akzipper

A walk to Canal Park from Exchange/Gallucci/Grant Residence halls is no farther than a walk to the JAR. I don't see why it would be that big of a deal, I walked that distance for 4 years to watch basketball games and never once heard anyone complain. People are acting like downtown is like walking to the rubber bowl or something.

Akron is much different than CSU. Just because they can't fill their arena, doesn't mean we can't fill one the same size. I'm not saying we will, but you can't say it's not possible. A few factors: - By 2020 Akron will be twice the size of CSU in terms of enrollment - UA is not the commuter school it used to be, unlike CSU. - Akron's fanbase is much bigger. In my life, I've never met anyone who was a CSU fan. Not saying they're not around, just saying that you don't see many people support them the way Akron fans support our programs. - CSU has the far superior Quicken Loans Arena two blocks away to compete with. Akron has no other Arena. - Cleveland has the Cavs, Indians, and Browns...Akron? has the Aeros and no sports options during the winter. I honestly don't care if they build it next to InfoCision, or if they build it downtown. Whatever gives us the nicest/biggest arena in the shortest amount of time. Both locations have their advantages and disadvantages. But at the end of the day I'd go with the Exchange location. Maybe the south side of exchange isn't the best, but the University Park Alliance has big plans for that area.

Haha the only thing I don't like about theirs is that all the seating is on one level. I prefer multi-levels because it puts the upper section closer to the floor, and makes it seem bigger.

Even by MAC standards that is a very unimpressive arena. Just look at what Bowling Green built and that should give UA a foundation of what NOT TO DO. Of course Akron is not going to fill a 8-10,000 arena every night. But if you don't think we can get big crowds consistently you are crazy. Using that logic, InfoCision should have only been build to hold 15,000. Schools like Missouri State and St. Louis should be examples of what to do.

Do we want to be a mediocre MAC team forever? or do we want to strive to be better. Like I said a 7,000 seat arena would put us 6th in the MAC, and the Big East that would put us last. It may never happen, but what if 10 years down the road we become a bigger force in college basketball? A consistent top25 team would easily outgrow an arena of just 7,000 and leave us right where we started. Wondering why we built an arena so small and having long discussions here on where we should be a replacement. Another thing to remember, UA wants to be at about 40,000 enrollment by 2020 and with so many new housing options there's no doubt more students will be attending games.

7,000 is too small. It's not like building a football stadium, where you can expand seating from 30k to 50k to 60k etc. Not that it will ever happen to InfoCision, but an arena doesn't have the ability to expand. Once it's built it has to stand the test of time. At 7k we'd still end up being 6th in the MAC. If you're going to shell out millions for a new arena, go big time or we might as well just stay at the JAR.

I'm also surprised the article even refers to them as dorms. Using that term around a group of RA's is worse than using a racial slur. Curious as to what 7 retail/food options there will be on the first floor.

I feel the same way. How many times has Akron made it far in the soccer tournament? Yet no one cares. We have 3 national championship appearances, and this is the ONLY time Can't has made it into the CWS. Which by the way consists of 8 teams. So how is that the World Series? This is the same as if Akron was in the elite 8 for soccer. Which happens what, at least every other year? If you are an Akron fan rooting for Can't, you're like a Browns fan rooting for the Squeelers. Doesn't make sense...

This is the main reason we need to get out of the MAC. Akron fans don't get excited about facing Toledo, Bowling Green, Eastern/Western/Central/Southern/Northern-whatever freaking direction Michigan schools. To be honest I really don't even get excited about facing Can't or Ohio anymore. Not to mention the amount of area that C-USA covers on the east coast is extremely better for nation exposure. As opposed to playing 90% of our games in Ohio or Michigan. Let's be honest, the whole "well fans can travel to away games" argument doesn't work with us. Maybe the 10 diehards care about going to watch a game in Athens, but we can't even fill our own stadium, so who cares about filling the dump Dix Stadium. Obviously C-USA's head-scratching invitations to UTSA and other schools with zero football success, is a drawback. It's still better than what we play now. But at the end of the day I don't see us leaving the MAC. Not for C-USA, not for anything else. I think UA would see it as a financially lateral move and we obviously don't deserve to move up anytime soon.

I haven't been to campus in a while, but I thought they were tearing down Grant, Gallucci, and the townhouses. Replacing them all with buildings similar to Exchange.

Well currently the new south campus residence hall is being completed, along with the 2 other buildings being built to replace the gooch and grant halls. Add the other housing options being built (Envision, 22 exchange, etc) there is plenty of room to expand our enrollment and stray away from the commuter school past.

Replay Here

Agreed. Most importantly I hope that off the field he can succeed. I don't expect him to step on the field and dominate, but given our lack of talent it won't be hard to get some playing time. I just keep remembering that this is Akron, and we just don't get much luck go our way.

I wish we could focus more on him as a football player, as opposed to his past. Things happen, people make mistakes and we really don't know anything about the guy other than the articles. We should be excited, since he was recruited by Ohio State and was a 4-star recruit. He deserves a chance to start over and hopefully we landed some talent!

Exactly what I was thinking. The original post made it seem like he had run into trouble, maybe his crowd wasn't the best but the shooting was no way his fault.

4-star recruit out of HS? Did he ever play for OSU, or is Akron his first school? Couldn't really find anything on him except for the "incident".

From the articles I've read it said he was going to a FCS school? Also wouldn't he have to sit out a year?

Well you were looking at the mobile version. The normal websites (both done by PrestoSports) are actually much different, and Lake Erie's looks more like something for a small minor league team or something. Very over designed.

I've always liked the look of gold numbers and lettering, on both blue and white uniforms. Similar to what the soccer team currently wears. Maybe the numbers/lettering can be hard to read on the whites, but in a sport like basketball, fans can recognize all the players without having to see their names.

I've always been a fan of the gold unis. Not for every game, but 2-3 special ones a year is a great idea. I hope it's true, but it will be odd to see gold again, since all 3 of the current jerseys only feature gray and blue. Maybe a gold alternate means they're redesigning all 3?

I don't really think either one even hints at us leaving the MAC, nor does it seem like he wants to get out?

The MAC might as well be a high school schedule with all the stupid schools in Ohio. 75% of the MAC's schools are in either Ohio or Michigan, there's some good national exposure right there! When's the last time a MAC school moved up to a bigger conference, for all sports? When the last time a MAC school played in a national championship, of a sport that people actually care about? When's the last time it had a ranked team in basketball or football? I may be referring to the "old" CUSA but still, it happened. The MAC is terrible, plain and simple. I apologize for blowing up like that, I'm just so tired of the MAC.

I would say that most of the MAC is content exactly where they are. That's why it's such a poor conference. Look around at facilities, coaching staffs, and money spent...only one school stands out, and that's us.

Agreed! Unless we're sweeping MAC championships in every sport, year after year, I don't see how they could pick us up. We easily have the best facilities, but those only help if you're winning. Right now we're not, and a move to CUSA is the next step. Maybe UA believes that the money it would cost to leave the MAC is not worth the jump just to CUSA? If they think the BE would take them, they will be in for a rude awakening. If we see a new arena, a few winning seasons of football, and increased attendance in all sports I can see it as a possibility 5 or so years down the road. Maybe by then Bowden will have moved on, and Tressel can just take over the football program.

No one had the Tressel story right all along. Everyone from the start suggested that he was coming to Akron to coach football. Then UA announces his administrative position and the same people say "Well I was right all along!". Not even close. We're just not moving anytime soon...