72 Roo

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.

Random thoughts:1) Mac is gone. I agree with Capt'n, if not now he will go soon. He's got to go because he has tipped his hand that he is willing to leave for a mid-level Big East job. Not exactly the Big 10, SEC or Big 12.2) Our transformation, which is continuing as we speak, will be a long hard road. But it will happen. I see us dominating the MAC and looking to the next level in the years ahead. I'm willing to admit it may be many years ahead. But it will happen.3) Proenza will only leave for the right job. He was up for the Florida job , but didn't get it. He also applied for the University of California regents job that OSU's Gordon Gee was offered years ago, but Luis didn't make the short list. He is being selective on what he wants. He knows he has one job left in him and he wants it to be a statement position or he will continue to stay at Akron. I can live with that. There is still more for him to do here altho' he is still disappointed he couldn't orchestrate a medical school for Akron. A long shot at best, but he thought he was strong enough to pull it off. 4) Zip37 ... I'll disagree with you about Gordon Larsen. Even respectfully argue if you want. Gordon inherited an athletic dept that was in a shambles from the Red Cochrane era. Red was a promoter, but never a manager. Gordon started putting the program on the proper footing. He instituted title IX at Akron, he coached, he hired Bill Killen to replace Stu Parry, he hired Wyatt Webb and he got us into the Mid Continent conference. All on the smallest budget the school had seen to date. As a football coach he out-coached Don James (K.E.N.T.) and Earle Bruce (Tampa) with fewer scholarships. At first I didn't like him. After getting to know him I found he was Akron through and through. He was a man to be admired and a fierce competitor. I hope some of this changes your mind about him. he did many important things behind the scenes that few people gave him credit for.5) I like our position now better than ever. Our coaches are sound. Our facilities are rapidly improving. We have a core of passionate fans that will keep the focus on continuous qulaity improvement. We have a great president and a board of trustees that share his vision. We will survive and flourish. As I said above, it will happen.

Interesting discussion. I believe we all feel the same way but maybe choose different logic to support our opinions. Mine is to get the hell out of the MAC as fast as we can, provided we can compete to win in a basketball and football conference. That is a big proviso. Until then we need to dominate the MAC. We are only prepared to do so in soccer and track, not the money sports which rule all decisions. I'd love to be in the Big East, but they, rightly so, will not take us so we should get used to it. Frankly, I don't blame them. We bring little to the conference except for soccer and track. A more realistic goal would be Conference USA. That would help all sports and we could make the leap if we begin dominating the MAC. I hope we look that way in the future. If we focus only on dominating the MAC we still will not get the attendence or recognition we need to come close to balancing the athletic dept budget. C-USA gives us a better chance to do so and will make us continue to grow and develop. I can't see the MAC ever generating the attendence we will want.Until a jump is feasible we need to get our house in order and start winning the MAC regularly in football and Basketball. We need to be the program that causes all conference members to think the road to the championship goes thru Akron.

Sorry Capt'n, in the spirit of complete objectivity I've got to drop the Lady Zips to #11. There loss to WMU moves the UT men ahead of them. Take heart ladies, next year you'll kick their butt.

No, no...its: "There saying that this is a grate higher over their, butt they're kneads two bee sum immediate results." Zippy, Dude, you are too freakin' funny. I read that and it made my day.Zips do rule!

I like the hire. I agree it shows commitment to the program. Shane was a good OC before he took the reins at Miami and he will be valuable to JD to bounce ideas off of. His value as a recruiter is significant. More and more programs are de-emphasizing Florida and spending more time in Georgia. The Zips need to be able to have a presence in that state.The more I see of the program's changes the greater my hopes rise. I am hoping JD is laying a solid foundation that will carry the program after the excitement of the first year in our new showcase is over.

