ZachTheZip

+1 Somebody just told me they went to see some band/drum thing there. It was the first time they saw it, and he said he was blown away. Events have been happening there about once a week this summer, but they're all either low-key or aimed at very limited audiences like the drum thing your friend saw. I'm still waiting for the first outdoor concert to be held there.

The way to make a city into a "destination" for out-of-towners is to first make it a fun place to go for the locals in that city and the surrounding suburbs. If the people in that city don't have anything good to recommend, why would any tourist want to go there?

Are you sure? Losing our starting center to a conference opponent is a huge blow.

What's the most random or obscure reference to Akron you can find? We seem to pop up in the weirdest places with seemingly no rhyme or reason behind it. it's frequent enough that we could hold a competition to see who can find the most. Here's a completely random reference to the city at 8:22 into the clip.

Coach Lloyd was hired away to be an assistant at Minnesota. Don't know about the players, though.

This isn't going to effect the MAC. I think you misread the article. The last four at-large teams will play each other for 11-12 seeds, while the last four automatic qualifiers will play each for 16 seeds. Neither of those will affect the MAC since we aren't getting at-large bids or 16-seeds. You're right. I misread it. This does add three more at-large spots, though. That measn that the MAC's chances of getting an at-large team have improved. And like ZIP said, if we do get one we're playing in the play-in game. And that means an easy win for an NCAA credit, which gives the MAC a bigger payout.

Maybe not, but you can easily determine how many roster spots open up at the end of the season.

New offers: WR Darius Patton OT Adam Redmond DE Anthony Smith WR Landon Smith RB Tyler Williams WR Rodger Williamson

Akron is a football city. Akron has always been a football city since the days of the NFL champion Akron Pros and the days of the John Heisman-led Zips. But if you field a soccer team that's good enough, people will come out to watch it enough to maybe break even or turn a slight profit. Even if we won three consecutive national titles and averaged 8k in attendance per game, which is more than what the best attendance is in NCAA soccer at UCSB, it's still only half of what the football team averages in a bad year. If a MLS team wanted to have attendance enough to justify being in Akron, they would likely have to make the playoffs every year and challenge for the title. I think it could happen. Their stadium would have to be located downtown if they wanted press coverage.

Cameron will be a gem for the Zips. They really, really love this kid down in Zanesville.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...late=columnists So there. Thanks to LeBron, we've just tapped into the coveted Abu Dhabi recruiting hotbed.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5374116 The NCAA has revealed that the four play-in games will each be a match-up between the last four at-large teams and four auto-bids of similar strength. The games will be placed on the seed line that the at-large teams are determined to be on, so they could be playing to become a 12-seed or an 11-seed or whatever the committee decides. The play-in games will likely be played in Dayton. This affects the MAC greatly because we seemingly always end up seeded around the 12 seed. So we likely get a NCAA tournament game within the MAC footprint against a beatable team. The opportunity for a win to get us an NCAA credit is much easier than if we had to play a 3-,4-,5-,or 6-seed out of the gate. It does hurt the very worst conferences who were in the play-in games in the past because now they are shut out of that opportunity to get an easy credit.

I can't wait for that disaster to take place; it should be quite interesting. I would lay low for a few years if I were him, and then quietly bring back that kind of stuff making a low-key appearance here and there before trying to re-build my image as a public philanthropist.

USL folded, but I think MLS bought it up and has transformed it into some kind of farm system. I could be way off, but that's the vibe I get and the teams are still playing so they must be getting sponsored from somewhere.

DT Mark Scarpinato verbals to Michigan State.

It just got ugly, because Jesse Jackson has stepped in to bash Dan Gilbert.

What's the name of the tournament that has us playing Miami and ISU?

I walked through the JAR today. Every inch of the place is covered in LJ23 logos (how will that work when he switches to #6, I wonder?). There are huge banners of him hanging from the rafters. The U did not take these things down after the announcement like Cleveland did with the gigantic poster downtown (they might ahve taken it down as a safety thing, people throwing things at it and attempting to set it on fire), and I even saw some coaches taking some out-of-town women's sports recruits on a tour of it. I think it would be unwise to completely renounce our connection to LeBron in a fit of childish rage. I do think we should keep it subdued for a while until we see how things play out. If he ignores us and starts giving all his support to FIU or USF or some other school or if he continues to insult the area well into the future, we quietly break our ties and move on. But if he keeps sending good things our way, we reap the benefit of it and wait until things calm down in a few years before again displaying our connection proudly. And if you don't think the camps in the JAR benefit Akron because we don't directly get those recruits, then you have no idea how recruiting works. It's all about connections and networking, and this gives Dambrot the opportunity to talk to top recruiters and coaches from across the country and get a read on things and maybe a tip on a solid prospect or two that might not have been on our regional radar. I'm pretty certain that's how he heard about Alex Abreu.

My starting depth chart would look like this, going as deep as I possibly can: PG: Alex Abreu, Steve McNeese, Darryl Roberts, Kyle Peterson At Point Guard, Abreu was brought in to help immediately, and that's the expectations he'll have to live up to. When he's on the court, it opens up McNeese to play as a more natural shooting guard. When he's off the court, we have a proven, capable guard to run the offense in McNeese. Roberts will likely see limited time at point, to provide a change of pace. Peterson plays in clean-up time. SG: Steve McNeese, Darryl Roberts, Brett McClanahan, Quincy Diggs, Kyle Peterson At shooting guard, McNeese should be the starter because he's the biggest threat. Darryl Roberts will be his back-up and will see plenty of time when McNeese takes over point guard duties. McClanahan will see about 15 minutes a game. Diggs will play here when we need a taller line-up. SF: Brett McKnight, Quincy Diggs, Michael Greene, Brett McClanahan, Darrell Blanton, CJ Oldham McKnight is the obvious choice to start here. Diggs is being converted to a SF for some reason, and will likely be the primary back-up. Michael Greene, if he doesn't redshirt, would also see time at this spot. If Greene can play, then I don't see McClanahan's disaster at forward happening again this season, the guy's a guard and should be used like one. Darrell Blanton is a JUCO walk-on that could earn some time. PF: Nikola Cvetinovic, Dakotah Euton/Josh Egner, Brett McKnight Nikola is moving from Center to PF and should be the starter. One of the freshmen PFs will be his back-up, and the other one will redshirt. McKnight plays here when we go small. C: Zeke Marshall, Mike Bardo, Nikola Cvetinovic Euton/Egner Zeke is the starter, and should be a force this season. Bardo will see some more time since he's a senior. Nik sees time in a small line-up. One of the freshmen could play here in a pinch. Expect the Zips to run more sets with two centers and three guards this season.

Can we please get some real Zips news soon? So, how many players on the roster are from NE Ohio and so see him as a "traitor"? How many high school basketball players grow up wishing they could grab ESPN by the balls and force the entire world to watch them at a moment's notice? Can it hurt to have the most famous man in the world giving your school equipment and uniforms, and hosting the biggest high school basketball camp in the country on your home court?

How was anybody supposed to figure that out unless they told you? I bet it's just an easy excuse to slash the price to clear the now-outdated inventory while riding the hype wave.

Now with a pic!

The light stands are up. I can't wait to see how they look at night.