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I believe Boals and Ford played together at OU ?

That's probably the best scenario you can hope for.

I think that you possibly do not see the full extent of the challenge in front of you when you are frustrated at your current situation, and someone is waving 7 million in your face. He's likely going to have that "uh oh" moment very soon. I will be impressed if he flips the fortunes for them.

Do ya think this guy meant to type WEIGAND and THOMAS? Geez. I'll say a couple of things about Terry. I don't know him well, but he might be the best choice for those looking for continuity and loyalty. He's always coached in Ohio, he's older, and he's from Barberton. He even has some head coaching experience as Keith's successor back at Ashland. And he's been here for a long time now. If he has a great relationship with our current players, this could be a good choice, although I am hoping we might be targeting some at a higher echelon. But, this "hire from within" philosophy has certainly kept the school in Portage County near the top of the MAC over the years.

That's good. But I said that I haven't seen one mention of him HERE. Surprising.

I've been wondering why so many people on this board have mentioned McFadden, but I don't think Terry's name has been mentioned one time. He's definitely the more experienced of the two.

Wasn't that an episode of Survivor?

Sorry man. That's gambling money that this University does not have to gamble with. And they won't.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Correct Answer. He'll have to work his way up to Keith's salary, I can guarantee you that. Why would we want to be saddled with a huge debt if he ends up being a dud? It's a business, indeed. This might give us limitations, but that's the way it will be.

Yes, I agree that this all contributed to the enthusiasm. But it was still more than I expected. And to keep this on topic, I DO wish there was even 1/4 of that gathering and enthusiasm for a postseason NIT game, even if it is only a 1st or 2nd round, and even if it was in the evening. I appreciate your passion too.

And Akron's interest in being in a Bowl Game only added to that.

If you weren't there, here's more details. I walked in with my wife about an hour early (we had 4 others coming). Went to the back section where all of the tv's are located, and several people were already sitting at all of the high tables, saving them for groups. We could only get a table all the way back at the front door, with one TV. We took that one and watched as Zips fans continued to come in the door. By gametime, many of them were standing. When the rest of our group arrived (all of them left work early), we still had a couple of seats left and a few others we knew who could not find a seat anywhere came and sat down with us. This was a weekday in the middle of the afternoon, if you recall. Does that give you a better idea? I'd love to see that interest in an NIT game.

I've never seen a bar in Akron packed with people (Johnny J's) in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday for an NIT basketball game. But, I sure saw it for the Potato Bowl.

Wow. I had no idea. On average, that would be an overall DROP following NCAA tournament appearances.

It wouldn't be a joke to me. Considering where Miami has been over the last decade, and where Akron has been over the same period of time, I'd like to think that we are in a much different position to pull a higher level of candidate. I'll say this again: Luring a candidate after consecutive 26 and 27 win seasons has to be an easier task than it would be for any other school in our league that would be looking for a coach.

In our own minds, I think we're all trying to find the words to describe what we've witnessed over 13 years, and especially how to describe why we are a bit frustrated despite all of the winning. And I think you're very, very close. I'd change one word here. I'd replace "when it mattered" with "when it was significant". We won plenty of games "that mattered". I think we were 9-2 in MAC Semifinal games. That's unbelievable. As someone said recently, "Does anyone know how hard it is to get to 9 MAC Finals games in 11 years"? We also won 2 MAC Tournament titles when we were coming from the middle of the pack. I think most would acknowledge that the NIT wins against Temple, Florida and Houston on the road were unexpected as well. On the other hand, we missed every opportunity to beat the real top level D-1 teams at any point, including the nail biter at home against #25 Nevada 10 years ago that really could have supercharged this program. I also think that the 6 MAC Championship game losses are really going to be painful memories for us for a long time too. I see above that someone said that the Dambrot era will be looked at as "goodt for Akron basketball". I'll go with "really good for Akron basketball". But certainly, there were plenty of opportunities for more that were missed.

And that's what any coach would do, regardless of what someone else might define as each player's "number".

Exactly my point to those who are hung up on a 1,2,3,4, and 5 on the floor as the only conceivable option. This is the Guard-Dominated MAC people. I'd be 10 times more concerned that we have Guards who can't contain this league's Guards.

That would actually be quite entertaining to see, in light of what we've been through the last week or so. Please, someone do that. We could use a little comedy around here right now.

Because you think our competitors in the MAC are loaded with multiple low post scoring machines?

I wish people wouldn't get so hung up on Position Numbers. Noah, Antino, Ivey, Utomi along with a "more traditional post player" can easily all play together. I bet that already happened many times this year. Heck we started the season with 3 (relatively small) guards all starting together. Those traditional position numbers are some people's focus way too often.

The Acme-Zip game actually AVERAGED 30k over it's 40+ year existence, with as many as 43k (the record). So, I don't know where you got that information. I wasn't trying to change your opinion. I was just correcting some of your facts about football attendance, Gerry's "blank check", and when Huggins was here. And I know players from that era who still talk about driving their own cars to practices at the Rubber Bowl, but it's really insignificant to the facts if many of them took a bus instead of a car. I was making a point about the lack of a campus practice area. There's actually some things in your original post that I can agree with.

I have to be honest. This would be tough for me to watch.

I was reminded yesterday, while reading an article about Jason Taylor, that he is the only guy who's ever worn an Akron uniform who had as many sacks as Jason. That alone is a super accomplishment. Much like Jason, Jatavis came here with several limitations. So, kudos to all of the "late bloomers" out there who worked hard to become great players vs. the entitled brats who barely used their natural ability. I love guys who can simply "play football" despite not meeting all of the preconceived standards and measurements set by people who think they know better.

Nooooo. He was only listed at 290.