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Why don't we try being competitive in the MAC, win some divisions and a couple more conference championships. Maybe a bowl game against another BCS fodder school. And how about having a team capable of beating a BCS school now and then? I'm sure the people in Toledo enjoy drubbing a Big Ten school every few years. Who knows what they're planning against the remains of tOSU this year... If we pull some of that off, we could be ranked. Ball freakin State was ranked for a time. Don't tell me a MAC school can't pull it off. Go for a BCS title, that's a pipe dream in our lifetime. But it can still be FUN. People will pay to watch that. They set records to see the Aeros, despite the fact they're never going to the World Series. it's still fun to watch a competitive team at any level.

That's cool. But the Compliance Department? That's just a bad idea.

I've thought about posting what I'm about to post for a while. You post made a good segway for me. It isn't just the people who come and go who are the problem. There are lots of people in the Athletic Department who have seen many ADs over the years. I'm not sure that's good for the school. The Athletic Department needs change, and I don't just mean the AD. If you look at the highest levels of the Athletic Department, some of those names have been around for a long time. I'm not so sure that is good for the Department and I'm not sure that is good for those people as well. I would take the following steps if I was Dr. Proenza: 1. Fire the AD. This guy is in over his head. 2. Get some help hiring a new AD. He didn't do a very good job last time and he may need better advice. 3. Require new AD to start searches for positions at highest levels of the Athletic Department. This task can be accomplished with recruiters. Don't let new AD hire his friends. 4. Require existing employees in those positions to re-interview for their jobs and demonstrate they are rowing the boat in the same direction as Dr. Proenza and the new AD. Keep those who are...can those who aren't. Get rid of the rats. I'm sure within the University, there are those who know who the rats are and they should be released. 5. Change culture of Athletic Department by repeating steps 3 & 4 all the way down to kids in work study. A cultural change is badly needed and a culture involves more than just the guy at the top. One guy can't do it alone. EVERYONE needs to be rowing the boat in the same direction. Sharpen your axe Dr. Proenza...and hurry up about it. While you are at it, sharpen one for the new AD as well and tell him to use it liberally. +1

If there were any chance of Akron getting serious about football, I'd be all for staying in the FBS. But other than a fancy looking stadium, cheaper to build than rebuilding the Rubber Blow especially with ssponsors, I see NO committment to become more competitive. I wonder if the U was ever serious about Div I-A, if they ever gave Gerry Faust what he needed to build a serious program. Seriously, if you can't sell football in northeast Ohio, you're in the wrong business. Crimony. There are high school games that outdraw some of the gatherings I've seen at Zips games. They sold out freaking Arena Football games for crying out loud, and broke attendance records. Even when the team won (which seems like a long time ago) they had a hard time making NCAA minimum. Unacceptable.

That's an interesting perspective.

Thanks for the tip off!!!

You guys can tout him for being truthful, is it really wise to piss off the people who pad your wallet with ticket sales, viewership, and most of all, paying exorbinant prices for crap with your name on it? Great idea. I'll shut up and let the love fest continue. Hope y'all fell asleep before the fourth period in that series...

I'm interested to see the Nielsen numbers broke down. I know the finals set seven year records. LBJ interests me, if he wasn't in the finals I probably wouldn't have watched. I'm wondering numbers between Cleveland, Dallas, and Miami markets. I'm interested in Cleveland market this year compared to the last years Cavs final playoff series. Edit: The game peaked with a 20.9 rating from 10:30-10:45 p.m. Eastern. Game 6 netted the highest-rated metered market rating ever for an NBA game in both markets (records through 2002-03) with a 39.8 in Dallas and a 36.2 in Miami. source Still dying to know Cleveland market. I don't have the numbers but the Really Big Show said it was by far the highest ranked market in the country besides Miami and Dallas. 47% maybe? On another topic, if there were no other reason to hate that SOB, last night's response about the people rooting against him is reason enough. He just doesn't get it. I don't think I have seen anyone ruin their brand as quickly and effectively as he has.

Things are a lot different now than they were 24 years ago. Athletes are a lot different. The CP vs. on-campus stadium thing I haven't decided yet. If nobody knows Akron plays baseball, does it matter? What would the cost be of (1) a drainage system, artificial surface, and some real seats compared to (2) Canal Park rental, compared to (3) costs in maintaining the natural surface at the current playground? Would you save money in the long run by renovating Lee Jackson? Attracting students, selling more hot dogs, and benefiting from the "campus atmosphere"? One thing we have seen with the soccer stadium and (to a lesser extent) the softball stadium, is outside fans will come on campus to watch a game.

Maybe the Aeros wanted to have Akron's football coach there, but we didn't have one. Seriously, couldn't they do this in Niles? At least they have a campus in the area.

Great idea. Too bad he has no clue on how to implement it.

That building sure was tough. Over a year since they started tearing it down, and they still don't have it completely gone...

Of course they are not the problem. The coach is. Can't fire the players

I'm sure NFL teams will be falling all over each other to turn their teams over to a quarterback of such character and respectfulness. One more superstar-wannabe to self destruct before getting the big NFL payday. What's Maurice been up to, BTW?

