Lee Adams

Not just windy, but unpredictably windy. You can see by following the smoke from the fireworks that it just swirls around and around the stadium in odd patterns. You nailed it. In fact, that's really what I had in mind. The Buffalo game was a great example. It was really hard to understand why the UB punter was kicking it with such a low trajectory early in the game until it became obvious that he was kicking into a strong wind on those occasions. There wasn't much evidence of that type of wind based on flag movement in both end zones or the conditions in the stands. Brilliant!

IMNHO, this is a real good home schedule next year on both an entertaining/interesting level and importance of winning the MAC East (If Miami can do it, we can do it) level. Some think getting our butts kicked by BCS teams is an indication of where the program is...maybe. I believe a better indication is how we do against other non-BCS D-1A teams. Playing FIU at home will allow us to better measure our program in the world of reality. Please tell me that you are joking. Nobody cares about FIU or VMI. That is a joke of a home non conference schedule. A gauge of our program needs to be against the Indiana's of the world. We already play garbage in the MAC. Measures against other garbage teams does nothing to get fans interested. That's the difference between "serious football fans" and "front-runners". Serious football fans (i.e. people who find the time to post on football message boards online) will probably like to see real football skill and talent come in to a stadium. Front-runners (like most Ohioans) want to see wins. If they hear from their 'knowledgeable football friends' that the Zips ought to win this weekend, they'll be out there for the game and the after-win party. BCS programs are not going to draw in Akron (although they'd draw out more of ZipsNation). WINS will draw out people around here. Problem is you won't get too many good BCS teams to come in when they look at the attendance at the INFO. Those teams want money to travel. If revenue in the AD is a problem,Akron can't provide much of a guarantee to incoming teams.

Unfortunately in this day and age in order to get access,reporters have to kiss a lot of behind. So if they start calling a rear end a rear end they get no access.. Of course if you go to the games you don't really need to read the paper. You can see it for yourself. I dare say Gaffney knows how bad it is but unlike on this site he has to keep it somewhat civil.

Looks about right. Bottom feeder.

Hey folks,you can do all the personal atacks you want. Nothing is going to change in the off season. Ianello is going to be back. Lets look at this team in regard to what they have on the field compared to what the rest of the MAC is going to have on the field. Frankly,some of the teams who performed well this year look like they have enough coming back so that its going to be real tough for Akron to make a lot of headway. By the way,I got a wonderful letter from the Wistrcill/Ianello telling me they were sorry for this season but they really appreciate that I purchase season tickets. I wonder how much those cost?

I don't know what $ amount you think UA should throw at the HC position, but throwing money doesn't ensure a winning coach and causes you to have to make adjustments in other UA coaches' salaries or suffer degradation in those other sports. And, as far as "Bring in a winning coach with a proven track record for building winning programs", any coach who is truly winning with a proven track record at the FBS level, would be filling one of the vacancies in one of the more established FBS programs. If you're talking about bringing in "a winning coach with a proven track record for building winning programs" from an FCS or lower division, there's no guarantee that winning at those levels translates to winning in FBS. Although, I personally would have preferred a head coach from an FCS or DII winning program. There was also a cost to staying in the Rubber Bowl. In order to sell tickets, UA had to ensure that is was reasonably safe for patrons and for the team. I don't believe upkeep ( ) was free. Since the dead horse has arisen...If you were responsible for hiring someone to fill a position where you work,what would be the one objective factor that you might consider over everything else in choosing that new employee? I have done it before. I tended to look at successful experience in the same or very closely related position as to the one needing filled. No its not a guarantee of success but it beats on the job training and is very defensible. It would be very difficult to believe that there was not one successful head coach from a lower level who was not interested in the Akron job. That would assume however that the AD actually looked.

