mcperp

[color=gray]Interesting line for this one: Miami (+6) o/u 115.5What does everyone think about that one? I'd think K.E.N.T. would be a bigger favorite at home. The under seems very appetizing if I were a betting man. These are two offensively challenged teams... Rowdy, I'm thinking the +6 might be the play with two top teams that don't score a lot. However, there's always that last minute of the game when the team that's losing keeps fouling and before you know it, a 60-57 game is a 66-57 final.... guess that's why I live in a van by the river.

Just a gut feeling that it all comes together tonight, Zips fight off Rockets a couple of times and win 63-56.

The new logo is much, much better than what we've had in the past, and it's a totally unique college logo. What I don't like so much is the boring gold helmet. It seems so derivative and tired like a wannabe Navy, Army, Notre Dame. I'd like to see, if even only once or twice a year, a crisp white helmet with blue stripes and the roo logo, or even a blue helmet and reverse the roo logo to gold. The uniforms could also be toned down and clean up the lines. The uni's look like something the St. Louis Rams may have considered and abandoned 7 years ago.

I haven't heard a thing about how much money has actually been raised for the new stadium, and I suspect that any new stadium will have attached, adjoining retail stores and restaurants to help pay the debt service, and to meet goals of University Park Alliance. Hopefully, if this is the case, it will be done tastefully and complement the facility.If retail is indeed part of the equation, it would seem that the best way to accomodate that would be via a horseshoe or a bowl to allow attached egress on both sides of the stores into the stadium...hope so anyway.

Excellent work CK, your passion and commitment are a boon to all zips fans, thanks again!

Whaddya ah theenk? Why I luv the Peay, I gradeeated from ther, and got me a job in Wahhshingtun representin the peeple of Kentuckah, I meen Tennessse see..oh was it Memphfist anywho,... what wuz the qwestin agin ?

Zips Marketing and Depends Diapers present Austin Peay in the JAR... yikes!

It's definitely an interesting idea to change the name, though what Akron really lacks is any sort of recent basketball tradition (and no, Coleman Crawford imploring his troops to "slow it down" despite being down by 36 to Our Lady of the Elms isn't tradition).An arena, gym, or whatever you want to call it takes on the character of it's inhabitants. That's what makes crapholes like Cameron (Duke), the old Boston Garden, and U of Oregon's home court become revered bastions of basketball tradition and excellence. Even BGSU's Anderson Arena has a different "feel" about it. If Duke won 10 games a year, Cameron would have all the charm of a Matt Domonkos extra point attempt.A name change would be nice if it brought in some extra revenue, but without a lot of W's to back it up, it's merely lipstick on a hog.

thanks for the quick update zff.

This is the "leaky ship" period for any MAC school with tentative recruiting coups. Just hope the sharks go hungry. Has anyone heard anything about the big OL from Painsville, Jeff Spikes? He seems quite interested in Akron, and if Simkovich jumps, Spikes would help ease the loss.

One of the world's top 5 hoopsters linked with the Zips? I'll take that free advertising every day of the week. Sure it gets old and a little annoying for locals, but to free associate Lebron and U of A isn't a bad thing. I can't think of another high schooler who went to the pros ever get linked to a college program at all. Mid Majors gotta take what's available; when most hoops fans hear Indiana State, they think Larry Bird, out west, Santa Clara = Steve Nash, etc.

A brilliant strategy to torture an obsessive/compulsive zips fan? Wow, some of these guys need to visit Trump's Apprentice board room.

New Top Ten Reasons why OSU lost...10. Unfortunate fla.shback for Tressel had him preparing for 1-AA FAMU instead of UF9. OSU was looking ahead to big Akron matchup next fall8. Politically speaking, it was Florida's turn to decide crowning of next college champ; Bush clinches Florida in 2000, and Ohio in 2004.7. Five fat white dudes on offensive line6. Hawk, Carpenter, and Schlegel5. Uh, because John Cooper was within 2000 miles of game4. The color red never wins in that stadium3. Pre-game chat with Art Schlichter moved line to OSU +26. Alarming lack of math skills still doesn't yield payday for Buckeye players2. Players got tired of singing that stupid Carmen Ohio song to band after game.1. They didn't lose, just take a look at the final 41-14 score in a mirror.

Has anyone heard anything about the source and status of funding? It would be hard to believe that the state will provide any capital outlay for a football stadium. This likely leaves bonds and/or private donations to pay for this project.

Did anybody get a final on the game? I had LMU +39 1/2 for 2 dimes.

Letters and/or emails detailing the fans' frustration are not a bad idea. I would recommend that the letters and emails be directed to President Proenza, and VP of Finance, Dr. F. John Case, and cc the Athletic Dept.The obtuse Athletic Department would likely pay little if any attention to fans letters, as they've demonstrated their "loyalty" to the fan base in many prior instances. Letters to Proenza and Case work better because Proenza controls the Athletic Dept and Case controls the university pursestrings including determining student fees allocated to the Athletic Department. This will provide for accountability and real analysis.

AKRON, Ohio – A limited number of tickets in the lower-level reserve endzone sections of Rhodes Arena are available for the next four men's basketball home games. These seats are normally set aside for the UA student cheering section.How utterly amazing is it that the Akron Media Relations department could publicly turn out such a terrible document. The casual reader is left to wonder two things; 1) what happened to the UA student cheering section?, and 2) is a limited number of seats the extent of students who cheer at the game?Uh, media relations folks, you might want to explain (even though it's still lame) that the tickets are available because it's winter break and many students aren't on campus. The way it reads now is that the student cheering section seats have mysteriously opened up, why? maybe no students cheer at games, therefore these seats are available so that you can't cheer as well.Really inept writing, and points out again that the Athletic Department has no appreciation of their customers, and no sense at all of public relations. Why wouldn't Mack Rhoades point out such a glaring omission?

