GP1

If you have two starting QBs, then you don't have a starting QB. It's one of the worst coaching moves a coach can make.

I did not know this and I find it concerning. There isn't a coach in the world who hasn't had a pet player he wanted to play more than another. Maybe Woodson is the guy Bowden really wants to start and is trying to find a reason to start him. It's sort of one of those things coaches do when they want things to be one way, but they are the other way. The Zips are in the middle of a potential 8 win season and they have a QB who is 8-3 in his last 11 starts and Bowden is "waiting until game time" to name the starter and both are taking snaps with the first team, per GT? I could see waiting until game time to try and throw the other team off, but both taking snaps doesn't make sense to me. The Zips have rounded the final turn and are coming down the stretch on what could be a great season. Pohl is the horse we need to ride and the team needs to know he is the horse as well. Experimentation is for spring practice and some in the fall. It's time to win. Let's get the guy who wins in the game.

If you read my posts, I am one of the people who wants them to run more. However, that didn't cause the loss. The Zips were in the game with 4:01 to go and promptly pooped their pants. The game was there for the taking and they threw away the opportunity with turnovers. None of us ever knows what would have happened. We only know what happened. What happened was, the Zips pooped their pants in the final four minutes of the game.

I pay a little over $100 per game for two tickets and a parking pass to watch Wake Forest. As dreadful as Wake is, it is still worth the money and cheap compared to other D1A teams in the Carolinas. Wake's stadium is only about 60% full these days because they are so bad. They do a little better when the visiting team is relatively close. Wake isn't scrambling to sell $5 tickets. What they are doing is offering five dollars off face value to season ticket holders if they buy extra tickets. If Akron goes back to selling tickets for five dollars or less, they are no further forward than they were in 1987.

Ticket prices are not the problem. My guess is 99% of the people in Summit County have no idea what the price to a Zips game is.

I sell products in the construction industry for a living. One of the things people always say is, "The easiest thing in the world to do is to have a big construction company. The hardest thing to do is to make money with a big company." It's easy to pick up work if you sell is for next to nothing. It's hard to make money doing that though. The easiest thing the Athletic Department can do is sell tickets for one dollar each. It's the worst thing they can do. First, people come to expect one dollar tickets. Second, it tells people your product is only worth one dollar to watch so if you try to raise the price to two dollars per ticket, they scream about a one hundred percent increase in prices and hold a grudge for years. Third, it isn't worth five thousand dollars to end of with results one and two. The problem with attendance has nothing to do with the price of tickets and everything to do with weeknight games and years of losing. Stop those two things and people will show up and pay more for tickets. To devalue the tickets at this point is a mistake.

I'm in! Only if all three of us get 45% though.

One other thing. What would a recommendation to a town be without some dinner recommendations. 42nd Street Oyster Bar Great sea food and local. Recommend the blackened, bacon wrapped scallops for an appetizer. They have a great blackening so if you wanted it with your main course, it would be great. Good bar scene if you are going to be there on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights. My personal favorite in Raleigh. Vivace They have one in Charlotte and it is a great gourmet Italian restaurant. Bloomsbury Bistro Has been recognized nationally. I've never been there. I should have my own food recommendation thread on this website. People could ask questions about places to eat in towns they have never been to. I've traveled the country and have eaten at some pretty good places. Anytime anyone needs a recommendation, just ask.

I think the early season game everyone should be on the look out for to gauge the potential of the Zips is if the fates bring UNCC and Akron together in Charleston. The 49ers typically are a solid, but rarely great, mid major basketball team from a decent conference. They also play some pretty decent names OOC. They went 17-14 last year but were pretty young, but have 4 starters returning this season. This game would be a good gauge for the Zips.

Another bad team we should beat (Good grief, the MAC is bad this year). They have loses to Army and Indiana State. Enough said with Indiana State. I saw Army play in person this year...they are every bit the team that lost to Yale. My biggest concern is their offense is showing improvement as the season progresses. Always dangerous to play on the road against a team with an offense that is finding itself. We can and should be able to beat them with either Pohl or Woodson in the line up. The ZipsWin! jinx should not be on us since the game is not in Athens. At least the football team only has to suffer through that once every two years. KD and his guys have to carry that cross annually. I look for the Zips to right the ship this week.

They had the ball twice yesterday with under four minutes to go in the game and didn't put points on the board. They were not only in a position to put points on the board, but they were in a position to win the game. They didn't. Maybe Akron did do the best job it could at putting the QB in a position to put points on the board. OU had the #114 ranked pass defense and the #47 ranked run defense. Passing a lot isn't out of the world of reality against a team like that. It's D1A football in 2014 and passing a lot is normal. Our running backs ran the ball 13 times and both averaged under 4 yards per carry. Take out a decent run by CH and he averages one yard per carry in his five other carries. On what planet was that going to win a divisional game on the road? Are we trying to get down and distance to third and eight instead of third and ten? What's the difference? It's exactly the opposite of putting the QB in a position to win.

