Blue & Gold

They can laugh all they want. Anything less than $18 is selling at a loss, and won't be made up through concessions or merchandise. They're killing themselves financially (even more than usual) in an attempt to keep within the NCAA attendance rules. huh? By your logic, selling at $54 will be 3x less of a loss! It really doesn't make sense if demand isn't there to sell at $54, and the same is true for $18. Example of reducing price to make more money below. It's called optimizing volume versus price. 4000 tickets at $18 yields $72,000 6500 tickets at $12 yields $78,000 By lowering prices significantly, you drew more fans and offset price with volume. Not only could you make more money, but you create a real event experience which increases future demand. You assume a demand for tickets. What if there are no more people who wanted to go to the game Saturday than those who showed up? Exactly. No more fans would have shown up even if we lowered the price to $5 a ticket. And Can't's pricing structure simply lowers the value of their product. If people pay $5 to see them, they see that it's worth less than a high school game, and so must not be as important as one or as exciting, or worth the trip. I fully disagree...I know six people personally who planned to attend then changed their mind when they saw the price...SIX! If I know that many alone, imagine how many total. Then they really did not want to go and were looking for an excuse for not going. Akron can't build its future on this fan. Yes. If $20/person is too much to see a local team and a BCS team play in the nicest stadium in the state, they didn't really want to be there. I bet they would gladly pay per person at OSU what it would cost the entire group at Akron to watch a game. The only time I would ever go to an OSU game to watch football is if they were playing the Zips. I would rather go see Akron play than OSU any day. Amen! I know who I am. I know where I'm from. And it's not Columbus.

Well, at least next week should be fun.

TG Q: "Football attendance will once again be an issue. What is needed to bring more fans to InfoCision Stadium?" TW A: [paraphrase] "Blah, blah, blah... hopefully the team wins." Um, yeah. If the team were winning we wouldn't need much marketing. This answer was quite void of content. TG Q: "Attendance at Rhodes Arena for men's games has been disappointing. What can be done about it?" TW A: "...We need to figure out a way to fill the JAR on a consistent basis, not just for big games. Again, that comes back on us to come up with ways to do it." Um, yeah. So... um... what can be done about it? Once again, an answer completely void of content. Come on, TW, you're not running for political office here. We're on your side & we want to know what's going on within our athletic department. What's the plan? What's the vision? What are the goals? What has been done? What are the works in progress? What bridges are being built? What's the 2-year vision? 5-year? What is President Proenza's dream/vision for the future of the athletic department?

I noticed the floors as well. Stained concrete can look very nice/cool/industrial. But the floors in the Team Shop just look bad & unfinished.

7,000 pre-sale tickets for the 'Cuse game?!?! That's AWFUL!!! Today I was downtown having lunch w/ a friend and I mentioned I was going to the game tomorrow. "What game?" she asked. "The Akron game," I said. Blank stare. "Akron's playing Syracuse tomorrow!" "Oh... I didn't know anything about it." Oh, well. It's our own d@mn fault. We don't win. People don't care to follow losers. We need to win. However (on my soapbox again), I'll bet the Cleveland media hasn't been pimping either the 'Cuse game or the Zips in general, have they? What? No regular Zips' updates during the 6:00 evening news? Screw off, Cleveland. You suck. Go burn & fall off into the lake. But anyway, it's our own fault. We put together a few winning seasons w/ bowl appearances & people will care. If not, they won't. Look @ the Cleveland Indians. When they were winning it was hard to get a ticket (not that I tried). But any more they draw fewer people than the Zips do. Gotta win, baby.

The Team Shop is open! It's well done. Good selection of Zips gear. They've also got newer (not replica) football & basketball uni's to go along w/ the ALMOST replica soccer jerseys. I bought 2 Champion t-shirts. They're buy-one-get-one-half-off. It didn't matter. I just wanted to drop some $$ in the place. One nice touch I noted was of the two large posters hanging behind the register are pics of hometown Zips - Bryan Williams & John Mackey. Pumped for tomorrow! Go Zips!

I'm predicting Akron 21, 'Cuse 14. Zips D looks solid against a mediocre 'Cuse O. Cuse has one nice, sustained drive for a TD & hits a big play for their other. Akron's O keeps it mostly on the ground, eats clock & moves the chains behind a good OL & strong running from AA. At least once tomorrow, as 'Cuse packs the box, Patrick Nicely hits Jeremy LaFrance for a long 6.

That's precisely why my drinking coach made me take a freshman red-shirt!

While watching your BBQ emoticon, I just happened to notice this, but that was your 5555th post! Almost as thrilling as watching an odometer tilt!

