GP1

We are looking around the corner, but have not turned. Around the corner is a tunnel. The tunnel has a light at the end. It's either a clear hole out of the tunnel or a train coming at us. The next few weeks will be instructive. If Joe stays and we do well next year with support from the University, I would call it turning the corner. If Joe leaves in the next few weeks, we face a coaching hiring decision without an AD in place and the machete of budget cuts ahead with not enough money to hire a decent coach. This could spell a coaching hire worse than iCoach. We are talking about Kent State level bad. That light at the end of the tunnel is a train at this point. Still think Joe should be fired?

I think I speak for a lot on this board when I say that I could not give a flying crap about this and would be just fine if all Zips fans didn't think about it anymore.

Tulane has 9 wins and has been good in recent years. They have historically been a horrendous program. If you think winning can't happen for us, you are kidding yourself.

OSUs check bounced.

Even if ESPN breaks even, they need to fill their airways with something and the MAC was dumb enough to take the bait. In addition, ESPN uses that time to promote their lineup of programing that draws more viewers and advertising revenue.

Great question. The answer is absolutely not. In no way shape or form is it better. The money is not helpful because the athletic departments are more broke than ever. If former athletic directors of mac schools had any self awareness, they would apologize to their former employers for the buffalo run they sent their schools on. The players are not as good. Where are players like Leftwich, Pennington, Frye, Blackburn, Roethlisberger, Hixon, Moss, etc? People say MACtion is a great brand. No, it is the brand of empty stadiums, ruined rivalry games, disinterested announcers and low quality play. The MAC is doing less than ever to make their schools a benefit to the athletes students alumni fans and general community around their schools. It's really disgraceful what has happened to the MAC.

So what? The juice isn't worth the squeeze. Edit: In addition, spare me the bad statistical analysis.

It's worse than I thought. The most to ever watch a MAC weeknight game is 465,000. We are destroying our league so at tops one tenth of one percent of Americans can watch the game? This isn't exposure, it's insanity.

Ten years ago I would have said it was unrealistic. Now I would have to say it isn't ideal.

It seems the new AD has the unenviable task of making cuts. Joe stays because it's impossible to make cuts and engage in a contract buyout at the same time, while at the same time shelling out money for a recruiting firm to find a new coach. Oh, then there is the cost of relocating a new coach. I would like to see Joe come back for one more season. If he fails after four seasons with a more favorable schedule, then it's time to part ways. There is nothing keeping Joe in Akron now. He could very well depart on his own. If he leaves and there is no AD in place...... I'd rather not think about that.

The win reminds me of a saying I heard once. "Determination is more important than discipline." Determination separates noon players from 1:00-4:00 players. A lot of players look great and disciplined during warm-ups, but when the game starts, they aren't good enough. We're they perfect, no, but I saw an Akron team that didn't just do the fundamentals well (Toledo is a good fundamentally sound team also) but was determined in the results of the fundamentals. For example, I mentioned to Mrs GP1, the luckiest woman in the world, that Akron was tackling well. Akron wasn't just putting themselves in position make tackles, they actually made the tackles. They made the blocks to get extra yards. They fought for extra yards with determination. The final play showed determination. Some may call determination something like a competitive spirit or having heart. Whatever it is, Akron had it until the end and won the game. Winning is not easy. Akron played MAC contender level good the past two weeks. They just need to play with that determination every week.

It's sports in general. Typically, if a team in plays fundamentally sound and will discipline, that team can wait for the other team to lose the game.

That was a big win. Great job Zips.

There's that sack I was looking for.

When is the last time Akron had a sack?

It's nice to watch a MAC kicker make a pop in his pants.

I don't think the Zips will win, but I do think they will not be embarrassed. I wasn't very impressed with Toledo the last time I saw them on television.

I love a contrarian viewpoint, but not in this case.

I don't know about nepotism, but it is probably more like a hungry young coach so eager to sit in the big chair that he makes a bad career decision. Duquesne is a historically bad program. I said months ago he would regret the decision.

I find myself speechless.

It's a program with high expectations. The past 20 years they have had 10 winning season and 5 minimum ten win seasons. They have struggled more in the past 10. The move to the American Conference hasn't been good for them. They seem to be having trouble finding the right guy to solve their bad administration decisions. That's a tough fix.

I think timing is the biggest issue right now. There are a lot of government hiring rules that have to be followed. Typically, a university hires a recruiting firm to sift through the candidates. I wonder if it is possible through a FOIA request to discover if a contract with a recruiting firm has been signed. If one has not been signed yet, firing Joe probably isn't in the works. If so, you may have your answer.

Next year Indiana will go back to looking just like Kansas this year.

Princeton makes the post season a lot. They also lose in the first round of whatever tournament they make a lot. I would like to see Akron play at least ONE team that has to play difficult games all year long.

Why?