ZachTheZip

That is awesome! Dreamweaver is a great tool and you proved that you can use it to it's fullest. It's 4:15 AM and Can't State SUCKS!

The AK-Rowdy leadership has done their best given the circumstances. Becoming an official student organization is no easy task. Once you do so, you effectively give control of the group over to the University, and they decide on the major policies for you. Honestly, I don't think UA liked us when we were just a group of kids who got together to cheer for the Zips. They had no control then. Maybe it's just the conspiracy theorist in me coming out, but I really do think this is an example of the U trying to micro-manage their students' lives even more.I apologize if I may have sounded like a jerk in the past when talking about the Rowdies, but I really want this group to flourish and many decisions made have seemed counter-productive and it's just a little bit frustrating. Plus I would really really really like to join, but have been turned away numerous times even though I offered my time and money. I know that you read this, and I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard trying to make this thing work.

Well, I'm back and still just a run-of-the-mill student for now. "Sign-ups start back up next week" is the response from the fearless leader herself. I can't blame the Rowdies board as it seems that their hands are tied by the athletic dept much more than I thought. For example, the AD is the cause of the whole t-shirt thing, and if we can't fill up the two lower sections they will sell those seats without skipping a beat. How delightfully evil.I can tell everyone right now that they will not be able to fill the two lower sections if they enforce the shirt rule, and that at sometime around halftime they will be sending some poor soul to the upper sections to literally beg those people that they alienated by not advertising the early sign-up session. Oh, and get this: they don't want the Rowdies reading Zipsnation because we might say "bad things" about them. I think it might be a case of the the AD trying to talk through the Rowdy leaders, but I can't be sure yet. If I was able to sign up earlier, I would have volenteered myself for a leadership position but now I'm glad that never happened because I know I would have fought back against the Administrative stranglehold placed upon the great students in the Rowdies. I really feel sorry for them.

I guess I'd better start this now for when I get back from the meeting. I still haven't been able to sign up, but I'm hoping for that to change tonight. If I can't join, I'll raise some hell during the Can't State game. Who knows... maybe it will stir up that lethargic old-people crowd that seems to have taken over the JAR recently.

We will have to depend on our special teams to give us good field position. David Harvey absolutely MUST get at least 2 returns past the 50 yd. line. Unless we have found a miracle replacement kicker, I don't see us being able to win this one. The two most important aspects of football are the special teams and the lines. Without them working well, it is impossible to win.

Weird. I can hear it just fine in Lake county. Except when I'm at work, because the idiots who designed the building used bronze mesh to filter out all external signals including cell phones and radio.

Morgan Williams is a great player and an awesome recruit for the Zips. He won't be doing kick-off returns, because of David Harvey, but we could always use more depth at the running back position. Maybe if other kids see that local talent can be successful here, there will be more kids willing to sign up at Akron who are from the extremely deep talent pool we have in the area. I know coaches for a lot of local high school teams actively encourage their students to go to schools other than Akron, but hopefully that will change. I would love for UA to get the next Chris Wells, Antonio Pittman, or Tyrell Sutton. Only time will tell.

Do I have a chance to sign up on Tuesday as well? I really would like to becaome an AK-Rowdy, but the people I've asked have either ignored me or told me that it was "too late". I will show up to the meeting, and I hope I can be allowed to join then. MAybe they will have the shirts to pick up for those who haven't gotten theirs yet. I doubt they will be able to change any policies from the time of the meeting until the Can't State game, but that won't stop me from giving them my opinions.

I sure hope you're right timmyboy. The way our lines (both offensive and defensive) were looking, next year wasn't looking too good. Games are won and lost in the trenches, and on special teams. having 4/5ths of the O-line graduate is tough on any team, even though they didn't live up to expectations. I sure hope Nate steps up his game next year if he stays. He has tons of potential, but he hasn't proven anything thus far in his career at Akron.

Great for him. I can see him doing very good at the pro level.

Well, it's less than one week from THE game, so I felt that it's time to see just who we are up against. I have provided a link to the Can't State ( ) men's bball roster below. Just click on their name to get a pic of them. I've got some good ones, but I'm saving them for later in the week. So... lets get this this started!Can't read, can't write, Can't State!

I was right up there with you sgm. I sure hope they open up those seats to the students for the Can't State game. If not, I may just start a scene with the JAR security. Mack Rhodes was there at halftime. I am sure he saw the entire northern lower section completely empty. I wonder if his hands are tied by board members or something. All I know is that once he took over the AD, the bad changes have far outweighed the good ones. Our athletic teams are simply carrying over their momentum from last year, but the policy changes have stifled any hope of growth we may have had last year.