Understood. However, he isn't the one who fumbled at the 50 with a little under 4 minutes to go. His stats weren't bad for the day....they just weren't the kind necessary to win a divisional game on the road. He needs to dust himself off, learn some lessons and get back at it. His future is bright.

Happy to shine some light on a Sunday morning Dave. The truth is I am one of the people who thinks the Zips should run more. Most just want more running in order to "establish the run", which is stupid. A team should run to establish more scoring, not for the sake of establishing something that doesn't lead to points. The Steelers showed America last week what "establishing the run" does by rushing for a lot of yards and not scoring. It's a stupid way to approach football in 2014 at any level beyond high school. I want more running in a way that ties running and passing together better than the staff currently does. By better, I mean the execution of big plays that lead to at least a shift in field position if not a quick score. It's about scoring in 2014. However, the lack of running isn't the reason they lost yesterday. They had their chances late and didn't execute. Execution in the clutch separates good teams from great teams. It was really that simple.

Today's lesson is an old one, but in need of repeating after the loss yesterday. The subject is, "How to win a MAC game?". This lesson applies to football and basketball. Typically, there are two steps to winning a football game. Step one, win turnovers. Step two, big plays and scoring off of big plays after turnovers. Step three applies to the MAC, Wait for the the other team to poop their pants. OU executed on all three steps yesterday. OU created more turnovers yesterday than we did, 3-2. One resulted in a score off of a turnover that won the game. The other ended the game. OU scored on a 49 yard pass their first series of the game. As far as I could tell, it was the only play over 40 yards yesterday so they had the only big play and it resulted in a TD. At this point, I'm sure the Zips felt a rumbling in the upper bowels, but they were probably hoping it was just a fart. As the game progressed, Akron almost never had the lead, which is extremely dangerous when you are trying to win on the road in your division. I'm sure throughout the game, it became apparent those bowel rumblings might be more than a fart. A player or two might even have sharted in their pants prior to the middle of the fourth quarter. Akron gets the ball with 4:01 to go and their bowels are in complete upheaval. Sure enough, Pratt fumbles. Then the defense can't force a long field goal try and worse,they give up a first down and Akron is forced to use a timeout. OU kicks what amounts to the winning field goal. Akron gets the ball back and with a large amount of poo in their pants with more to come and can't go on a scoring drive. There is one more turnover. Game over. Lots of complaining about play calling. Here is the fact of the matter. Play calling didn't have a direct impact on losing the game. Akron had the ball with 4:01 to go in a tied game and pooped their pants. Just when we thought they might be done pooping their pants, they had one more opportunity to at least tie the game with a FG and released one final, pants staining movement into their pants. I'm sure Kevin O'Connor had his work cut out for him last night. All of the bitching about play calling and not establishing the run, blah, blah, blah is just static noise around the fact that when they had their opportunities to win the game, the players didn't execute. This behavior is no different than when people bitch about KD's offense after a two point loss that included six missed layups. It ignores the real reasons for losing and replaces it with fantasy. When you are playing for something (ie: the MAC East Championship) you need guys who have "been there". We don't have any of those because it's been years since we have had anything to play for. Since we don't have anyone who has "been there", we at least need experience and someone who is accustomed to winning AND a guy that the team wins around. That guy wasn't on the field yesterday for good reason. Pohl may not be the best QB in the world, but the team was 8-3 with him as starting QB in the last 11 games. They lost to a below average team yesterday without him. There is something to be said for guys who win games and the team wins games around Pohl. It's sort of one of those intangible things that can't be measured. The sooner he can get back on the field, the better. Winners win. Woodson IS going to be a good QB for the Zips some day. He just needs some more off season development. Yesterday, he was just another back-up freshman QB. I hope he isn't too down on himself today. In summary, OU had the one big play, won turnovers and waited for the Zips to poop their pants. It was a text book example of how to win a MAC game.

Friends, Tomorrow, I will explain to everyone exactly why this game was lost. Here are some hints: 1. OU followed the fool proof method of winning a MAC sporting event. 2. Turnover margin. 3. Big plays, or the lack thereof. 4. The importance of veteran players. 5. Things that seem like they should matter, but they really don't: A discussion of direct vs. indirect causes of losing. (most fans don't understand what really causes losing...numbers one and two above are good direct causes) Thank you and have a nice evening. Respectfully, The Great GP1

They moved him around a little last week and I think it took some pressure off of him. I would like to see more of that this week. Could be the wrinkle the Zips include in the offense that has not been heavily filmed this season. Could catch them by surprise, get a couple of early scores and ride out the defense with a late TD and some field goals. With a full week as the #1 QB, Woodson should be better than last week. Let's make certain we don't duplicate what the Jets did last night. Need to score points.

The floor is open for nominations.

