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Maybe. There's no one left in the athletic department from when he was at Akron. Who would he contact? Would the new athletics people even care? Having an NFL QB, who actually played here, host a camp for junior high and high school kids on our campus would be a pretty big recruiting tool to just throw away. I would hope the athletic department would "care" and wouldn't be that incompetent, but given recent history, who knows. I doubt many high school kids know who Frye is, or would come to UA because of a Frye Football Camp. Come on. He was the QB of the Browns. I even know little kids who were wearing his Browns jersey at the time he playing here. So, if you are a football QB of Junior High or High School age in Northern Ohio, you certainly know who he is, even if you did not know he went to Akron. It's been four years since he's been relevant to people in this area. High school kids do not know and do not care about Charlie Frye. If little kids have his jersey now, it's because their parents bought them one at TJ Maxx for $8 because they didn't want to shell out regular price for a current Brown. I'm not trying to be/sound like a jerk here...but trust me, nobody aside from the Frye fans on this board give a damn about Charlie Frye anymore. Caring about him, and not knowing who he is are two different things. I'm not a Browns fan, and never have been one, but I certainly know who their QBs have been during my lifetime, especially ones who have started several games over at least a few year period, like Frye. And I'm sure that if I had been a teenager playing QB for a junior high or high school, I'd be far more likely to know my local pro QBs of recent years. I don't think you are being a jerk. I just think you are being entirely unrealistic to think that a kid playing QB for his school in this area would be unaware of a QB who recently was a regular starter for the Browns.

Maybe. There's no one left in the athletic department from when he was at Akron. Who would he contact? Would the new athletics people even care? Having an NFL QB, who actually played here, host a camp for junior high and high school kids on our campus would be a pretty big recruiting tool to just throw away. I would hope the athletic department would "care" and wouldn't be that incompetent, but given recent history, who knows. I doubt many high school kids know who Frye is, or would come to UA because of a Frye Football Camp. Come on. He was the QB of the Browns. I even know little kids who were wearing his Browns jersey at the time he playing here. So, if you are a football QB of Junior High or High School age in Northern Ohio, you certainly know who he is, even if you did not know he went to Akron.

And why is that? Because the Buckeyes have had generation after generation of fans who look to Columbus because they W I N. Every year. A lot of them are alumni, some were brought up to watch "Ohio's team". Others just want to watch a winner for a change. I'll use my worn out analogy they use to drive to Summit County to see indoor soccer. Because the Force were contenders year in and year out. One they figured out the team couldn't win when it counted, the bottom dropped out. But Cleveland fans will travel to Akron to see a winner, smack in the middle of a football hotbed. Going to a more "standard" offense and defense will help, hard core football fans look at the MAC the same way they look at arena football. We have to start a winning tradition first. At what level of winning? I'm sorry. People in the Cleveland area don't yearn for the opportunity to pack the kids in the car and spend an afternoon in Akron because they are anxious to see them put a hurtin on teams like Eastern Michigan or Buffalo. Cincinnati changed some allegiances in SW Ohio away from OSWHO because they were on a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP run. People went to Force gaimes when they had a chance to win a national title as well. Akron plays for a title in a low-level league, and a chance to play in a low level bowl game. I am sure none of us expect an all or nothing type of support from the entire Cleveland area. I am expecting that if Akron plays well people will come to see the games. Northeast Ohio is a hotbed of talent and fans. I go to see at least 3 high school football games a year at schools I don’t have any affiliation with just because they are good games. I know that you think that they must make a title run or must be playing some BCS team to pull in 25,000 people. I think that playing consistently solid football and being on the radar regionally would bring in more than enough true football fans to drive the program forward. The organization can’t sit back and say… well they haven’t come before so why now or well Clevelanders won’t pack up the car and come to Akron because... Football fans will drive 30-45 min to watch a good game or to see a high profile team in town. Play good football and the greater Akron area has the population and football fanbase (not just ZIPS) to make the program a respectable member of FBS. I might actually agree with you on some of this, if you can define "being on the radar regionally". Because, that's my point. The perception of Akron football will not see significant changes until we do something that gets noticed. And that means, something more than just being a "good team in a conference that doesn't matter".

