72 Roo

He's not. Move on. Questions about Bain in 2008 are as useful as one's regarding David Harvey.Barring a miracle, forget about Bain in 2008.I hear David Harvey and Bain are seeing the same foot specialist. Both are expected to play as soon as Red Cochrane can resurrect the Acme Zip game

I think we have two different animals here. The marketing dept for athletics couldn't find their collective asses with two hands. They are woefully unprofessional.The marketing for the university is much, much better and deserves respect for the promotion of the emerging giant in N.E. Ohio. They, like the rest of us, could improve. But when compared to the Athletic marketers, they are superstars.Am I work in sales and marketing. Trust me, I'm in sales .

Damn! I like that! Pretty well sums it up when you are dealing with writers who don't do their homework. We'll be OK.

What celebration? For those of us who couldn't attend, I'd appreciate hearing your description of what happened.Thanks and Go Zips! Working our way to the College Cup, Final Four of soccer.

The Cardinals were impressive on both sides of the ball. To me they are better tahn us on both sides also. We need a focused, healthy team to beat them. I think if we continue to play the 3-3-5 defense against them the odds of a Zip victory are slim and none. Their O line opened some nice holes and they have the backs to hurt you when given a little space.I feel more confident about beating Syracuse than I do BSU.

Most of your assumptions are all wrong. First, you assume we have a marketing dept that understands marketing, wrong! They do not understand their customers, the market, branding, messaging, value proposition etc. Second, putting kids pictures is completely consistent with our marketing dept ...... another admission that they continue to miss the customer. The customer is not kids or their parents. The customer is the person(s) who has a growing interest in the Zips, is curious, wants to see what all the noise is about, what's to see if the stadium will be a tangible expression of a better program or is just window dressing. Third, this customer wants D1 football in NE Ohio. Whenever Akron or Can't have a big game the crowds come. The people want us to succeed, but they are spohisticated enough to know they don't want their hopes dashed on false promises. They have to believe we can deliver.Kids have nothing to do with that. Warm fuzzy's don't sell tickets. A clear, articulated vison of the future does. Give them hope and they will come. Our marketing is pathetic.

Absolutely. I was walking around there during the game, trying to visualize how it would look based on that one drawing we have for it. It's going to be a major improvement. I only hope they keep the hill behind the goal. That hill is the best thing our current stadium has going for it.Kid, the hill is definitely in the plans. In fact there will be hill seating (on the grass) behind the east goal and along the entire sideline opposite the grandstand. When the weather is good, about 50% of the time, it will be a great place to get close to the action and bring crowd pressure to the opposition. It could be one of the coolest places in the country. With the hill seating it will easily seat 5,000.Man I can't wait to get it and Infocision up and running!

Kudos to the Lady Zip soccer team. They will take many teams by surprise, like the Pitt Panthers. There is talent on this team and their new coach, Chris Pfau, seems to be very capable of growing this program to the best in the MAC. I can't wait to watch a double header in the new soccer stadium with the ladies, followed by the men, crushing peolpe who come to our house.Way to go ladies. You're starting the season great!

It's not lost on me that you have joined this conspiracy to drive me nuts. It seems you, too, Z.I.P. have lost your caps. No Gordon Biersch for you. And you can damn well bet that the next time I'm in the isles I will not be buying!

Caleb Porter has sent out his soccer newsletter to alumni and friends. In it was this statement on the much needed soccer stadium:Stadium PlansFor those of you who have not heard, we are in the process of developing a new soccer only stadium here on campus. The plans call for a brand new playing surface with new lights and a state of the art grand stand. Off the field, new game day locker rooms, restrooms and concessions will all be added. You can view the initial stadium plans online at http://www.osborn-eng.com/sports_akron.html. Groundbreaking is expected following the fall of 2009. We are currently in the development process for what looks to be one of the top facilities in all of college soccer.This is exciting news. It is coming faster than I thought it would. Caleb must be making headway on lining up major donors to make it happen. I've seen the plans for the stadium and they are better than what the website shows. With this facility and a better conference (CUSA ? affiliated membership) we will win that national championship one day.Kudos to Caleb and Mac for moving this program to the top of the national pecking order. I can see weekends where we go to Infocision for a game and then see top ten competition at our new soccer stadium. The campus will be the place to be.

