Spin

With all of this talk about college athletes getting paid, the new California law, the teetering edge the current NCAA structure seems to be on, the financial crisis (not only in Akron, but throughout the rust belt), I really think it's time to rethink the athletic department. It appears pro-bound players are going to be paid in some form, with major colleges becoming minor leagues to the NFL and NBA. College basketball already has a one-and-done rule. College football is eyeing it. Where does that leave the mid-majors? Where's the hope of a major signing? Going rounds in the NCAA tournament? IMO the whole MAC should drop down a division. It would make more sense for Akron to drop down if the rest of MAC does, because of the travel expenses. There are only two in-state opponents and they're n different conferences. One (YSU) plays conference away games in North Dakota, the other (Dayton) plays conference away games in Iowa and California. Would we save any money if we're jetting 100+ people to North Dakota or California every couple years? Soccer is a great boost for the university, but how much? A couple mentions during tournament time on the local news, 1000-4000 tickets sold? We can petition to stay in Division 1, if the univ. benefits from the exposure. Baseball in D1. Does anyone know for certain the program is self-sustaining (or will be in 5 years), or if it's another financial drain? Everything we've heard is it is self-sustaining with contributions coming in. My source does not know. I know we have full scholarships, which everybody whined about only having one. But nobody has any idea where the funding is coming from. Without that information, we can't speculate the costs, vs playing in a lower division. Anyway the college sports landscape is changing before our eyes, not in a good way, and the university (and the conference) has some hard decisions to make going forward.

...so, how's that club hockey team coming along? ?

Things have changed since those articles were written. They were going to have players from Ohio, Spuds recruited all over. Including the academy he was at before. That's fine by me. The ballpark is being renovated. I'll certainly take that. And they have more funding now than when the article quoted 1 scholarship. I don't know where it's coming from, I don't care. We are not the only alumni who were upset over the sport being chopped. At leastr one very successful business leader has gotten behind the new program. This is all very good news IMHO.

I heard that, I think that changed when they hired Spuds. Hopefully they'll have a strong speller proofread their press releases...

More self-funding/community funded, how much is our friend Matt Kaulig donating to the program? There is a commercial out featuring Zips baseball making the local TV stations. I don't think we'll know the answers, I don't know if it's any of our business. I don't see the university in this climate spending any money on new sports.

Self funded, after how long? 2020? Five years? That's kind of foggy. And do they consider charging admission, ad placement, and tracking souvenir sales at games/"Zips Baseball" branded gear? I never understood how they would track that. The gear is already on the racks in the book store. Local recruiting, I think he has a nice mix of local, Ohio, and players from around the US. I don't want to be an apologist for the program, but but I do want Zips fans to give the program a fair shake.

At first I wanted the team to play at Canal Park. But then drawing 250 +/- fans (a decent college crowd) would get swallowed up in a 7600 seat stadium. Being on campus is a plus too. There's just something about walking around campus on game day. It would be nice to have a place to buy beverages and food though...

^That's going to help our recruiting... ?

I haven't heard. It looks like it will all be in the same place. It looked like the 1st base side bull pen is still intact. I hope they replace the grandstands.

I don't know where that information come from, but at present they have 26 players on scholarship. I don't see them winning right off the bat (pardon the pun) but this is a serious program with a serious head coach and staff.

Kent pounded BG today. I'm not looking forward to that game either.

It's Bowden's roster who got him fired last year, esp when they quit on him late in the year. And his recruits who were out there today. If TA's recruits suck this bad, then it's time to move on. Again.

Meh. It was a frustrating game. A big reason was all of the flags. My gawd they were calling everything and anything. Quite a few questionable calls, but when you're rebuilding, and playing a team like Troy, this will happen. Some of the penalties come from a lack of discipline, and if I don't see an improvement in those types of penalties, I'll be concerned with this staff. I think a lot of fans underestimated Troy. And the impact Tom Arth's recruiting class (they're all freshmen!!!) has on the team. The players on the field are Bowden's Boys with a couple possible exceptions, and they sucked last year (which is why Bowden is no longer here). So I'm not throwing TA under the bus just yet. It'll take a couple years to see how his recruiting classes pan out.

On the other hand, at least we're not the Browns... We might have beaten them yesterday.

Way to go, daddy Zip!!

Swooning for Bowden may be the natural reaction to losing to a "no-name" college (which has a 27-14 record under this coach), but aren't these, for the most part, Bowden's players? Hey go ahead and jump ship, there'll be shorter lines at the food stands...

If they inflate their win total going into conference play, would that improve attendance?

Chris is 9-5 3.67 for the A's with a 1.192 WHIP. The surprising A's are actually in the wild card race 1.5 games behind the Tribe. The Rays are 2.5 behind CLE. Pirates prospect JT Brubaker is back on the IL. He's listed on the 7 Day IL, hopefully he'll be ready to go for the September call-ups. Dodger's prospect Devon Ahart is hitting .304 7 61 for the Dodgers' AA affiliate. This is his third season in Fargo-Moorhead and while he continues to improve, the clock is ticking. James Meeker (2-3 3.23) and Josh Lipania (0-4 5.84) for Washington (Frontier League) this season. With this crazy summer I missed them at Lake Erie.

Last night I got "Zips Basketball with Jim Groce". Which was Bruce Drennan. I have Spectrum btw. It's not easy being a Zips fan...

My DVR recorded the first episode of "Zips Football with Terry Bowden". Not only have they not bothered to change the name of the series, the logo still has Terry's picture. Of course the show was overrun by a late-running Indians post-game show.

On the topic of CC's, did I hear the U has gutted Summit College?

I'm just getting into listening to podcasts, and would like to listen to some good podcasts that cover Univ of Akron athletics. I have an Apple phone (an Android convert) and the Podcasts ap can't find any related to the Zips.

^ I stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out.

It would be worth the extra cost, even if they doubled or tripled the price, if they had Zips games on demand. I cannot set the DVR for E$PN3 or E$PN+ games, and I work a lot of weekends. I can on-demand thousands of hours of crap I have no interest in, but not my school, not the games I pay E$PN (twice) to watch. I don't give two craps about all the other content on 3 or on +, I don't watch it. Let me watch games when I get home from work, or when I get home from the game, and it'll be worth the monthly bills I pay.

Came across this... https://player.vimeo.com/video/327299983 The club hockey team is playing a full league season again this year after a season of pick-up games. I enjoyed being their trainer when I was a student in 2009-12, and still catch games when I can. It's a good time, and now they're on my way home from work.