72 Roo

Can any member of the nation give a recap of what kind of event the MAC Track championships were? How did the track look with the new seating? Was it filled? Was the weather good, bad? If there was a crowd, did they get into it? Did it reflect well on our athletic program and the university as a whole?I'm hoping it was a resounding success. The men and the women sure rose to the occassion. Congratulations to them and coach Mitchell. The few pictures I saw on GoZips.com gave the impression that the event was staged well. The stands in the background of one picture looked good. I thought it was a class act to have flowers along the infield of the track. The podium for first, second and third places gave the impression this was a first class meet.Finally, do we now have the venue that can support more serious and prestigious meets? Ones that will draw crowds and maybe a little revenue? I hope so. Our track program continues to be a great source of pride and I'd like to see them shoot for the stars.Well done Zip tracksters!

Thanks for the pics Zip ME 87. For the out-of-towners on this board they are like a breath of fresh air. This next point is a little off the subject, but it does tie in. When will the landscaping of the Coleman Commons begin? I hope it is completed before the first game. It will make a huge impression on our alumni, visitors and recruits, both academic and athletic.Anyone know?

They basically shut down Main St for Aeros games (8000 fans). I think it would rather easy to divert traffic around an Exchange St closure.Second the stadium is designed for expansion to 45k. The only way that becomes necessary is if we A: sell out B: win C: get out of the MAC. But for the record Nippert Stadium was just expanded to 35k in the last 5 years. Papa Johns was constructed at 42k. Rentschler was constructed at 40k.The first plan is to put seating where the grass hill is at the south end of the field. This enclosing the lower bowl would add 5,000 seats. The next phase is a little more vague. To the best of my knowledge no one has ever definitely stated what they would do, but the speculation is that stands similar to those on the east side would be put up over the north end zone service building thus easily taking the stadium into the realm of total seating in the 45-50,000 range. That's great to think about, but let's fill what we got now on a regular basis before we get too excited. Hey what the heck, it's a fun subject to dream about.

Don't care about the computer, but gotta confess, I shed a few tears about he beer. The good ones are always gone beforeyou know it.

No it didn't. Tutich was playing right attacking mid for the Crew. I hope they are serious about giving him more time with the reserves. To do so he would have to play for dirt cheap pay. Such is the life of someone trying to make an MLS roster. Cheers I was kidding the fact that the only goal of the day came from a fill-in ex-Akron player.My bad. Sorry.

No it didn't. Tutich was playing right attacking mid for the Crew. I hope they are serious about giving him more time with the reserves. To do so he would have to play for dirt cheap pay. Such is the life of someone trying to make an MLS roster. Cheers

I am actually happy to see the city shooting for a 10K arena. I think that gives the Zips room to grow while not being so large that we would feel dwarfed by the new place. I remember when Akron played at Cleveland State, thinking how they could not generate any atmosphere with their facility. We would really need to push attendance up over 6K per home game at an off campus site to give the real home crowd feel. I think our crowds could come to match what Dayton has done with time and a couple of NCAA bids.It's interesting to see your point on the arena's size Zip Fan. KD actually said the same thing when we talked about the size. He cited CSU's lack od atmosphere because they can't put a crowd in the Wolstein Center. He thought Xavier's Cintas Center (10,000) was a perfect fit. He also said our attendance was too low for a university and city our size. We talked about all the new dorms and he agreed they would help. He also said that we shouldn't need on campus residents to boost the attendance. He tought the locals should be clamoring for tickets, like the old days of Memorial Hall. He ended it by saying he wanted to play a more exciting brand of BBall that he felt the community, students and locals, would respond to enthusiastically. I gpot the feeling he believes he can do it and he will succeed. What a positive guy!

