MaxZIP

Last year's team at this time was probably a little better. Last year team at the midpoint of the season was worse.

We walked into Brubakers dressed in zips gear last year prior to a home game and the bartender/waitress asked us if we were here for the game. We told her that we stopped in to have a beer prior to heading over to tailgate. She was surprised that we were going to have a couple of beers and drive to Columbus...

There is a whole lot of baseless doubt flying around here today. The optimism is equally baseless. True but at least it is more fun

There is a whole lot of baseless doubt flying around here today.

I am fully capable of driving myself to any of our away games. Save the buses for the students if anybody is to travel by bus at all. Put on your adult hat and drive yourself to the damn game. I don't want my day of football to feel like a middle school trip to Washington D.C..

I will take great on some plays and average on others. It could be much worse. Give the kid a chance.

The coaching staff thought they had a reliable senior starter in Jacquemain and an ok backup in Rogers. Why not redshirt a true freshman at that point? It had nothing to do with his talent. Who could have predicted what hapened? I don't even blame the ast staff for what happend last year at the QB position.

Just win sone games and quit trying to be anybody but THE Akron Zips.

Who do you get to visit InfoCision Stadium after the first 4 games of the year...when everyone else's schedule is filled with conference opponents? Independent works for Notre Dame, Navy and Army because people want to play them. Ask Dambrot how he'd feel about trying to recruit as an Independent. Or dropping to a crappier conference simply to accommodate UA football going Independent. Wait...has this ever happened before? Thanks captain. I was kidding.

But will the TV revenue be there if Houston, Eastern Carolina, Memphis, and Central Florida leave for greener pastures? I still wonder about the travel costs. Even in the East Division here's the three closest opponents: Marshall-4 hours ECU-9 hours Memphis-11 hours If CUSA leftovers and the more "motivated" MAC programs(Akron, Toledo, Buffalo, Ohio) ever get together and form something in the future, then it's doable. One of the MAC's strengths is that we(currently) don't have to play teams that say, 'yall'. It's much cheaper that way. Akron should just go independent. We could play all the MAC games we want and have an opportunity to play a national schedule.

I'm a big fan of lot 34. Plenty of space and not traffic. 1. We arrived really early last year and we just set up shop. No issues. 2. It doesn't matter if you get there early. Follow the Garmin. 3. Don't know about 43 but parking was $5 for 34 last year. 4. Did not see a shuttle but I got picked up by the campus and bar shuttles on exchange street and dropped off right by Spicer. The bus drivers are nice and will stop for you. If that doesn't work, you can drive your car to the area by the soccer field w/o leaving the parking lot pay controlled area. It is about 200-300 yards from that point to the Info. 5. There are many regulars in 34. Beer relays, music, and corn hole are the norm. Again, plenty of space for all. 6. You will be fine in lot 34 as long as you don't wear Can't State gear. I don't think you would have any issues at all. A few rowdy parties but many families as well. We will have a group of 15-20 ex Akron athletes, friends and family in our group. All that we can hope for is nice weather and Syracuse to come out flat...

Can't State always has a starting 5 that are in the mid 6’ range. They out muscled us last year for sure and they are always throwing other MAC teams around. The MAC isn’t the NBA. An athletic team of 6’5”-6’9” guys could dominate the MAC plain and simple. We have a luxury and a tailor made mismatch in Zeke if he adds enough strength to fend off stronger players down low. We could have a mismatch if a true point guard could exploit the holes in “big” MAC lineups. I think KD is on the right track finding the most athletic guys first and potentially filling in the gaps with guys that are going to rely on technical skill vs. size. Get the size and athleticism first and let the point situation sort itself out.

I think it is really convenient that the student is from Saudi Arabia, married and has 2 kids. It just happens to be a student with a story to trump up as a commencement speech. It couldn’t have been a kid from stow living in the valley with a 2.8 GPA.

