GP1

Hats off to this professor for finally bringing to light the incompetency of the leadership within the MAC. Many of us already knew it, but it brings it to light for the general public.

You're the only one freaking out.

I think MAC football and universities struggle for different reasons. Both involve resume building programs by university administrators, but that's about where it ends. MAC football "struggles" (not sure I would say it is struggling right now, but we can save that discussion for the football forum) because they want to be something other than what they are in a structure that is set up for them to always be behind bigger schools. Universities are struggling because leaders at those universities believed throwing up a bunch of play grounds for students, building stadiums, adding employees and generally making their system too big while disregarding basic statistics showing their efforts were pipe dreams. Additionally, they financed the building process through student fees that were being paid out of student loans that will be crippling a generation for decades to come. It was the key to their resume building, but not the key to success. Universities should have been downsizing crap degrees years ago in lieu of allowing things like Womens Studies programs to exist (those programs belong in Sociology Departments, not their own department). Akron can get its books in order, it will just take a lot of cutting of crap programs to do that. There are similarities between what has gone on at universities and the housing bubble. In the end, the taxpayers are going to have to bail out universities and students with crippling debt just like they did the banks. Akron is a better school than Can't, YSU and CSU. Combining those schools with Akron devalues my degree and I'm not interested. If you want a football analogy, it's like the Big Ten saying the league is better with the addition of Rutgers and Maryland. All the addition of those schools did was devalue an already declining conference.

It's all how you look at it. I look at it from the perspective of local bowl committees. It doesn't bother me one bit that a team with a better record would get left out in favor of the Zips because bowl games aren't real games except for the now playoff we have. Here is how I see it. Bowls are community events that use an exhibition football game to raise money for a local charity. Because of that it is in their best interest, and more importantly the interest of the local charity, that teams generating the most attendance would be preferable regardless of record. This is why I have a strong feeling that if the Zips can just get to 6 wins, they go to the bowl in Montgomery. Making a bowl would do wonders for the program and nobody would give a hoot that a team with one more win was left out. God knows I would have no sympathy while I was packing my bags for a couple of days in Montgomery and neither should anyone else on this board. Remember us not making a bowl game in 2004? Nobody was crying for us. Let's say one of the scenarios comes true....Akron vs. Arkansas State. Not many people in Alabama or Akron are going to be making the trip, so it puts the bowl committee in a bad situation in terms of revenue generation. Bring in Terry Bowden...Former UNA and Auburn coach...all of the sudden there is local interest and ticket sales go up. Even better, Akron vs. Univ. of South Alabama (Sunbelt Conference). Local school and the Bowden factor. Some bowls aren't about conference standings and this is one of those bowls. I would be surprised and extremely disappointed if we went 6-6 and didn't get an invite to this game.

Thank God!

This is a good point and something I think both teams should be taking a look at. It's too late in the season to experiment with anything new. When you struggle, you have to get back to what has worked earlier in the season. None of us can know if they drifted away because of choice or because situations dictated it. Either way, if it worked, find a way to make it work again. Just like a really good baseball pitcher uses the whole strike zone and changes speed, the Zips offense needs to be able to use the whole field and integrate all aspects of the offense so they work together. All of this can be accomplished out of simple formations as well as the complex.

I think I would take the Zips. While the Zips aren't playing well recently, Buffalo is playing worse. I look for the Zips defense to play better and the offense to play the same as it has all season. They will be just good enough to win tomorrow. Akron 20 Bulls 14

I cannot think of a case of that level of product development. I can think of many cases where like product manufacturers will use their trade association to influence International Building Code in favor of their existing manufacturing processes.

Do you work for the government?

We've been down this road already with Can't and we won the MAC East and went on to win the MACC. Playing them does not worry me.

Combining Treasury/Accounting services, IT and those types of services makes sense to me. Those are functions that with the technology available today should make it easy to combine. I don't like combining research because it is limiting to the thought process that universities are supposed to foster. Combining purchasing is OK if it is for things like buying paper, copier services, cafeteria food, lawn mowers, general facilities maintenance items, etc. Combining purchasing is not OK if it is for buying things central to research because research can be so different from school to school that it would make it difficult for the researchers to complete their projects effectively. Money needs to be cut....and lots of it. People are a huge expense and it makes sense that if they can eliminate redundant positions it could help to clean up the books.

How did you know goats were the official mascot of the croquet championship?

This just in. The World Croquet Championship will be played at UofA soccer court in 2015.

Sounds like a "building process". I'm in!