Dysfunctional is a good description. It's confusing and flat-out just doesn't make sense how we could have, no... SHOULD have beaten the MAC champs?! We're probably the worst team in all of D-1A football, get absolutely rolled by NIU, yet... whatever, it does no good to try and understand it. Again, the MAC is so pathetic it's just begging for a mediocre school to dominate the conference and garner illegitimate Top 25 rankings. Come on, iCoach! Make us that illegitimate Top 25 team! Like Marshall did? Yes, it does seem like it's not that difficult of a task. I've never liked the "Miami beat NIU, and we almost beat Miami, so maybe we could compete with NIU now" logic. It's one game, and it's a major upset. But I do feel as if we were playing better at the end of the season, despite the fact that it was also the easiest part of the schedule. The problem is, most of the guys that made things happen this year are graduating. If we had shown some improvement at the end of the year, and could attribute it to the growth of young players who might get even better in the future, I might be more inclined to buy into that thought. What really sickens me is that Miami did this with their backup QB. Wasn't this something like his 4th game? And he throws for 333 yards against NIU? So much for the "we need to give guys time to develop" argument. If someone is a good player, they will start to produce when given the opportunity. We need to be able to RECRUIT more of that level of player. Wagner certainly never had to wear the "just give him some time" label for very long. I'm tired of waiting for guys to develop and grow. Coaches can only do so much with guys who struggle to produce. Was Boucher recruited late by OSU?

The Miami win gives cause to hold Wistrcill/Ianello's feet to the fire next year! No reason we have to sit through 3-4 wins. They don't have to win the MAC but they can sure as hell be competetive.

Sewell grew out of his position. He was great as a freshman lb/de. Then he bulked up to de and was still pretty good. Then he bulked up more to DT, where he was nothing special. Very suprising that Wagner didn't make it. Wow. Sewell was never as good as he was during his first year. Not a loss with him gone. Yes Wagner not in there somewhere is mysterious.

You beat me to it. Why does that comment make him a 'genius'? I thought Einstein was a genius. Haven't found anybody who comments on sports blogs to be a genius. Me too. Yet. No one in football is a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein. Yes, he makes great Bagels Thats genius!

Keeping this to on the field issues which seems to be the last thing many want to do for a number of reasons here we go. Defense: 1) Secondary: huge weakness. Waller is fast but too small,can't cover big receivers and has difficulty supporting the run. The other side of the field,who knows? Safeties had trouble in coverage most of the year. Tackling was poor. Linebackers: They lose Thomas but Wagner is back. Wagner is obviously a plus but he will need help. D-line: Huge loss with Lemon gone. Marcoux played well. Hazime at times also. Unless some new guys step up probably a weakness. Offense: Running back: Weak. The two guys who got most of the reps are gone. Nobody else played enough to be seen as a positive coming back. QB: Who knows? If a year in the new system helped Nicely it could be a positive. If not there is no proven starter. O-line: With some losses and some returns it might not be too bad. They seemed to improve as the season progressed. Receivers: Weakness. The bunch thats leaving wasn't all that good. But unless Sconiers and some of the freshman can step in and perform it has to be a weakness going in. The tight ends were not much of a factor. Coaching: Giving the benefit of the doubt which is hard,the jury is still out. However,there may be a position coach or two who aren't invited back. We will see if one year with the new systems makes a difference. Have at it.

You beat me to it. Why does that comment make him a 'genius'? I thought Einstein was a genius. Haven't found anybody who comments on sports blogs to be a genius. Me too. Yet.

Is this going to be like the guy from Iowa?

Careful. Remember,G-W.

Response to questions: #1 Thats 2 questions. Next #2 Thats 2 questions. Next #3 Thats 2 questions. Next #4 Don't know yet. Next. #5 Thats 2 questions. Next #6 Thats 2 questions. Next #7 Thats 2 questions. Next. #8 Thats 2 questions. Next. #9 Thats 2 questions. Next #10 Don't know. Next. #11 Thats 2 questions. Next. #12 Thats 2 questions. Next. #13 I have no clue. Next. #14 Thats a secret. Next. #15 Seeing what?

