jupitertoo

Yes, you're coming across as a homer, and a wildly uninformed one as well. Each of the schools you mention has better academics and is at least on par with Akron for facilities. And when did Akron put $300 million into football? The football stadium was $62mm, plus the fieldhouse (which is shared among sports) was $15ish, excluding the student recreation facilities.

My impression of the Eagles is that, while not terribly talented, they are pretty physical. Akron will have to match that in the early going to avoid falling behind. And if the Zips fall behind, I don't expect good things. If they get an early lead, this could be a W.

What do you expect the line to be? No line as of yet.Zips by 10.There are no lines on games involving an FCS school, correct?

TW is one thing, but Dr Proenza seems like he does not care.That's what disappoints me the most. At this point, he needs to show his face to what Zips fans there are and make a statement of some sort. In fact, he should be standing at the Infocision entrance this Saturday personally thanking all those who show up. Hiding is not leadership.Dr. Proenza runs a very complex, $500 million enterprise whose mission is education, not athletics. I would be very disappointed to see him take an active, daily role in managing the football program. He leaves that to his AD. If has is unhappy with the manner in which the AD is handling his duties, he should fire him. But to expect him to stand at the gates on Saturday and apologize to fans? Not going to happen.

Has Hoban's Will Fleming ever gotten a legitimate shot at Akron? I haven't seen him in any action.

Sadly, that's not true, even within NCAA football.Cal poly football. Evansville ball. Cal poly accident occurred in Toledo.Football (soccer) has also had a number of accidents, including one involving Man U in 1960.

A lot of posters on this board write about Ianello as if he were a fool. This is no fool - he's a smart, articulate guy who is clearly passionate about what he's doing. TW didn't do him any favors when he stated that the cupboard was full last year - this is year 2 of a four or five-year process.

You seem to be confusing rural and suburban areas. Can't, Buffalo, and EMU are suburban. NIU, Miami, Bowling Green are rural. I've been to most MAC campuses and quite a few Big Ten campuses. The Big Ten is made up entirely of land grant universities. That and their academics tie them together, but more importantly than any of that, they share the same culture. The MAC does not share a culture across its member institutions, in fact it varies wildly. Akron begged to get into the MAC, and it was a horrible mistake. If I had my say back then I would be dead against such a move (I am well aware of how the MAC was around the time we got in, so I am not judging based on where we are now). We never belonged in this league; the MAC has never treated us like one of its core members. As far as EMU's budget, they spend it funding non-revenue programs. That is where their priority is. they can be just as successful in a non-football league or a lower division. If you're in the MAC, as an FBS school football had better be your top priority, followed by basketball. Ball State is another school who doesn't care for sports, but keeps them reluctantly. They drove away Brady Hoke after he became too successful. Ugh. U of Mich, Indiana, Iowa and Northwestern are not Land Grant universities. According to the NCAA, total football operating expenses: EMU $4.385 million Akron $3.862 million Basketball operating expenses: EMU $1.367 million Akron $1.035 million So if EMU doesn't care about the big sports...? BTW, I only looked up a handful of schools, but BGSU and Ball State both outspent Akron on football and basketball. Just because emu spent more on bball doesn't make them a better team. Listen: Just go back and read all of the claims that you made. They were categorically wrong in almost each and every case.

You seem to be confusing rural and suburban areas. Can't, Buffalo, and EMU are suburban. NIU, Miami, Bowling Green are rural. I've been to most MAC campuses and quite a few Big Ten campuses. The Big Ten is made up entirely of land grant universities. That and their academics tie them together, but more importantly than any of that, they share the same culture. The MAC does not share a culture across its member institutions, in fact it varies wildly. Akron begged to get into the MAC, and it was a horrible mistake. If I had my say back then I would be dead against such a move (I am well aware of how the MAC was around the time we got in, so I am not judging based on where we are now). We never belonged in this league; the MAC has never treated us like one of its core members. As far as EMU's budget, they spend it funding non-revenue programs. That is where their priority is. they can be just as successful in a non-football league or a lower division. If you're in the MAC, as an FBS school football had better be your top priority, followed by basketball. Ball State is another school who doesn't care for sports, but keeps them reluctantly. They drove away Brady Hoke after he became too successful. Ugh. U of Mich, Indiana, Iowa and Northwestern are not Land Grant universities. According to the NCAA, total football operating expenses: EMU $4.385 million Akron $3.862 million Basketball operating expenses: EMU $1.367 million Akron $1.035 million So if EMU doesn't care about the big sports...? BTW, I only looked up a handful of schools, but BGSU and Ball State both outspent Akron on football and basketball.