Like the Cap't I went to the soccer game against the Crew. I decided to start another thread because mine will also include basketball as I ran into KD on the way out and ended up talking with him for 10 minutes.First the game. The Zips were every bit the equall of the Crew who were going with 80% reserves or guest players.- Akron is freaky good. We've got speed, skill and guts. Many times the Crew took Zip players down only to be pounded the next (fair) chance we got. Gotta love that.- With potentially five starters out we are ready for a championship ala NCAA run.- The crowd was good but quiet. That will change when it counts. The Rowdies were subdued. I talked with a group of them before the game and they were quite proud that they made the Buffalo goalie cry by the end of the game. Gotta love that too.- Word is that the tennis courts will be torn out in the late Fall and the new field will be built 100 feet closer to the Student Union to accomodate a grandstand where the current bleachers are. The grandstand will be build after the 2010 season.On the way out I saw KD so I said hi and thanked him for the season. He was as gracious as a person could be. He talked about how excited he is for next year and then we started talking about the future:- Zeke may get a rebuilt dorm room. They can't find a shower high enough to fit him.- The men's and women's BBall programs are trying to work out a $5 million addition to the JAR that will give them better lockerrooms, offices, support facilities and study areas. KD is optimistic it will get done. He also said serious consideration is being given to eliminating the plexiglass rail and using either bringing the top bleachers out to the edge or getting more seating in the lower bowl. Don't ask me how. - This prompted me to ask about a new arena. KD said he feels one will get built with the city (because of the Qualer Square agreement) by Canal Park. He wants a minimum of 8,000 seats. The city does not want to exceed 10,000. He is pushing for the max the city will build ala 10K. I asked him is we could sign a 10 year deal with the city and then move to our own facility possibly built on Central Hower when we acquire it. He said that was a great idea, but he didn't see it ever happening. He emphasized he would be very happy to share something with the city. No timetable was given.- I ended by thanking him for his commitment to the university and his outspoken intention to stay and build. He said this was the best possible situation for him and as long as he could provide for his family he intended to stay. His mindset is that the money will come if he does his best.Why wouldn't everyone not want to play for a guy like that? What a great ambassador for the future of Zip sports.Other general thoughts on hoops that I heard walking around:- Adreian Payne still thinks highly of our program. One guy in the know said he thought it was misinformation that Payne's grandma wants him at home in Dayton. KD's visit followed Rick Pitino's and Payne's comment was that at least KD is not full of himself. Payne said he liked KD a lot. - Payne may not be comfortable at the big schools and likes Akron's climate. He also will need the academic support system that Akron has. - We are still seriously being considered by Payne. He likes our people, KD and the university. But my source is a realist. he said you never can predict what a young man will do.Let me close by saying I deliberately came early for the game to have time to walk around. The track is getting new permanent bleachers to hold 2,000 for the MACoutdoor championships, at least that is what I was told. Work is to be done before the end of May. I'm thrilled to see that. Coach Mitchell has done a super job in establishing the best track program in the state and one of the best in the Midwest. I can see us hosting many big events in the future as more is done to make the facility fan friendly.If you made it this far, hope you didn't find it boring. I love where we are going!

Z.I.P. Can you post a design for the scarf or can Caleb put in on the Nation's website? You probably, more than anyone else, want that scarf to keep you warm when the temp dips below 75 in the islands. I feel so sorry for you.Can't wait to see the Zips play what will amount to the Crew's reserves this Sunday. I expect a big crowd. There is a buzz about this game amongst all the soccer coaches I know. They know we are the real deal. Aloha and never forget as the waves lap on the beach outside the O Club at Hickam

These are unbelievable and shameless responses. Coach Boals gave us everything he had while he was here. We were lucky to have him. He has weighed his options and decided OSU was a better situation. And, of course, it was. He'll double his income, make more off of summer camps, be in the Big Ten, be with a program that has been to the Final Four, keep his Ohio contacts, see how another top program runs, put his family in a great city (Columbus) and place himself in position for the next move to a head coach. How can you possibly disparage a fine man for deciding in favor of this?The Nation is something that continually reminds me of how proud I am to be a Zip. But some of these responses are pathetic and not worthy of any Zip poster.