What a bush league move by the Athletic Department. It typifies the worst in an AD, a real lack of appreciation by a department who somehow believe that the fans owe the university, not the other way around. Complete marketing disaster to eliminate the rare student enthusiasm with a begruding slight and try to pawn off seats for the high profile game. What an incredible lack of foresight to sacrifice the intangible force of student participation (which costs nothing) in order for a few bucks! It's like a sour-faced restraunteur charging a customer a $1.50 for a Coke refill. Please Akron Athletics, work with us, no one's out to take your job, so no need to constantly try to validate your position with strident, badly planned initiatives, just get out the way.

Like a lot of mid-majors, Dambrot needs guys who can play multiple roles at maximum speed for 15-25 minutes a game. Pressure D has been a consistent theme in Dambrot's coaching resume. As Skip Zip noted, guard play is paramount in the MAC, but those teams that luck out and have a big guy develop (Kaman at CMU, and Edwards at K ent) add a huge new dimension that accelerates success. Hope Sweich turns out to be that guy for us.

Anyone got an early line on Toledo Penal vs Columbus Correctional, I need this one bad!Art Schlichter

Private donations have little to no correlation between the two projects. The retail/commercial portion of the soccer stadium will be funded by business capital where a return on investment is expected. There's no philanthropic intent at all, whereas the Zips new stadium (which hopefully will be about 30k in capacity) would be getting its funding from entirely different pools of money.The cigarette tax is totally derivative and is a complete dinosaur. I don't know if I were a bond lender that I would stake 30 years of payback on a habit that gets squeezed more and more each year (passage of non-smoking law this November). It's a sucker bet. If the Wolstein group wants us to believe that the presence of a soccer stadium will make families more likely to head to Chili's for babyback ribs, then it's a completely disingenuous argument. If he's so confident about the project then build the stadium with your own funds, at your own risk, not the sad sack smokers. Will the presence of a soccer team in Ohio draw even more than cursory interest? Very unlikely, designer sports such as indoor soccer, world team tennis, women's pro hoops and even NHL hockey have folded more times than my brother in law at our weekly poker games.The Zips new stadium by contrast will draw donations from corporations and individuals with the reward being a mixture of personal investment and perhaps some corporate benefits (naming rights, preferred vendor, etc.). The other bulk of the Zips stadium will require a great deal of political acumen in getting legislators to open up the state capital project fund account. The JAR, though short-sighted in design is an example of the state picking up the vast majority of the cost.If the soccer stadium goes through you're talking about 16 home dates vs. 5-6 for a new football field each year. Anecdotally, there likely won't be too many fans agonizing over whether to go see the Cleveland Ciggy's soccer team or attend a Zips game, they'll do one or the other if the games are concurrent and the resultant "lost crowd" will probably be a wash anyways.

My guess is that any on-campus stadium concept will rely heavily on private investment. State support for tuition subsidies decreases every year. The idea that the State of Ohio (even with a new governor) would significantly fund a building that would be used 6 times a year for a school with virtually no football tradition is terribly unlikely.The University Park Alliance has received millions recently to continue the revitalization efforts around campus, but there's never any word about an on-campus stadium. The university's own Master Plan doesn't mention a stadium either. The palpable silence from the athletic department and the university itself likely means that the funding for the stadium is still hustling for private funds. And don't be surprised that the price tag for a 25-30k seat stadium will be closer to $60 million than the $40 million I've heard floated around. Stretch that out over a 30 year bond period and you're looking at about $5 million a year debt service. I'd be surprised if football gross revenues this year brought in any more than $1 million or thereabouts. This board had a discussion a few evenings ago regarding corporate naming rights for stadium. Get ready for a corporate name, along with some sort of multi-use concept for the stadium, shops, condos, restaurant's etc. If the private money is there then it doesn't matter what might be going on up in Macedonia with a soccer field.

Clearly the only name that should be considered is that of Akron's leading civil servant, the ever-humble "Mayor Donald J. Plusquellic Field at Mayor Donald J. Plusquellic Stadium" Thanks for your consideration!Don P.

What's the big deal? Oral Roberts can cure cancer, blindness, deafness, heart problems, and even missing limbs...all at reasonable faith-based donations to his bank account. Whaddya say the zipsnation pitches in and donate a few hundred bucks for Oral to be God's snowplow for a day?

Skip Zip, very nice, poor Chuck grasping at straws.From a very unreliable source here is what Chuck and the AD were actually thinking in between phrases during this morning's conversation.AD: So, you think you should still be here?AD:Wow, you'd think he would have quit out of common decencyCoach: Yes, we had a tough year. We'll do better next year.Coach: Hell yeah, I had the best record of any team in the area, Duke and the Tar Heels were terrible...hmm, maybe I should ask for a raise and another pec implant?AD: Dude, you lost to Akron, a 5-7 team from the MAC, at HOME.AD:Dude, could you take those Oakley sunglasses off, we're inside...did you borrow those things from Jose Canseco in like 1989?Coach: Yes.....but.....they cheat.Coach: Uh-oh, I may not be getting as big a raise as I thought...that Fear the Roo thing was cool, I wonder if that mascot was a non-qualifier, bastard!... hmm, what time is it? I could sure go for a Hardee's Frisco Burger.AD: Dude...drop it....it's time to go....here's a box to clean out your desk. AD:Why is this guy smiling at me and licking his lips? Should probably get on the phone with Appalachian State AD for next year's opener.