The start time is not impacting attendance in a significant way. One could also say that there are those who prefer afternoon games because they don't want to spend a Saturday night at a football game. Everyone has to make choices. One of the choices people who want to have children need to make is how it will impact what they like to do on weekends. In any event, this isn't the real problem. Attendance is bad this year for a good reason. We may not like the reason, but it is valid. The Zips were not very good last year. Minor league baseball teams and schools like Akron live and die on season ticket sales because it guarantees a sold seat regardless of the product. So, if you got an advertisement to buy 2014 season tickets, what would you think? Many would look at the following: 1. The Zips are an up and comer, but still a little unknown. 2. A 5-7 record doesn't inspire them to buy tickets. 3. Tuesday night games in November. While I was disappointed in the crowd size Saturday, I understand why. If the Zips continue to have the type of season many of us believe they will, fans should be extremely disappointed if the season ticket sales and thus attendance is still bad next year. Reasons 1 and 2 above would be eliminated. The only question is whether or not reason 3 is the crushing blow to MAC attendance I believe it is. If anyone wants people to believe the MAC product is exciting and worth shelling out hard earned money, playing games on Tuesday nights on national television in November in front of EXTREMELY small crowds is not a way to position your product.

Well, it's prediction time. This week offers a unique prediction because one of the key elements for Zips failure in Athens will be in play this week. One could say it has become part of Zips tradition at this point. The jinxiness of ZipsWin! as it relates to losing IN Athens is well documented and will be in play this weekend. I see two scenarios in which this this jinxiness will impact the team. The second is how to lessen some of the jinxiness which will result in a Zips victory. The documentation of ZipsWin!'s jinxiness is probably understood by the football team and basketball team at this point. I envision something like the Zips running out for the game all fired up. Upon arrival to the bench prior to start of the game, they notice ZipsWin! in the stands and all of their shoulders slump as the sense of doom washes over them. All confidence and momentum lost. If that happens this weekend, the score will be OU 20 - Akron 10. How do we lessen the jinxiness? I only see one scenario where this could be the case and it involves a costume that will allow ZipsWin! to function in plain sight while shielding the team from his attendance. Specifically, a Mariachi costume complete with over sized mustache, large hat and very large acoustical bass guitar...or a violin, either will work. If ZipsWin! deploys the "Costume Shield", the Zips win 17-13. If not, prediction one will be accurate.

Thanks Coach Faust.

God...I wish it was that simple.

Houston... We have a problem.

How many interceptions has Pohl thrown all season?

Does that tuxedo he is wearing come with a generator and extension chord, or were those items rented separately from Mens Warehouse Hardware?

Listening to a guy scream into a microphone gets me excited as watching an NFL player do a TD dance...it doesn't. It's stupid and is entertaining for only the smallest of minds. A university is supposed to be about big things and ideas. We've lost sight of what the games and sports exist for...to help develop young adults into productive citizens. If a video was presented about a player from any sport winning an award for public service, I would have a sense of pride about the school. This sort of thing brings out the better nature in people. They could also have videos about alumni members who have spent years supporting various programs. Use the entire day to market. Start with areas where players from various sports sit and meet the public. Specifically, have some items for the players to sign for kids and take pictures with them. During media time outs, have the players from one sport at a time stand on the field and do a little presentation about them and then let people know where they can buy tickets. During another media time out, do it with another sport, etc. Announce their names so people can put a name to a face early in the year. This really isn't that hard. Going back to the public service award. Let's say a member of the WBB team wins a public service award or is just given public recognition. Give her a plaque at the end of when they do the presentation on the WBB team. Set it up so she will have her photo taken with her coach, the AD and even her parents if they can make they game. I think it would be nice for a young girl who is interested in basketball to meet one of the Lady Zips, have her picture taken with her and then see her stand on the field with her teammates getting an award for something. Might even inspire that girl to ask her parents to take her to some games. It can be about selling tickets, or it can be about much more. What I outline in the three paragraphs above are the basics for what goes on at most other schools. Almost every weekend in the fall, I go to a college football game somewhere. This Saturday I am going to go to the Syracuse vs. Wake Forest football game. They will do exactly what I outline above. I've been to games at Duke, they do the same things. I've been to games at NC State, they do the same things. I've been to games at Clemson, they do the same things. I've been to games at South Carolina, the do the same things. One can sense the pride the alumni in the stadium feel when they watch a video of a basketball player going to a local hospital to sign autographs for kids who have serious illnesses. So, is it really about attendance, or is it about reminding people in the stands exactly what the event is really for and then paint an even bigger picture for that person about what the Athletic Department is doing to stand out? A guy yelling at me to stand up and cheer makes me want to sit down an boo (always doing the opposite)...in fact, it makes me feel like I am sitting at a minor league baseball game and I hate minor league anything. A person getting an award for volunteering makes me want to stand up and cheer. Again, tradition is built on pride of the accomplishments of the school and people in and around the school. Let's shout that out to people instead of shouting out orders to stand up and cheer.