Thanks for getting us into the 2 team Big Eleven and also curing cancer to boot. Obviously, a new conference is the most important of the two achievements, but kicking the big C's butt is nonetheless pretty sweet.For what it's worth, I'm also a proponent of getting into a better conference ASAP. I feel C-USA would be it as things now stand. We aren't ready for the move, so now our focus should be to dominate the MAC and become attractive to other confernce opportunities that may present themselves. C-USA may be one. There also may be a realignment that would make sense for us. In my dreams the Big East asks us in (my dreams are pretty good at times). At best the MAC is a good place to be to build our portfolio for better opportunities. They will come. When, I can't predict. When they come, we must be ready to act. That's all I'm saying. I think Dr. Proenza appreciates this better than we think. The Zips are coming on and will be heard from for many years to come. Fear the Roo!

What I want to see with the opening of Info and the new phase we are entering is better management of the gameday experience. I want to see great tailgating. I want to see a band skull session. I want to see the band parade to the stadium. I want to see the band and team take the field in a way that is distinctly Akron's. I want to see post game traditions like a band concert or the ringing of a victory bell or a party alley. Most of all, I expect the athletic administration to coordinate everything and present a total package for the day. Copy all the great traditions of other programs and be open to ones that we would start ourselves. I think the ideas are out there. But is anyone charged with creating a gameday experience that makes you want to come back for more?These experiences can be so awesome that they take over a city. I live in Columbus. Three seasons ago Texas came to the horseshoe for a day game. While the game drew over 100,000 an additional 30,000 came down to OSU's campus just to tailgate and take in the parties. We can do the same on a smaller scale if we plan properly. If successful, the effect Akron football would have on the campus and community would be unbelievable.

Central Hower is not a school anymore....Is that building even in use anymore?It most certainly a school. Currently it houses the entirety of East High School while renovations are completed, and in the future it will see more relocated HS students from around the city. Central Hower will not be empty for many years.I had no idea...what other HS is being renovated besides East??? Central is way out of the way for students at Ellet and Buchtel? Firestone, Kenmore and North are in fine shape are they not?Buying Central Hower from APS is not that far fetched. We need to do cheap but effective changes to the JAR while we fill it to capacity regularly. That will take 2-3 years. After that either buy C-H from APS or negotiate a 5-10 rental agreement with the city on an arena they may build. After that length of time C-H will be of no use to APS and we will have accrued the money to build what we need. I can also see us razing the JAR and building a new arena on the surrounding footprint. In the interim we could make short use of a city built facility, probably 2 years. When C-H does become available in this scenario we buy it from APS for more dorms and academic buildings. As much as we talk about it on this board I have confidence Dr. Proenza and the board of trustees have a plan to deal with the need for increased capacity when the time comes. He is way ahead of most everyone when it comes to strategic thinking. The new 10 year strategic planning process will continue to exceed our expectations when it is made public.

Skip ... I agree. Also I think there are many things we can agree on. First, and foremost, we must play a defense that puts pressure on the QB. I'll let the coaches decide how to do that. The days of letting the QB have all the time in the world while we rush 3 against 5 blockers must be over. That didn't work and caused us to lose leads and the game many times in the fourth quarter. To tell you the truth I am disappointed JD won'rt admit that. He needs to take responsibility for running a defense that was one of the worst in the MAC. The win-loss record proves it. All the other stuff is just crap and coach-speak for it's someone else's fault. Sorry, but it falls on JD's shoulders. Please fix it.I do not share the confidence some of the posters on this board have in our LB's. I regard them as undersized and not capable of plugging holes or taking on pulling linemen/fullbacks. This is a concern of mine. We need big, physical, nasty LB's who can stop a runner dead in his tracks. Several of our best 6 LB's are no bigger than a free safety (6 '0, 205-220). I like a 4-3 because of our depth at D line and size limitations at LB.Regardless, the problem on D has been there for years. It's time to fix it now and become