You pretty well hit the nail on the head right there. I agree, outside of Cleveland State and YSU which bring some regional excitement, the home OOC schedule is a real yawner. Unfortunatly we are just good enough that the truly good teams are extremly reluctant to come to our place. It offers them no benefit in terms of RPI or national perception. If they come here and win, no big deal, they were supposed to beat us anyways. If they come here and lose its a negative headline and provides a hit to their tournament resume. As a fan I'm just happy that it at least looks like KD is softening his stance on the whole, "we won't go play at your place unless you agree to come play us at home" deal. It at least gives us some chances to beat some of those good teams on the road which could in turn generate enough interest to get a few more of the non-die-hards out to the JAR to watch us hammer Bethune Cookman. I think YSU basketball brings about as much excitement to the JAR as Wright State baseball brings to Lee Jackson Field. It is a guaranteed win... an easy-to-schedule annual home-and-home for Dan Peters (former YSU coach)... an easy road trip for the Zips faithful... but there is no amount of lipstick you can slather on the pig that is YSU basketball. People in Youngstown don't care about YSU basketball...and people in Akron care even less about it. Football would obviously be a different story. I just noticed your "yawn" emoticon!

It's funny you mention this as I was wondering myself. Steiner is listed at 205 lbs. Isn't he going to get absolutely obliterated along the O-line? If I were an opposing coach, at the Zips' first punt or FG attempt, I'd put my biggest, nastiest DT right over Steiner and simply tell him to knock the snot out of him. you can't. that's why long snappers usually aren't the biggest fellas. Thanks for the info, I didn't know that was against the rules! Though I should have expected it - how the long snapper is looking back between his legs, I always thought that looked like a broken neck waiting to happen!

It's funny you mention this as I was wondering myself. Steiner is listed at 205 lbs. Isn't he going to get absolutely obliterated along the O-line? If I were an opposing coach, at the Zips' first punt or FG attempt, I'd put my biggest, nastiest DT right over Steiner and simply tell him to knock the snot out of him.

I haven't read through this entire thread, so I don't know if I'm being redundant here, but I'm, sad to say, once again not too overly thrilled with the home OOC schedule. The overall schedule is pretty decent, but look at our lame home OOC slate: John Carroll Millikin YSU (exciting IMO) CSU (exciting) Bethune Cookman Arkansas-Pine Bluff Oral Roberts These are the games we get at the JAR? We need a "yawn" emoticon. However, I think the overall schedule is pretty good. I like both YSU and CSU (especially beating down CSU). I'm also pumped about Temple & Dayton (the more A-10 schools we can schedule, the better IMHO), Minnesota & Miami FL. We obviously have an extremely difficult time luring quality OOC opponents to the JAR (the pickle of being a tough mid-major) so I'm happy with the fact we'll get to see both YSU & CSU. I enjoy these geographic rivalries; we should make them annual affairs. Maybe we can start up a few 2-for-1's with some BCS schools? It'd start paying dividends in 2 years. It'd be nice if @ least once a year we could bring one BCS team to the JAR. Only die hard UA fans will be breaking their backs & butts in the JAR bleachers again this year.

I'm also puzzled with all the TE's. Some really good athletes are listed at TE - not that that in itself is a problem, but I can't help but feel that some of these athletes could be contributing elsewhere instead of riding the bench behind whoever wins the TE spot. I'm specifically thinking of Will Fleming being moved from LB to TE. I thought he had a lot of potential as a nice-sized and athletic LB (this especially concerns me due to our lack of depth @ LB). Richard Hall is the other. He came is as a highly touted DE (I get more excited about DE's than TE's). I know he won the starting TE spot as a true freshman, which is very impressive. But I'd be more excited if his 6-3, 230 lbs. was rushing the opposing QB off the edge. I was excited about the prospects of Anthony Ritossa coming in as a TE. But apparently, from all the position shuffling the coaches have done, he must not be impressing at TE?

Does anyone know what "Unk" stands for? For their respective "Year," both Antoine Russell and Anthony Holmes are listed as "Unk."

I was w/ a friend (albeit, a girl) last night driving by Mount Union. But for a girl, she's quite into sports & she asked, "Is Mount Union known for anything." I replied, "Well, football, I guess. They win the D-III National Championship just about every year." She said, "Really? I've never even heard of them." D-I or nothin'! Go Zips!

What goes on around UofA should have nothing to do with what goes on at UofA. No way, GP1, or should I say... JAKE!

It was only a matter of time before Mike got sucked into "The ABJ Way." I give him credit... he lasted longer than most. This oversight, however, reeks of David Lee Morgan. I have to believe Mike had a ghost writer. Both Odefin & Dawson are still listed on the GoZips.com roster. We suck.

