72 Roo

It is. They took away the permanent ads/signage on either side of the video board. With the new board they can run ads on the side if they want or switch to a huge video display. This gives more flexibility in what they wish to display. My hope is that they will stop shying away from replaying controversial plays, penalties and sidelines stupidity. The home TV audience sees them repeatedly on replay, but the folks in the stands apparently may riot if they see a controversial play.

You are correct in Akron having little in football NIL. I was told by Guthrie that the MAC had decided not to play that game. All they would be doing was driving the price up for talent the bigger schools want. Well apparently that is not exactly the case. The Director of Operations at Toledo has stated they are in the game. To that point, this past Tuesday night Toledo held yoga on the 50 yard line led by Crandle's wife. All the money went to NIL. Toledo has a good, admirable program. Akron needs to model their future on them. In basketball we are well prepared. The best NIL in the MAC. All thanks to the leadership of Bud Wentz.

OSU has the best announcers in college football: Paul Keels, doing play by play , and Jim LaShay, doing color. They are the best.

While we ask Joe to clean up his act I'd like to ask the equipment manager to give the players white shirts for under their jerseys. That way when they pull up their white jersey over their bellies they don't show a wide band of blue, almost like a cumberbun. It makes us look like we've got no pride in the uni. This has been a pet peeve of mind since last season. Agree with me or not, but I feel the team has to project pride in their appearance and play. End of rant.

Your questions are ell thought out. I don't think the system of play is at fault. What I noticed is that our mids were not going to space to help relieve pressure on the back line so they could pass out. I also saw this when the ball got into the midfield. There was too much ball watching. We needed movement to unbalance the defensive pressure in the mid and create space for our forwards to run on to the ball, have a pass thru a created channel or have a wing back run into the attack. The need to go to, or create, space could go to chemistry, but the bottom line is that is our style. If you don't want to commit to it go to the bench. I thought this game was more about attitude than it was about strategy. For that the players are accountable.

The excuse is money. When the new scoreboard was announced Guthrie did not know athletics would have its budget cut by $3M. Many people criticize him w/o knowing what he is dealing with. Akron has many challenges, yet in the face of those I feel he is doing the best job an AD could. Just my opinion.

This was one pee poor soccer game by past Akron standards. Our forwards don't seem to create or play with a sense of urgency. The Midfield was non-existent and the back line was reckless and leaky. That's a bad combination. We are a program that has had four straight years of declining talent in our recruits and it shows. I'm afraid opposing coaches know this. Hence average CSU and OSU teams can play even or dominate. I am very disappointed. I thought ND was a turning point. Apparently not.

Celebrate! We are better, but not by much if you measure us on today's performance against OSU. Defense is a strength if they aren't out there forever. Playcalling was good, thanks Joe. Running game sucked. Our OL is better, but has a long way to go. Where was our supposedly all-world lineman from Florida, Seymore? We are headed for another 2-10 if Taj is our QB, he has not improved his passing. No passing that stretched the D. Where was Adams? Without a running game we were too easy to defend, especially by one of the country's best D's. There is reason for hope since we started with the best team in the country, but don't buy into the thought that we will excel against the MAC. We have too many weaknesses to address. We have a shot at 4-8. Solve our problems (OL, QB, RB, Special teams) and we can go 5-7 or 6-6.

I'll take Lingard over any MAC runner. He was behind a poor line and still proved to be dangerous any time he touched the ball. Thank you for putting me in the same opinion as Bud Went. He dreams big and then produces. Akron needs more of him.

Your observation about Joe calling the plays is not to be overlooked. Fesler did a horrible job last year. We had the best back in the MAC and Fesler refused to increase his carries when everyone in the stadium wanted to see Lingard pounding the ball more. When you are a Zip football fan you cling to the smallest sign of hope!

Thanks to Captain for giving us a shot of hope that we are getting better. This week I was on campus visiting athletics. The word I got was Seymore has not healed and is not ready to start. Additionally football is running a bare bones operation. Athletics took a $3M cut and football has suffered. No GA's, no publicity, cuts in support staff. The money games are saving the budget this year. The attitude seemed to be 4-8 is reasonable and it will be the foundation for a better year next season.

NOOOOO! 😱 Stop the madness. In these days of mental health awareness you are close to getting a call from the police regarding the deliberate infliction of harm and duress on the U of Akron community. Talk about crimes against humanity!