I hope so and I also hope we need the capacity. But I know that's a dream. Who cares, you don't get better if you can't dream. Regarding the end zone facility, it had extra capacity that will be converted into soccer locker rooms and a team lounge. The space is much needed and Caleb is thrilled to get it. It improves his team's facilities immediately w/o building a new stadium. He needs to show these progressively better recruiting classes that the program is advancing facilities. I like it. For you guys who seem to be getting into a pissing match over the progress of the stadium, cut me a break! Bitch if they don't get it done. Until then shut the hell up. You sound like petty bitches who relish criticizing anyone who tries to do something good just so you can say I told you so. We are Zips! believe in the people who got us here. They know what they are doing. If they fail hold them accountable. Until then quit your bitching. You sound like K.e.n.t. fans. That is an insult BTW.

Figures for attendance at OSU may be greater than ours, but not in actual bodies in the stands. In that case we blow them away. I live in Columbus and follow both programs. Ours is better on all counts. For whoever posted that we had a larger crowd for our game in columbus this past Fall, you are correct. I was there and talked to OSU officials afterwards. They were absolutley jealous with our team, our fans and the Rowdies. They were stunned we outnumbered them in their own stadium 2 to 1.BTW, I like our new stadium but want Creighton's. It's better.

Everyone is all excited about the future of Zips BBall. I am too. I love reading all the posts on a new facility. Several things jump out at me. First, we have got to fill the JAR before we seriously look to build a new facility. Second, the economy is horrible to rush in to anything now, especially with Info coming on board and the administration's commitment to build a new soccer facility in phases. Third, I could see UA using an off campus facility, but only for an interim period while funding (bonds and donations) are secured. Fourth, I would be stunned if any long term agreement was reached to use a city owned facility off campus. Every strategy for growth the university has is centered on developing an integrated campus with athletic facilities part of the core, not on the fringe. Using a city built facility even a half mile off campus does not enhance campus life. Fifth, I envision that we make relatively cheap enhancements to the JAR such as more chair backs, removing the running track, removing the glass barrier on the second tier, and bringing seats out over the track area. Ultimately I see a new facilty built on the Central Hower High site or we demo the JAR and rebuild there. The latter would cause us to find an interim home.My biggest point in all this is I think it is critical that a new facilty stay on the campus core. We must have that to build the vibrate university we envision.

We can't compete in the MAC and you want this program to be the doormat for the CUSA? Marshall dominated the MAC and went to the CUSA and have gone 4-8, 3-9, 5-7, and 4-7. What do you think is going to happen to Akron?People need to realize what Akron is, people are out here thinking we can compete with Penn St and the Big Ten and we should be in CUSA.....we need to compete in the MAC before we think about competing with good programs.And you need to realize that we do compete in the MAC. We were 8 points away from being 8-4 this year. We nearly beat the Big East Champions, we made Syracuse look like rightfully like the bottom of FBS. If you keep thinking small time and letting the fact that a couple things don't go your way in a given year, you are always going to be small time. Futility is not a team that has been D-1 for all of 20 years and has recently garnered enough respect to be able to recruit talent get 10's of millions of dollars in donations to fund facility improvements and been to a bowl game in the last 4 years. No futility is being a D-1 football program for the entirity of existance and having your most notable season being in 1972.Marshall was failing as they left the MAC and hell UCF went 0-12 they just won a C-USA tile last year or the year before. So the "can't compete" argument is pretty useless. Cincinnati won a C-USA title once (2002) and they just went to the Orange Bowl.How do we compete in the MAC? How many winning seasons has this program had? How many bowl games? How many MAC titles?We most certainly do not compete in the MAC. Cinci had the perfect storm of a season, they have never shown that can consistently be a winner. Neither has UCF.Why do people want to be bottom dwellers and hope for a perfect storm of a season every now and then in the CUSA? That's not even a great conference to begin with.This program needs to focus on what it can do to recruit the kind of players to be sitting at the top of the MAC year in and year out. Right now, this program hasn't recruited the players needed to have consecutive winning seasons...We beat a horrible Syracuse team and we lost to an ok Cinci team and we want to make jumps to a bigger conference? People are guaranteeing a win against a soso Big Ten team that curb stomped us two years ago, we need to come back to earth.Lets just hope we are competitive this year, have a winning season, compete for the MAC title and hopefully get a bowl game before we worry about being doormates for a below avg conference when we can't even compete in a bad football conference.It's called vision. Many in Akron are not used to it, but it is nonetheless there and growing stronger every year. Of course we need to dominate the MAC. Come on, everyone agrees to that. But what comes afterward? No MAC team travels well with fans. Marshall did as you could expect 6-8K every game. We needto be that type of program. Once there we will need a bigger stage. CUSA seems the most feasible to me, but conferences are changing and we must be in position to take advantage of positive growth when it is offered. Continued membership in the MAC will always limit a program's potential. If we can outgrow it I say embrace it.Until we are ready for the leap we must do all to get our house in order. That means build a fan base, bring fans to away games, create high performance expectations i.e. tradition of winning, build facilities and be a program the public wants to see (especially TV). If we do that new conferences will seek us out. As KD tells his team every year "Think big" and prepare then to make it happen. We should have a strategic plan that covers 5, 10 and 15 year goals. One of those goals should be improving conference affiliation.

