clarkwgriswold

The resurrection of the football program at East has been a great story. That program was really struggling until Haynes came in. Due to his hard work, kids started staying at East instead of going elsewhere, started getting decent coaching and the coaching staff started having an impact in the school halls.

To summarize the article, Infocision stadium=

Fair enough, but you're over-interpreting my post. My point is that the diehard Dambrot detractors fail to recognize that the change they yearn for could result in a downturn just as easily as it could result in an upswing. Nothing more. Given the success we've had, I'm not in favor of taking that leap. I'd never propose hanging onto a mediocre coach in fear of what might follow, but that's not the Zips situation. Certainly, there's room for improvement in certain areas. If you look at my posts, I'm as critical as any at times, but I'm urging restraint for those who'd like to take quick action.

For every Mark Few there are two Dan Hipsher and Coleman Crawfords.

As I recall, Zeke Marshall was the MAC Defensive POY twice, the MAC Tournament MVP, and on the All- MAC more than once. Saying he wasn't an impact player is revisionist history. As for UA not getting Akron kids, sometimes that has to do with the kid. I'm not excusing every loss of a kid, but sometimes they want to go away.

Unfortunately, bigger community leaders than Sam and George have gotten behind the idea of a new arena to no avail. 3 years ago a levy was pitched to fund a downtown arena along with improvements to the 911 and dispatch system in Summit County. The public response was so negative that county leaders dumped the arena plan. I'd love to see a downtown arena for the Zips and other events. Canal Park has been great for downtown and an arena would build on that success. Unfortunately, the citizens are not likely to support it, leaving it on the University to foot the bill, a university presently in a financial mess. As such, I'm not holding my breath and I'm resigned to just hoping for improvements to the JAR.

I do think this was a down year for the MAC. Some would call it parity. Looked like mediocrity to me. The Zips were the average girl in the ugly girl parade.

P5 coaches tend to say things like that after they've missed the tournament. I think it does make some sense. It certainly shows the team at its best.

Sure will. Just stumbled across this article but I'll keep an eye out.

I agree that UTA played great, but the Zips had some role in that. Turnovers, lack of energy, silly mistakes.... UTA was good, but they are not Gonzaga or Creighton on their best day. In the end, I think maybe we got what some expected in the Houston game- a down and unmotivated Zips squad.

Interesting article from Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com on UA's sports budget. It isn't basketball specific, but has some interesting highlights, the least surprising being the financial bind caused by the football stadium. It also notes KD's retention bonus. http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2017/03/university_of_akron_sports_sti.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Josh has not rounded into the all around player I had hoped for. Having seen him in high school, I never expected him to be an athletic D1 guard, but I also did not expect him to essentially be a specialist (3 point shooter). When the threes aren't falling, he's a specialist without a specialty. I was encouraged to see him go to the hole more towards the end of the season, but I'm going to have to see more after the season we just saw from him.

Thank goodness Tuesday night football is just around the corner.

To quote the great philosopher and former NFL coach Dennis Green. "they are who we thought they were..." The UTA game, like some others in the last month, exposed the Zips' weaknesses that were there all season but that we were happy to ignore as long as they were peeling Radford and squeaking by Ball State and mounting wins as the season played out. The only encouraging thing that developed in the last month is the growth of Jimond Ivey. While the rest of the team often looked like deer in the headlights, the kid showed some fire and aggression, something this squad could use in boatloads. On to next season.

They may get the ACC invite we've been waiting on after this ass kicking.

I thought that after I typed it, but it also brings you kids like Jeremiah Wood and the like.

Kids with a little edge and attitude.

NOBLE...NOBLE...NOBLE...

Naaaah, it's not a Tuesday night.

That would be the first fire we saw all year.

Now I know what it's like to be a Radford fan.

Ugly way to end the season. Further proof that the Zips were the best regular season team in a bad conference.

One lefty in particular. I'm positioning for front row seats!

I'm more than happy to see some seating surrendered at the JAR to improve the facility. Other than the Kent game, they don't fill the seats they have and an improvement to the facility may result in a jump in attendance but it would be short lived. My design strategy would be that no seat should be at a distance greater than a male cheerleader can throw a Gionino's t-shirt or a Taylor Made Jewelry mini-basketball.

Kwan has no issue with his effort. He's had some off games on offense where his shot's not falling or the defense has taken away his looks, but look how KD has dealt with him in those games- he's kept him in. He does that because he knows Kwan helps in other ways (even when he's not scoring) and that he'll put forth an effort. I think he's really grown up this year, cutting out the occasional sulking and getting down on himself too much when things aren't going well and while I've occasionally questioned his shot selection, I'd never question his effort. In a world where brashness and not graduating are the norm in college basketball, I'll take Kwan's consistent effort and degree(s).