GP1

I'm hoping there were enough conversations behind the scenes so that the AD was not caught off guard and already has formulated some thought about where he will go next.

Is Jim Grobe available?

Excellent points. Americans seem to have lost the appreciation of watching people compete for the sake of competition. The word "competition" throughout history has had nothing to do with winning or losing. When one competes at any level, that means to bring out the best in yourself AND the person who is your opponent. The worst thing to do is to win a game against someone who isn't trying hard. The best thing to do is to win against someone who has given it their all for the entire game and you also had to give it your all to win. It's hard to imagine how great UConn players must have felt after beating a Duke team that played at an extremely high level. Like the attendance issue, there are many variables as to why this is. In some ways, I am guilty of this. I don't like going to high school sporting events. I don't even like going to college football and basketball games below the G5 level. In fact, I won't go. I have not always been like this. Over time, I think my tastes have been "refined" for lack of a better term. What may have solidified this for me was having Wake Forest football tickets for 18 years. It is high level college football in person very close to the field because their stadium is so small. Guys on both teams will play in the NFL and the fan experience is still good, but not as good as it used to be (see all of my comments on games lasting entirely too long).

The purposeful devaluation of college basketballs regular season by those who run it. Make everything about March Madness and nobody pays attention until March Madness. There are many other problems, but I think that's a big one.

I love discussions about attendance. It lets me watch fan misjudge all of the variables that go into attendance. Moreover, it allows fans to believe the fiction (lies) athletic departments publish about their attendance. Compounding all of that, it allows fans to apply those misjudgements and lies into motivations for a coach's decision making.

And the food.

Someone once told me that a manager must be able to manage two things: safety and turnover. If this all goes down, we'll find out how good the ad really is.

It's partly about attendance. It's mostly about other things. Some say MACtion is a great brand. It's a catch phrase. The MAC is a conference and a brand. A brand is how others see you and you have to do things to make yourself more attractive. Playing on weeknights in empty stadiums is horrible for the MAC; therefore, it is horrible for the brand. I'm sorry if there are some athletic directors out there who may shy away from MAC schools because they gave up weeknight games. Maybe they can find other universities to run into the ground. Either way, they need to go away.

He wouldn't find himself in a better position to win an NCAA game. Charleston is one of the few places he should leave for. At his age and close to being or is an empty nester, living somewhere like Mt. Pleasant could be awesome. I'm in Charleston at least once a month. With the kind of money he probably has, the lifestyle could be great.

Couldn't it just be the case that he is positioning himself and his staff for a nice pay increase at UofA?

Or not....

Sort of. There is a Woke left and a Woke Right. Both run deep within American politics which is why we are living in dangerous times. Both utilize Maoist tactics but attach American characteristics to their arguments. Both are focused on group politics and fitting each of us into one of two groups. We are a country founded on the rights of individuals. The entire Bill of Rights is geared to the individual being protected from the state. This horse's ass running for the Republicans is trying to fit Ohioans into his world view. We don't need one university in NE Ohio, we need many with competing ideas which will strengthen each other. I can't believe this is the party of Ronald Reagan that I grew up with. It's a crying ass shame.

I took the time to read it. He basically lumps in Akron with Kent and Central State. Then he talks about getting programs to make schools central to one field of study. Think we aren't at or near the top of his list? This guy will gut Akron down to a shell of itself and what will follow will be the elimination of sports at Akron and Kent. If you care about UofA, you will vote for his opponent and let things play out for four years.

Depends on who you are selling it to. If you are selling it to dimwitted without an ounce of creativity athletic directors who will destroy the institutions they work for in order to get a higher paying job, it's an easy sell.

Fantastic article.

What's the solution? Well, if this is the case, stop competing against NFL teams, OSU and high school football. Akron already doesn't play on Sunday. HS football is on Fridays. Make Akron football benefit the athletes, students alumni fans and general community around Akron. Make game day a great experience for everyone. Play on a date and at a time that is most convenient for people to attend games. Produce a game that people will be willing to miss or schedule around the OSU vs Purdue,Northwestern, UCLA, Illinois, Iowa, yes.... Penn State is trash, Minnesota, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland, Ball State and Kent games.

The number of people deciding between going to a Zips game on Friday/Saturday or a Browns game is irrelevant. The greater Cleveland MSA is 3.7 million people. I'm not asking much out of a day after Thanksgiving game. I would be thrilled with 15,000 of those 3.7 million people showing up to watch them play the second least appealing MAC team in Buffalo. It's a fraction of the population. Don't get me started on yardwork being a significant factor either. It's two hours work at the most for everyone except the worst of procrastinators on the day after Thanksgiving. Someone with this personality deficiency will show up at 5 PM for a noon kickoff. Good grief. You could start raking at 8 AM and be to the game by noon if you lived in Summit County. There are so many problems that contribute to poor late season MAC attendance, it's hard to pinpoint one. The lack of vision by the conference is malpractice. Worst of all, this isn't going to change any time soon.

Maybe, maybe not. I really don't know. I'd like to ask the Sun Belt about this. What I am confident of is the athletic department should benefit the athletes students alumni fans and general community around Akron. The current TV model does not accomplish this. Taxpayers support UofA and their access to the athletic department isn't as great as it should be, and that goes for all schools.

Actually, the last game is on Friday. I think the day after Thanksgiving can be a good opportunity for fans who have the day off and need to get out of the house after a busy Thanksgiving. If I lived in NE Ohio, I think an early afternoon start could lend itself to a potentially nice day outside and maybe eating a nice dinner out after being in all day the day before. Everything I just posted makes sense, which makes me think the MAC will schedule the game when it is most likely rain during the fall, in the evening, so I predict the game will start at 8 PM.

Help me out here. Are the last two games optional to be on a week night or Saturday?

Whenever a MAC team doesn't have to play Sac State, that season should be referred to as a gelding.

They didn't used to. You have to understand, the people working in college athletics don't care about the average fan. They are catering to drunks and degenerate gamblers. Those two groups tend to get their days started later than most. Since they also tend to be life's failures, they don't have much to do on Monday morning.

Didn't know where to put this. Can you still buy a hot buttered hoagie on Exchange?

There are 18 year olds playing in the NHL and MLB. They'll be fine. Also, with the TP, just replace them when they wear down.

Too bad. It's their job now.