This is a schedule that I find hard to like. The opening is great with Morgan State and Indiana at home. But we have only one home game between Indiana on Sept 19 and Can't on Nov 7. How does that build a following? How does that create a football experience at the Info during the best Fall weather of the season? We follow Can't with 3 Friday night games. Not only do we go against the high school games but the weather will get progressively colder and possibly bring more precipitation. Loyalty is not built during lousy weather. I don't know what say we had in this, but I do think that the MAC has screwed things up once again just to get on ESPNU or ESPN360, channels that are carried in 1% of households. Real smart move MAC office! Meanwhile we once again lose a game against Miami, which was a budding rivalry. Another reason to get out of the MAC. I would love going to C-USA. But don't get me started on that rant again.

That's a great looking soccer stadium. Better than what we plan IMO. But I understand money is tight, so I'll take and love what we plan. But Creighton has a cool place going up.

I am glad Can't suspended Singletary, but then again they had to do something. Too many people saw what happened both on TV and YouTube. So Can't took the safe route ... they suspended him for a game in which the opponent has the worst odds in the confernce to win the whole thing. Wow! Did they ever take the high road. If Can't had announced a two game suspension I would have given them some respect. They have a thug on their hands and they continue to let him do what he wants as long as he is a good B-ball player, which he is. They have no honor. That's why my kids will always be taught

Capt'n,Help me out here. How do you have a semi-new baby? Not to worry, though, if he/she is a new Zip that's all that matters. New or old we all know

Zipper, I talked with Greg Burke during the last round of AD hiring. I like him a lot and he loves the Zips. But his wife is from the South and not particularly interested in coming back to Akron. Perhaps times have changed and that is up for reconsideration. Greg likes the Akron situation so maybe you could be right that he would be interested.

The issue of local kids being told to go somewhere else is born out of misperception by the writer/speaker. Local coaches are not blind. They see our program is on the rise. They also know that is across the board including all sports, facilities, academics and campus. Most people who believe coaches won't recommend us also believe tons of D-1 athletes are coming out of Summit County. That just isn't happening.To build the program we all want JD must go out of Akron and out of state. The days of building a dominant D-1 football team from NE Ohio have long gone. There are not enough. No one expects Ohio State to recruit a majority of Ohio athletes. Why do people think we need to do it with a majority of NE Ohio athletes? It can't be done.

Capt'n, can't say it much better than that. It troubles me that Mac would want to leave now for a job that is better, but not the high profile job he could get if he were to bring everything together that is nearing completion in a year or two, i.e. Infocision, football respectability, attendance, soccer dominance, basketball dominance, emergence of women's programs, start of the soccer stadium, etc.Passing up all that for Rutgers. Makes you go Hmmmmm.