Good Lord I hope you are right! Reality I think supports my 4-8 prediction. We have yet to solve our OL problems. Behind it we have only one true D1 QB. Our DB's had turnover again. Our RB's need rebuilt. We lost WR's and our kicking game is questionable. If all those areas pan out we can go 7-5 or better. Reality and Akron history strongly say otherwise. The bottom line is that we, the public and fans, have no idea what we have. The flow of information and preparation of this team is non-existent and that is a flaw in the sports information dept and athletics marketing. Yet to end with some hope, I pray you are right. The last 5 years seem to indicate differently.

Thanks LetsGo. I enjoyed the article in that I felt there was some honesty. I was surprised at how many AD's seemed to like the weekday games of MACtion. I don't and never have. I especially respect the comments of one AD who said rivalry games should absolutely not be played on weekdays. The respect the AD's had for Toledo was anticipated, but I was surprised at how much credit is given to WMU. I don't see that. Perhaps their new arena has influenced them. I understand the mention of Akron as one of the most difficult places to coach in football. Yet last year we lost 7 games by seven or less points. I wonder if three of those games had gone our way would they still feel the same way? History is what it is and we deserved their low opinions. When we do turn the corner I bet they will be envious.

A few thoughts on last night's basketball celebration and reunion. The event was the brainchild of Karl Schwarzinger, former 70's player and huge supporter of Zip basketball. The night sold out. Tickets were $100 each plus fees. Approximately 220 were sold, but not attended. It was a class event. I asked if the proceeds were going to NIL. Karl said no, but they would go to the program. The team showed up. They are a great group of guys. Groce once said if you go to Akron you have to buy into our culture because we don't change for you. These players have bought in. They are very athletic and because of that, and no dominant low post player, for now, Groce said they will play faster and emphasize transition. All have bought into defense. Josiah Harris came over and introduced himself. He is very personable. I asked him how he liked the team and he was very optimistic they will keep Akron at the top of the MAC. I asked him why he came to Akron. He said he liked the program, Groce, the tradition and it got him closer to home (Canton). He loves the new practice facility. He thought it was equal to what he had at WVU. Tressel was there. You could not get to him as all the old, deep pocket supporters were always surrounding him. When he spoke he was typical Tressel. Joe Dunn asked him to comment on the changing world of college athletics. His answer was 5 minutes long and he said zero. My friend leaned over to me and said "that is why the media in Columbus called him the senator. He talked and talked and said nothing concrete." Huggins was asked to describe how he built Akron by Joe Dunn. Hugs answered he got guys who wanted to get better and would play defense. That's it. He has lost weight, but he now looks like a recluse or hermit: beard, long hair, slicked back. At my table were three players who played for him. To a man they all loved him as a coach and said he made them better every day. Bud Wentz talked. I thought he and Len Paul were the best speakers of the evening. Bud said he is having more fun with Akron basketball than any other time in his life. He said our NIL will aid in retaining players, not poaching them. Akron was one of the first schools to set up a collective. Bud contacted the lawyer who set up the first collective he knew about, for Arkansas baseball, and learned all he could about doing it right. His enthusiasm for the program, the coach and our future are very high. Len Paul, perhaps the best player to ever play for UA, spoke more from the heart. He said if he had it to do all over again he would still go to Akron. He loved Wyatt Webb and his teammates. Brian Westover, a 6'8" center on one of Len's teams told his wife that the reunion with his teammates was one of the best moments in his life. Len actually left a school in Texas to come to Akron. When Wyatt called him he was already in Texas but said send me a ticket and I'll be on your team. The rest is history. Guthrie was very circumspect about leading an athletic dept in these changing times. He noted he is talking more with lawyers that anyone else. He believes the MAC is the best place for UA. Our focus would be conference championships, not trying to find a seat with the big boys. He noted the AD's and presidents do not want to get into player bidding wars, which we will not win. Instead Akron needs to focus on retaining players thru offering a place that cares about them, builds personal relationships, gives them great facilities and educates them. He told me later NIL will play little role at Akron. Football has little, if any, NIL money to offer. Basketball has what it needs to hold our players. Finally, other administrators feel we need to be ready for a G5 championship. This was not said in any remarks by the speakers. There were many other speakers like Steve McNeese, Eric Mclaughlin, Dr. Climon Lee and Enrique Freeman. All talked glowingly about their time at Akron. Thru the eyes of these former players you realized we have a special place at UA, despite all its challenges. The last speaker was Groce. He captured the crowd. His thoughts on continuous improvement got you excited for the future. We were listening to someone who was ready to move the program still higher. And he knows how to do it. Another night like this is already scheduled for the last weekend in July 2025. The focus on using this weekend for all teams to reunite will be emphasized.