Top FCS teams have larger budgets than many MAC teams especially when considering that the burden is spread over far fewer students. Akron would be one of if not the largest schoosl in the FCS. Spreading Youngstown's budget over 14,000 students vs. Akron's 26,000 would be nice but you can't tell us that y-town would not have already made the jump if they experienced the same growth as Akron. Delaware, UMass, and some other FCS programs are exceptions to the rule. They choose to remain FCS but continue to spend money like they are borderline BCS. There is definitely a class tier structure in FCS football as there is in FBS. Top teams spend others under the table and have had great success. Assuming a savings by dropping is not sound logic. Hell, y-town tickets are $5 for all three home games in September. I would be willing to bet that Akron pulls in as much money from suite and season ticket sales as y-town pulls in for all ticket revenue. Also, GP1 tends to point out how dire the situation is with the Zip’s football deficit. Could we assume that his views on dropping are based on the financial performance prior to 2009? If this is the worst of FBS football then the only way to go is up. We had a record year last year and are working to leverage the stadium and build a program. It is a gamble but we are knee deep in it now. Averaging even 15,000 at $15-$25 plus premium seating revenue is a whole hell of a lot better than 15,ooo at $5 or even full priced season ticket that go for approximately 33% less than at Akron. FCS teams get less for cash games and would miss what little BCS and media revenue we have currently.

By my calculations we have 12 players on scholarship for 2011-12 as of right now. NCAA allows for 13, so that would mean we have one more scholarship to give. Abreu Cvetinovic Diggs Egner Euton Gilliam Green Harney Justice Marshall McClanahan Walsh Zips will desperately need a PG with that last scholarship. Unless KD is going to continue this experiment of undersized SG's trying to man the point by giving Blake Justice the backup PG minutes, the only PG we would have on scholarship would be Abreu. Could KD be playing the wait-and-see game with late transfers and/or decommits? We will have a glaring need for a PG. Quality point guards might just jump out of nowhere if we have a good season this season and offer instant playing time. Hell we could end up with some high major talent that is looking for an opportunity immediately. It could happen.

Welcome to ZNO AK and I also have not received my season tickets. I called today and was told that they are getting orders together this week and to expect delivery next

Lot 34 is big enough for everybody. I'm a 34 regular and will be looking for you guys on game day. Can't wait

I think some if not all of the negativity could be eliminated by winning some games. We could talk about the positive then. A 3-9 season, recruiting violations, player conduct issues, and booting loyal fans from half empty tailgating lots has led negativity to rule many football threads. I sense optimism in conversations about the stadium, anything Zips soccer, Patrick nicely, the defense, some of Ianello’s choices, campus improvements, Proenza, and even some about increased media coverage. Please understand that people are free to express how they feel. The negativity on the football board is not baseless. Read some soccer and campus improvement posts if you need some positive in your life. Until then we are eagerly anticipating opening day.

You could find some threads that are passionately negative. This is not one. Take the soap box over to one of those threads. Any message board will be somewhat negative especially when supporting a 3-9 team and an athletic department experiencing some growing pains. It happens.

They should make it a sports bar type campus restaurant for students and the general public. Keep it open 365 as a hub for Akron athletics. They already have a license for alcohol. it would make sense, but we can't do it along Exchange. Eminent Domain says you can't tear down a business to replace it with that same business. You can't tear down a bar and then put a bar there. One of the things holding back the team shop is that B&N wants to sell coffee and candy, but they can't because the Odd Corner already did that in the same location. One place that would work fine legally would be on Spicer, next to the new dorms. Don't we sell coffee and candy at the concession stands inside the stadium? Was the bar located in what is now a parking lot or is the team shop there?

The Walmart on Arlington usually has a decent amount. My mother-in-law just got me a generic Zips #1 football jersey there. Walmart on market has great stuff. They have polos, t-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, women's and even a baby zips football jersey and hat. Everything under15

They should make it a sports bar type campus restaurant for students and the general public. Keep it open 365 as a hub for Akron athletics. They already have a license for alcohol.

Pipeline corrosion is a major safety concern in every processing plant in the world. Ships, aircraft, tanks, and just about every other piece of equipment they have is exposed to extreme environments. Facilities and other assets could also see extended life. This is probably the best money spent by the DoD on non mission critical research in years.

I think he would need to add 50+ to be a lumbering behemoth.

Did it say it will all be done for this season? I didn't see that. They have a lot of work to do in less than 7 weeks. It shows a team shop...