zipsbandman

What is up with this attendance threat? Things seemed quiet for a while, and I was not as concerned with the proposal. Maybe this is why Akron is stepping up its marketing campaign? Just what we need!

This is the zips we are talking about, a team that has virtually no support from the community. We can't even get people to drive out six miles to see a game, and I am not sure that we can get people to drive 25 miles out from downtown Akron. If the zips want to invest the money, bring a stadium to downtown Akron. Our attendance numbers will skyrocket. I don't care about the quality of a stadium. As long as we fill it, I'm fine with it. All I remember was the first game against Can't last year. If every game was like that I would say screw it and stay in the rubber bowl. I would take a full beat up stadium over an empty state of the art facility anyday.

Ummm.....no. Jason Giachetti is an average long snapper who sent one over Bill Sullivans head last year and gave up a TD against Central Florida. He doesn't put much speed on the ball either. And he was not the only freshman to play last year, Dennis Basch saw quite a bit of time as well. Get your facts straight. Just posting what I read buddy. I can't help it that Roger Brown is a moron.

According to Roger Brown, sources say Jason Giachetti is the best long snapper in college football. Giachetti is a St. Edwards graduate who came on the team as a walk on last year, being only three true freshmen to play. However, Roger forgot to mention the best qb in the country

Speaking of marketing, kudos to the marketing team for the advertisements on the radio. I must have heard zips advertisements on three different FM radio stations. Hopefully, we can bring in a big crowd for the ESPN game. Who ever thought they would be coming to the Rubber Bowl? I can't wait for football season. Things are changing at Akron U.

Thank the lord we do not have an AD who thinks like this. Losing attitudes mean losing results. Akron can't be that hard of a place to coach when you are being handed all the resources you need to build a competitor (facilities, outstanding marketing). Not all AD's and presidents would be willing to invest this $$. With the looks of this incoming recruiting class, I can only imagine who JD will bring in with a year under his belt. Not too much difficulty there.

Who really cares how LO got fired or why he got fired? It is the past and an ugly one at that. The bottom line is we have a real DI staff now, and we need to support them as they try to bring a MAC crown to Akron. A real zips fan will support the team no matter who is in charge.

Hopefully he gets his life back in order. As for the Can't State football team, this should change the outlook for them.

Nothing to be worried about in my opinion. If you notice, Ted Ginn is not even listed on the roster.

What's NOT a "POSITIVE FOR #5" is how you want him out of the shotgun every play. Kiss his numbers/possible MAC passing record goodbye. He needs about 3500 yards, maybe even 3600 to surpass Leftwich...getting out of the gun won't help his case any - nor will moving your backup QB and best DB to WR - LOL. Recruiting-wise I don't see how you can be disappointed. Piss poor effort? Try piss poor facilities, dubbed the worst by any recruit/magazine/newspaper/MAC fan thats been on campus- period. Now the facilities are improving which is a plus for the Zips, but remember you still have a crumbling stadium built in 1940 that is 15 minutes away from campus and leaks into the visiting lockerroom - probably the home lockerroom too. The student support at home games is almost zilch and heaven forbid you get a rainy game because only 7,000 will show. You shouldn't be hating on the former coaching staff - the program is in a hell of a lot better shape than when Faust had it, and you're coming off a 7-5 winning season looking to improve upon it. You also shouldn't be hating this staff because a LOT of great talent has come through this program, including your beloved "mealticket" #5. I call that a HELL of a recruiting job getting him here over the likes of Toledo, BGSU, or Iowa State. It's a marvel as a MAC fan to listen to Zip fans bash thier coaching staff when they've made leaps and bounds and have become competitive instead of bottom-feeders. In fact it gets old - find a new excuse. Me personally, I don't want to play for a University who bashes the coaching staff and only gets on avg. 14,000 (and I'm being very generous) a game. I can only hope your new coaching staff does better because if they don't win AT LEAST 9-10 games their season/lives will become complete failures and if they win only 8 games they're automatically on thin ice with the AD who is a "godsend". Afterall, isn't that the Akron attitude? Hey you're exactly right in saying the new coaching staff being able to pull out games - after all your new QB coach is from where? Duke? Yeah that's right they pulled out a lot of games didn't they. They contended for the ACC every year, I forgot about that. Who cares if they were winless in 20-something straight games? He knows all about winning football games. Nobody will get MAC POTY with a 6-5 record. ...And speaking of Roger Brown.

