Blue & Gold

Hey, he asked someone to tell him it wouldn't be cool, and I did. Personally, I think it would be Pimptastic to have the championships at the Info.It would be great to hosts the State HS Championships.A win, win for UofA and City of Akron.I don't see any negatives at all and I hope UofA outbids Canton and Massillon for the games.Does anyone know what a said "bid" entails? We don't guarantee any $$$, do we? Maybe we do, and then hope to turn a profit? If that's the case, then who is fronting the $$$ for the games to currently be in Massillon & Canton? Stark County Visitors Bureau? Idk, I'd feel kinda bad taking those games away from Massillon & Canton - those poor towns have nothing going for them whatsoever. But, man, the Info is just so freaking gorgeous that we've just gotta show it (& the rest of campus) off to as many folks as possible. And man, if I were a high school kid, I'd die to play in a stadium like the Info. That would have been one of the highlights of my life!

LeBron wants to "put Akron on the map."Bron-Bron Linky Link

I can't believe they've been able to keep it this hush-hush. This is unprecedented in the history of committees! Except, of course, for the Roswell alien crash-landing, the lunar landing hoax and the JFK assassination. Lol.Actually, I'm surprised they feel the need to keep it so hush-hush. Good grief. We knew when Mack was being interviewed for two different jobs.

Yeah. He's the kind of player that Walsh, Malone or Mount would have killed to get, but probably will just help the Zips on special teams. Who knows, he might pleasantly surprise some people. I'm kinda surprised he didn't get an offer from YSU, or a program on that level. Who knows, maybe he did & just wanted to try it @ the D-1 level. Anyway, he's talented, has ok size and isdefinitely a winner. Having Tyler as a walk-on sure can't hurt anything!

<br /><br />Hey, he asked someone to tell him it wouldn't be cool, and I did. <br />Personally, I think it would be Pimptastic to have the championships at the Info.<br /><br /><br /><br />Fo pimp-shizzle!

SWEET!!! I so hope it's buzzing the Info @ every home game, let alone our home opener!

Right. That number (what was it? 47K-ish?) Is for all 6 state championship games spread out over two days. For the smaller divisions, everyone could fit in the lower bowl. For the bigger divisions we could utilize the remainder of the stadium. The Info is PLENTY big enough.

Bandzip, that was AWESOME!!! You guys look and sound amazing!!! I just got SERIOUS goosebumps watching that - and I'm watching it on my tiny, little BlackBerry screen!!! Honestly, the picture frame is about 1-inch-by-1-inch! Lol! I can't wait for our home opener!!! Keep the band's inrensity level up, cause you guys are rockin'!!! You guys are gonna rock our new house!

The Info is going to be the nicest college stadium in the state and would be an ideal environment for those kids to play in. I would hate to "steal" the games away from Canton and Massillon (which is undeniably how they'd feel - even though the bidding is open), but the Info is soooooo darn beautiful that she couldn't help but add a HUGE "WOW!" factor to the state championship games. Also, big time advertising for the university. I believe they televise the state championship games, don't they?

Yeah, I thought I had heard that/read that somewhere before. I was excited when I heard it, because he's a very good football player and, I think, could really help the Zips on special teams, if not carrying the rock. But if this is true, why isn't he listed on the roster?

Very true! As I sit here I'm planning on going to some of the high school games just so I can walk around & bask in the glory of The Info!

I didn't see the commercial, but I wonder if a crappy commercial could have a negative effect on potential ticket buyers? A lame-o commercial may communicate to people we have a lame-o product? But... tv is uber important. I'm glad for the report of a tv sighting!It wasn't a lame-o commercial. it was nice and definitely did its job well, but I somewhat felt it lacked that little extra that gets people excited and makes them pick up the phone to buy tickets. In retrospect, I think it may have been that the commercial didn't have a song accompanying the video that had that "epic" feeling to it.As far as the effect of the commercial... I dont think it will have a negative impact at all. If anything it will help since it aired during prime TV hours (during an Browns game to all of NE Ohio). Some may think like I have and say it was little lacking, but the message and principle of the commercial still were very cleanly laid out. Im hoping someone else in the area had a chance to see it. I also hope someone is able to find/get a copy on youtube to share with everyone.Well, at least it didn't have the "Be A Part From The Start" song!

I didn't see the commercial, but I wonder if a crappy commercial could have a negative effect on potential ticket buyers? A lame-o commercial may communicate to people we have a lame-o product? But... tv is uber important. I'm glad for the report of a tv sighting!

Rashon Brown transferred in to UA from Western Kentucky .. I think he was eligible from December 2000 through the 2001-02 season .. have to check to be sure.Unstoppable point guard. Good shooter, great with the ball. Had the ability (and desire) to get to the rim @ will. Brown was the starting point guard that got the Zips to the Q for the first time in 2002.Bonus points if you can name the other guard from that game against BG without looking it up.For me, Brown was a guy who could have played at any level in college ball. A treat to watch.Shot in the dark: Johnny Hollingsworth?

