UAZippers

While not directly a part of the MAC's boycott of Indiana, there already has been some issues involving MAC teams. Buffalo has had to cancel some tennis matches and softball games at Ball State. This is due to New York's ban on publicly funded travel to Indiana. Link to the article where I found the story is here.

I win!

http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/kyle-pohl-tra-von-chapman-ready-for-zips-quarterback-competition-1.576335?localLinksEnabled=false&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter GT seems to agree with us that it looks like Chapman is the frontrunner right now. It's interesting that leadership style is continually brought up. I'm starting to wonder if the other players had more of a problem with Pohl than I realized.

The official zips soccer account just tweeted that this game is closed to the public.

I think this game proved more than any other that the refs in the MAC are just plain bad. They in no way favored one team over the other, but had absolutely zero control over the game. They even admitted it themselves when they gave Hurley a technical within the first 4 minutes of the game.

Then we were watching different games. I thought the refs stayed fair throughout, but there were multiple calls that I laughed at. Sometimes the fouler didn't even touch the player that was fouled.

I don't think that post was even the slightest bit of a conspiracy theory. It is 100% true that the university bought lousy (cheap) seats for the students. As soon as they had a chance, the students moved down next to the other Akron fans.

Yet another recruit who mentions the Zips 20 win seasons as a major reason for his commitment. We really need some more wins here at the end of the season.

Obviously not what I would have liked at this point in the season, but I can really see that 1st scenario happening.

What I believe he meant, and I fully support, is more of an open involvement. Any student can pitch ideas, or get involved in helping athletics. I believe that this would not only create new, innovative ways to improve the program, but also would lead to a natural increase in interest among the students. Everyone cares more about something that they are directly involved with.

I agree that there are some major problems with the way that the Rowdies are run, but I don't believe that the student section is their fault. I believe that the issue is that most students have no clue how to obtain the wristband to sit on the floor. The Rowdies are only able to advertise to the members of the organization. This is why the floor seats are normally dominated by Rowdies. If the marketing team in athletics would let the other students know how to get the wristbands, I'm sure that there would be a much larger ratio of Rowdies/Non-Rowdies. As for the entry fee, it does seem steep, but it is pretty much in line with other student fan groups. The Can't State Krew charges $15 every year, which ends up costing their members more than the Rowdies $20/$10 set up if they stay a member for multiple years. I also know many people that sign up for the Rowdies, fully knowing that they are not going to go to any events, because they like the t-shirt and $20 is less than buying a shirt on campus. As for only having 1 (or no) meetings a year, I agree and I really wish that would change.

You seem to have the wrong idea of what the Ak-Rowdies are. They are not the official student section that is supported by athletics. All they are is a registered student organization that has to pay for everything by themselves. The fee allows them to pay for the t-shirts, bus trips, tickets to tournaments, pizza for many games, tailgate food/drinks, and anything else that is needed throughout the year. The Rowdies have also not stopped any students from sitting down low this year. They encourage students to wear their Rowdies shirt, but if a student doesn't have one, they have been giving out old shirts before the game. It is not about wanting everyone down low to be a Rowdy, it is about promoting some uniformity in the looks of our student section.

It doesn't take long winning streaks, it takes beating big name teams. Many students here still feel like Akron is in the minor leagues of college sports. Until the Zips start making runs in the tournament, or routinely beating top 50ish teams most students will continue to not care.

I found a short, but interesting interview with Adam Najem that I don't think anyone else has posted on here. Here is the link: http://collegesoccerexposed.blogspot.com/2015/02/collegesoccerexposed-sits-down-with.html He talks about different aspects of college soccer and his time spent playing in Germany.

Sadly, giveaways are about the only way that students have shown up for games this year. Direct payment is just removing the middle man.