Blue & Gold

Wow. That is very intense! I don't know if I like the idea of coming out to a sound tract though. Not when you've got a marching band on the field already.

That'd be nice and all, but we'd better make some big noise fast if that was to happen. Personally, I'd be much more content with being a perennial MAC powerhouse and having a consistent winning tradition than jumping to the big stage and being a .500 team. I am not so sure that if the Big10 were to expand to 12 teams that they'd pick up a mid-major MAC team. If anything they'd probably try to convince Notre Dame to join.The big ten has no benefit in taking in Akron. I'm assuming that was sarcasm.And UAZips man is correct, they wouldn't pick from the mid major ranks.That's very debatable. I also doubt you have any insiders in the Big Ten camp that could back your assumption.Most any conference would take someone like Notre Dame so that's irrelevant. The point is, Akron is growing alot and who knows in a few years we could be a good fit.I don't like making dogmatic statements, so I won't say we're never getting invited to join the Big Ten. But we're never getting invited to join the Big Ten. (And, no, I don't have any inside information.) But they would invite West Virginia, Missouri, UConn, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Pitt or possibly Kentucky to join before they would invite us. And I still think the Big Ten is hoping Notre Dame wants to join; about 10 years ago they extended an invitation to ND.

I think a good illustration may be rock-n-roll. Any trained musician will tell you rock-n-roll is sophomoric, crap music. But when I'm going to a show at Blossom (or at the future Akron Arena), do I care that rock-n-roll is easy to play? No! I want to rock out.So it is with a marching band. We're at a friggin' football game. We want adrenaline. We don't want Schubert.

Wow. It sounds like our band needs an entire change in mindset, or "culture" and that's a problem that runs very deep. It sounds like the band needs a new director to gradually (or not so gradually) instill a different personality amongst the group.Anyway, band members, please know that no one is picking on the band. I just think that everyone on this board has a passion for the University of Akron and desperately wants to see it represented in a grand fashion. Most of us grew weary of UA's half-baked view of themselves long ago. That's part of our collective frustration - when it comes to UA, oftentimes the small-time mindset is internal - almost as if we ZipsNation fans have bigger dreams for the university than even the university does. (That's why Proenza is a demi-god in our eyes.)On a different note, I like the idea of bringing back the big tire drum. Purdue has their big drum, maybe we could have ours as well?Purdue's Big Drum

The MAC may have been playing the heavy for us on this one. I'm sure that we weren't too thrilled about the match up when we learned that the W wouldn't count toward our win total.With the MAC "forcing" us to drop the game, it may have been a way for us to maintain a friendly relationship with South Dakota by saying that the decision was taken out of our hands?

Though it's a no-brainer to even mention this, it would be fantasic if Goodyear would fly the blimp over the Info on gamedays.

If I can get jalapenos with my nachos @ Infocision I will consider the University's planning to have been a major success.i asked a person at the concessions window at the JAR this year if i could get jalapeno's on my nachos and she informed me that "they dont carry them anymore". I asked why and was told "because they were too hot for people".True story.Wow. You'll just have to go "Nacho Drag" from now on.

Is the team supposed to run on to the field from the new end zone facility? I like it when teams gather in an end zone & mosh around & hit each other and scream at each other & then, following the team captains, bum rush the 50 yard line through a tunnel of band members & mosh some more! Dang, I've got goosebumps just sitting here. I am so ready for football!!!

You're absolutely right! I'm hoping that those in charge are busy planning the entire game day morning so that the entire day has, as you say, a special feel to it. I pray that those in charge are not simply sitting around just thinking the new stadium will suffice and do all the work for them. We need to make game day a truly eventful DAY. We don't just want to look forward to a football game. We want to look forward to the day. The football game should simply be the climax of a great day.

Thanks for the info about Black being a 6-6 shooting guard during his sophomore season. That made a lot of sense to me because in the video I saw of him he hit a few outside shots and had a really nice, smooth stroke.

Until the weather gets bitterly cold, I plan on parking downtown @ either the OBC parking deck or @ UA's Polsky deck. I'm gonna have a little crew with me & we're gonna get a bite to eat @ one of the downtown restaurants & then walk to the game (a whopping, what quarter mile-ish) either through campus or up Exchange Street, and enter through the SW gate. Now, if we have a skull session (which I would most definitely attend) @ either Memorial Hall or the JAR, then everyone who attends that would likely enter through either the NW or NE gates.I'm excited about a little bit of a walk to get to the game. It'll give the game a bigger "event" feel and it will give me a chance to show off our downtown and campus to the people I bring to the games.

Ha! No, I've never been in Guzzetta Hall. But, for some reason I thought they had just renovated Guzzetta, or added onto it, or something, within the last 2 or 3 years? Obviously, I was totally mistaken! Lol. E.J. Thomas then?

Ever heard of Bands in the Bowl?Oh, absolutely! And that is awesome when you guys do that! But if we could work those high schoolers into a skull session it would blow their minds! During the band's entrance in those skull sessions you honestly just wanna go hit something (or someone )! They're insane. Usually during high school games everyone takes a restroom break during the halftime show. Too bad, because those band kids put a TON of work into what they do. However, at the skull session, they are the center of attention. It's great stuff.