"Buffalo's In Canada" Sorry, I couldn't resist.

And why is that? Because the Buckeyes have had generation after generation of fans who look to Columbus because they W I N. Every year. A lot of them are alumni, some were brought up to watch "Ohio's team". Others just want to watch a winner for a change. I'll use my worn out analogy they use to drive to Summit County to see indoor soccer. Because the Force were contenders year in and year out. One they figured out the team couldn't win when it counted, the bottom dropped out. But Cleveland fans will travel to Akron to see a winner, smack in the middle of a football hotbed. Going to a more "standard" offense and defense will help, hard core football fans look at the MAC the same way they look at arena football. We have to start a winning tradition first. At what level of winning? I'm sorry. People in the Cleveland area don't yearn for the opportunity to pack the kids in the car and spend an afternoon in Akron because they are anxious to see them put a hurtin on teams like Eastern Michigan or Buffalo. Cincinnati changed some allegiances in SW Ohio away from OSWHO because they were on a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP run. People went to Force gaimes when they had a chance to win a national title as well. Akron plays for a title in a low-level league, and a chance to play in a low level bowl game.

True. Not to mention that those football and basketball accomplishments listed here would bring a million times more beneficial publicitiy to the U of A than a soccer title.

I agree with you. We need to win something meaningful to attract a significant number of new fans. But, don't fool yourself. In the other paragraph you talk about Akron becoming a good MAC football team, like we have done in basketball. As we've seen with basketball attendance, that's not going to do what you think it might do. But as Can't State said, it might at least awaken a few alums and local people from their "slumber".

Is that referring to "any" BCS bowl game? Or the BCS championship game? If it's the championship game, I would vote for that in a heartbeat over just being in a final four. For no other reason than the fact that we'd be one win away from a national title, as opposed to two wins away from a national title. Not to mention the month-long build up that being scheduled to compete in the national championship could bring. In basketball, that build up only lasts two days.

It's the best of the three venues, by far, in my opinion.

Can I vote for tailgating at the Rubber Bowl, but playing our games at Info?

I only have a couple of thoughts here.... 1) We have waaaay too much invested in facilities at this point to go back to playing 1-AA. If something happens to the MAC, I'd be satisfied with going back to being a Independent if there were no other conference options in 1-A. 2) If some teams need to get booted, I'm afraid to say that I think we would be at a disadvantage in a lot of respects. We're one of the most recent additions to the MAC, we've been 1-A for a relatively short period of time, and we don't have the traditions and history that many of the other schools in our conference have built over decades and decades of playing in this conference, and as a top division program. Yes, we now have great facilities. But, if it comes down to some other factors, I'm wondering what we really have to solidify our standing at this point, other than the facilities.

I only "sort of" agree with you on that last sentence, but agree with you totally on the rest. I'm sorry. I don't get it. There's a few people on here who, for whatever reason, feel that we are "all set" at QB. Let me start by saying I am not a big Rodgers fan, but I like some of what he brings to the game. But, after Rodger's last start against Central Michigan, we never scored over 20 points again the rest of the season, except for our home games against the mighty flushes and EMU, and watched that QB complete barely half of his passes during that stretch. Please, somebody tell me why we wouldn't try to land a young BCS transfer with 4 Big-10 games under his belt to solve our woes at QB? And please try to prove your point with something a little more concrete than "looks good in the pocket", "has good form", or "good arm strength". I recall a QB on the Browns roster last year who had those qualities too.

I hear that. Gives us a chance to influence some kids in two places that we know are loaded with talent.

I just hope that nobody who I've been trying to convince to attend Akron games is actually going to ever see something like this.

Depth? Are you implying that this guy would come here to a bad MAC school to be a backup? It would be a GREAT idea, if we could get him, which I think would be a long shot. I read his bio. And he already has 4 games of experience as a freshman QB in the Big 11.

