clarkwgriswold

That was supposed to be Arth's strength- connections to area coaches to get those kids. If this team doesn't play some reasonable football this year, all of the Zips Nation and fan support may not be able to save it. This time through was a reprieve, the next look may not result in a stay.

Browns' fans are the only fans in the world who will regularly support sh!++y football. Would crowds automatically reverse and start showing up with a good team? Probably not, but build like they did with basketball and they will eventually come. If they could focus on keeping a decent portion of the non P5 top players in NEO, that would be a start to not only building talent but gaining some local recognition.

He became less frustrating as he evolved as a player. He went from being the out of control crazy athletic layup missing brick laying freshman to a solid team leader. I went up to his dad on senior night and told him how much I had enjoyed watching Jimond grow up in the program and how much I appreciated how he stuck it out through the Dambrot/Groce transition. I also remember how proud Groce was with how he followed though with his plan to graduate.

What's that old saying about putting lipstick on pig?!!

Not that anyone wants to revisit the Bowden argument, but one could argue they prematurely extended Bowden.

Here's the reality for Zips Nation. Most of us have our favorite(s) and will fight to maintain that favorite sport. Mine is admittedly basketball. Every one of the sports has its positives and negatives. Football is an easy target because it has been down for so long and require lots of personnel, scholarships, equipment and facilities. However, it probably reaches more people than any other program. With respect to the constant bickering between the "positive" and "negative" folks on here, I analogize it to having an ugly girlfriend and your buddies constantly telling you she's a bowser. You like her, see her finer points and want to stick it out with her and your buddies continue to tell you repeatedly just how ugly she is. Hell yes, you know she's carnival sideshow quality but she's your's and there's not a hell of a lot you can do about her appearance but they insist on continuing to tell you. At some point, you just get fed up with being told.

If he's half of what Jimond was the Zips would be blessed to have him. I don't know that there's been any other Zip I enjoyed watch grow up more in a program than Jimond.

It does seem that some posters enjoy the Zips and Zips Nation a lot more when there are issues they can complain about. Basketball has a wonderful season and you don't hear a peep. Bad football or financial issues and they are on full blast. I don't begrudge anyone complaining about things, however, I'd prefer a little balance in people enjoying the positive things along the way too.

He retweeted clips from Jimond's rookie season, so there's some connection there.

34 year old habits are hard to break.

Just listened to Dustin Fox go on a rant about how much money UA wastes on a bad football program. That's the environment we're living in.

We did have a poster who had the Zips getting into the ACC 4 or 5 years ago. God rest his soul.

The anti-football crowd has some similarities with the football crowd- they are both small and a minority.

I think the fact that the AD can sit down and in two weeks come up with a plan to cut $4.4 million/23% of the budget is a pretty strong sign they've been living above their means and that there wasn't a lot of deep thinking or budgetary planning going on up to this point. I get that the COVID-19 crisis pushed this along but these are decisions that should have been on the burner for the last 3 to 5 years.

Me too. I am hoping this wasn't just a quick "lopping" to take out programs that added up to the number they wanted to reach, as opposed to careful and thoughtful trimming of dead weight and unsustainable programs.

Whew. Rifle and women's lacrosse survive.

That's approximately what PCCC made in offering themselves up to powerhouses last year.

Deep breaths...

Gee guy, thanks for nothing. Just sack up and release the plan.

Most of that was Hawkins' food per diem.

Anyone have a sense of when this is going to hit today?

I don't begrudge someone taking a position they've rationally though and taken part in the process through appropriate channels. Those folks can rightfully enjoy their day and I won't begrudge them. Those, however, that whine incessantly from a distance and make no effort beyond internet pissing and moaning and look forward to result that gives them the opportunity to say "I told you so" without any consideration of the underlying lives involved in the result, can go pound salt.

I was thinking more geographically than level. One that would fit, though it is FCS, is the Missouri Valley.

Some highlights from the AAUP post cited by DannyHoke- We are aware of the request to units to prepare budgets that are 25% less than FY 2020. At about the same time, Faculty Senate was told that the university is committed to staying in Division 1 athletics. We are disappointed about this decision and will continue to raise our objections to cutting the central academic mission of the university while preserving non-essential functions. Please see the graphic below (the data come from UA’s audited financial statements) to see the changes in spending for operational, instructional and athletic expenses between 2015 and 2019. As you can see, across the past five years declines in UA total expenses basically match the declines in enrollment — with support for teaching and research decreasing 30 percent more than overall operating expenses. In contrast, overall athletic spending increased by 9.4 percent and direct institutional support for athletics increased by 17.6 percent across this same period. Putting these two together if instructional support and direct institutional support for athletics declined at the same rate as overall expenses, in 2019 there would have been $11 million more spent on instruction/research and $9 million less on athletics. Here's their spiffy chart-

Filler piece from GT in today's Beacon. Someone needs to tell him about the recruits. https://www.beaconjournal.com/sports/20200512/coronavirus-shortened-season-leaves-zips-with-questions-heading-into-next-season