Dude, the QB situation is scary, but you've got to help us out by discovering the SHIFT key for capitals, the space bar and an occassional comma. They are not in short supply and it's OK to use them liberally. You sure you didn't go to K.E.N.T.? The one thing we all know on this board is that So come on pal, help us in reading your posts. I'll even buy you a Great Lakes Elliot Ness Ale, my favorite

From what I heard McCready had pledged $5M if the rest of the funds could be raised. They couldn't and this project is not on the radar screen. It was to have been built on the other end of the bridge that span the railroad tracks connecting the College of Business to the rest of campus. It would have been cool. Still is much needed to set apart our college of business that needs a boost. We have good programs, but this might have started us on the path to great programs.

I was a skeptic regarding our DB's. No more. I love the addition of Williams. He will be a beast back there and make everyone around him better. The Captain is right, our DL will create more pressurethan we have ever had. That equates to less time and a higher need to be perfect with the pass. I don't see a lot of QB's in the MAC who can do that to us. Maybe I'm looking at the situation thru Zip colored glasses, but I predict our running game won't miss a beat. Johnson can even be better than Williams. Kennedy gives depth and Allen is awesome in the slot. Our OL has potential. For my money I want to see them get nastier and become better run blockers.Football is still a game that is dominated by QB's. That leaves me getting little sleep at night because we are a giant question mark at that position. As our QB goes this year, so go the Zips. Plain and simple. Come on Jacq and Matt, make us proud!

Anyone know what Devoe's character and legal records were like before he was taken to trial? If the kid was clean, I'd be more attuned to giving him a chance. If he carries a spotty past with him, I'd say JD is making a bad decision. Does he care about Akron's reputation/character or getting the best players at any cost? I hear he's a good person, but good people make poor decisions when desperate.Any help from the nation?

In reality, we can't predict this game because we don't know what we have. Who knows if we have a QB. If Rodgers doesn't step up I don't feel Jacq can play D1 ball. Last year our coordinators were repeated out-coached. Did they come back ready to make the changes in their coaching necessary to win? Do we have any wide-outs? We'll see. Can our new DB's with Williams stop the pass? As bad as the "Cuse is, we may be just as bad. Then again we could come together and have a hell of a season. No one really knows until we tee it up. See you there

This team has a lot of "if"s this year. If the BCS transfers live up to the hype, If Dennis Kennedy is really back, If Deryn Bowser becomes an impact WR, If we have a competent QB, If we get better play calling... etc. Even if half of these "If"s go our way, we have enough talent to put together a winning season. The most crucial ones are the QB and the play calling. I think this is the most insightful quote I've seen on this topic. We absolutely have got to get a new QB and, unfortunately, play calling on either side of the ball has been piss poor. With a good QB we go 5-7. If we improve in the play calling (Like get new coordinators) we win at least two more games. Beyond that we need better talent to win more games.Honestly, with all the "if's" this team has, I'd be satisfied to see us at 7-5 and would be doing back flips if we go 8-4. Cheers.

UAKid,Excellent game by game review . I Have a few concerns:1) We don't fare well against anyone except Army and EMU w/o a new QB. Rodgers has to be able to step up.2) Our O line is overrated by most on this board. They are can't drive block. Last year against Temple all we had to do was hold the ball and repeatedly gain short yardage (1-2 yds) to keep a drive alive. They couldn't do it. Until they show they can get nasty and get 1-3 yds when needed we will continue to have problems3) I think we are in for tough times against Toledo and BGSU. Frankly, I don't see us being able to stop BG w/o a change in philospophy or leadership by our D coordinator. I hate the 3-3-5. We have neither the LB's nor DB's to play it and it will cost us games4) Amongst the games with Syracuse, K.E.N.T., Ohio and Temple we will lose one.We enter this season with too many question marks and lots of hopes. All this adds up, to me, to predict a 6-6 season. I hope you are right, though. One thing we agree on is

Yup. If we get good QB play we win the MAC. If we get poor QB play we'll be lucky to get to .500. Easy as that.I agree quarterbacking is critical and have said so many times on this board. There is another element that is equally important, coaching. J.D. did a great job withthe special teams, but hos coordinators were lousy and, frankly, even below MAC standards. Let's hope J.D. is prepared to rectify the situations on either side of the ball. If he does I think we go 6-6 or 7-5, at best, and set ourselves up for a great run in 2009.

