Spin

I listened to the Indians game last night at work, and Andy Sonnanstein got in the game. Andy's from Wadsworth. I've been a Tribe fan since 1976, started watching them when the GM was kicking in money out of his pocket to make payroll sometimes. Been through the bad, the worse, the worst, and the downright ugly. And the good. Anyway, while he was pitching, I was really hoping he would strike out the side with nine pitches. Yes the Tribe is my team, but Andy, he's from here. Maybe within 3 miles of my house. I hoped the Tribe would win, but I hoped even more than Andy would torch the Tribe hitters, for those innings he was in. It didn't happen and he got lit up. Which made me upset. But I started thinking, I don't know anything about him. His personality might clash with mine worse than LeBron's does. Long story short, by the time the season starts, I'll have my LeBron Heat jersey on unless they're playing the Cavs. Then I'll be in that twisted mode of hoping they both do well. Yeah, I know. I'm not right. Never claimed to be.

Here's what he did for Akron. He stayed true to his word, held his skills camp on campus, and didn't let anyone leak a word about his decision until it was over. He was a professional during the camp, by all accounts, and spared Akron and the U a tremendous amount of C-town hatred if he announced it before or during the camp. It couldn't have continued. There would have been a riot. C-town can rip him apart for taking so long to decide, for doing it in ESPN's back yard, if you look at it, he spared us. Can you imagine the riot if word had leaked during the camp? Can you imagine the riot if he announced it in Cleveland? (Come to think of it, a good riot in most parts of Cleveland would actually be considered "urban renewal"). He had Akron's back. He's not the first high profile free agent to go somewhere else, heck look at the Yankee's roster. He's not the first person to leave "home" (cough cough) for greener pastures. He's just the first to bruise Gilbert's ego. Like Goldhammer said, guys in their 20's LEAVE CLEVELAND. It happens every day. Sorry Dan. Love what you're trying to do with the Cavs. Love the casino. But you made yourself look like an

I don't think he quit. I think he lost his faith in this team, the coach, and his teammates. Brownie was destroying the match-ups, Mo was here today gone tomorrow, Jamison was suppose to be "Robin" but couldn't hit the side of a barn, Delonte was his usual psychotic self. It all seemed to turn around when his good friend Z got in the game, made a monster block, the crowd went wild, and Brownie got mad and benched him. Bron was spitting nails. After that, series over. He figured right then he couldn't even carry the team himself with Brown making the adjustments. And that probably sealed the Cav's last chance to resign him. Think about it. Pat Riley's protege? Or Mike Brown sitting Shaq with 3 fouls all night, and Z getting benched for "showing up" the coach? Wade and Bosh? or Mo and Delonte? 80' winters, or 80 inches of snow?

There are a lot of strong feelings out there right now, and rightfully so. Things may look a lot different in four months when the season starts, or nine months when the games matter that much. I'll see how I feel then. Until then, back to Akron Zips football and soccer.

I was all ready to stick with him. But the past month or so, he made TO and Ochocinco combined look like choir boys. He really turned me off with his showmanship, self importance, I just don't care for him anymore. What I consider him, can't be said here. "The King" "The Chosen One" "The Greatest of All Time". Get over yourself. I don't care where he's from, or what he does for charity, it doesn't fix this. Maybe maturity will... And I don't want TO or Ocho on the Browns either...

That doesn't make anything he said about LeBron wrong. Hopefully we have all learned from this.

You know what, I had class at the JAR this morning. After class I walked through the first floor to the front. Looked at the arena. That's where the REAL heroes play. Not the ones with multi-million dollar contracts. Not the ones who quit in the big games and everyone makes excuses for them. I looked up and saw his banners hanging down for his skills camp. Thought about the Nike billboard in Cleveland. That's all he's about. Maybe one day he'll grow up.

The morning after and I still agree with everything he said. Maybe it'll hurt us in getting free agents to come here. Who knows. It's not like Cleveland ever was a free agent destination anyway, especially for winter sports. I'm glad we have an owner who shows his emotions. I'm glad he stood up for us. I'll be there when the ticket office opens.