Zach, is that you? You have two logins now? Can't believe I'm about to do this ... but ok. You point out that Zach hasn't been to many campuses .. and then you try to smudge things in your favor more, thus illustrating that you perhaps haven't been to some of the places you're such an expert about. Squint a little, and your post could have been written by the king of endzone gnomes himself. While West Lafayette isn't a big city .. the local area in which it sits can't really be considered rural. Greater Lafayette is much more than a support structure for a university, albeit a very large university. Over 150,000 people reside in that area, and there are several huge employers that dwarf the size of the university staff, such as Caterpillar, Isuzu, Wabash National .. maybe Alcoa if it's still operating there. This isn't a rural area grown up around a university like Oxford or Athens. Also, and I'll get around to adding this to the forum dictionary whenever we create one: several = 3. UA and UT share many, many similarities. I for one expect that the Zips and Rockets will ultimately become long time bitter rivals no matter what shakes out with conference rosters and changes. Go Zips! B) You're right about West Lafayette. My other points stand. And when you look at how the universities report their athletic budget figures (including coaches salaries in some cases, not in others), U of A drops 2 more spots. Zach claimed EMU was near the bottom when they're actually near the top. He implied that BGSU is a bottom feeder when in fact they just built a new b-ball arena and have had a decent football facility far longer than Akron. And I have attended games on every MAC campus with the exception of Temple.

Until you present data or a reference, you are no different than ZachTheZip. If I wanted non-stop propaganda with no facts, I'd listen to Rush or Hannity. I'd like to think that most of us here are better than that. OK. MAC athletic budgets in 2010, per NCAA: Temple $28,550,000.00 Miami $25,604,474.00 EMU $24,635,531.00 Akron $24,498,336.00 CMU $24,104,699.00 WMU $23,233,399.00 Ohio $22,875,238.00 NIU $21,899,024.00 Toledo $20,021,956.00 Can't $19,446,680.00 BGSU $17,850,240.00 Ball State $17,347,944.00 Buffalo $16,973,585.00

Wow, I couldnt disagree more and suspect you've been to few Mac campuses. Akron's athletic budget is lower than several other schools. The academic philosophy of Akron is very similar to that of Toledo, Can't, central mich., western mich., niu and even emu. You denigrate rural schools but fail to realize that at least one of those, ou, has a larger research portfolio thAn the league's urban schools. Look at the b10 - Penn state is very rural. West Lafayette, ind., is not a big city by any stretch. And northwestern is far above the other schools academically. But by your measure, this weird amalgamation that is the b10 must exist because they're all within a few states of one another. Akron begged for decades to be part of the Mac. The league certainly ain't big time, but these schools do many things right when it comes to treating sports as secondary to the educational mission. Marshall was a good program but an academic renegade that belonged somewhere else. At least there's honor in this league. By the way, emu has one of the highest athletic budgets in the league. Higher than Akron. Bgsu's budget is higher than ball state and buffalo. I think you must just make this stuff up.

Interested in knowing who in the Mac, perhaps with the exceptions of emu and ball state, are not like minded athletically with Akron. And most in the Mac are ranked above Akron academically, correct?

That's an excellent idea. Or the Hoban-St. V. game. Or Walsh-St. V. Don't charge the schools rental and they'll be all over it.

Anyone who is a season ticket holder at a MAC school is spending that money to help keep the program alive, not to get the best deal. From that perspective, then, you're not making a bad decision.

Nice article. I wonder if Ianello is playing with numbers a little bit on the GPA. He weeded a bunch of players out of the program during the second semester. Guessing that helped boost the GPA. A more accurate sample would come after the fall semester this year when he has a full freshman contingent on campus.

Kind of like preaching to the choir. If the ad is focused on Wagner, it's a good one. Now carry that theme throughout the city. Make it visible to Zips fans that aren't fanatics. The ones that would be on the edge if they started winning, or it was a nice day and they had nothing to do. Push those folks out the door. I'd like to see the Zips reach out more to the community somehow, such as holding their first three or four summer camp sessions at local high school stadia, etc. Need to be more visible.

