Balsy

It seems like you're more dedicated to being against FCS teams. FCS teams are going to be a reality. Period. I can't imagine YSU or a closer school would be paid exactly the same as one coming from further away. Part of the sum paid to the FCS teams is covering the fact that they have to travel/hotel it up. YSU or a closer FCS I can't imagine would go through the same expense. It's the payout I'm advocating should be better at saving money. It's should be possible for both teams to win (FCS get a decent payout, and we save money) if the FCS is close enough to not need the flight. But it's also impossible to know without doing a public records request on the contract details. But again for the sake of the god I don't believe in, I'm spitballing here. What suggestions do YOU have Zippy5 to make the Football team/University of Akron more solvent without some sort of voodoo economics? We're all patiently waiting... Because here's the fact: The University of Akron's football team costs too much. Something is going to give on it eventually if a solution to this dire financial situation isn't found. You can't cut full-time professors/teachers at an institution of LEARNING while fielding a shitty D-1 football team flushing money down the toilet. It's just stupid.

Not viable? Of course it's viable! The whole point of bringing up Youngstown and Dayton (which I was corrected by other members isn't the type of FCS team that would get us our one game towards eligiblity...so stop focusing on Dayton it's frankly irrelevant) was to float the idea that there has to be perhaps either CHEAPER or BETTER DRAW opponents that would at least have some sort of meaning for the one FCS game every year. The whole point was 1 FCS team to guarantee a win, with two pay-day games. Stop focusing on Dayton and focus on the point. If that's "not viable" how would YOU propose we make more revenue/cut costs in football? I mean we might as well scrap football and be done with it. End this madness right now. The University HAS to find a way to be more fiscally solvent that isn't raising tuition on students; which would further discourage students from enrolling at Akron.

I don't care if the conversation doesn't go the direction I want it to go; I care that your first inclination is to insult someone's intelligence, and then go on to only addressing the minutia and not the heart of the argument. THAT is what I have a problem with.

You're talking as if the Football team and the University aren't in dire financial straights. Yeah...you're going to have to set yourself at 2-2 absolute best going in to MAC play. You freaking don't have much of a choice financially. It's not 1974 anymore. Akron football has been irrelevant forever. Stop trying to beat the joneses and find a way to be semi-not-even-halfway more solvent.

For Fucks Sake...it was only a suggestion, and the article I read listed it as an FCS team. But with your attitude we might as well go ahead and scrap the football team. It will never be close to solvent and students are going into debt to support a bullshit athletics team that's not worth supporting. And sorry for trying to get some conversation going here. Asshole. I read a list of FCS teams and it listed both Dayton and YSU as the only two FCS teams in the state. So I apologize for on the spot trying to come up with a cheaper more sensible option than brining Howard or some other bullshit FCS team here.

I was talking about this with my parents the other day because they kinda have become "honorary" Zips fans because of me. I've got a solution for football that would hopefully cut-down on expenses/increase revenue. Keep making schedules like that of 2021. -Make YSU and Dayton the "FCS" team we play every-year. I don't think YSU would complain, and I much rather watch Akron play YSU and Dayton, Ohio Schools, than "Howard" or some other nonsense. -If you can't get YSU or Dayton every year, get one of the closer FCS teams. (this already appears to be what they are doing btw when they scheduled St. Francis U which is in Pennsylvania). -Schedule 2 pay games per year. In 2021 the Zips will play both Auburn and Ohio state. I haven't found any numbers on the 2021 contracts, but last year OSU paid Tulane $1.5-million, and Auburn paid UMass $1.9-million. The Zips had two "payday" games this past season as well with Northwestern ($1.2 million) and Nebraska ($1.17million, albeit reduced as the game was cancelled). This should be a directive TBH moving forward in my opinion as scheduling TWO "big-name" pay-day teams gives you another roughly $1-million in revenue, and hopefully by scheduling the closer FCS team you save money. Whatcha think?

Thank you! It was time for me to get to my old circa 2014 posts and not bitter mid-20s something posts.

The death nail to UA was struck around 2013. The U was already in a precarious financial position; but around that time the Ohio Legislature pushed out tougher commands on the 6-year retention rate. What made these changes especially difficult on The University of Akron was the "part-time" students and "Summit-College" students. As both counted against the 6-year retention rate at the time. Summit-College was performing the service of a Community College, where students were admitted to The University of Akron where they normally would not have been, and counted against the 6-year retention rate. Stark State seems to be moving in to cash in on the void left by UA's phase-out of Summit College as it was back then. Basically the State of Ohio forced UA to give up that vital part of revenue/service to the community that it had served as for decades and now others are moving in to siphon it off. I remember vividly one of my last years on campus when we played the University of Tennessee (where my cousin went to school) I looked up the enrollments of the two schools. UA had a total enrollment greater than that of the University of Tennessee (Ours was about 30,000 theirs was about 28,000). At UA you can clearly see the steepest reduction is in "Pre-Major" and "Associate Degree" programs which would have been mostly serviced by Summit College; followed up by Master's programs which is likely in the overall deduction of programs at UA. You can see the steepest drop in any category at any one time is "Associate Degree" from 2013-2014 which is a reduction of 1,200 in one year...which was most likely a good portion of your Summit College population. I would have gone to UA for my Master's, and given them my money...except they've cut all the programs I could possibly use in my career (for those who were trying to understand the outrage over cutting programs)...and now all of my graduate $ are going to other institutions when I would have preferred to go with my Alma Mater if the option were there. At any rate...it's obvious that there needs to be a steep reduction in the cost of athletics. UA's financial woes have been both self-inflicted, short-sidedness from past decadent leadership; and unrelenting pressure from the State not considering UA's unique position of being a Major University and a Community college at the same time.