I just got back from the game, and here are just a few thoughts.1.) Dru Joyce really is the heart and soul of this team. His defense looked great, and his clutch shots are something I think we all take for granted.2.) Romeo had one of his best games this season. I know the stats don't look that good, but it looks like he finally remembered that he is supossed to be a leader on the court.3.) I wish we had as good of a D as Miami. They can really bog down a game in a hurry. Couple that with a better offense and you could pretty much win every game you play.4.) If I had to describe the entire game in one word, it would be: lethargic. The crowd, the teams, the refs, everything.5.) Speaking of the refs, when that guy from Miami litterally fell through mid-air onto Dru's back, why wasn't there a whistle? The MAC refs really seem to be bad this year.6.)Winning close games in an exciting fashion is the best thing you could hope for if you want to see people fill the JAR. They come to see an exciting game, not a blow-out or a loss. Games like this get people coming back for more.Those are my thoughts for now. What did everyone else think?

I tried that too. It really does work. We will have to try it again tonight. Miami won't know what hit 'em.

Oh, you poor misguided uakronkid! The marketing department is not here to make money... Look at the promotions they have done since arriving.1) Discounted tickets if you wear your jersey - UA vs. Indiana (Soccer)The crowd was already expected over 3,000, lost revenue.2) $1.00 night for women's basketball (and stay for the men's game)Most people would have paid the full price for a women's ticket to stay for the men.3) Coupon day for the Women's Can't State game (my contacts at Can't State got a kick out of that one, they all came free).You do the math on how much money this brought in.Those are the ones I know about...There has not been any group sales at any full ticket price for any event out of the marketing department. Everything has been a give-a-way.They have contacted schools to sell tickets. I caught wind of a promotion for football where they had three schools lined up to sell tickets. The winning school received $1,000.00 from the Marketing department. Oh, the winning school sold 16 tickets at $5.00/ticket.How much money did that bring in? Yep. I'm so misguided. I know they do promotions like give away tickets to high schools, charge $1.00 for admission, and so-on. What you forgot to mention is that at the same time, they charge $500 to park close to the Rubber Bowl and they sell half of the student section at the JAR to make a quick buck. They are making money, just not in traditional ways like ticket sales.

You know, I think a lot of people reading this don't understand our marketing department. Let me clue you all in. The marketing department is here to make money. As far as that goes, they are doing an incredibly good job. They are selling tickets to companies at inflated prices and once those seats are sold they never look back. It doesn't matter to them whether anybody shows up to sit in those seats because they have their money. There is one problem with this business model, though. They are selling short the university's athletic future and fan base so they can make money here and now. Maybe it is to raise funds for the football stadium (hopefully), or maybe the administration is just a bunch of greedy bastards (I just spent $400 on books for my spring classes ). Either way, they are going about their jobs wrong. They will fail at their long-term goal of making the U a regional power in sports with a large fan base (read: like OSU). They have their money, and now it is time to re-invest it into the athletic department by building a fan base.That's my $0.02

If the Big 10/11 is overrated, then the MAC just plain sucks. Our conference constantly plays Big 10/11 schools, and almost always gets destroyed. A couple of wins over that conference would be great not only for Akron, but also for the entire MAC.

Thanks, Bleacher Bum. I don't get the e-mails, mostly because I am not an AK-Rowdy because I learned about sign-ups two days after they had ended. Maybe someone could put in a suggestion to allow more sign-ups, because I am sure people like me would love to be Rowdies. There could be over 1,000 students in the group if they would just allow sign-ups. Oh, and tell them that if they want to keep wearing those stupid shirts, they should bring extras to every game, and allow people who haven't gotten theirs yet to pick them up before the games. Poor decision making has held back the potential of this group, but there is still time to get things right.

The MAC East is pretty pathetic right now. With the talent UA has on the team, we should be able to win it although that's what we thought last year, too. Our non-conference schedule is much tougher than it was last year. It should serve as a good measuring stick of where the program is before we start MAC play. Not having the entire first half of the season sheduled as away games helps.

Exactly. The students will definetely be back and we will most likely sell out the JAR for the Can't State game. All hell will break loose when the students find out it is too late to sign up for the Rowdies, and those that did sign up need to wear that stupid shirt. I can't wait to see what happens. Hopefully they will allow sign-ups again so the administration sees just how big the student support has the potential to be.

These refs DO suck. they're MAC refs, and by definition, must suck.

Zips down 24-23

23-19 AkronWe're just giving away points to Bubba.

Akron now up 20-16. Dru gets his first points since 3 games ago.

Ohio leads 16-15