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Those are the ones that disappoint me the most. I waste my time reading short-story recaps of home games the next morning. And it does absolutely nothing to generate any excitement for fans outside of our circle. Exactly my point. But don't downplay its impact. It could have a great impact on fan interest. I know it's not the newspaper's "job" to increase attendance. But it's pretty obvious to the Akron area's Sunday morning readers that the Akron Football Game was not a very fascinating event the night before. I'm sure plenty of that can be attributed to the lack of emotional connection of the writer.

Although it is more complicated to compare the MAC Zips and the NFL Browns, specifically because you're only one of 32 teams that can win a title vs. being in a pool of teams with nearly no chance of winning a title.... ....it does baffle the mind that the same NE Ohio sports fans who claim that they would support the Zips if they won more games were certainly part of the group that flocked to a preseason game of a 1-15 football team as if it was the go-to event of the summer in our area.

Thanks for sharing that, guys. That's a part of the story I don't recall ever hearing about. The odd thing would be that these projects were so many years apart. If I recall, it was 1982 for Rhodes and about 1987 for Ocasek.

Throwin Some Serious Rope. I'm going to add that one to my list of phrases that I would have only learned by participating in Zips Nation.

But an ugly dude like that sure gets kudos from me for landing Paulina Porizkova during the prime of her modeling career. As Ric would say, "Let the Good Times Roll"

I seem to remember a few things that might clear up some of the misconceptions about the actual construction. 1) The seating capacity wasn't reduced to do things to "honor Rhodes". I believe it was all a matter of certain funds being made available to us if we incorporated more "educational features" into the design. 2) I do recall some information that said that we rushed to start the project with what we had, and would have had more money if we were more patient. Does anyone remember something about an additional funding source actually being approved after construction was already underway?

For technical clarification, my old man memory is pretty sure we called that the "Moving A" Side Note: Several of the guys I know from those teams have it tattooed on them. Although I have no tattoos, I think that's a nice display of pride and commitment to being a Zip. Maybe some of that is lacking today.

This is a really strange post. It's a horrible thing. I know. It sucks that our program got so much better than the rest of the MAC over the last 12 or so years that it didn't take 100% of our resources to beat many of those teams anymore. Maybe we should have bypassed some of the recruits we brought in here during that time to make sure some of those game were closer, and would have been more "memorable". I'm sure Golden State Warrior fans are equally upset by the lack of "exciting games" during their dominant season last year too ?

Not at all. I said "it's been 35 years" to illustrate how odd it sounds to hear some people suddenly deciding that NOW is the right time to remove ourselves from the Rhodes/Kent connection after 3.5 Decades.

I guess you feel the way you feel. But the Arena's been called that for 35 years. And it was a salute to the man who was instrumental in getting us the funding to build it. Tragic in a lot of ways, especially for the 2 innocent students who were killed. But the man who was forced to call in reinforcements to restore law and order when Kent's commercial district was being destroyed, buildings were being burned, and the campus could barely operate is not the reason to blame him for the eventual fallout. Ironically, it seems to mirror the mentality of some of the young folks we have today. Destroying property and disrupting order to show your displeasure with the government's policies can have consequences.

Flashback Story: Many of you will be too young to remember this, but I was at Akron when James A. Rhodes Arena was named. I think there was even some protest/picketing. Why? It seems that the Kent loyalists still had issues in the early 80's with the former Governor Rhodes for sending the National Guard to Kent in 1970. I bet it still makes the older Kent fans mad when they have to come here and see his name pasted on the front of the arena. And for that reason, I say we continue to keep the name on there !!

It's no laughing matter. I happen to be a big advocate of the Deaf-Moot Society.

Going to a player and getting some insight/backstory/comments about his transition from one position to another? That's major league journalism on a level we don't see very often

I like the ZipsNation Arena idea too !! Hey, I don't personally care for the corporate named stadiums either. The problem is, there never would have been an Infocision Stadium without the donation from Infocision.

One of Bernie Sanders' speeches must have really had an influence on you.

Not me. Not when the difference is $20 Million Dollars.

WOW. A little in-depth reporting from GT. Amazing. And I will be Chapman's biggest fan if he's really taken that attitude into his "demotion" to WR.

A great example of how "star ratings" can really miss the mark. Yes, his first stint as a starter (2015) was a disaster. I'll give him credit for the 2nd half performance to beat Kent in 2016. There might have also been some spotty gadget plays where he picked up some nice gains on the ground in the wildcat or read-option. Other than that, his expectations as a QB turned out to be a major disappointment. I'll be happy if we can salvage something more significant out of this last year of his career. I hope he's working hard to be a productive receiver, and might even have a few big plays left in him.

This story will probably only get more puzzling. It was only 80 degrees and they were in shorts and tee shirts.

That should be a no-brainer. But not here. But maybe there's hope. If you were at the concert at Canal Park on Saturday, you would have seen that both the headline act and the guys in the opening band attempted to get the OHIO chant going with the crowd on several occasions for some cheap applause. The response was pretty quiet. Even the singer and his daughter both paraded themselves out in OSU gear. You'd think that the organizers (and Children's Hospital was the big beneficiary of the event) would have told them that a Large D-1 University was a few blocks down the road.

Balsy....Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge on the Newspaper. That's far more than I knew, or probably any of us knew. I guess that illustrates the reality of doing such a thing.

Same here. I'm afraid to say that the "cupcake games" of the past decade might not be able to carry the same label right now. As much as I hate to say it (because I am against this type of scheduling) I think our best option is to win as many games as possible so that our program losses as little credibility as possible as we try to rebuild this thing.

I think it IS the reason why we all came here. But something like CDMac is talking about could possibly fill the void in actual NEWS reporting, and could get it into the hands of people other than just the "choir" that participates here.

Keep in mind that I was responding to a post about being 13-0 with a New Years Day bowl game. Not just a good season and playing in a bowl game. Those two things are not even in the same universe in terms of the interest they would draw from area sports fans.

I'd disagree on this part. You're underestimating the BANDWAGON mentality of sports fans in NE Ohio. People would be coming out of the woodwork and claiming that they've always been a huge Zips fan, and have been loyal to the school and supported them for decades. Remember, these are the same Akronites who fill the bars every Saturday and buy all of that Red and Silver gear when OSWho is having a similar season, and most of them have no affiliation with that school whatsoever. Akron, on the other hand, has tons of people who are Akron alums, or have family that are Akron alums, worked at the University, etc. They'd go absolutely crazy if we had a season like you describe above..... .....and then they'd disappear again just as quickly as they emerged.