendant not guilty, even though they were convinced that he probably did it.Having said that, guilty or innocent, convicted or not convicted, each young man's situation is unique. Some young men do something incredibly stupid one time and learn a lesson from it. Some are criminals. A coach should not automatically write a kid off if he believes it was a one-time mistake, even though it is inevitable that sometimes it will turn out that his trust is misplaced. I'm a firm believer in second chances. Of course, you have to take into consideration the circumstances of each case, but in general I don't begrudge a school that takes a chance on a player, unless there's an established pattern of anti-social begavior or the coach has a history of using bad judgment in these matters.

Somewhat related: I remember the Rolling Stones at the Rubber Bowl. Around the time of the release of Sticky Fingers, as best as I can recall.

The end of the Rubber Bowl may mean the end of the urinal trough era in NW Ohio. I remember some really gross scenes involving troughs inside men's rooms at old Cleveland Municipal Stadium at halftime of Browns games. I'll be kind of nostalgic about the last game at the Rubber Bowl; not to suggest that a new campus stadium is not way, way overdue.

I'm pretty sure the NCAA prohibits the sale of alcohol at all athletic contests that are held on campus. But alcohol sales are permtitted in suites and loges.

I always thought the Akron/Hesiman connection was a little tenuous. The guy coached here for one year out of a 30+ year career. He's really more of a historical footnote to Akron football than a true legend. I keep meaning to see if there's a Heisman biography at the library so I can find out a little more about his year at Akron.I would suggest Proenza Place, but the guy is going to end up with a major building named after him, not just a street.

They're no where near as bad as back in the 1970's and They claimed attendance was 45k to 49K for the old Acme Zip Games. I know bowl was full for those games and people were even sitting on the hill atop the Bowl. But, you can't get 45k to 49K into a stadium who's official capacity is 35,000.Stadium capacity was listed at 31,000 not 35,000. I do not recall anyone ever claiming that attendance for an Acme Zip game was 45 to 49K but I was there when they had over 40,000 and it was fun.The original official capacity of the Rubber Bowl 35,202 before they closed part of the seats in the endzone and built the A-men club under the pressbox. UofA had person who happened to have graduated from my HS who worked in AD who was always grossly over estimating crowds back in the early late 1960's and early 1970's Yes, he sure did estimate several of the Acme-Zip crowds at 45k to 49k back then. His Nickname was Red. I don't recall his real name at this time and only recall his nickname and firery but, great attitude (But, I'm going to get it and post it here) The ABJ said it was closer to 40K all of those times.Here's one of the many places that will confirm the original capacityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_BowlLocation Akron, Ohio Broke ground 1939 Opened 1940 Capacity 35,202 You're probably thinking of Red Cochrane, former player and coach, and longtime supporter of athletics. (I was going to say athletics supporter but thought better of it.)

We're all just guessing. She was hired to turn around a bad program and she should be given free rein to do so. In a few years she'll be proven right or wrong.

That change was overdue. IMO, that was one stupid rule. Did any other conference have a similar rule?

Boy, do I ever hope you guys are right. This team is capable of beating any team in the conference and if they got hot in the tournament its possibile that they could win it all. In the meantime, could I have some of what you're smoking?

I'm somewhat sympathetic to your argument against eminent domain, but I disagree. If there was no eminent domain it would be next to impossible and certainly cost prohibitive to build the new stadium or any other public facility that requires a lot of land. Just where do you think it would be built? In the middle of nowhere, I guess. Actually, it probably would not be built at all, nor would nearly any of the other public projects that we all benefit from every day and take for granted, like the freeways and the turnpike. Its a trade-off. As long as the owners are fairly compensated, with a little extra $$ kicked in for their trouble, I can live with it. Its not a perfect world and the benefit of the community can't be held hostage by the private interests of a few indivduals. Plus, there's judicial oversight and an appeals process to keep things under control. I'm sure there are individual sad stories of a person forced to sell who legitimately didn't want to, but my feeling is that most of the time the hold-outs are just being a little bit greedy. The Odd Corner seems to be a case in point. Don't kid yourself, as someone once said, "Its not about the money. Its about the amount of the money."Bring on the bulldozers.