Wow. In cam #3 all the exterior brick pillar's lights are on. It's beautiful! I have a tear in my eye! Lol.

Maybe the ABJ'll run it on Sports Section page 1 above the fold! Lol, yeah, in my dreams.Watcher, you mentioned J-Wood and a Brown as your picks for best Zip D-1 players. Who is this Brown & in what years was he a Zip?

If you have not had the opportunity to tour InfoCision Stadium-Summa field yet, or have only visited certain parts of the stadium, FSN Ohio will broadcast a 30-minute show devoted solely to InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field. The show will debut on Aug. 27 at 9:30 and air a total of 10 times. The schedule for the 10 shows is as follows:Akron Zips: Welcome to InfoCision Stadium (broadcast on FSN Ohio) Aug. 27 - 9:30 pmAug. 28 - 10:00 pmAug. 29 - 1:30 pmAug. 31 - 10:00 pmSept. 1 - 10:00 pmSept. 2 - 7:30 pmSept. 3 - 9:30 pmSept. 4 - 2:00 pmSept. 4 - 6:30 pmSept. 5 - Noonwww.gozips.comThat is awesome! I wonder if that is an actual show produced by FSN Ohio or if it is a paid advertisement which we are solely responsible for?

In another thread it was mentioned that UA's enrollment is up 7% this year. I guess our students represent 46 different states and 80 countries! THAT IS IMPRESSIVE!!! Wouldn't it be awesome if we could fly flags around the Info representing all the states and COUNTRIES our students come from?! That would impress the largely ignorant general population who would be visiting simply for a football game!

Save the money on classes. Here is all the marketing they need to know.There is a thing on the desk called a "telephone". Use this magical device to make appointments to speak to every group you can possibly get in front of to promote ticket sales for football, MBB and WBB. Further, use that time to raise money for the scholarship fund and build the donor base. Speakers should include....The AD, JD, KD and Coach Kest. Selling tools should include literature (recent literature has actually been pretty good). In the past, they have counted on literature to "sell" the program for them. Literature is a tool to help sell in person. Mailers traditionally have about a 1%-2% response rate. Following literature with face to face contact should result in at least a 10%-15% response rate. Give people a reason to buy and they will. Get in front of the community and put a face on the program.Billboards don't work. They are cheap for a reason. You get what you pay for.Stick with TV and radio. Especially TV is they can afford it. If your coaches are out speaking, customers connect the person on TV with the person in the room speaking with them. The three coaches I mentioned above are all good public speakers and likeable. Use that to your advantage. Schedule the times for them as they are very busy.Class over.I agree - tv, tv and more tv! TV is still magical in our society. If we see something on tv, we still think it's a big deal (i.e., Ron Burgundy.) With the advent of the internet this does seem to be changing - not rapidly, but indeed noticeably. However, right now it still has the Ron Burgundy effect. If we see some silly little Cleveland news anchor in person we think, wow, a celebrity! Lol, but I only say that half facetiously. Parenthetically, this is why I hate Cleveland and it's dominance of the tv news media. They have a stranglehold on NEO's minds. They either ignore or poo-poo anything Akron does - and they do it purposefully. They know what they're doing. They don't want to give Akron much credence; God forbid people begin taking the city to the south more seriously.

After the administration decided to build a new, on-campus football stadium, they absolutely let the Rubber Bowl deteriorate. I sure hope they're not doing the same with Lee Jackson Field just because they have the new soccer stadium on the drawing board.

GoZips.com reports we now have 6000 season tickets sold! Not that it matters, but I think I'm pretty happy with that number, especially considering we are dealing with a program which has a long and distinguished history of losing. Lol. IMHO, if we put a winning product on the field this year, we should be able to easily hit 10,000 season tickets for next season.

I'm on my BlackBerry so I can't copy a link for you, but check Rasor's blog. He's heard from an anonymous source that Hunter Yuracheck will soon be named our next AD.On the bright side, football season ticket sales have really taken off recently. On the other hand, Proenza wants someone to "take our program to the next level." Is that possible when hiring someone who was partly responsible for putting our athletics programs at the level (good or bad) they are presently?

I've looked @ the GoZips website & the Game Day Central specifically, and I can't find any information on group sales. Has anyone read or heard whether there will be a group sales discount? I put together a trip to Canal Park for the Akron Aeros every year and, of course, receive a group rate - I believe to qualify as a group @ Canal Park you need @ least 25 people, if I remember correctly. The last few years we've had close to 100 people attend. I'd love to do the same for the Zips - OU game. Anyone have any info that I've missed?

The article stated that Brian had earned a starting spot @ middle linebacker. So does this mean we can soon expect to see a depth chart?!

Good luck Andrew, we wish you well!Nic Cetinovic (sp?) played such outstanding ball last season that it was probably apparent to Andrew that Nic was the future at our 4-position. Still, Andrew certainly passed the eyeball test - he looked like a poor man's Amare Stoudemire. I was looking forward to seeing what he brought to the court this season.