If anyone replies, who was at QB? I hope it was Rodgers.

Go Zips,Thanks for your great posts . I always feel like I get insider information when you are on the board. I've got a question, how is Ronnie Stewart? Is he fully healed and ready to start and carry the load on a D1 team? We need him and the other young pups to come up big this year.Regardless, it's good to be a Zip!

Has this site ever heard of the concept of editing in which you catch all the mistakes in the submitted copy? Wait a minute....that would assume they know what they are doing. Forget it.

Timmy,There's more on this board than you think. I met Z.I.P. in Hawaii on my vacation this Spring and had a great time talking Zips and having a few cold ones. He's knowledgeable and should be a great companion for sitting in the stands watching the Zips play for a national title. Make room for me. I'll be there also.Keep your posts coming. They're great. Ya gotta love your passion for the Zips.

Gotta agree with you guys. I love our future in BB and soccer. Football scares the hell out of me. I pray to God JD is not serious about Jacq being ready to lead us this year. He doesn't have the skill, talent, heart or brains to lead us in the MAC. Rifle , I'm already there about 6-6 or out for JD. That's going to be a big order too. My crystal ball says we are lucky to go 6-6 with our schedule and talent.Wish It were otherwise. At least

Timmy, I agree the Zips have a great future as Z.I.P. has pointed out. UConn and South Fla are worthy rivals, altho' we should have kicked S.F.'s ass. We were the better team. When we last played UConn they were slightly ahead of us. Those fortunes have changed. All they have is a better facility and conference now. We are better.Our new facility has had architectural review and has been signed off on by the board of trustees and facilities management. It is a beautiful facility with 3,500 seats on the side our bleachers are on now, locker rooms, refs rooms, press box, an entertainment suit and birm seating behind the east goals and along the side opposite the main stands where the teams now have their benches. There is only one teeny little problem ...there is no money to build it now or in the next three years. Caleb has been told he has to do his own fund raising if he wants it built. Cost is $12 million. Caleb is trying to get it built in phases while also trying to find a major donor. First phase is to move the field to the new seting to allow for a big grandstand and lay down water, sewer, electrical and drainage under new turf. The next phase is lights and a few misc. things. The last stage is the main grandstand. This will be hard. Don't believe for a minute that the school has to build a new facility if Caleb wins big next year.Akron's debt is at a manageable, yet all time high level right now. The borad of trustees will not go in deeper to build a low revenue generating facility until after the football stadium is shown to be a success. Read that to mean 5 years. That's why we need someone with deep pockets to jump start the whole initiative.The truth of the matter is that our conference and our facility are the two greatest, and only sigificant, limiting factors to the growth of the soccer program. I hope Caleb does not get frustrated. I believe he will not. His contract extension shows he wants to build here and he has a very good relationship with Mac Rhoades. Caleb speaks highly of him often. Caleb is a big picture guy who sees where we can go. Kinda like KD, but in a sport that is higher in national prominence. He's what we need. Let's give him the people in the stands he needs this season. See you there and then afterwards for a cold one. Deal?

Thanks Zipsrifle and Ziptrumpet for the pictures you have posted. It is really exciting to see the updates that are posted and the progress that accompanies each picture. The impact of the stadium is monumental, but I also like the psychological effect the Outdoor Living Room will have on the south side of the entrance to Buchtel Hall. So many people will see it when they come for sporting events and it will make a hell of an impression. Our campus is going to be second to none. To paraphrase Mel brooks "It's good to be a Zip!" Actually I had no contribution here - credit should go to Dr Z for the picture I commented on. Sorry. Thanks to Dr Z as well. It's still good to be a Zip.