I'm pretty sure that Carroll Hall was the orginal library building before Bierce was built. That might explain the Greek philosophers above the doors.

While Chones might have Alzheimer's, Reghi is one of the best in the business. Love that guy.I've got to disagree with you on Reghi. Is there a sports cliche this guy doesn't use, repeatedly?And congratulations on OU taking down Can't State, Ozoner. Much appreciated.

BGSU and BSU embarrassed the conference, and the sad fact is they probably were the two best teams. Hopefully, this was just a down year for the MAC. And, realistically, there are no other conference options on the table.The glass half-full view is that the MAC is ripe for a quality program to dominate.

I was wondering if someone would mention OSU. Its apples and oranges. This was an unusually soft OOC schedule for OSU. More often, they have at least one heavyweight to contend with. For instance, they have a home-and-home with USC coming up, and they just finished the same deal with Texas. Plus, you can afford to have a soft OOC schedule once in a while if the rest of your games are Big 10 opponents. Akron does not have that luxury. I live in NW Ohio so I read a lot about the Toledo Rockets football program. This year they had Liberty (1AA) on their home schedule. But they also had Iowa State and Purdue at home. They beat Iowa State and lost to Purdue. They also played Kansas on the road this year as the back-end of a home-and-home deal and got beat up bad, but Kansas had an outstanding team. When they played Kansas at Kansas last year they beat them! Toledo has a reputation for taking on the big guys. Since I've lived here, Toledo has beaten Pittsburgh at home when Pitt was ranked #9 in the country, and absolutley hammered Purdue and Minnesota in the Glass Bowl. They beat Penn State at Penn State. They beat Cincinnati in the Motor City Bowl. The only reason I mention this stuff is because I promise you that Toledo would love to get Cincinnati as a home game. And if anyone would suggest to Toledo that they get out of a Cincinnati home game because, well, a 1AA team should be brought in because it would help the W/L record, they'd be laughed out of town. Toledo fans are used to seeing these types of teams play the Rockets. It generates a buzz around the program. Akron can and should do the same thing. But again, just my opinion. I do undertand the other side, I just don't agree with it.

I'm really surprised at the sentiment for downgrading the OOC schedule, particularly for home games. I've read a lot of "we're too good for the MAC" posts on this board, and now people are talking about scheduling 1AA teams for home games? That's hard to reconcile. I'm a realist, but why not use Fresno St. or Boise St. as a model. Heck, Troy University had Arkanasa, Florida, Oklahoma State, and Georgia as their OOC schedule. They beat Oklahoma State, which was a home game for Troy, and played Georgia tough on the road. And they're competing in the heart of the SEC for recruits. I guess I see the point of padding the schedule to make the W/L look better, but I don't think anyone is fooled. Beating Cinci or even playing them tough would give Akron more credibility on this board and with football fans in general than putting a patsy in there where the win means nothing.Just my opinion.

Racer, if I'm reading your post right you want to drop Cincinnati for a 1AA team? No way. The only way this program can move forward is upgrading the schedule. Akron should be doing everything in its power to get teams like the Bearcats on the schedule. Why not try for a home-and-home with a team like Syracuse. They'll come for a decent guaranteed payday, and with the new stadium I'd expect a full house for a game like that. Why not Pitt? I bet the place would be packed. You get no respect nationally until you earn it. We were so close to getting that national respect after the MAC championship and the NC State win.

I have always been under the impression that using bonds to raise revenue for capital improvements for atheltic facilities at public universities is fairly common. A quick Google search shows that many schools that have recently built or renovated their stadiums have used bonds, including Iowa, Central Florida, Marshall, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming, Illinois, and Florida Intl. I'm sure there are many more, but I stopped looking after a minute.