Lee Adams

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.

They are using the new video recognition software that they installed this season for fans that enter after the first quarter. You will receive a bill in the mail. They are unable to use it with big crowds, but they have had very good success with individual recognition. I figure once they find me they will give me comp season tickets for being such a loyal fan and for padding last nights attendance.

I think you did just give some free advice. Show appreciation towards your fans by not allowing other to purchase tickets for less than what the die hards purchased theirs for. Second, become a marketing wizard like Waddell at Cincy by winning games. It isn't difficult. Put a winning product on the field and fans come. Put crap on the field and fans stay home. There is a reason marketing is the easiest business major....it isn't that hard. I have a marketing idea for the Zips and if fits the current state of the program. Everyone attending the next two home games will receive a free blue and gold Zips bucket autographed by TW. Fans can use the bucket to throw up in while watching the Zips play. There...I'm done giving out marketing ideas as well. Something everyone could use. Sounds perfect. Seriously though, simple supply and demand should determine pricing. And I don't know the right solution, but I'd think that we're spinning our wheels trying to sell tickets for these prices when a few thousand people are in attendance. And as a fan, I'd opt for seeing people walking in the gates for free right now, if that's what it takes to get some excitement in that place. FYI, I got to the game last night right after the 2nd half kickoff. Nobody at the gate to check my ticket. Didn't need one to get in.

thank you. When he took the timeout I was like, "somebody on ZNO is going to complain about that, and I am going to completely lose faith in UA fans." But thankfully you brought me hope. The last timeout was a no-brainer. The way MU was putting together drives, one timeout wouldn't have made a difference. It seemed the only place we were able to stop them was in the red zone. I still liked what I saw. Nice job on the no huddle. It is clear Nicely is young. Who is our QB coach? I feel with a good mentor he could be lights out. Isn't Powlus the QB coach? still amazing how Nicely who showed so much promise last year has been turned into an indecisive inaccurate thrower this year. The receivers haven't really helped. The lack of a consistent running game hasn't helped. Maybe he can't grasp the new system and/or he hasn't gotten much help in that area.

Wonder what the game would have been like if Miami had its starting QB. Yes the players seemed to play hard. No you can't blame the loss on lack of effort. You can't place all the blame on any one play. Just like you can't place all the blame on the coaching staff. There is enough shared responsibility on the part of the coaches and players when a game like this is lost. There is enough shared responsibility for the state of the team in general this year. Bottom line is that the TEAM figured out a way to lose again. It was exciting to be there however.

I don't blame you. Being a season ticket holder is not rewarded. Especially if you are a reserved ticket holder. They treat season ticket holders like crap when they sell reserved tickets for less than face value on the day of the game. It is a stupid, stupid, stupid idea. Even worse, it is lazy to do so. Sent an e-mail to Wistrcill the other day about this. To his credit I got a reply right away from him or someone in his office. However there were no commitments regarding adjusting prices for renewing season ticket holders. Not that he would reveal that at this point. But the tone of the thing was not what I would call promising.

The athletic Depatment. They are in panic mode down there right now. There have been numerous meetings with other department heads in the last 2 weeks trying to come up with some way to get the students to come to another home game. Promise them all degrees if they show for the last 2 games.

I don't blame you. Being a season ticket holder is not rewarded. Especially if you are a reserved ticket holder. They treat season ticket holders like crap when they sell reserved tickets for less than face value on the day of the game. It is a stupid, stupid, stupid idea. Even worse, it is lazy to do so. I always buy my seasons early. Wanna make sure I get a good seat ya know. In light of all the almost giveaways on tickets this year,the AD better lower prices for the few season ticket holders who come back next for more pain. This year I wait. If the price does not go down I'll buy individual game tickets for cheap.

So with that line of thinking the AD was basically saying to the FANS 'screw you' for the foreseeable future. Too bad if you pay hundreds of dollars for season tickets. Too bad if you have to sit in the rain and cold. Too bad if the product you are paying for is defective. We don't give refunds. We will treat you with indifference. We can't tell you if or when the quality of the product will improve. We do it because we don't have to worry about the cosequences right now. Sounds like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Kept churning out crap until it finally caught up with them. I'll bet the AD wants us to renew season tickets for next year. Hell, I can't give 'em away. I'll bet he wants us to send our yearly contribution to the Z-Fund. I am long past getting that warm fuzzy feeling about supporting the program with my dollars.

