GP1

It's going to take a lot more than an appearance by ZIPSWIN! in Lot 9 to draw fans to the game...

With Akron up 21-0, there was no shot for Howard to come back. There was too much of a disparity between the teams. What was it?...Practice.

This was a good game for the Zips and they should have won by much more, but not because they let off the gas. Akron was up 21-0 and the next time they got the ball, they went on a 12 play drive and got to the Howard 3 before not scoring and turning it over on downs. It was more of a missed opportunity than letting off the gas. Letting off the gas is a three and out, not 12 play drives. My guess is they knew there was no way Howard could beat them and the fourth down play was more of a chance to practice some goal line offense. Not a bad move by the coaches. If you turn it over on downs, you get the ball back and in good field position ready to go on another scoring drive, which they did. The next time they got the ball, they went on another scoring drive and did something that absolutely drives me nuts. They didn't execute on a 25 yard field goad. This is D1A college football. 25 yard field goals should be a guarantee. There is much room for improvement here. MAC teams rarely get beat by another MAC school...they normally beat themselves and not executing 25 yard field goals is a great way to beat yourself in conference play. After five drives, the Zips should have been up at least 27-0. That's a pretty good beating of another team through a quarter and a half. My guess is they could have beat them 60-0 had they wanted to and called off the dogs. This is why you bring a team like Howard in...so you can have a guaranteed win and get some practice in against someone other than your scout team before the real games start. Last night could be the game that gets the Zips into a bowl at the end of the year because they have that extra win. If it's good enough for the BCS schools, it should be good enough for us. Good job Zips!

Good post. Especially this last part. So, since you can't control who goes to games, focus on what you can control. The things you can control for a Zips game include, but are not limited to the following: 1. What time you get to your tailgate. 2. What you drink at your tailgate. 3. What you eat at your tailgate. 4. Who you associate with at your tailgate. 5. What you wear. 6. Do you want to take games to play at the tailgate (ie: cornhole)? 7. Time entering the stadium. 8. What you eat/drink while in the game. 9. What merchandise you buy. 10. And so on... As long as the University is providing the means and methods for fans to do these things as well as others, it can be a good day for anyone attending. As we can all see from the above "things to think about", fans have enough to think about without worrying about what everyone else does. Just have fun and don't worry about what everyone else does. Personally, the older I get, the few people I want in the stadium I am in. Why?...The world is full of idiots and the fewer people, the fewer idiots I get exposed to. I've actually gotten to the point where I won't go to an NFL game unless I can sit on the club level because there are much fewer idiots on in the club level than in the general seating. I'm glad to spend the extra money. Also, it's a "been there, done that" thing for me. I've been in full stadiums and I've grown indifferent to the size of crowds at arenas. Maybe DrZ sees it the same as I do. Fewer people equals less traffic, shorter lines at the bathroom/concessions, ease of moving around the stadium, etc. There is a certain luxury that I've come to appreciate to having a stadium all to yourself.

If they were giving out bobble head dolls consisting of 20% Lebron fecal matter, they would pack it in as well. Hell, people are so stupid they would go to a game if they were giving out bobble head dolls made of cancer cells.

Why is anyone surprised we have low attendance during a weeknight game? It's the story of the MAC. This is going to turn out to be a good team. If nobody wants to go watch them, then screw them. If they want to stay at home and watch the Browns play out QB Controversy 600, then fine. Browns fans have a unique way of never giving up that abuse. They need to make it a good experience for those who go. I hope everyone who went had a good time and you all have a good time the rest of the season.

Great photos!

Howard is a team of pre-law, pre-med and accounting majors. Advantage Zips.

I like to call this the "Let's see how bad we really suck option", or LSHBWRSO for short (pronounced les-hab-wer-so....It's Polish in origin). Two things none of us know are: 1. We don't know what we don't know. 2. We don't know what we have forgotten. LSHBWRSO is an example of not knowing what we don't know. Teams like these are going to be bad, but they don't know how bad they are going to be until the bullets really start to fly in real games. To throw a rookie QB into this situation is horrible for the guy so it is better to wait to see if it is possible to develop some protection schemes to keep the guy from getting killed mid season when fan/owner pressure becomes so great the team has to use him.

Good point. Didn't think of AA. Either way, worthy of the Hall of Fame.

I would have been more impressed if he gave us the median of those numbers divided by Pi and then supplied the square root of that number.

The best offensive lineman ever to play for the Zips. Is he in the Zips Hall of Fame?

This was a game I really wanted to go to, but won't be able to make. If you are getting tickets and being out of the sun is your primary consideration, get tickets on the Pitt side of the field. I have an oddly good feeling about this one.

His father played for Akron in the late 80s.

I like this. Not sure why they picked #7. #14 would be more appropriate because it is 2014. Next year, they could do another color with #15 on it...and so on.

