tbozeglav

and I'd say "troll" is the best description for you.

I would say UA has a real good chance at landing the contract. Theres pretty much nothing bad about the location that I could think of. Perfect capacity (evidenced by the playoff games we hosted last year) along with perfect amenities in the form of many suites and club seats and a very roomy press box. I hope we don't have to share the games with Can't - I honestly cannot see the value of playing their games there. All rivalry bias aside, I really have never found Dix Stadium to be that "nice". I have also heard that if UA gets the contract either in full or in part, they will be setting up the website to allow people to stream the live video of the games online.

The team benches I believe are bring relocated to the grandstand side of the stadium. It would make sense since the designs we've seen in the past called for the grandstands to be where they currently (albeit larger) with the team benches along the front.

Im gonna go out on a limb here and say the almighty Jake chose not to attend this event because it was planned by the lowly RHPB and figured it would have been a total flop with no more than 100 people come out. Where ya at now, Jake?! GREAT event. I can't say Ive seen this many students come out for a single campus event like this in a LONG time. Bands were good (esp Red Wanting Blue - Ive seen them a few times down at Barley House), the games were fun, and the beer garden.. well, let's just hope this is a taste of whats to come for the football season. It was very well done and the fireworks were just icing on the cake. I think we can all rest assured that the University and RHPB weren't a lost cause at their abilities to get students to come out for events like that. It was actually most funny to be hearing all the students asking "why don't I remember this happening last year" or "is this the first year for this event?", a clear indicator of the students' enjoyment of the event to ask themselves why they haven't come out before. See Jake... The University isn't this lost cause you claim it to be!

Im not exactly sure how bringing in legitimate music talent to do an outdoor music fest-type event is corny. Its a hell of a lot better than UA Price is Right or any of that crap. From my perspective (a student), it seems like a lot more time, effort, and money went into this event than any other campus event Ive had the pleasure (and in some cases displeasure) of attending. Prime example: My facebook wall is full of people's statuses saying either how they're going over to springfest today or are really bummed about missing it because of class/work. Not too sure how many times I've seen an RHPB event get that kind of facebook response before, if ever. k.s.u. sucks, you're pretty much right. The memories from college are from those house parties that go till 4am waking up the next morning wondering what happened. These events are a step in the right direction for the university. The campus is slowly starting to shed that commuter tag that Jake loves to apply and become a real college campus.

Are you insinuating that the early college program is housed in the student union? Otherwise, my point still stands. They are still going to pack in hoards all over campus and act obnoxious. The program is a great idea. But why do we need them to be on our campus? The early college is mostly in Polsky right now, they use a few other buildings that I am aware of, the fact that you have an issue at all is kind of telling. Intimidated by high school kids. Right now if you are seeing any kids on the main part of campus, they are likely East Students. The early college kids are selected based on grades and if they cause a problem they are gone. If you are having problems with anyone it's the East kids. I believe I was told by my boss a while back that the former building of the Inventor's Hall of Fame was being transformed into a building to house UA's early college students to get them out of Polsky and open up more classroom space for UA students.

At first I was kinda stunned about this thread... But after thinking about it for a bit, Im even more confused. Either you must REALLY hate Ianello or you have no faith in him becoming successful and leaving the program for something better (aka not being fired). The guy hasn't coached 1 real game yet, let alone an entire season, so Id give him the benefit of the doubt. Unless you have reasons to believe he'd be fired... in which case, I'd love to check out your time machine.

do they really need another building? I ask this sincerely because I have never heard directly from anyone that there's been that much of a space need. I wouldn't mind seeing Zook, Ayer, or Crouse demolished and relocated to that area. It'd really open up that part of campus and remove some of the more evident traces of the University's former self. As far as memorial, I am fairly certain that the University has wanted to tear it down for some time and replace it with a building that will mirror the Union, which as far as I am concerned would look really cool in conjunction with what I hope will be a completed Coleman Commons.