Dave in Green, After watching the game online, I noticed one thing: people did not care (at least it looked like that when I watched the game online). Is it to a point that if it is not Cant State, no one gives a Smeg about what goes on with Akron sports!? There is no excuse for the piss-poor play(sugar coat it all you want, but that is what it is), however sitting here at my CPU in Phoenix, you must have home support if you are there. A Zip fan in Phoenix? I wanna meet you when I am out there during the first week of March.

What is the responsibilty of your supervisor where you work? If, after given a reasonable opportunity you don't do your job what happens? If you have a good supervisor he will get involved when he sees things going badly. Hopefully he would give you some input to help correct the problem. Remember, Mr. Wistrcill does have to worry about the financial situation of the athletic department. If the football program doesn't produce revenue through attendance,fund raising sales of merchandise etc.,Mr. Wistrcill's supervisor Mr. Proenza will be on the phone. Blame? Maybe responsibility is a better word.

Losing Allen and Burney the only 2 RB's who played any appreciable time,losing Lemon and Thomas from a defense that leaks in the secondary,questions at wide receiver,some key losses on the O line still a question at QB wow! How much improvement do you get just because its the 2nd year in the new system? Whats a 'reasonable' number of wins? The question is how many wins will it take to generate interest in the program and actually get butts back in the seats. 3-4 wins might indicate improvement on the field but given the long term apathy toward football I doubt that is going to generate a big jump in attendance. No attendance, no money going to the AD.

In college football and sports in general one problem is lack of true accountability. Lets say for sh... and giggles that Proenza decided to fire Wistrcill next year. Lets say a new AD decided to fire Ianello. Normally,contracts as you all know have some sort of buyout or escape language. The AD and the coach are going to get a lot of money if they get fired for anything other than 'for cause'. Losing football games is not a 'for cause' offense. So those guys can take their money go on vacation and turn up at another program on down the road. If you or I get fired because we did not perform on the job what do we get? Maybe some unemployment. Until there is a greater penalty for not producing on the field these rebuiding episodes can go on and on and on. Ask the guys at Can't.

You can tell he's agitated enough having to do the ZipsLive interviews, even with all the questions pre-selected by the university. He seriously sounds like he's ready to have an aneurysm. I think if he actually had to deal with the 1350 afternoon guys in a more open environment he'd actually punch someone. What the afternoon guys on 1350 need to do is start talking about the football program,at all. I listen to at least portions almost every day. They are repeating what most of the national shows said earlier in the day. If the coach won't come on the afternoon show,those guys need to say so. Then they need to start talking about the program AS THEY AND THE FANS see it. If the University doesn't want more input in that forum so be it.

Phil actually did not pick them to win. He did say they would be a contender. He picked Temple.I am looking at his mag. He also picked Temple as the best team in the MAC. He liked WMU in the west didn't he? Had Ball State 3rd. Unfortunately he had the Zips where they will finish.

I worked for th Ohio Dept of Correction and Rehab.(they had to call it something). This is the type of thing the administrators of that agency did. Said we have to lay off to save money. But they hired more central office people jsut before the layoffs and canned the real workers out in the field.

Just like we did. Akron should be so fortunate.

I think most of us who are Akron fans are wondering about this one. He is in the last year of his contract. Can't see him coming back after another losing season in Portage County. What worrys me is that they might get lucky and find someone who knows what he is doing.

Born and raised in the Akron area. Graduated in 1974. Was going to some games when I was still in high school. Actually went to games when I was a student. Unlike now. Moved out of the area for about 10 years. When I came back I bought season tickets. I follow other teams but don't go to those games. Its certainly not like being an Ohio State fan. Hell practically everyone in Ohio whether they finished high school or not seems to be an OSU 'fan'. But its not the same without that connection. Oh and when I was going to school they won. That helped keep me interested.