That advertising is called Google Ad Words. Those banner ads are presented directly to you based on your internet use history. Not everyone who goes to that site sees the Zips ticket offer. Only people like you who have shown that they might be interested, based on their surfing history. If you didn't spend time at ZN.O or Gozips.com, you would never see the ad. Do an experiment and start shopping for a new car. If you concentrate on one type of car, pretty soon ads for that car will follow you all over the internet. Not OU dorms. Ohio Dominican University dorms. And speaking of good marketing, see the attached link... Episode 3, Relentless

Depends on the primary motivator. Our basketball facilities are average at best yet we have the best team in the league. Our soccer facilities are probably worse than our basketball facilities yet we win national championships. I have yet to see a building make a tackle, complete a pass or go for a long run. I beg to differ, GP1. Aside from the JAR, the other facilities available to the basketball players (and that are shared among all sports) are tops in the league. Granted, the lack of a sparkling new or even standard bowl arena is a big limiting factor. However, the recruits come because of KD as a coach and person and that the program wins. Nothing recruits better than a winning program with a solid coach. I will never disagree with that. Our soccer facilities are among the best in the country, not just the league. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, GP1, because you are a football guy (and likely not that interested in soccer), and I assume you have not seen the new stadium yet. Creighton might be the only program with a better overall stadium. (Google it.) I was at UNC last year when we demolished the Tar Heals, and even with their tradition-laden woman's program that has won 10+ national championships and perennial top-5 men's program, our new stadium is nicer. There are many factors, but the facilities can contribute positively (or negatively) to the fan experience. The soccer recruits LOVE that the game atmosphere is like a European game and is unique in college soccer. That dynamic is a unique interplay between the fans and the facilities. Hence, the facilities are a large basis for the culture of a program and its success. Along with what I judge to be a great leader in Coach Pfau, our woman's program continues to improve (we just beat Michigan). I believe a lot of that is due to the gorgeous facility, and the elite players it allows us to attract. How many programs exist that are annually competitive for national championships yet have sub-par facilities? If you can name a small handful, I'd be amazed. In converse, consider: GaTech in baseball, Georgia in tennis, Kentucky, Duke, UNC in basketball, Akron, Creighton, and SMU in soccer, Arkansas in track...etc. I could go on. Bottom line, though not the only or most important factor, facilities are a very important component of establishing and maintaining a winning program. Have you been to the other MAC schools to see their basketball facilities, indoor practice fields, training equipment, basketball suites, etc.? You act as though other MAC schools don't invest in facilities. Toledo just spent millions on a Savage Hall enhancement, including training facilities. Most schools have IPFs these days that are just as good as Akron's. Can't has had one for 20 years. OU's b-ball arena, already one of the best, is getting several million in updates. Their weight training facility is much larger than Akron's. I would say Akron's facilities, now with InfoCision Stadium, are on par with many other MAC schools.

4 wins does NOT get iCoach a contract extension. 4 wins gets him another guaranteed year as coach with the contract he has. Extensions will be granted for fulfilling objectives set forth by the university and athletic department administrations such as winning the MAC and getting to and/or winning bowl games. GP1 could be our coach and we'd still get 3/4 wins every year because it is the MAC. Our facilities alone relative to the rest of the conference should have us getting 6 wins in a down year. How do facilities win games for you when your recruiting classes have only been mediocre at best? And why didn't you have 3 to 4 years last year, given that you played in the Mac? You really underestimate the commitment to football made by other programs. Your own football budget pales in comparison to others.

3 wins = unsuccessful season 4 wins = successful season I predict 4 wins. Zips fans will still hate iCoach but 4 wins gets him a year added to his contract.

Nicely has to lose his propensity for bailing out under pressure. Saw it 10-15 times last year when he just panicked and tried to throw the ball away.

I didn't shoot it. Just passing it on. I think it's in HD.

I'm sorry you consider this spam, but it's really not intended that way. The video does a great job of describing the countless details that are addressed in fall camp at any MAC school. The activities chronicled here are, I'm sure, identical to those taking place in Akron, Oxford, Bowling Green and other locations across the league. It's really interesting, I think -- and yes, it's an OU film, but that's because they're the only ones to do something like this thus far this year, as far as I know. So plug your ears to avoid mentions of OU and just watch what goes on both behind the scenes and on the turf.

A really good and interesting look at what it's like during fall camp at OU. Video