A little birdy in my ear tells me that the University is working on getting web cams put up on the light poles (once the new ones have been installed) so that people can see the progress of the new stadium as it's being built, much like during the Info's construction

I think its safe to assume this will happen. Last design I remember seeing called for a 2500 seating capacity in the stands alone, plus another 2k on the grass berm seating (I think). You do have to consider that we didn't sell out EVERY home game last season; However its always better to be able to reasonably hold those large crowds. As this team's exposure and popularity grows on the region, Im sure we'll see a larger average attendance. Now if the marketing dept would get their act together and get some quality soccer merch out there (in addition to the stadium's team shop), then we'd be in great shape. Im glad to hear Phase 1 is going well. Also glad to hear this playing surface will be able to handle anything NE Ohio decides to throw at it. Now to get the money together so we can upgrade the other parts of the stadium!

Maybe they should add up all of the money they left on the table last year when all of those games sold out on Tuesday because of inadequate seating. Imagine how many tickets they could have sold if they had twice as many seats. Or more. For crying out loud I've seen 19,000 fans at indoor soccer games before, some paying for SRO. Not to mention the very weak inventory of Zips wear they have for sale in their used Winnebago trailer, they park next to the portable outhouse. How much money did they leave on the table just in those games (OSU, MAC tourney, and NCAA tourney)? What a bass ackward bunch of clowns. Build a 30,000 seat football stadium for a team that has a hard time drawing 3,000, and put a national powerhouse soccer program (smack dab in the middle of a soccer hotbed) on a crap field with less seats than a local high school football program draws for JV games. End of rant. Thanks for letting me vent. What an ignorant statement Hope you feel better after that rant. I know I do when I let off steam. Unfortunately, your statement might be, how shall we say ... ill informed? For the record no division I men's soccer program breaks even, let alone turns a profit. Football on the other hand can do so and maybe will if we continue improving it with performance and a better conference. When you look at the money left on the table for soccer, it is significant , but not huge. Our best crowd was 4500 for Tulsa last year. If we averaged that with a new facility the revenue might look like this: half are students so no income; the other brings in $22,500 if all are adults, which they aren't and they pay $10; parking is $0; food is maybe $3,000; spirit wear is $1,000. That equals $26,500 times 12 regular and exhibition games = $318,000. Out of that you pay concession workers and game day officials and you can see the revenue is not huge. If your point is that we at least will better our situation, you are right and I agree whoeheartedly that we should do it. But i do want to add that the revenue a new stadium will bring does not mean a windfall. A new stadium does push us to the top five in the country and to me that brings a hell of a lot of value. One final note. We have signed a contract to play Tulsa next season at our place on national TV. It will mark the return of the Zips to night time TV. Thanks for the new lights. Now we all have to pack the stands to show the country great things are going on at Akron and to the soccer world this is the place to be. Sounds good doesn't it. Hang in there. I believe we will see football and basketball become programs we can be proud of. TULSA spelled backward is ASLUT

Bulger isnt aging that badly... could be worse... aka the gooch or grant Im okay with a high-rise given that it doesn't look god-aweful. That and it definitely will need to have some kind of markings that associate it with UA. Speaking of which, did anyone notice the really cool UA logo they are putting above the entranceway to the new dorm east of the stadium? I drove by today and also noticed they appear to be adding the same kind of UA logo that sits at the entrance to the Honors circle.

High School? Really? Last I checked my high school didn't promote any such thing... I think high school is the LAST place you'd want a Beer Garden. In any case, I am actually kinda excited for this event, albeit that I will have to miss it. Its great to see that 1) they are starting to provide more events to unify the campus community, and 2) begin to bring in some legitimate (and popular) music talent to the campus. This is a GREAT idea and Im happy that the University is really pushing forward with a greater campus identity than ever before. Jake is just a troll; don't feed him. He's got nothing better to do with his day than make a big fuss over absolutely nothing.

They played on grass once last year (Penn State) and will play twice this year (Kentucky, Temple). The MAC title game is on artificial turf as well. Seems like the 50 yard practice field is fine for the frequency of play on natural grass. Thats what I thought. You could say its a disadvantage, but when nearly your entire conference and the conference championship game are on turf, its just smarter to go with the it since you'll be playing on it more frequently. If we average something like 2 games per season on grass, there's just no significant need to have a full 100 yard dedicated practice field.

