akzipper

Yeah watching Savage Arena on TV last night, wasn't very impressed. Don't get me wrong it's better than the JAR, but I think UA can do much better. The capacity would be a good fit but I don't like the layout. It's asymmetrical and very strange, seems like 70-80% of the seats are on one side of the arena. Also seemed that most of the seating was on the same level, with the exception of suites/club, and barely any behind the hoops.

2 "diamonds in the rough" found, 20 more to go before we're a respectable team again!

Of course, we've watched it happen every year

Agreed. Probably finish with 2-3 losses in the MAC regular season, and 1 loss in the MAC tournament. We always tend to play poorly in Athens and lose to a couple weak teams we should beat. Could very well be a team like Toledo tonight.

I'm just afraid because I saw what happened last year. Was disappointed, because I really thought we'd make the tournament...

I don't think we'll make the tournament, but I think Oregon would be a decent matchup. Beat them and you play NCState... Just sucks that one slip up in the tournament and our season is over. Seems like most of last year we were picked to make the Tourney too. A poor shooting night, off game by refs, too much can go wrong. Not to mention the 5? straight appearances in the MAC Championship. If they were beating MAC teams by 10-20 points every night I'd be more optimistic. We are the team that everyone wants to beat and odds are definitely against the Zips...

I agree, I loved the use of gold much more than grey. Grey/silver is just the fad right now unfortunately...

I feel the same way when relating a new arena to Infocision. When inside the stadium it definitely doesn't feel like 30,000, but rather MUCH bigger. When it was sold out the atmosphere rivaled any stadium I've ever been in. It's one of the nicest buildings in the country, and best in the MAC by a longshot. But in my opinion UA should be under pressure to make the arena just as nice, if not better. Outdoor stadiums are much different than arenas. Seating can be expanded fairly easily and renovations can be made if needed. When building an arena you have to get it right the first time. Mess it up, and UA will be stuck with inadequate arena in a few decades. Also arenas can be used all year round. While football stadiums in Ohio would only get use 5 months of the year. 7,000 is a happy medium for me. Not too big, not too small. I personally wanted 9-10,000, but it seems unrealistic at this moment. The key is the "wow" factor and big-time feel. Multiple levels, suites, close seating, and a nice big scoreboard at center court.

Agreed. I think that the best way to show that it is a unified section and encourage students to get involved. Just have to make sure they get a group of leaders up there, and not just one or two. I'll also add that my favorite year was when the Rowdies wore gold shirts, and maybe they could try that again. Way too many schools use blue these days and gold is much more unique. Not to mention most of the general Zips fans wear blue gear to games, so the Rowdies would stand out more. Similar to what Georgetown does with Grey and PennState with white.

Had to bring up this old topic. Saw this tweeted online and got me wondering if it would look good for the Zips? Metallic gold sure would get people's attention, and be a nice change. Probably keep a blue facemask on there and normal logo.

I think the name "Roo Zoo" works best. It's already been used and anything else is way too generic. The Ak-rowdies could still exist while the student section as a whole would be the Roo Zoo.

also only 1 free throw made... Zips are playing this game the same way they've played since Princeton. Sloppy, uninspired, and missing easy shots.

Better be hoping for a run in the second half. Not getting it done right now.

Of course on ESPNU this pointless Penn State game isn't going to end on time...

This was exactly the problem when I was in school. Sat with the Rowdies for one basketball game as a freshman, and decided after that I would never again. We have the best student section in the MAC, but it has a lot of room for improvement

I agree that around 7000 would be perfect. When I hear "small arena" I tend to think of 4000 or below, which is what I thought you were suggesting. I think we would easily average over 4,000 in an arena that size. The "draw" of Infocision wore off because the team was so awful and almost painful to watch. A new arena draws fans, and winning basketball will make them come back. This is the main reason I think UA needs to hurry up and get something done while our program is at it's strongest.

Sorry I have no interest in watching our zips play in a glorified high school gym on tv. There is nothing more embarrassing than a school like Akron building an arena of 3000.

There's nothing to do in Athen's anyway, so yeah I'm not surprised they go watch basketball.

We need about 21 other players like this and we'll be in great shape to win the MAC!

Exactly my point. No big time program would have below 6000. And I agree with the other post about no decent mid-majors below 5000. But hey 3000 at Akron is totally acceptable!

"Under 800 students? we only need an arena that seats 800" -ZipsLogic

Building a small arena will destroy this basketball program. Name a big-time basketball program with an arena under 6,000.

Maybe I'm remembering the story wrong, but weren't some of the new UA residence halls financed in a similar way? They partnered with a private organization to build them, but UA owns the lease?

The $102 million is what FirstEnergy paid for the naming rights for Browns Stadium and the lease is over a 17 year period. I wasn't suggesting that UA build an arena costing that much, nor saying a company would pay UA that much. That's not realistic for us. I expect if an arena is ever build it will cost less than the $60 million Infocision.

Hopefully it was some sort of misunderstanding like this. Cutting corners is what got us stuck with the JAR to begin with. If they can't build it right this time, there's no reason to waste anyone's time. The $102 million is over 17 years, so it ends up being $6 million a year. Also, FirstEnergy hold the naming rights to 3 other stadiums, including UA's soccer field. It's tough to guess which companies would be interested. I will say that we can rule out Lebron James.