GP1

You missed the point. The lack of original thought is what is so pathetic. It's a tired idea. I have a better idea that would drive more interest and attendance at UNCA games..... "Fear The Treehugger" The design would be a pot smoking hippie from Asheville choking a player from an opposing team for walking over a tree root. No lie. On the unca campus, a contractor can be issued a citation for running over a tree root with his vehicle.

I've made fun of university marketing departments for a long time because I think they don't have any original ideas and copy what everyone else is doing. I may have to take that back. Yesterday, I was at UNCAsheville for a pre-bid meeting and we had to walk through the basketball arena to get where we needed to go. I saw a poster on the wall that had one of the most creative and inspiring sayings on it I have ever seen a university put together. So, you may or may not know this, but they are the UNCA Bulldogs. On the walls, almost every poster said, "Fear the Dog". A great and creative idea.... What?... It is a copy of what?... Half the universities in the US have done what?....... Never mind......

So many streaks I'd like to forget....

Article This is something I didn't know and totally makes sense.

Article Probably the worst yet. AD loses money on selling beer to college kids. It would be funny if it wasn't for the fact these idiots make so much money.

It's different. The original was torn down. Google "The Odd Corner Akron" and you can images of the original being torn down. Brought a tear to my eyes.

I don't know if anyone watches Vice on HBO, but last night they had a great story on heroine and everyone should watch it. Story on Vice Episode Once someone becomes a heroine addict, there is a 9 in 10 chance that person will never recover.

See what happens when the Odd Corner gets razed in the name of the "building process". Guys have to go all the way to Medina County to rob a head shop.

It is very tragic. Crime rates seem to be going down in various categories and I hate to see one of our own cause it to go up. Hard to say why someone commits a crime like this. Sociopaths come from all walks of life and family types. It could be anything from he is an idiot to maybe there is some mental illness there that causes him to act out. If he is an idiot, good riddance. If he has some sort of mental illness that causes this problem, we should feel sorry for him and hope he gets well. If there are lawyers on the board, is the commission of a crime with gun in Ohio grounds for automatic jail time if found guilty?

Does aggravated robbery mean he used a gun?

Never. You will be watching your tax dollars support the house of cards that has been built. Americans should thank their local AD for this opportunity.

Still....no connection between winning and TV games.

You are right on the money. Throw in Boston College, Wake Forest, Miami, Baylor and Stanford. What do all of those schools have in common? All of them are private schools. The "building process" got so out of control that it now has to be financed with tax dollars. Without schools being supported by tax dollars, they are going to have trouble financing competitive football programs. Come to think of it, Northwestern, Duke, Vandy, BC, WF Miami, Baylor and Stanford might make an entertaining conference. It could be called something like The Big Ivy League.

Again, very strange logic and high school debate clubish. There are a lot of variables that come into play when a coach gets fired. Playing on ESPN is way, way, way down that list. Solich is the best coach in the MAC in terms of getting teams prepared to play and executing. OU isn't flooded with talent because of their espn games. In addition, he has an excellent recruiting strategy that involves using his network of coaches to find out which players BCS schools are going to take a pass on and getting them to come to OU. There is much, much more to the OU football program than playing on espn and I can't believe I have to explain it to one of their own.

I agree they are making more money than ever. The problem is they are spending it faster than they make it and nobody will stand up against the insanity.

The ncaa is a curse to everyone involved in it. It is truly the enemy within as it is a member institution and the members have turned it into the pile of crap it is. The bcs schools have seen the light and are actively discussing leaving the ncaa. They helped create the mess and now have enough money to get out of the mess. The non-bcs schools on the other hand.... bcs schools are now more than ever benefiting from what espn has taught them...which is, how to back up a Brinks truck and unload a bunch of money via television rights. even more, it has taught them that a conference can do better than a contract with espn by having their own network. even better, conferences can have their own network AND back the brinks truck up and unload some network money. they couldn't have it any better. the onset of conference networks was the final nail in the coffin of d-1a illusions for non-bcs conferences. some might say non-bcs schools have lost the battle. that isn't true. the non-bcs schools have lost the war and really need to have their own "Reconstruction" in the aftermath of this loss. the really good news is, world of possibilities exist out there for us if we would just take advantage of this opportunity. far brighter days are ahead of us if we take advantage.

Again, why does this have to be an either/or conversation. There is no reason cow tipping couldn't be integrated into tailgating before football games in Athens.

I don't have hostility towards the MAC. We can do better. I think the MAC, and conferences like the MAC, have sold themselves short of their full potential for years. When I say sold themselves out, I mean the Presidents and ADs (in order to pad their resumes) have sold us a bill of goods that is not good for the athletic departments of the universities or the general well being of those universities. Maybe the mothers of the MAC Athletic Directors and MAC commissioner see the league as smart and forward-thinking, but the rest of the country simply doesn't see it that way. If they were smart and forward thinking, they would be hanging their hats on things other than ESPN and at least one butt kicking a year by a BCS school to get exposure and become part of a real discussion about college football. If we were smart, we wouldn't be getting out paced by the BCS conferences. We need to stop trying to pretend to be something we aren't. (Hint: MAClike conferences could get national exposure during a period of the year when BCS schools are getting limited exposure and they could also have a national championship game.)