Than Schedule one with YSU every year, to hell with any other school.

Hey, the Tom Arth Era will revitalize Akron football; and we might be able to catch State Ohio University on a down year. I have doubts their current coach will last very long. Isn't 1 FCS team allowed to be counted towards Bowl eligibility? It'd be negligence on the part of the athletic department not to schedule an FCS team to get closer to the magical 7 wins. You know as well as I do that going to Bowl games ends up costing us money, but the cost is "justified" because it's "advertisement" or some such nonsense. But it still stands that it makes no sense that they wouldn't schedule one. But why can't they schedule FCS teams like YSU, which they did for 2020? Those at least have meaning to locals...

According to twitter LB Brian Bell has been invited to Browns rookie mini-camp on a tryout basis.

At any rate; I was surprised how knowledgable he was about Akron baseball. Gave me a little hope about the future of the program?

Not at all actually. He's one of my favorites students that I've had for multiple years. There is nothing in his personality to just make up something as trivial as a $-fee to decommit from a program. Perhaps it's not an NCAA fee, but perhaps an Enrollment fee of some sort that is not sports related? That would make it more difficult to find out about.

Unless that's been the plan all along. Board of Trustees members of public universities are appointed by the governor and approved by the senate. Board of Trustees members are in charge of overseeing administrations and picking new administrations. Anyone following politics in the state of Ohio in regards to public education will have seen this strategy at work. I'm personally split because I love my Akron Zips; however I'm also a huge advocate of significant lowering in the cost of attendance at public Universities for all college students in the state of Ohio.

One of my students recently told me that they were offered by UA to play baseball. He was bummed because he said he'd much rather play D-I MAC baseball; but already made the commitment to another school (not D-I MAC). Apparently there is a significant $-fee to pay in order to decommit from a program...who would have known? Based on his home situation/background decommiting is not in the cards. At any rate, I wanted to mention this because I talked to him for awhile and it kinda blew my mind a little bit how knowledgable he was about Akron's baseball situation and it showed me that local kids do pay attention to our baseball program. Kinda got me a little excited about Akron Baseball for the first time...like ever. Just thought I'd pass that good vibe along.

I mean it wouldn't be ZNO if I wasn't complaining about something...

Guy on CBS, 7round Mock-Draft has JD going the Browns.

Swore he was committed to Akron...(while applying other Universities). Said it was too stressful for family life, so he steps down...but not too stressful to become the president of another university.

Oh dear god...and so begins the "bye-year" discussion for Arth. (this is a joke...kinda...ironic maybe?) Hey, I might actually attend 2 whole games this year. Especially since the Kent game is FINALLY IN A REASONABLE MONTH! Agreed. Except I think it's hard for any of us to pick anyone other than the QB. Ramart didn't look to good last year (product of the offense?) and Neither did Nelson...but who has Arth brought in that could supplant either of them? It's mostly an easy go-to thing.

What is with the burst of future football scheduling by the Akron Zips lately? I can barely keep up! I like the 1-2 arrangement. They come here first; and University of Kentucky is a "name" that could draw at least some more fans than usual...and is a program we could marginally have some sort of potential parity with? (assuming we're headed in the right direction under Tom Arth & Co).

Lol, I appreciate the mid-week drinking homerism. I wish I could muster it myself

Oh I did! Nice pick!

I like that 2022 schedule! FCS, Liberty and New Mexico State are good teams for Akron to play in hopes of getting 3-1 in the OOC schedule. And Michigan State is one of those Big-10 teams that we can hopefully hit on a down year and have an entertaining game. I like it only slightly less than 2020 where we play YSU. 2021 schedule is brutal...Auburn AND State Ohio in the same OOC slate. Here's to hoping State Ohio waddles in mediocrity by the time we face them that year...and Tom Arth puts together the first Akron Zips team to win 10 games in a season.

1) 6-6 L @Illinois L vs. UAB W @ C. Michigan L vs. Troy W @ UMass W vs. Kent L vs. Buffalo L @ N. Illinois W @ BGSU W vs. E. Michigan L @ Miami W vs Ohio 2) Kato Nelson, to Balsy's dismay! No longer strapped to an awful offensive coordinator; a mediocre to average offensive coordinator finds a way to make him into something more. 3) Alvin Davis 4) Miami vs. Toledo; Toledo on top.

Let's get a thread a way-to-early thread going about our predictions for the season. If anything it's fun to quote at the end of the season when some people think we're going to go 1-11 and others think 11-1. Let's have fun again! 1) Overall record, 2) Offensive MV, 3) Defensive MVP, and 4) MAC Champion next year. Here's next year's schedule for #1: @Illinois vs. UAB @ C. Michigan vs. Troy @ UMass vs. Kent vs. Buffalo @ N. Illinois @ BGSU vs. E. Michigan @ Miami vs Ohio