Did anybody see the new pictures of the rec center and field house on gozips.com? No, it is not done yet, but I can only imagine how great the final product will look. They finally show us pictures from the locker rooms and the sports medicine/weight room. I can understand why recruiting will skyrocket. The golf facility looks complete, and it is amazing. There is no excuse for us not to have a good program there. By next fall, the campus will be different. Students will have access to larger food courts, blliard rooms, and a bowling alley in the student center. A brand new honors dormitory will be complete, which I am staying in. Also, the university will begin the new state of the art cba global business building and the guzzetta hall addition that will start in the fall. UA is going to have a lot to sell to potential students and athletes. All these buildings I mentioned will have an indirect benefit to athletics. Soon, UA will dominate northern Ohio and then the MAC in athletics and academics!

I doubt that is too much. It sounds to me like the zips are investing the extra $$ to actually get us to the gund. All the big time programs have a bunch of assistants. Go Zips!

Gooooooooooooooooooo Buckeyes!

BINGO! And that is exactly why we have a chance at these guys. They don't see us coming and probably think that they will roll over us. We never seem to have success when we get some respect, so I can live with that. I always knew big ten fans were stupid, but are they really THAT stupid?

I agree with all your concerns about the offense. The offense looked sloppy during the spring football game. I was shocked with the terrible effort given by the o-line, and you can tell that the experience at wideout is not there. However, the fact that we still have #5 can mean more than you think. You can bet that he will get guys together over the summer and work on the offense so that when camp opens up again, they will know what they are doing. JD is right, 5 is like having an extra coach. The defense is showing a lot of promise. JD said that his D would rush to the ball, and they are. (Hey, a coach that actually sticks with his word!) If we can get our offense to about 80% of what it was last year, then I think we can put together a respectable season. I'd rather see us play Penn State the first game than Can't State, since it helps to get our team ready for games they should win, instead of playing the lower teams early on and being upset.

I like the move. These two schools could help mantain a southern presence for the mac. We'll be getting a sneak peak of MTSU this season. Hopefully our bball squad can step up to the added competition.

Are you kidding? Those jerks have no idea what kind of university this is turning into. They want us out of the mac plain and simple. We are "bottom feeders" who drag the conference down. We belong in IAA even though we are getting IA facilities and we have 1A enrollment Thats why I stoped posting there. We need more zip fans over there.

Also, speaking of macbbs, has anyone noticed how that board has turned into a cusa vs mac argument and people wanting schools kicked out? geez! I'm through with that board! Too many idiots!!

I second that. I'm studying biomedical engineering at Akron, and I love it. The faculty is awesome, and so are the grad students. Heck with keeping it a secret in the midwest. I want everyone to know what an outstanding program we have here. Thats our whole problem at this university. Everyone just assumes this is a second rate school because it is open admission, and they end up going to schools like OU, MU, and Toledo.

Would he be joining the team next year??

Where are you guys getting all this info? I looked on gozips.com, and I am not finding any info on walk ons.

Is anyone planning to make the trip to Penn State? I just found out today that I will be making the trip with the band. I can't wait!

I was really impressed after listening to zipslive, and I rarely feel that way after listening to those shows(all the ya ya ya excuses..we played a great game but...ya we SHOULD have a good team next season...bla..bla..bla). If recruiting and initial impressions are any idicators, I think we have a real steal. This was really my first opportunity to see JD actually talk football as opposed to the Ra Ra press conferences. JD strikes me as a straightforward motivator. This guy seemed like he was on a mission and was itching to get on the football field and destroy anything in his path. I never felt that type of intensity when listening to LO. He always struck me as more of a politition and a nice guy than a football coach. I can see JD getting in these guys' faces if there is something he does not like. We need a coach who could rally a football team comming off such a disappointing season can show these guys that they can win. In the words of Larry Fitzgerald, "LOOK OUT MAC!" He mentioned how the workouts were going, and I am encouraged to see the new staff pushing this squad to the limit. According to him, the guys were shocked with the new conditioning program. The added toughness will help these guys finish out close games with a W. It seems like he is looking to answer the same questions that we have regarding who and where guys will play. We will definitelly have a clear picture of next year's football team after spring. Hell, while we're "outgrowing the JAR," why don't we outgrow the bowl??

We just realeased our 2004 football schedule. Its way way tougher than last year's but honestly I would rather have the tougher schedule. Some notables: The marshall game will be on ESPN on Friday November 5th at the rubber bowl The Can't State game is still on a Thursday which is good Three of our last games are at home We are playing Ball State at home As far as Frye goes, UA marketing should jump all over this. This is a chance to put people in the stands. I wonder what else UA marketing will come up with? In 2003 it was the rubber city classic. I can't wait for spring ball. I can't wait for those new facilities to be finished. I can't wait until the kickoff at penn state. I can't wait!!