ZachTheZip

New offer: QB Christian Brumbaugh

Pre Snap Read lists 5 things he likes about Akron and 5 things he dislikes.

West Ham United's website claims that LeBron is possibly heading to the Premier League I'd call it a bad joke if it wasn't an actual article on their official website.

Nice to see him evaluated by someone. His early verbal will likely prevent him from getting a fair look by the big recruiting services.

johhnyzip84's comment is interesting. The way it was implied in the press release and in getting phonecalls, they were basically kicking out everyone under a certain donation threshold to allow the blue hairs and boring suits to have an empty lot to themselves in the best tailgating area on campus. But if they are allowing people to choose what lot they park in , with priority going by donation, it may result in more people in Lot 9 than before, and a more centralized tailgate.

OK. So the question becomes "will this actually make any revenue?" I say no. How many people do you think will pony up the money that don't do it already? Maybe a few people on the borderline, but is it worth what they're doing to the rest of the fans who enjoyed it last season? I understand upping the requirements by a little and saying they need the money. But this is far too sharp of an increase. Subtlty is not Tom's forté, apparently.

I would hope that nobody actually feels entitled to park in Lot 9. That fuels the stereotype that administrators have of Zips fans as freeloaders expecting too much from an athletic department that's hurting for cash. While we may not be entitled to being treated specially and getting the best stuff, we should be entitled to being treated the same from year to year, consistantly. That's impossible with the turnover at the top and all the way down. They talk about making traditions, but when you don't hold a job for more than 5 years before moving on, would you even know what a real tradition looked like? I want to see a new tradition for Akron athletics: working with the fans to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. No more absolutes on parking priority or alcohol vending. Find a way to treat your fans well enough that they become willing to give you a little more cash. Maybe we could stop hiring people in the "sports marketing" business and start hiring people from the hospitality industry. At a certain hotel chain, every employee is able to write off $5,000 a year. If a customer isn't satisfied, they give the visit to them for free. This motivates them to make the customer experience as great as possible, while also engendering customer loyalty for repeat business. We're so stuck in a "money now" mode that we're killing any chance of having a "money later" plan. It's unsustainable.

The latest signs are that he is strongly considering Xavier. But I believe that the longer he waits the better chance we might have of getting him.

No wonder that original link was as thorough as it was. That's the new location for the NY Times sports blog The Quad.

The problem at its heart is that the athletic administration cares nothing for the long-term. They'll all be gone in three or four years when the AD touts his predecessor's accomplishments as his own and gets hired away, like Akron ADs tend to do. Then we bring in another "quick fix" guy and the cycle repeats. So long as we have a short-term person in charge, we'll always have short-term money making schemes that kill any possible growth for the future. This is just a get rich quick scheme from someone who won't have to deal with the consequences of his actions.

It isn't an either/or question when it comes to road money games or parking increases. I understand the need to make money and I encourage them making as much money as possible. How they executed this plan is wrong. Let's say CK contributes $2,000 per year to the Z-Fund and they want $10,000 for people to park there. He is a loyal fan and owns a web page that could cause a stir (and it did...this thread is already on page 2 with page 1 including a stripper). Why not go to him and offer the same spot for $3,000? Still less than the 10K, but much more than he currently pays. The ball is in his court to accept it or walk away. If he accepts it, the Z-Fund increased a donors giving 50% and CK has made a choice he can live with. If he walks away, it was his decision to make after a fair offer and the Z-Fund can sell the spot at a higher price and save face. The appearance is much better as it is a win/win for everyone. I like the negotiation angle. Don't set an absolute limit and alienate your best fans; instead find a way to work with them. They should be working individually with everybody who was in lot 9 last year, trying to work out a deal of some kind.

I would have liked to have signed Michael Jordan's son. But at this point, I just hope that the final 2011 scholarship goes to a player that could be considered a recruiting coup.

Top 100 soccer players in the class of 2012

Another short article about him. And don't be sure that we don't stand a chance against "bigger" schools. I think the loss of Jeff Boals hurt us for a little bit, but the coaching staff is bouncing back.

Didn't they pull the same crap under Mack Roades at the Rubber Bowl? How did that work out? Oh yeah, dead empty lots up close while the real party was further back. As an aside, they should come up with a visitor's tailgating lot. I'm thinking lot 20. If they bring a big group, it's visible from Market Street. TexanMark, that lot is empty most of the time and there's plenty of space if you're looking at tailgating with all the Syracuse fans in the same spot. Unfortunately, all the prime lots are isolated from the others. You have to choose between tailgating together and interacting with Akron fans before the game.

Two more offers: OLB Donnie Simmons DE Joel Heath Starting to wonder when our next verbal will be. Ianello has been called the best recruiter in the country by a few sports writers. But he still hasn't had much time to come up with a recruiting pitch for Akron, not to mention that he's never had to recruit for a program that didn't sell itself before. Hopefully it works out, but time will tell.

Everybody loves to rank all 120 football teams from worst to best. It's an exercise in BSing to keep their BS skills sharp for the regular season. Here is one from some football blog, with a link to ZN.O

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/201...getting+noticed He's 6'0" and 155 lbs and only a sophomore.

Michael Jordan's son announces intention to transfer. It doesn't matter if he can't play. Just having him sit on the bench brings maybe 500 more people per game in attendance. And he could get out of his father's shadow in LeBron's town.

Most of the problems and solutions have been covered. The university could improve facilities and coaching. But the conference could also get involved because it's not just Akron that sucks in baseball, it's almost the entire MAC. Part of the problem could be solved by having the MAC drop baseball as a mandatory sport. It makes no sense as a northern league. Maybe three or four MAC teams drop it to save money, and the talent pool becomes a little less diluted. Another part of the problem is the game of baseball itself. No major sport is more boring to watch when your team is losing than baseball, except maybe soccer.

Quentin Gause verballed to Rutgers. And a new offer: CB Raymon Taylor

Akron's Blue team wins the competition. I like the design. Simple, functional, and it harkens to other pedestrian bridges in Akron like the John S Knight Center one and the one on University Avenue that connects Polsky to the the city parking deck.

OU's faculty campaign against athletics. The faculty at OU have a majority on every committee. They control everything. At UA, the administration administrates, while the faculty teach and do research. At OU, the faculty can exert control over the administration. And they're ready to take a huge bite out of the athletics department, possibly 15% of the budget, possibly dropping 1-A football.

Maybe it's just a way to get prospects together to be evaluated for the draft easily.

They don't need to make much money when they don't have to pay the players. And if their home field is anything like Pinnacle Sports, 100 fans would be pushing max capacity.