Thanks! Guzzetta hall would be a good venue for our own skull session! I'm afraid if we'd start out in the JAR it would be waaaaay too empty. An empty venue would have the opposite effect of what we're looking for. Guzzetta would fill up much more quickly and possibly be a hot ticket. If we'd ever out grow Guzzetta, we could possibly move to Memorial Hall, or E.J. If we outgrow those venues (and it might take a number of years to do that, but these are brand new traditions we're starting) then we could make a move to the JAR.Could you guys march into Guzzetta like OSU marches into St. John Arena? I've seen that in person a number of times and, I'll tell you what, I am NO OSU fan, but when you're there watching it, even a Wolverine would get jacked for OSU football. It is that emotive! (Hyperbole)Also, man, I think it's so important to have room for those high schoolers in there. They're soooo impressionable that if they get goosebumps watching the crowd cheer for you guys in a skull session, they're going to want to come to UA and be a part of that!!

For football games fans love the military-style marching band. We should definitely change our style to be more military. Save the more artistic pieces for the band concerts. For football games, naturally, go military.The kick-a$$ drum cadences are possibly the greatest thing that marching bands can pull off to get the crowd jacked. Check out Columbus State's drum cadence during the band entrance: I hope our administrators note how jacked the crowd is. It's due to the drum cadence (which is difficult to hear in this clip). It's because they are there to see a bone-crushing football game - they want to be jacked up. Military style. The crowd is absolutely NOT jacked up to hear OSU's band play Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. The skull session consists of the band entering to the drum cadence and then, following the band making their way to their seats, the playing of the OSU fight song. After that the band plays about 20 minutes of whatever. It should be duly noted that the drum-cadence-led entrance and the playing of the fight song is FAR AND AWAY the only exciting part of the show. After the playing of the fight song, many people start to file out of the skull session, or just kinda sit there and look at their watches. The rest of the show is BORING. Sorry, we're not there to hear a band concert, we're there to watch some smash-mouthed football! I am assuming we are going to do a skull session in the JAR, or in Memorial Hall, before the games at the Info. I REALLY HOPE I'M NOT ASSUMING TOO MUCH. The skull session musical selections should be very adolescent-friendly (fight song, alma matter, popular movie scores?). In the clip above, check out all the blue-uniform-clad kids sitting in the front rows of the bleachers as OSU's band comes marching in. That's a visiting high school band. OSU brings in a few different high school bands each week to sit in on the skull session and to play with their band. WHAT A RECRUITING TOOL!!! Lord have mercy. I guarantee almost every pimply-faced high school band nerd that participates in an OSU skull session now dreams of being a part of that band over the next few years. We need to do the same.

We haven't visited this topic in a while, but, to anyone in the marching band, and everyone part of the ZipsNation, what pregame plans is the university putting together? We'll be opening the Info before we know it, so I'm assuming our athletic department has spent countless hours, and many sleepless nights, researching, brainstorming and planning the entire game day experience, right? Pregame band session in the JAR? Military-style, drum-cadence-driven parade from the JAR to the Info? Anything? Again, I haven't heard a peep on this subject in a very long time and the silence has me more than a bit concerned.

Read this article. Though it doesn't have anything to do with the Zips, I found MANY parallels between the current Cleveland Browns, the Cleveland Cavs, and what we have done as an athletics program in Akron and what we hope for the future.LinkyIn the article George Thomas talks about the Cleveland Browns losing a generation of fans. Due to the Zips legacy of losing, isn't that really what we battle here in Akron? GT also talks about the Browns being in danger of creating fan "apathy." Again, isn't that exactly what we are trying to reverse here in Akron?GT talks about, due to the demise of the Browns, the Cavs being in an advantageous position to gain new fans and to be an integral part of Cleveland's identity. Again, isn't that our goal for the Akron community here at UA?Just an interesting article that, if you'd replace Cavs with Zips, really hits some nerves about our potential here at UA.

I take that back. Actually, I can't tell if there is any movement or not. My pictures aren't streaming. I've only got 3 still pictures. Don't know why. I hope that April 1 virus hasn't screwed w/ my laptop!

Today I've checked the web cams 3 times and it doesn't look like a creature is stirring, not even a mouse.

You know, it must be difficult, if not downright gut-wrenching, for the coaches to establish relationships with these players, yet only have a few scholarships that they are able to hand out. Next year we only have two schollies to give; Darryl Roberts deserves one and we are certainly holding one back, with our fingers crossed, for D-Payne. Are there gray shirts in basketball?

That would honestly be fantastic. Given our country's incredible fascination with football, that would be bigger than March Madness and, taken as a whole, could possibly be even more popular than the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl.But above all - IT'S FAIR. The BCS is a racket.

Thanks for that link. Neither Rivals nor Scout has anything on Mr. Black, so I really don't know much about him at all.

Ha! Thanks a lot! I hadn't seen the updated SW gate picture nor had I ever seen the main lobby picture. Thanks again!

I was up there last night (Monday) and saw some work being done around 7 p.m. I wonder if they're making a little push to get a little extra done before the first public tours this Saturday?

For Zeke's sake we shouldn't put next season's expectations on his incoming freshman shoulders. We should simply hope he contributes and let him come along at his own pace. Steven Sweich was ranked, if I remember correctly, as the 19th best center prospect during his senior year. Rivals has Zeke as the 7th best. Let's just hope Zeke fits in, works hard and contributes some next year.