I generally agree with your review DrZ. Adversity makes you stronger if you prevail against the adversity. Right now, the players are just learning a great Zips tradition, which is finding ever more creative ways of losing. We are extremely good at finding unusual ways to lose. We are the Charlie Browniest of all D-1A schools. We know it wasn't working and we understand we are behind the 8-ball. We also understand we have been in a constant "building process" for 20+ years and want winning sooner rather than later. I personally don't want to be reading the "building process" crap three years from now. A team can turn things around quickly in the mac. We need a fast "building process" with results at the end of the process. Results as in winning more than losing. Fans may not know exactly how a team got better, but they know crap when they see it. When we no longer see crap, we will know the team is getting better. If they do lose 12, they will have trouble recruiting and they will just have to work harder at it. They will just need to work harder at selling the program.

This is a minor point, but am I the only one who watched this on channel surfing who thought French's call was mis-leading on this play? There were 3 video angles on replay and I don't think any of them showed Wagner intentially trying to intercept the ball. I'm sure Brian wishes he had made a better play on the ball, but it looked to me as though he simply came up a little short. French's call made it seem like it was John Fuller Part Deux during Big Ben's 75 yard game winning TD in Oxford. It clearly wasn't. I still love Frenchy, but he can be lost sometimes. French is the ultimate 'homer'. He supports the program no matter what. So does Joe Dunn. When he starts calling them this way,no matter what your eyes 'said' its a real bad sign.

It doesn't matter if there is 'no chance next year'. Ianello will be here. It doesn't matter whether he can 'coach' or not. He will be here. The AD who hired him is not going to fire him now unless god(LP) tells him to do so. There will not be a winning season at Akron(unless the waters part or there is some other divine intervention) for at least 2 more years. The coach knows it and the AD knows it.

I think Brown is a good example of a good coach,the head guy at UT doesn't have to be 'great' whatever that is, who can attract consistently good physical talent because he is at UT. He can get really good players for key positions almost every year. Even in the Big 12 teams like UT and Oklahoma can win most games because of better physical talent. There will be a couple of games when the other team matches you physically. Whats the difference in those games? Coaching? Breaks? etc. How can you tell? How has Boise State managed to knock off some of the big boys over the past few years. They appear not to have as much physical talent at every position as some of the teams they have beaten. If coaches don't prepare their teams and/or adjust to what they have their teams lose.

Can't gets stomped by the Owls!

Gallows humor...I love it.

That indeed was a pillow fight! Two bad teams trying to figure out how to lose again. One of the many reasons 0-10 teams are 0-10 is because they don't make plays when they need to. Steve French called it. The BSU pass on 4th and 9 should have/needed to be picked. It wasn't! The guys Akron had on the field were not capable of making a play when one was needed. No names please. Of course you can always go back and look at the entire game and wonder why it came down to that in the first place. Too bad its not the NFL. A number 1 pick would look real good.

CMU got off last night.

Unfortunately, I feel the same way. Everyone touted him as this recruiting god, so I want to see what he can do to improve us for next year. I just hope for everyone's sanity that we win 1 or 2 this year. We really need to. Unfortunately I have yet to see anything this season to indicate that we will. I know its really early, but iCoach will need to produce a damn good recruiting class and put up at least a 4 or 5 win season if he wants any chance of winning back most of us. He's got a VERY steep uphill battle ahead of him and he will need to bring out all the stops if he wants a chance at saving this program. I do know what he'll be telling every recruit this winter: play for us and you'll have a damn good shot at playing as a freshman The thing I look at is the problem that Brian Kelly is having winning with Ianello's recruits at ND this year. Kelly is a proven coach. Maybe those ND recruits that were brought in over the past few years weren't all that good?

The only thing BSU needs to worry about is the bus driver taking a wrong turn on the way to the stadium.