ZachTheZip

If the message is about differentiation, then there is one move that is guaranteed to have more impact on the public's opinion of the university than a tagline or proclaimed edicational focus. That move is to get out of the MAC. Sports are a huge part of the cultural fabric of Ohio. Right now, there are six MAC universities in Ohio, including four that Dr. Scarborough has identified as in danger of failing and as universities that Akron needs to set itself apart from. MAC teams get lumped together in the minds of the public, and are largely interchangeable from the perspective of OSU fans who dominate the state. Join Conference USA in place of UAB, and you're instantly considered different from the other universities in a way that the general public can quickly identify. While C-USA is nearly identical to the MAC from a competitive and financial standpoint, they represent a more national perspective. The MAC is far too insular and concentrated in Ohio and Michigan while C-USA is spread from the Mid-Atlantic to Florida to the Ohio Valley to Texas. Being in C-USA shows that Akron is ready to step outside of this little corner of the world and belong to something that exists on a broader scale.

CMU gets eliminated. That's the #1 and #2 seeds gone before anybody else. Crazy.

https://twitter.com/PaigeHagan/status/600321402546323456 Looks like he only saw a handful of live snaps in his college career, but his stats point to a scrambling QB.

Eastern, Western, whatever. Zips win, and advance.

UA did something that I had always wanted to see happen: take all the paint off of "the rock" to see what the actual rock looks like, and see just how thick the layers of paint are. https://www.facebook.com/uakron.alumni/posts/924352507604499

He played wing in JUCO, but he translates to more of a straight SG in D-I.

That's really what we need. It's hard to build a brand when you change the branding every few years. Find something that's good, and stick with it. Marketing for a university means playing the long game.

Only Dambrot's second JUCO recruit.

Actually, Google hasn't updated Streetview on Union street since then. It's still a shot of the steel beams going up.

3 feet is pretty ridiculous, and you'd see some large cracks in the cement work, if not a major collapse. I find it kind of hard to believe. There were problems when excavating the stadium because they ran into sandstone on multiple occasions. That's bedrock, and it doesn't sink or subside when you build on top of it. Edit: looking at some USGS maps, the stadium is built on a minor incline, sloping downward from northwest to southeast. I remember them hitting sandstone on the north end of the stadium, which is why the decorative area with shrubs on the west side of the endzone building is oddly shaped. I would guess that if any part of the stadium sank, it would be on the southern end near Exchange street. Under the surface, the rocks there dip and aren't consistently level, because just south of Exchange were the actual Wolf Ledges used to be, running from Brown to Grant, centered on Power street. The city filled it all in to build houses a hundred years ago, but who knows how stable that is. You can see the dip if you head down Sumner.

What's interesting is that they want to shorten the shot clock, but not change the 10-second rule.

I like the timeout changes and the shotclock, but I think the proposed changes to the physicality rules are not the answer.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12893128/ncaa-committee-calls-30-second-shot-clock-series-proposals-speed-games Awaiting NCAA's Final ApprovalProposal to increase possessions and pace of play: 1. Reduce the shot clock to 30 seconds. Proposed rules to reduce physicality: 1. Strict enforcement of defensive rules. 2. Providing offensive players same principles of verticality protections as defensive players. 3. Move restricted-area arc out from 3 to 4 feet. Proposed changes related to timeouts: 1. Number of timeouts reduced from 5 to 4, with no more than 3 being carried over into second half 2. Stricter enforcement of resumption of play coming out of timeouts and after a player has fouled out. 3. Team timeouts within 30 seconds before media timeouts will become media timeouts, with exception of first team timeout in second half.

Something he keep mentioning is how most state universities are going to be screwed in the near future. Surprised there hasn't been more of a reaction to that. No response from the presidents of OU or Can't or whoever saying that things are going well and they've actually increased enrollment while Akron's has fallen and blah blah blah.

