72 Roo

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.

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!"

Wish i could help, but I don't know for sure. In early May I spoke witht he dept of development fundraiser for the College of Education. He wanted it doen before the students returned in the fall, but that was only a wish and he admitted he was unsure of the timeline for completion. It ought to be a great place for pics when its done. Good luck in your wedding plans and don't, under any circumstances, many a Golden F.l.a.s.h. because

KId,Your pics are great! Thanks a lot. For the poster who felt Carroll would stay green, don't count on it. Memorial Hall is next to come down. Then on the combined Carroll and Memorial Halls footprint will be the new college of education building. Look for the building to be moved over towards old Memorail Hall to make room for the 4.6 acre outdoor living room. It will be fabulous and a beautiful entry to the south side of Buchtel Hall.

Your post is uncalled for. I know several police officers on the APD and the thought that someone was firing at them with deadly force, and assumed intent to kill, sends shivers up my spine. The fact that the suspect was an Akron athlete deeply saddens me. I'm a former letterman and the allegation that any Akron athlete would do this is horrible news. There is no need to make light of it with a comment about team speed. This just isn't funny on any level!Unfortunate, yes, but I did snicker a bit. I know for a fact if this had been a K-E-N-T athlete, this board would be abuzz with jokes. When it's one of ours, we criticize comedy.Yeah real funny. I gues the wives and kids of the cops who had to dodge his bullets are finding it hysterical. Just because the classless folks on the K-E-N-T board do it doesn't justify our sinking that low.

Your post is uncalled for. I know several police officers on the APD and the thought that someone was firing at them with deadly force, and assumed intent to kill, sends shivers up my spine. The fact that the suspect was an Akron athlete deeply saddens me. I'm a former letterman and the allegation that any Akron athlete would do this is horrible news. There is no need to make light of it with a comment about team speed. This just isn't funny on any level!

unfortunately you may be right...JD is NOT going to be invited to the FO unless he is either at least 7-5 or goes to the MAC Champeenship game...now...he has a good O-line,good RB's, appears to be a better D-line and adequate LB's...secondary is ????....wideouts????...QB????????....they can win some games with a running game and defense in the MAC...but unless CJ or whomever steps up at QB and 1 wideout emerges....the D will have to dominate...got my season ticket order in for '08 and '09My hope is we are both wrong.

A 7-5 record is a stretch in my opinion, but I will be cheering as hard as I can that they do it. My prediction of 6-6 I think is more realistic in leiu of all the question marks that are brought into this season. QB, coaching, WR's and DB's are the major ones I see. The problem I see on this board is that we all want them so desparately to succeed that we overlook or minimize the serious challenges they have. If we objectively voice this we are lumped in a catagory of "morons" who are like Browns fans who criticized Charlie. I guess my avid support of Charlie as a Brown went for naught. Captain I acknowledge you know the Zips better and deeper than I do. That being said, until the four keys areas I have mentioned above prove themselves on the field I think I'll stay at 6-6. BTW Capt'n didn't you predict we would win the MAC East last year? I wish you were right. I really enjoy your posts.

I guess I was aware of the donation for the "Outdoor Living Room", but I was not aware that Memorial Hall was going to be demolished and replaced by another building. This is where my concern is. I also understand that all of the construction is necessary to make the University more attractive to current students and improve enrollment. Believe me, I think the rennovations that have taken place already were desperately needed! I also am one who believes in moderation, and we have done a HELL of a lot of building in the past decade with what appears to be no end in sight. I think it is time to scale back, build a new building every 5 years or so and start to pay down some of this debt. $60 million for a new stadium, tens of millions more for dorms around the stadium, purchasing Quaker Square, that's a lot of money for what is basically going on right now. Add to this a replacement for Memorial Hall, a new arena, and potentially some additional money for this $150 million dollar surprise, and we're talking some serious cash above and beyond the $300+ million that was initially invested.Methinks (always wanted to use that in a post) you don't have an accurate picture of all that is going on. The Outdoor Living Room is funded by Mrs Coleman and other sources that will not hurt our bond rating. Quaker Square was purchased by the U of A Foundation for the university, not from UA's budget or bond dollars. We are not replacing Memorial Hall. We are tearing it down to make room for a college of education building that will sit on part of the footprint of Carroll and Memorial halls. The education building has been budgeted for. No new arena is planned, that is just the fans getting way ahead of reality and specualting with no facts to back it up. The $150 million surprise Proenza teased us about is more associated with a private developer bringing commercial, retail and residential plans to the university district. Again, that doesn't affect our bond rating. Has UA increased its debt, yes. Is is a wise financial move, you bet. It is manageable and well within responsible fiscal management.The return will be fantastic.

Lee,I can't see Mac bringing JD back if he goes less than 6-6. Honestly, I'm not confident he can do that. QB is still the biggest need of this team and potentially it's greatest limiting factor. I've heard little talk about Rodgers so I hope JD is being coy and not alerting the rest of the MAC that we have solved the problem. But if he seriously starts with Jacq I believe he should be fired.Another problem we have is with our coordinators. Both were repeatedly outcoached last year. Our defense couldn't stop a gnat and our offense was so predictable the rest of the MAC ate us up. I do not share the belief that our O line is ready to excel. I remember watching them against Temple when we started the fourth quarter with a 21 point lead and all we had to do was run the ball to win. None of them could drive block when they needed to. On many downs against Temple all we needed was a yard or two to keep the drive alive and they couldn't get it. I think we need to look at the coordinators and the O line objectively. They weren't that good last year. I will grant you that a good QB will give them the best chance for improving. While RB will be strong our wide outs appear to be mediocre. TE is piss poor.The D line will be a strength. I see no size with speed at LB. I like Grant , but our others are undersized. The DB's need a major shot of talent.Against the schedule and with all the question marks we have I can't see us doing any better than 6-6. That's being optimistic.If JD can coach, he needs to show it this year. I hope he succeeds and once again shows

Rifle girls in spandex? I'm there! But first ma'am put down the weapon and no one will get hurt.

Recently I talked with some people in the development office for the college of education. They confirmed that a new education building will be built on the space once occupied by Carroll Hall and Memorial Hall, which wiill be razed. There will be more green space around the new education building. That increased green space will be complimented by the new 4.6 acre outdoor living room that will form the south entrance to Buchtel Hall. Once again our campus is growing in beauty and service to students. When the fans flock to Info to see games they will be amazed at the campus they find.It seems like it will never stop. You better believe the schools we compete against are aware of this transformation also. It is only a question of time before Dr. Proenza has us dominating the MAC. Now if J.D. can only prove he can coach.