I frequent a couple Cleveland sports forums and take more crap for standing up for Akron and the U than anybody else. And that will never change. LeBron doesn't represent Akron. He represents Hollywood. LeBron doesn't represent blue collar, hard work to get it done. He represents the easy way out. LeBron doesn't represent team. He represents quitting. He represents making a fool out of all of us on national TV. He represents his brand. If you guys still love him, I won't think less of you. But he no longer has my respect. He no longer represents me. I am not going to kiss his butt and defend him anymore just because he's from Akron. There are a lot of famous people from Akron. Not all were for doing something positive...

So after being born and raised on the Browns, Indians, Cavaliers, and 44 years of living and dying with them, I'm suppose to just turn my back on them for some selfish, attention hound, prima donna like we've never seen before who turns his back on NE Ohio fans who have kissed his butt for years? He can play that "I'm from Akron" card all he wants, I personally don't care. He turned me off with this three year circus, building up to a one hour special to crap on Cleveland fans on national TV. Just because you're from Akron doesn't mean I have to like you...

I agree with every word he said. I don't care where he's from. If you're a tool bag, you're a tool bag. I'm done with him. I'm ashamed to say he's from Akron. Don't come back. He quit in the playoffs, changed his whole attitude, he'll never take a team to the championship. He needs to jump on DWade's coat tails to win. Just another player who couldn't get it done in the playoffs. No better than CC or Jose or anyone else who chokes on the big one.

Screw this. I aint even watching. I'm watching the Tribe, they'll tell me what the jerk decides. LeBron who?

He's tainted his legacy with this whole media whore circus. I'm changing my mind listening to the national media and local fans. If he leaves, don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out. Jersey burning party on campus?

I'll follow him wherever he goes. If he leaves I'll still watch the Cavs team, but LBJ will still be my player.

Not many homes down there have phone service, and the ones that do, these forums take a long time to load with dialup through AOL...

The church my son attends has a bunch of Akron Aeros tickets for 7/5 7:05 against Trenton. They're a buck, and it's also Dollar Dog night. If interested let me know and I'll get you his info.

In my defense I've heard a LOT of soccer haters this past month (and more than a few last fall during the Zip's run), and sometimes you can't determine who is the "Soccer is boring. They're all gay" and the "I could really get into this if..." If I offended anyone I apologize. So besides the shootout, how can you change the game without completely changing it, and making it completely different from what the rest of the world plays? Without alienating the hard core soccer fan? Basketball can use a shorter shot clock and encourage an aerial game without changing the basics. 5 players, 10' rim height, 15' foul lines. Baseball can lower the mound, toss pitchers who throw inside, build stadiums with shorter outfields, without changing the basics. The NHL's changes didn't screw with the game so much that the players couldn't go to the olympics and adjust. Do we even need to change the rules? What about a minimum width field? IIRC the NASL had to do that in many stadiums. Especially Fenway Park (I remember when one player disappeared. The corner of the field was right at the outfield wall. He opened a door as went inside to get a run for a corner kick. The door closed behind him and he couldn't open it from the inside. It was several minutes before anyone figured out where he was. The good old days of American soccer!!!!) Would that give more scoring chances?

I was being sarcastic about another thread. If you scroll back a few months I was the biggest advocate of the soccer program getting a new stadium. I won't go into the whole schpeal again about not being able to get a ticket on Tuesday afternoon for a Saturday game, well-to-do soccer fans sitting in the mud, the port-a-jon, as it's all moot now, those problems are being addressed. I applaud the U. It's fun to be on campus watching the progress of the construction. I can't wait for the season to start!!!

Why are they doing all this work? Spending all this money? If they don't completely change the sport, nobody's going to come to the games...

OK so talking about why you hate the sport (things that can't be fixed) is fine, but trying to stay on topic isn't.