Or maybe the controversy forced him to scale things back from a full-fledged name change to Ohio Polytechnic University. If that was the case, I can't understate how glad I am that we managed to avoid being the subject of "Oh, P.U." jokes.

World's shortest preview, courtesy of ESPN.

Zips lose yesterday at Canal Park, but win today at Lee Jackson Field, and clinch a spot in the MAC Tournament. Last game of the regular season is tomorrow at 4:00 at Lee Jackson Field. This game will likely determine the final result of the Wagon Wheel Challenge.

Actually, he may very well have found a home at a high major or a good mid-major along the lines of Charlotte. This lets him play for a year instead of sitting out. If his target school has a good relationship/pipeline with the JUCO, then it's kind of like spending a year in the D-League.

Why pick a term that most people, at best, don't understand or even misunderstand when your primary objective is to create brand recognition for the masses?

Going back to 2002, since that's as far as the records go on GoZips.com, here are the attendances for home games for all opponents: Army: 12203 (2005), 17865 (2007) Ball State: 7862 (2004), 9013 (2008), 16119 (2013) Bowling Green: 15728 (2006), 17119 (2008), 10102 (2012), 10348 (2014) Buffalo: 4178 (2002), 7123 (2004), 14512 (2006), 18516 (2008), 5216 (2010) Cal Poly: 8319 (2003), Central Florida: 8113 (2003), 12616 (2012) Central Michigan: 15629 (2002), 10093 (2005), 15573 (2007), 14327 (2011) Cincinnati: 16927 (2008) Eastern Michigan: 10262 (2003), 9962 (2009), 8416 (2014) FIU: 16016 (2011) Gardner-Webb: 10046 (2010) Howard: 20259 (2003), 9104 (2014) Indiana: 18340 (2009) James Madison: 19653 (2013) Can't State: 26814 (2003), 8942 (2005), 21867 (2007), 20802 (2009), 19889 (2011), 20239 (2013) Liberty: 7132 (2002) Louisana: 18809 (2013) Marshall: 13762 (2002), 29621 (2004), 13357 (2014) Miami: 17298 (2002), 17410 (2004), 17721 (2006), 7671 (2010), 8211 (2012), 8223 (2014) Morgan State: 27881 (2009), 9933 (2012) MTSU: 17263 (2004), North Texas: 16011 (2006) Northern Illinois: 15612 (2005), 12133 (2010), 7074 (2012) Ohio: 9102 (2003), 7614 (2005), 12453 (2007), 16381 (2009), 14760 (2011), 19775 (2013) Syracuse: 15969 (2010) Temple: 17017 (2007), 10927 (2009), 15156 (2011) Toledo: 10134 (2008), 12506 (2013) UMass: 7716 (2012), 5571 (2014) Western Michigan: 16686 (2006), 10073 (2010) VMI: 14257 (2011) Miami has severely trended downward, while Ohio has shot up. Buffalo was trending upward until the Ianello disaster, and then the MAC stopped putting them on our schedule. Last year, we had both EMU and UMass on the schedule, and those were the real killers. They are what dragged the average so low. You can't have two home opponents like that in the same year when your rival games are on the road and expect anything but horrendous attendance. How do you even sell ticket packages?

At this point, it's all relative. Would anybody here be dissatisfied with attendance being double what it was last season?

Last season, Can't, Ohio, and Buffalo were all road games. Those are the Zips current three biggest athletic rivals. Miami has fallen off, BG doesn't draw fans, and absolutely nobody cares about EMU or UMass. This year, we get Pitt at home, plus Can't, OU, and Buffalo. That's a recipe for good attendance.

Malcolm Walters landed at Mercyhurst (D-II). Still no known destination for BJ Gladden.

The Z is blue, just like the "Akron Zips" at the ends of the court.

Now here's another interesting development: http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/akron-canton-news/akron-police-want-loud-fest-concert-postponed-scheduled-for-friday-night-at-run-down-rubber-bowl