skip-zip

It always cost a lot of get in there. Now, they just added an extra fee for the buffet. And as I type this, I see that Hilltopper pretty much explained the details above. Although, I'll contend that he multiplied the average number of people by about 4 times. I've seen some big crowds in there, but my visual tells me that if the place ever had more than a few hundred people in there, it would look like the Volkswagen with the clowns at the circus.

Just for the record, there's far more than just corporate sponsors/donors who have lower bowl seats, and decide not to attend for a good portion of the season. How many people do you think are in the Tommy Evans lounge? Without giving you an estimated count of how many I see in there on average, I will just tell you that it's only a very small percentage of the total number of people who buy lower bowl season tickets. Those sporadically-attending "blue hairs" (as we call them) aren't the primary people who cough up 2.5K per year to go in the lounge. In fact, you'd be surprised at the number of people who are in there because a company rep. handed them the passes for that particular day to take their kids, and they are actually sitting in GA.

It's interesting that the week we tie (and hopefully break) the JAR Arena home win streak record will be against our two biggest contenders for the top team in the league. At least that's how I view OU and EMU. One down....one to go. I'm not fearful of a letdown this week. I really think that EMU is very good. And I think OU with Campbell will obviously be able to challenge us much more than they did on Tuesday. But even if we get past this, don't even forget how we ended the previous home win streak. We got beat in the JAR in 2008 by a really bad NIU team that was 3-12 in conference play that year.

We can get differing opinions about how disappointed we are about attendance. But when I see images like this after our biggest game thus far this season, and see all of the empty seats, it's embarrassing to me.

And someone could certainly argue that 3 times in 12 years is not quite up to your 50/50 numbers either I'll continue to tell everyone that waiting...and waiting...and waiting to make an NCAA tournament run is just ridiculous. You can't even count on getting there, as our history shows. But you can certainly schedule the teams that can get you that kind of notoriety if you win. This year presented 2 opportunities already. We need to keep those coming. Yes, it's possible that we could be ranked right now without the YSU loss. But what we can do right now is go on one of those long winning streaks, like we did in 2013.

When I saw two people, I said "oh no". And they were checking names on a multi-page printed list whenever someone needed to be verified. That stopped the line repeatedly.

I say it all the time. We have to do something relevant nationally. I know people who find it rather amusing that I support/contribute to the Zips the way I do. That perception won't change until Akron (and possibly others) start beating some people who matter to college basketball fans.

It's logical to think that. But wait for the first Saturday game that is underwhelming in size/enthusiasm, and plenty on this board will respond with "Akron students go home on weekends".

This might be why I get tired of hearing excuses. The design of the Arena didn't suddenly change right before last night's game. We've had many, many crowds with great energy, who created a great atmosphere in the 35 years that the JAR has been configured just as it is today.

Let me just put it in perspective by pointing out that there's so many things that this taunting or unsportsmanlike judgement could have been, and what the rules are intended to prevent. We've seen guys dunk and stare someone down for awhile, scream, pound their chest in front of them, nod their head repeatedly, point at their bench. and actually say something to the opponent. This was none of that. A brief look, and then he turned up the court. That official WANTED to blow that whistle. It was really nothing at all, and takes all the fun out of the game. I agree with your other point. The 4 technicals on the other end were a lame attempt to try to take control of the game.

3,500 for a game against OU to decide 1st place, and that was with no-shows in the lower bowl. So, it was actually smaller. Ridiculous. This was a NO EXCUSE night, particularly for students. Warm weather, no rain, no snow, no travel issues, no exams yet, and no weekend trip to their hometowns.

They are imploding because the coach has allowed them to turn into a showcase for Hall's chances of playing in the NBA. There is no "team" over there.

You got it. In regards to Quincy, I share your frustration. It seemed like he could have dunked many of those balls that he chose to try to flip over the edge of the rim. Harney was actually a really, really gifted basketball player. Maybe one of the most talented guys we've ever had here. Much moreso than Jimond, even if he didn't quite have Ivey's athleticism. But Nick never had enough heart or desire to put it all together on the floor.

Quincy may have been the last one who could get all the way to the rim on his own from the perimeter. Maybe Harney too. But Quincy didn't appear to be quite as fast, or elevate off of the floor as quickly as Jimond. On the other hand, Quincy had a bigger body and probably couldn't be expected to do some of the things that Jimond can do. Ivey really has a true "wow factor" athletically. Quade resembles Poke much more than he resembles Ivey. Quade never had a guard's game. He was a much bigger guy.

True. Including me. I didn't see this kind of jump in his game coming in his final year. We are not Big Dog + a bunch of 3-point shooting guards, as many of us were expecting. We're becoming more than that offensively.

Nailing shots has always been the key for him. I know he worked all off-season on his jumper. It has improved dramatically, in my opinion. He still doesn't post up a lot, but enough to prove that he can. He's a bit more active on the boards than in the past as well. Pretty much everything else has always been there. He just needed a little bit more to round out his game. Whatever Kwan and Ivey did during the off season last year, it needs to be duplicated with other players every off-season from this point forward.

I have to throw this in there.... An Official who's whistle-happy to call a Technical on a guy who dunks, and stares for A BRIEF SECOND at the opponent who's standing under the basket before turning and running back up the court, has no place in college basketball. Those kinds of officials will ruin college basketball.

I remember this being talked about during the CMU broadcast, but not during the Miami game. I hope he's over it.

I was just sharing what the coach said during the Miami postgame The opinions of Akron's coach are not necessarily shared by Skip-Zip. I think he definitely has the potential to contribute more, if given the opportunity.

Just an FYI for everyone. Keith indicated that he played him a lot more against Miami because everyone else looked "tired". He talked about the long road trip, but that fatigue on the players is only going to continue since we're playing Saturday, Tuesday, Friday. We'll see.

That would be my assumption too, except that Keith says he expects him to play. We'll see. That's pretty much where I stand right now.

I find myself getting frustrated with them at times. I feel like we have teams on the ropes and let it slip away, and then have to find a way to pull it out in the end. Yes, that's really tough to get answers when you're witnessing that. I think they're good. But not good consistently enough to "wow me" quite yet. Does that make sense?

Wouldn't trade for anything? Now those are the kinds of guys that I want here. it's great to hear that. Best of luck to you, young man. Thanks for expressing your pride in being a Zip

Well, it's always just one game. One team can play well, and another team can play bad, and you really don't learn anything. Take last night as an example. If you're a big Cavs fan, you probably thought you learned something a few weeks ago with a major comeback at home against the Warriors. Maybe you were thinking "we can play with them, even with Durant" or "Maybe they really aren't the super power that everyone thinks they were". Then last night the Warriors score a mind-boggling 78 points in 24 minutes, and essentially put the game out of reach by halftime. Basketball is funny that way. Here was 2 teams playing games 3 weeks apart with dramatically different results. The true difference between them is certainly somewhere in between the two results. But where? If the Zips make a "statement win" tonight, it would be comforting to me to believe (for now) that we are better than everyone in this league. But another game down the line can always make you feel differently. It's Basketball. It's truly just one game.