Why would Tressel come here? We have no megamillions supporters for him to send players to get get ERRRRRRRR jobs. He knows as well as anybody that nobody outside a lega$y conference can win. He worked for the concept's biggest supporter. Akron has enough trouble, we don't need that stigma to go along with an empty stadium and a D2 budget/support.

After reading just part of that article, I take back any and every defense of Jim Tressel. I still can't believe that the AD and the Prez had absolutely NO idea anything was going on. All of these drivers had new cars from the same place, where was the largest Compliance Department in college athletics during all this time??? If the NCAA does what's right (and after letting the players play in the $$$$Bowl$Game$$$ last winter I doubt it), Tress is just the first domino to fall.

He's headed for the NFL as soon as his well-paid vacation is over. I predict as a coordinator in 2012.

I hear this question a lot. It doesn't make a difference or not if it goes on at even one other place. Tressel has a history of breaking the rules. He was caught and lied to his boss and caused his boss to be untruthful to his boss. The culture of corruption he created at tOSU is going to cost that school millions of dollars....including his buyout. I have a relative who is close to the tOSU program and very close to a couple of starters. We talked this morning. The car dealership is a HUGE problem and when that poop hits the fan, it is going to make tatgate look tame. This entire story is just getting going. I wish Dave in Green would report on this real story instead of the uninteresting Auburn/State of Alabama story. There are real dots to be connected in the tOSU story. It would be nice if someone broke it before SI comes out...

You guys all know I'm no big fan of tOSU fans. But does anybody on here really believe that this stuff doesn't go on ANYWHERE else??? And does anyone truly believe the people who asked him to resign (the AD and the Prez) really didn't know what was going on???

Thank you for your input Doug, I was hoping to get some real data on how the whole program is run. CSU dumping their baseball program made me think it might not be Pat's fault, that there were a lot of other things that go into a program's record besides the coach's ability. And it's not the (well deserved) football and soccer stadium projects that I look at with jealousy. The football stadium was needed, and from what I heard cost less than renovating the crumbling Rubber Blow. The soccer stadium I was behind 100% after going to games at the old one, the ones that weren't moved to the opponent's site because of drainage. And saw the demographics of the people who attend, sitting in frozen mud. But I do look with jealousy at the softball stadium, another non-revenue producing sport, and not exactly setting the softball world on fire like the soccer program is. And I think a large part of it is the "demographics" of the softball fans, to put it mildly. But who knows who might show up for baseball games if they didn't have to carry their own folding chair across campus, or sit in bleachers fit for junior high schoolers. Baseball also had to give up home field this year because of field conditions, something they probably didn't mind considering the home swamp. I see what you're saying about being on-campus, I catch quite a few games between or after classes. A "stadium" (and I use that term loosely) upgrade would be best. And IMHO scheduling a game or a double header during Springfest with some ads in the commons would help. Kind of late in the season, but can't hurt the program overall... I went to high school with Kenny Berenyi. Heck of a pitcher.

Cold weather programs are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to baseball. Can't being the one outlier. We'll never need to book a trip to Omaha in June. We're never going to need 10,000 seats and worry about competing with the Aeros for fans. I don't even know if they sell tickets to non-students down at Canal Park. But we should have a program that's competitive with other northern schools our size. Play .500 or better, and 2nd or 3rd in the MAC East. A new stadium or Canal Park would be good for recruiting, and give people a comfortable place to sit and watch a game. Something even half as nice as the softball stadium. That's all we need. With snow covering the ground over half of the season, we're not going to compete with the NC's and the Florida's. For players or for wins or fan bases. But having a team that has better than a 1 in 4 shot of winning against other northern schools our size is not too much to ask for.

Thank you. I hear the southern schools are pushing for an earlier start to the season, and possibly more games. Just killing the northern programs even further. Does Canal Park rape them on rent? Could they save money by not maintaining LJF in their budget? Just tossing out ideas. I know there will never be a payday for baseball (I wonder if any sport has those, listening to some). Sometimes I daydream about the Jake being built with a retractable roof instead of replacing the Richfield Mausoleum, which was one of the early plans for Gateway. And having weekend MAC play with all the teams there during March, six games a day. Or Detroit, heck I'd drive up there to see ball in March, stay for the weekend. Yeah I get caught up in "if only's" sometimes.

True, you think Cleveland State, you think of their wins in the tournament. Cant fans hang their hats on their run. I'll give them credit for scheduling better teams (and losing the Binghamtons) and for making the tourney again, and playing competitively in the first half. Now we need to make the next step and improve in those games. Then we can schedule into the NEXT tier of teams.

Before I get all mad at Coach Bangston and everyone else, I have a couple questions maybe someone knows the answer to. How many scholarships does the baseball program have to work with? How did the team draw at Canal Park? Any more than at the soccer stadium retention basin? Maybe like some other schools (NDC, CSU), it's time to just play at a minor league park. But that again winds back to the first question. How much money does the baseball team have to spend? If they only get a handful of scholies, and can't afford any better field than that, I really can't blame Coach B for not being able to recruit. I look at the softball stadium, and have met players from, say, Seattle on a full ride, and I don't see that commitment to baseball. But I don't know anybody on the inside who can answer my questions. If this is all baseball is ever going to be, I'll take it for what it is. A great way to soak up some sun between classes and watch some ball. And not get overly excited about the team's performance.

For the first time in 5 years, I don't think I'm gonna make a ballgame.