At least those people care enough to discuss with you as to why they are not in love with the sport that you are. If you are confused as to why soccer is not popular in the US, those might be the people to listen to. Well I do, and it's usually that soccer is boring, there isn't enough scoring, players dive. Adults bouncing balls off their heads. Nobody brings up the shootout, at least among non-fans. That is something that desperately needs changed, everyone agrees. But that's not what I've been hearing from soccer haters as the sole reason they don't watch. In order to make soccer "exciting" for the "typical American" fan, it would take so many changes that the sport would be very different than what it was. You can change NBA basketball, but it would still be similar enough to the international game that the players can adapt. Five players to a side. The rim is 10' off the floor. The floor is wood or some composite that's like wood. Same with baseball and hockey. But with soccer, they're talking about a smaller field, less defenders, bigger goals. I have an image in my mind of what that would look like... Been there, done that. Got the T-shirt. Nobody bought it. Except in Cleveland where they latch onto a winner no matter what it is. Even if it's a college 150 miles away... Don't forget when NASCAR made all of those changes to make things more exciting, they lost a TON of long time fans. Now they're backpedaling trying to bring those people back. Anyway, what was the topic about? Heck it doesn't matter. Every soccer discussion degrades into this...

5-7 and no off-field side shows. A nice improvement from last year.

Nobody is saying anyone's opinions are wrong, I'm just saying if you don't like soccer, I really don't care. And the people I talk to feel the same way. It's not right or wrong, we just don't want to be told over and over again that so and so doesn't like soccer. BIG DEAL. We're trying to talk soccer here. Go away. If I went to a tennis or golf forum and argued over and over that those sports were boring and I couldn't watch them, I'd get pretty much the same reaction from them. Or much worse. If watching the game doesn't make them fans, then we're not going to talk them into it. I've never become a fan of golf or tennis from reading a forum or listening to a talk show about those sports. And changing the sport is not an option. The NASL tried that and it backfired. We had "Americanized soccer" for 20 years and it didn't catch on. It didn't bring in the soccer haters and it didn't become as big as the NFL like it promised. The reasons some people don't like soccer are still there. If you can figure out how to get more than 3.89 points per minute to convert NBA Fan, then it won't be soccer. Why does every soccer discussion have to turn into a love vs. hate debate? Why can't we just discuss the sport? And if you want to talk about hating soccer and changing soccer, why does it have to be in a thread about UA marketing? You know, the original topic?

You guys are missing the point. You don't like soccer. We get it. Newsflush: WE COULDN'T CARE LESS!!!! Really. We couldn't. You're wasting your time here. Do you think after 30 years of watching soccer, and hearing it all before, ad nauseum, that I'm going to read someone's post (or hear some stick-and-ball host in a radio show) and say "You know what, he's right. This is boring." Save your time. Now, the thread is about whether Akron U should capitalize on the World Cup. Absolutely. The World Cup has captured the attention of the soccer fan, and there are new fans. Not billions, not everyone here, but there are new fans. Converts, whatever you want to call them. And they don't know about Akron soccer. Northeast Ohio had the only profitable soccer franchises in their time. It could have the only self sustaining college program if they'd get off their butts and promoted it. With no NEOhio soccer franchise this season and the swell of interest from the World Cup, there may never be a better time...

If the final score equals excitement, why isn't arena football more popular than the NFL? How is a 200 point NBA game that takes a half hour to play the last two minutes more exciting? If all we need is rules changes to make you a fan, why aren't you and everybody else watching indoor soccer? The Force would still be here and the MLS would still be some purist's dream. I've sat in bars and watched hockey and soccer while others were watching NBA basketball. Our whole side of the bar erupted when someone scored, we lit the place up. The basketball fans thought we were nuts. They just sat there. When the game was over they picked up their tab and just walked out. Sorry, that's not why I watch sports. But to each his own. Back on topic. Yes I think the U should have an aggressive marketing program going right now. Capitalize on the World Cup, and on what the program accomplished last year. Raise awareness to the teams and the school. Buy air time on a local TV channel against a high profile opponent. Like I said last fall, this area is hungry for a good soccer team. The Force was the only profitable franchise in indoor soccer, maybe in the sport's history. The Cleveland Caps set attendance records then the City Stars set them higher. Too bad the USL put them both out of business with stupid decisions. Akron could fill that need. They just gotta "put it out there."