Good post. This is what I would do differently (and why) if I was the offensive staff. I can't believe I'm about to type this, but it makes sense. CH is a power back. Enough carries into the line and assuming decent blocking, he will get some yards outside once that type of run is set up running inside. The old Bettis saying..."If you try to run outside, you'll never get there. If you run inside, you'll get outside." The problem right now is the defense knows this and they completely load up to stop his inside run and he doesn't have enough speed to break outside if the line is clogged up inside. Our line is not good enough to have success against that kind of pressure. CH had one nice run the other night, but on all other runs, he averaged slightly under 3 yards per carry. The next paragraph is my solution and early in the season I would have never posted it. JC on the other hand has found it within himself to run both inside and outside AND has become effective at both. His longest run was 17 yards between the left guard and tackle. His TD run was an inside run to the left that turned outside after getting through the line. On all carries less his longest, he averaged 5.2 yards per carry. JC is now providing equal threat outside and inside. This will make a defense back off of loading up to stop a runner like CH in the middle of the line. It will provide a better running game and in turn will open the door for play action pass and big plays. CH is a good player and can do more than inside running, but not early in a game. Reminds me of when the Giants had Bradshaw and Jacobs running for them. Jacobs could get big chunks running inside and outside, but those carries were usually late in a game. This week, JC should start because it makes the defense defend sideline to sideline. The mind plays a big part in winning a football game. Mentally stretch them out.

The problem is every time I go see a Zips game in person they win, but I live 7 hours away so I may see one game a year. Every time I go see the Zips basketball team in person, they lose and most of the time they win when I watch on TV. Sort of like the ZipsWin! Athens jinx. I could cause irreversible damage to the team this year in Charleston. Going to Wake games isn't difficult for me. I like to see them win, but if they lose, I don't care too much. It's just sort of something to do. Didn't go last night because I didn't think it would be much of a game. Gave my tickets and parking pass to a customer I don't particularly care for. For whatever reason, getting the energy to keep up with the Zips this season has gotten very difficult. For me, the losing is worse right now than the Ianello years because it has gotten so bad so fast after a great start. Is Buffalo the answer? Maybe...everyone loves to win. I'm really hoping they can get to six wins because I think that will get them in the Montgomery, AL bowl game. If they get to six wins and don't make a bowl game, then what is the point of exposing myself to future misery? Almost thirty years of it is piling up quickly.

I haven't had much time to follow the NBA this year so I'm a little behind the news. My guess is that the return of LBJ has turned the team into a butt kicking machine. They should easily go through the patsies in the Eastern Division and win against at least half the Western Division teams on the road. Any word on their progress?

It is funny. There is a saying in the ACC when your team is bad...and I mean really bad. When that happens, people call your team "Duke Bad". If you get called that, you are truly a horrible team. Wake is playing better as of late and it is helping them to escape being called Duke Bad. They weren't far away though early in the season.

Clearly, you are unfamiliar with the history of Duke football.

Me too. $5,000 is a lot of money for anyone and if any of those winners have been taking out loans for college, it will go a long way to lessen their future payments. It was a meaningful giveaway. When I think of lame promotional items, I think of bobble head dolls. Truly the definition of lame and juvenile. Anyone remember this girl? She won a scholarship from Dr. Pepper by doing this. It was the difference between living in a car or going to college. What the University needs to do is get a local business to sponsor some of these scholarships. Providing a scholarship to someone brings out the best in our humanity. Bobble head dolls, etc. bring out the silliness in humanity. I like to think a University should bring out the best in humanity. Kids like bobble head dolls? Too bad. A lesson in the value of giving rather than receiving is much needed in our society. My hope is the four people who won scholarships the other night will be grateful for their prize and find some encouragement to go out and make themselves better citizens the way Padilla-Rodriguez did.

Wake Forest's student section was only 1/3 full last night for a nationally televised game against a Top 25 team. Their small stadium probably had less than 23,000 in it. We all need to get used to the fact that the dynamics of college life have changed and kids don't turn out to games anywhere as much as they used to. Once we do that, we won't have to talk about student attendance any more.

JD was a good WR coach, but he also had a lot of raw talent to work with. It all starts with talent because as we all know, you can't make chicken salad out of chicken poop. Not sure we have the raw material necessary right now to make anything out of our WRs. My concern about our WR corps is they appear to be going through the motions and quite frankly a little soft. Could use more fight in them. I was very upset when we had a jump ball the other night and the BG defender completely out fought our WR for the INT. We should expect better effort out of a team when they are fighting for their lives in a game for first place in the MAC East. On another play, Pratt doesn't fight hard enough to prevent an INT. In the spirit of this being a family, football oriented board, I'll just say that Pratt is a word that rhymes with "punt". He has the body language of a guy who is about to break down and cry at any second. Like I said already, it was a game of contenders against pretenders.

I don't think our WRs are very good and there wouldn't be much to work with. There also doesn't seem to be much heart. Talent and effort makes a player. This group is badly in need of new personnel next season. We need players that are good all of the time. They are not good enough of the time.

OK, 8 of 10 times.

Our defense came in contact with a good offensive line Tuesday. BG had us blocked across the front with talented offensive linemen who appeared to be bigger than us. There was nothing fancy about BG. They got on their bus, drove to Akron, put on their plain old all white uniforms, kicked our dressed in fancy uniform asses all over the field, got back on their bus and drove home with a victory. If we played them ten times, they would do that 9 of 10 times.