But Akron MEN do. Go watch a bottom barrel MAC football team or go to a sold out Pouch and watch one of the country's premiere soccer squads. Your choice. I know where I will be. The Pouch? lol.... That's like saying go watch the country's premier bowling team. That's wonderful that they're successful and all, but who really gives a f***? The success of the athletic department will always hinge on football and men's basketball. I've said it before and I'll say it again.... Football and basketball could win MAC Championships, every other athletic team could not win a game, and nobody would bat an eye. TW would be the toast of the town. But if football and basketball lost every game, and every other sport won a national title, TW's ass would be grass, and Proenza would be smokin it. Ole Tom would have the first ticket out of town. It's great that you like soccer, and I support them and love to see them succeed just like I love to see rifle and any other Zip sport succeed, but those sports will always take a back seat to football and basketball, regardless of success. The bottom line is, 95% of people in Akron and UA alumni would rather watch and pay for bad football than nationally ranked soccer any day of the week. I also support the soccer team, and commend the others who do the same. But, to draw any remote comparison between college soccer and college football, even MAC football, is just ridiculous. The D-1 national championship soccer game drew 5,000 people. Regular season MAC games, in bad weather, between bad teams draw better than that. I wish that wasn't the case. I'd love to see Akron capitalize off of their soccer success with an amazing amount of publicity. But in this country, it just ain't hapennin.

EMU only had 25,000 total all season!? There are high school teams that draw more(McKinley, Massillion to name a couple) If the NCAA really wanted to enforce the threshold, there are lots of schools, not just in the MAC that would be in trouble. Most of the Sunbelt Is there any real difference between MAC attendance and Sun Belt attendance? The last time I checked, there wasn't any.

Can someone please stop the snowball already???? I don't even want to think about what could happen next. I waited 20 years to enjoy the type of success again that we've had the last few years. I'm too old to wait again.

First, I just want to point out that Akron has been in a similar situation many, many times in our D-1A era; having to boost attendance in order to meet the requirement. Secondly, in mentioning other MAC schools who may be struggling to meet this requirement, we should worry about the bigger question. Will the entire MAC conference someday have to face the possibility of being downgraded to a lower division if ALL of us don't start to hit some more respectable attendance numbers?

That's cool. Of course, I only wish that college soccer got some attention in this country, then the whole University would benefit from this publicity. I think one of the significant aspects of this story is that the writer expects the careers of Kofi and Zarek to transcend college soccer and perhaps make a splash on the USMNT. If that occurs, UA could very well receive a decent amount of publicity. We've been hoping for that for decades in this country. It just isn't happening. If this is finally a breakthrough era, Akron could very well find its ticket to some national publicity through its soccer program. I'd love to see that.

That's cool. Of course, I only wish that college soccer got some attention in this country, then the whole University would benefit from this publicity.

So let me get this straight: The University didn't cancel. The Department of Athletics didn't cancel. But the Football Office did? Isn't the Football Office somehow tied to The University, or The UA Department of Athletics? We have an entirely new coaching staff... and they cancel an event where the staff can meet-and-greet with 100+ of the Program's biggest supporters. Big short-sighted mistake, IMO. From what I've been told, Jalapeno is correct. In recent years, the football folks were running their own golf outing. It was no longer being run by the "athletic department".

I know some of the guys that played on our team in the mid-80s when we played at Florida. Their fans were standing at our team bus chanting "gator bait" as we arrived. I remember thinking. "why would they do this to Akron? Don't they know that it's going to be a wipeout"? But, I hear that they do that all the time. I think it's a great example of how fans can get into player's heads, even long before the game is played. I'm going to predict that Florida scores 11 touchdowns through 3 quarters. No field goals, because they won't be stopped. And then Miami puts a score on the board late in the game when Florida's 4th team defense is on the field, and will attempt to create a positive by claiming that they "won the 4th quarter"

6pm games are the best for tailgating!! I love it.

Nice work Dave. There's been plenty of discussions on here about JC players. The one thing you always have to keep in mind is that sometimes even an average high school player can really grow during 2 years of JC ball. I've used the "late bloomer" tag on many of these kinds of guys over the years. But in Blanton's case, he was pretty well regarded coming out of the high school, and appears to have done nothing in the last two years to show that he's not keeping a good pace in comparison to other players his own age. To get that kind of guy as a walk-on certainly appears to be a great coup at this point. We'll see.