InTheZone, you bring up valid points about the grass field practice. Thats a significant disadvantage to us, but I would be curious to see how many fields we've played at that have grass and not turf. Either way, I think its safe to assume that the football team doesn't use it for obvious reasons (Infocision Stadium - its closer!), but just because football doesnt use it doesn't mean that its a waste.

While its true that football primarily uses the indoor facility and the stadium for their practices, almost all the other sports use the outdoor practice field. I cant count the number of times i've seen both mens and women's soccer practicing on that field, in addition to the outdoor club sports (field hockey, lacrosse) and the intramural sports (flag football especially). Its not a waste of money - it's a very useful facility because it can support a large number of sports at any time because of its surface. Having the softball, baseball, soccer, and track facilities all at that main juncture will allow the university the possibility to build a very nice sports plaza. Once the new soccer stadium is completed and the baseball facility is upgraded, that area of campus will be a much more than just 4 playing fields that happen to be situated next to each other with sidewalks inbetween.

Thinking about it now, im kinda glad this will be done in two phases. The field drainage and the lighting structure are far more important than the press tower, permanent seating, and locker rooms. Id rather them take their time doing it right the first time than cutting corners to meet an extremely close deadline.

the new deck is really shaping up nicely. I think it'll look a lot better than people think it will. I did, however, notice that theyve got a huge backup generator installed on the first floor over where the project first started (corner by the power substation). I have absolutely no idea why they'd need it there, but whatever its powering must need a lot of juice. Computer Center is across the street (where I work), but its had its own backup generator forever...

They are just bringing in the machinery in preparation for the major earth-moving that will be necessary. My guess is that they still need to erect a temporary fence around the project site before they can begin any major earth moving. Arent they also tearing down the tennis courts to make way for this project too?

Penis envy? I love penis! It's more of a massive eye roll that you guys pity the poor football player who actually has to pay tuition AND cover his own living expenses. I mean, god forbid they don't get everything handed to them. Because of Title IX the other male teams get less scholarship money than even their female counter parts. Many of the non-football male athletes have to do the same. So why don't you guys pity the track athletes too? And don't give me that crap about football being the biggest money maker, cause it's also the program that is the furthest in the red. Because football is a real sport not a place where you can see who the best at exercising is. Getsy is a real good D1 quarterback and a genius in the sport of football; he would sit coach only meetings as a player. He should have never had to pay for school. The way the system is Football gets full rides in D1a . But Harris would not sign to release him so anybody would be mad if I got charged a year of tuition when they should not have to. Id like to see you do even a fraction of what the track athletes can do. Just because they are better than you in terms of athleticism but dont participate in your "favorite" sport doesnt mean you can beat them down like that. Also, I believe this man would like to have a word with you

just spent the last couple hours youtube'ing the bluecoats. Im sold. Ill be there.

I cannot agree more. Scholarship players who leave for supposed "greener pastures" are often those types of people who are too concerned with themselves and their position than the team and the collective goal to win. We will lose players with a lot of ability and talent, but if that means in the end a winning season and a team who believes in themselves, it will all be good. Hell, any season better than last year is fine by me. Im not necessarily accepting mediocrity, but rather willing to live with a season of improvement that may not necessarily be deemed a winner. If we go 5-7 next year, but are very competitive and come close to a lot more victories, that counts a lot in my book for a brand new coaching staff and a completely overhauled roster. Good luck to the kids who have decided to look elsewhere.

Well... kinda... lets put it this way: it was a car dealership, but never had a single car in its showroom before UA bought it. In regards to your entire post, I AGREE!

I've heard that they got a donor to sponsor the whole thing and rumor is that it will all be done by the fall. Could be wrong, just saying what I've heard. Id love to hear more info on this one, but I doubt the athletic department will say anything right now. I too hope they do it all in one shot.

yup. I laughed.