I agree. There has to be some fun for the fans. Week night games are like having your balls put in a vice for three hours. Eventually, the pain is so bad that you black out before the end of the three hours. Not fun. I'm completely for foregoing the money for these games and passing the costs of the "building process" along to the taxpayers. It's basically what they are doing anyhow.

Good post Zach. I mention above the next deal will be worse than the current deal. Even if there is more money, I am right. If you are right, and you probably will be proven right, the MAC should be making at the high end. ESPN is desperate for content on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the fall. The MAC helps them fill that void. Another factor you are not taking into consideration is how much ESPN is making off of the 3 hour Saturday night program advertising our games are making for them. They use our games to promote the Saturday line-up. Basically, the MAC games are an advertisement disguised as a football game. These week night games are nothing more than money grabs at the cost of the long term health of the league. Since ADs and commissioners are more than willing to make the schools they "represent" suffer at the cost of their resume building, this should not be unexpected. Remember guys, the enemy is not ESPN. The enemy is the group of ADs, Presidents and commissions employed by MAC schools.

First time I've seen a team photo like that. I think I really like it.

They are soft and easily injured. He already has one ding. The rest should follow shortly.

Hell or High Watermelon Wheat I like a beer that is refreshing to drink and was shocked at how much I liked this when I had a glass last night. Liked it so much I had a second. Great summer beer.

Much of the success or failure of an offensive line is familiarity and cohesion. Looks like injuries may be cutting into the development of those two elements of this group. Depth doesn't matter unless the group can play in sync with each other. Not a lot of positive to take from the article, but there is still a long way to go between now and Week 1. Lots of time for improvement.

Interesting move to Arkansas and then a quick bail out. In the SEC, football is everything. The hiring of Bret Bielema will be a disaster. The third disaster in as many coaches...John L. Smith and Bobby Petrino. The writing may be on the wall for this AD and MW needed a soft landing because when the AD gets fired, everyone goes. One thing I find interesting is we have had two former "right hand guys" in the past 18 months leave an AD position for a lower level position at a BCS level school (MW and Hunter) with a former boss. I wonder if being an AD at a IAA school or lower is a career killer for someone?.?. I found Hunter to be a smart guy. MW was a hard worker, but I never thought he had much in the brains department. In every career, people find their level. Maybe this is the level Hunter and MW function at best. Ooops, what's this? Missed this. Wish I would have written this. The pock marked resume line is a classic and could be said about most people working in college athletics. MW always had a uniquely large self promotion streak in him. Article Looks like Waddell got into an argument with the Maryland Comptroller....and lost. Did I say something about not having much in the brains department? The abrupt trip to that poop hole in Arkansas was no upward career step. It's what survival looks like in college athletics. Hunter, on the other hand was smart. He made a decision to hire a football coach and everyone thought he was nuts to hire the guy. In two years, the guy went 8-5 and 12-3. Having the vision to hire someone unusual and then have that person be successful is a sign of real smarts. My God, if UofA would have only hired him in lieu of TW, we would be so much better off. Hunter didn't leave CCU with a stench.

Always on your horse coming to the rescue of the honor of tosu. Nice job LZip. One and all, please make this the last comment about tosu on this thread.

I'd have more respect for fans in your situation if you would just say, "Ya, our OOC schedule hasn't been the strongest and our conference is almost as bad. We haven't done very well against really good teams in recent years. It's something they need to work on."

Nobody, or you wouldn't pay that amount? I wouldn't pay it either. Many will if it is part of a season ticket package. It all becomes one cost and we were talking about ooc play. My Wake tickets for Gardner Webb are right around $50 ea (I have two tickets.). I'd gladly pay an extra $50-$100 ea to watch them play a real team regardless of the outcome. I pay around $700 a year for everything involved in getting tickets and a parking pass. Going from $700 to $800 isn't that big of a jump for the right competition. I'd gladly pay $250 per ticket to go watch the Zips in a bowl game if they could just freaking make one. If we aren't already there, the future brings three types of buyers for BCS level colllege football: A corporation, a well to do person and a person willing to use credit lines to pay for the tickets (probably very similar to NFL ticket holders.), which brings me back, once again, to the "building process". One thing we have learned from the "bp" is university Presidents and ADs have no problems with saddling existing students with high student fees, frequently financed through student loans, to pay for the "bp". If Presidents and ADs are so shameful that they are willing to do that to their existing students, what would they be willing to do to their alumni or the general population? The would have no problems with forcing the general population to finance tickets. They have already done it with building initiatives. Why wouldn't they do it for tickets? g-mann17, You are looking at college athletics through the lens of a completely sane and intelligent person. That automatically disqualifies you from working in college athletics. In order to relate to the enemy, you must think like the enemy. In order to lower your IQ to think like a MAClike athletic director, I prescribe a 24 hour Three Stooges marathon for starters and we will go from there.