What evidence is there that it does? I see a lot of junk math (sample sizes are too small to be relevant) being thrown around on this topic along with a statement from one coach who is too humble to say what a good coach he is. ESPN has been a curse to non-BCS programs and nobody seems to see it.

I actually agree they will pay less than fair market value, which isn't a good thing for the MAC. Do you think the BCS conferences would accept less than fair market value? MAC schools will have more money, but the bigger schools will have proportionally more money and the downward spin of the non-BCS schools continues. The ESPN game is a dead end game for the MAC. Unfortunately, the question is posed as an either/or one for the league and that is the beginning of the downward spiral. There are far more creative ways for non-BCS leagues to make money, get meaningful exposure and be successful. The only path the conferences seem to take now is to play a couple of BCS teams a year to guarantee two losses and to sell their souls to ESPN. I'm still at a loss as to how that is a good thing. Maybe someone could do a better job of explaining it to me that I have seen so far on this topic. I'm not bitter about how the MAC runs things...It pisses me off to no end and there is a difference between being pissed off and bitter. It pisses me of the league openly negotiates failure and tries to pass it off as success. It should piss every MAC fan off.

Wow, you still seem to give as much credit to TV as Solich's excellent coaching. Winning is the primary reason for playing games. Solich does an excellent job of taking MAC talent and molding it into a very good football team. It's too bad a Zips fan has to do the job of defending the OU coach. Where I would give credit to TV for some success of OU would be playing in the MAC Championship and bowl games. Winning puts teams on TV in big games so the winning is more important that the TV aspect. Which statement to a recruit would carry more weight?: 1. Watch us on TV this coming Tuesday against Buffalo. 2. Watch us on TV this coming Friday as we play for the MAC Championship. I'm going with #2.

You are correct. Every once in a while, the talent lines up. Last year, it was lining up for SC and the SEC took a crap on them with the schedule. It isn't unusual for a league to do that to a program like SC

"Cast-offs and wannabes"? Are you sure you aren't talking MACtion? The league above has better teams at the top, in the middle and in the sewer than the MAC (please exclude UNCC from my comment). Quality of existing product is more important than what real or imaginary accomplishments are out there. Nobody says, "Let's watch the Akron vs. WMU game because NIU was in a BCS game last year." (one they got run out of the stadium in). Getting into the Top 25 is an opinion of others and not basis for real results. or "Let's buy some pizza and beer and watch that EMU team. I want to grade out their left tackle and send my recommendations to the Browns." My point is, the MAC had one good year after several not so good years. If you are a network, the bad bet is betting on the MAC to continue to be good. The MAC could probably get a raise up to around $700K per team. The sad part is, for every dollar increase, the morons who run the athletic departments will increase spending on the "building process" $2 million.

Not true. Just about any game can be viewed now because of products like ESPN3, or whatever it is called and the ability of fans to watch games via internet. I can watch games on Saturdays via Direct TV that would never make ESPNanything. Television as we know it today is slowly but surely going to become part of the past as there are more and more methods of watching events. My wife works at a company with a lot of really young recent college graduates. You all might be surprised at the number of them who don't have a television and watch programming on the internet on a regular basis.

I would be hesitant to connect the dots between ESPN weeknight games and winning. OU is getting better recruits because they are winning and not because of ESPN. Our basketball team is better for the same reasons. The mother of a now former player said as much on this board. First and foremost, kids want to win. It is a mistake to believe ESPN holds the keys to success for teams. Teams make their own success. Why in the world would Solich give credit to ESPN and not his excellent coaching? Solich is a great MAC coach with a great recruiting philosophy that includes finding the best kids who are going to fall through the cracks at BCS schools, not a product of ESPN. I can't believe an OU fan would even give a little credit to ESPN. If OU was as good as they are now and played on the weekends, they would have much better attendance than they currently do because more people could attend games in Athens. I've been to games in Athens when they were good and playing on the weekends. Each time, the stadium has been near full, if not completely full. It is a great place to see a college football game on a Saturday afternoon when they are good. I would say the word MACtion is used to describe both high scoring games and the embarrassment of some of these Tuesday night games. Most people around the country couldn't name four MAC schools. My guess is they don't say anything bad about it because it is like watching the runt of a litter fight for the last spot on tit row...pathetic, but still sort of cute. It's more sympathy than respect. ESPN may be renegotiating because there is nothing else to put on TV in the fall on Tuesday night. They see a sucker in the MAC and will easily pick their pocket at rock bottom prices.