4 True Freshmen are now listed on the GoZips.com roster. 1) Giorgio Bowers - RB 2) ShelDon Miller - DB 3) Keith Sconiers - WR 4) Jamar Williams - LB I guess these are the True Frosh that may get some PT. I keep reading about Antoine Russell, a freshman WR who is getting a lot of PT but I can't find him on the GoZips.com roster (either under Freshmen or Red-shirt Freshmen), or on the ZipsNation Commitment List, or on the Rivals.com Commitment List. Who is this guy?!

I'm with you. I love the name, largely because it has history behind it and, unless you know that history, you'll not understand. I much prefer Zips to anything like Tigers, or Wildcats, or Bulldogs, etc.... Thus, (I know I'm an absolute homer, but) I actually consider Zips to be one of the best names in college sports. I love: Zips, Horned Frogs, Demon Deacons, Game Cocks, Gators, Hoosiers, and, as much as I hate to say it, Buckeyes. Anything unique & with a history to a locale.

When the Akron Aeros were having their name the team contest, I submitted the name "Zeppelins." I thought it'd be a great name, and both the Zips & the baseball team would have nicknames that started w/ "Z." How unique would that be? A-Z.

I think that Columbus State and Texas are the only two schools who actually make $ off their athletic programs (i.e., football). Every other school in the country loses $. But I'm supposing that every school in the nation, OSU & Texas as well, essentially consider athletics an advertising expense.

Great post. Thanks for the maturity, civility and intelligence in your disagreement. I'm not a big internet chat room kinda guy (this is the only internet sight I am active on, well, now that I think about it, I do occasionally post on Rasor's blog @ Ohio.com) But, in my limited experience, I get the vibe that, when online, it seems to be taken for granted that if you disagree with someone you are supposed to be combative about it. So, cool, you really made some good points!

I can't get anything. Any updates?

What is his talking about Akron doing for the city? I'd have his back if I though he had a meaningful impact on the City, but he doesn't. Making people feel good is not meaningful. -"Making people feel good is not meaningful." I do see what you mean, GP1, but I don't agree with the above quote. "Making people feel good," is basically all that sports do & all they have to offer people: develop a sense of community. Not much more, not much less. But that is powerful. LeBron is definitely starting to define that Akron is an entity unto itself. (Perhaps, sadly, emotionally weaning the baby away from mamma, so-to-speak, is a pertinent illustration?) Painful, but necessary for growth/identity/self-esteem. I think that, psychologically, this is a very healthy and long overdue step for our community (a lot of people don't like the idea right now, but that's okay - I once heard a humorous quote that went something along the lines: "Don't worry about others stealing your ideas; if your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." How many babies like being weened from mamma? Not many, but it's healthy.) The whole "consequences of an idea" phenomena. Of course, it could take a generation (or more) to see the tangible results of our community actually taking pride in our community, and not finding our identity in the city to the north. That's potentially worth more than we could quantify. And to have the most famous athlete on planet earth doing this is worth more than even our university's fine advertisements which air on Superbowl Sunday. But I do agree that I wish LeBron would do even more. But let's not forget that he already does quite a bit - the bike-a-thon, all the playgrounds he's built around the city, getting our b-ball program Nike uni's & LBJ shoes, conducting interviews in and around the city, attending quite a few basketball games every year & occasional football games, accepting his MVP's @ St.V/M & @ the JAR, name-dropping "Akron" into the nation's conscious at just about every conceivable opportunity, hosting the LBJ Skills Camp & the King James AAU tourney @ UA - honestly, that's doing quite a bit (he is the Chosen One, but he's not God Lol) and the impact of these things shouldn't be discounted. But sure, I wish he'd do more too! I wish he'd throw his weight around and get Nike to build us a new basketball arena, get Nike to sponsor all of our athletic programs, do interviews wearing Zips gear & open a restaurant/sportsbar downtown! Of course, he's got 10 years of pro ball left, so we'll see what else he does. The negative reaction to The Decision maaaaay end up actually working in our favor: he may feel more pressure now to do even more to prove his loyalty to his hometown - which he seems on a mission to do. I don't know LBJ personally, but I have been following him since his freshman year in high school, and though LeBron tries to act so "cool", I'm quite certain that he's actually a very sensitive, sentimental kind of person. I think it's extremely important right now that Akron makes it known that we've got his back and haven't turned on him in favor of the city up north. Millions of dollars and consistent blips on the radar of the nation's conscious could depend on it. Until either our football or basketball teams make consistent national noise, LBJ's the best (and, frankly, only) pub we've got. LeBron is a huge ambassador of the city of Akron. That is significant.