Nation, a couple weeks ago Mac sent out a letter to the friends of Zip soccer. In it he outlined the outstanding accomplishemnts of this year's team, future developments and reviewed the "injustice" that was heaped on the team and the university during the playoffs. I will not go into great detail, but I do what to give you all a flavor for what was discussed.First, my overall impression was one of great confidence and respect for what Mac and Caleb have done. I don't post all that often. In the past, when I did post, I was critical of Mac. Now that time has passed and I continue to see what he is doing and the challenges he faces with reputation, little tradition, Inadequate attendence, a poor conference, facility upgrades and budget pressures, I have slowly become a Mac fan. His letter only re-enforced that opinion. As part of his review of this year's accomplishments Mac discussed the contract extension for Caleb. We have the best young coach in the country, hands down, end of discussion. The soccer world also knows this. Caleb is now paid with the top 5-10 soccer coaches in the country. His assistants all got raises, the recruiting and travel budget was increased, and a second fulltime assistant was added. The university is clearly committed to winning a national championship. Mac is talking openly of that expectation of Caleb and himself. Additional evidence of that is this year's recruiting class and our Spring schedule (the best in the country on both counts).Mac next shifted to the soccer facility on campus. A new field and lights are planned for the 2010 season. Lights bright enough for night TV broadcasting will cost $500,000. There are three options for the field: 1) $750,000 to install a new field with a surface and drainage to handle 35-40 events per season and most weather conditions, 2) $1,000,000+ to install a sand based field and drainage that could handle any weather and more than 40 events per season, and 3) an artificial turf field that could handle all weather and unlimited events. The second option is preferred by all in the program. In fact, the third option could be expected to affect recruiting as recruits do not want to play on fake turf. Mac and Caleb are studying their options and possible donors to make the sand based field and lights happen. After 2010 the grandstand, bleacher and birm seating will be addressed in what's called phase II.The team will get new locker rooms and a lounge in the utility building at the north end of Infocision this season. Funding needs to be signed off by the board of trustees. It is considered it will go through when presented. That will be a great plus and help convince these national class recruits coming in that they made the best decision of their lives. Finally, Mac reviewed how the "injustice" (his word) of the playoff screw-job played out. He discussed it with passion and detail. We appealed the NCAA's decision 3 freakin' times and we went all the way to the top. All parties refused to listen to our points. I don't know how you felt during that time but I was sick and very upset. For the first time, I was reminded to look beyond my own feelings and consider the administrators at the university who even felt worse. After reading his account I felt a closer bond to his athletic administration than ever. The only thing Mac didn't review that I would have expected was our future, or lack thereof, in the MAC. We already have the top OCC schedule in the country with the RPI to back it up. The MAC kills our momentum. Unfortunately, we repeatedly face teams that decide to keep 11 men on their half of the field in hopes of playing for a 0-0 tie. Case in point, at the BGSU game last season their coach acted like he won the national championship when he only lost 2-0 or so. We need a conference where teams want ot play and not hunker down. That type of competition will only make a us better during the playoff run.This team is in good hands. We will continue to win big on a national level. Thanks to Caleb and Mac for making the dream a reality and thanks to the many nation supporters. You folks are getting a rep as the most passionate in the country. To cite an example, I sat with an athletic administrator from Ohio State at last season's game in Columbus. She was overwhelmed by the Zip following and could not believe that we had more in attendence than OSU did. She quized me constantly on how it got that way, how we became so passionate and what OSU needed to do to get to where we are. She ended the night by saying next to Indiana, we are the best program she has ever seen. Not a bad compliment considering Iu's numerous national championships.Thanks again to all who read this far.

I love the excitement that is growing over our commit list, but in the final analysis I really only want to see us getting better than our peers i.e rest of the MAC. If we do that, one day we will be out of the piss-poor MAC conference and moving in circles that get more respect and attention. If we maintain the staus quo (in the MAC) we eventually will deteriorate with the rest of the programs.

This in indeed fantastic news, but let's not overlook the challenges that face Caleb and the Zip soccer program. They are: 1) we have got to get out of the MAC (Please become an affiliate member of Conference USA and 2) we need a new soccer specific stadium. With those two issues addressed we can challenge for a national championship. Without them being resolved we will continue to get screwed by the powers that be.The bottom line is that we are on the cusp of being a top 10 program. With these improvements we will be a top 5 program.