GP1

Great post. I think the endowment could easily happen....Hell, it only takes $10,000 for an endowment. I don't think Nike or Coke are ever going to sponsor an arena. LBJ has pull, but not that much pull. The day he retires is the day he is cast aside by Nike and Coke for the next "King". LBJ works for them, they don't work for him. A degree from UA? Maybe some day, but there is really no need for it. LBJ will support UofA on the margins, but never the level some think he should....I'm not even sure why he should support it.

Do you really think it is the responsibility of the coaching staff to update the web page? No, but it might be their responsibility to create a current roster to give to th athletic department so that they can update the web page. Do you think they really don't have a current roster that the web master could request? Doesn't this go back to Gozips.com sucks? Yes. Is there any other D-1A web board in the country where the head coach is being questioned for the schools official site not being updated? Does Tressel or Mack Brown or Butch Davis get blamed when their web page is not updated? It just amazes me sometimes. Our coach gets blamed for the web site not being updated and not having a golf outing. He gets no credit for having a womens day. We just think so small time. It's no wonder we are what we are.

I haven't read the article. The questions I would like to know are: 1. Do you believe the ESPN special was over the top and would you do it again? 2. Do you understand why the ESPN special would lead some to believe you are a self-absorbed jackass? 3. Do you plan on firing the clowns you have managing your career or do you think their idea to have the ESPN special was a good one? 4. Do you ever plan on marrying the mother of your two children or do you stay single so you can bang girls in every NBA city? 5. If you win a ring in Miami, do you believe it will be tainted because you were Wade's wingman and you couldn't do it on your own? I would love someone to ask those questions. I've never really held leaving Cleveland against LBJ. He is grown man who can do whatever he wants to do. I think the way he did it tells a lot about him and I think we are going to find out a lot more about him when he settles in Miama.....and I think a lot of it may not reflect in a positive way on him.

Do you really think it is the responsibility of the coaching staff to update the web page? No, but it might be their responsibility to create a current roster to give to th athletic department so that they can update the web page. Do you think they really don't have a current roster that the web master could request?

Do you really think it is the responsibility of the coaching staff to update the web page?

Please! Don't ANYONE tell GP-1 that Gozips.com is in a rebuilding phase! Do we ever stop rebuilding?

If he wins, it doesn't matter where he went. If he doesn't win, it will be something that matters far down the list of things that matter, yet don't. Coach I coached for Charlie Weis and Weis went to Notre Dame where he didn't play football. Weis may not have been a good head coach, but he is still a well respected coach and it doesn't matter that he didn't play at ND or in the NFL. Edit: K-Roo made this point above before me. Didn't see it. Bill Bilichick played at a small D-III school in New England and is one of the best coaches in the NFL and probably the best coach of his generation. I don't think that all of the guys on the Patriots are looking at his Super Bowl rings and saying, "Why would I listen to that guy? He didn't play at a D-I school." I think the guys who looked down their noses at Owns should be ashamed considering they were stealing their scholarships. There is a good point to be made in all of this. From reading his posts, ITZ played around the last five years of the Owens disaster, which followed the Faust disaster and predated the JD disaster (one disaster after another...see the trend?). ITZ saw first hand how quickly a coaching staff can fall apart and players lose the respect of them. Owens ran into the exact problem with hiring and retaining good coaches after his fourth season. JD had the same problem and Faust had the same problem. Owens, Faust and JD all had their best coaching staffs in their first 4-5 seasons. After that, the writing is on the wall that you won't be around for long and you end up hiring coaches who were not as good as your original staff. Staff members from the first 4-5 years all three previous coaches have done well after leaving Akron. The coaches from the later years either went back to coaching high school where they came from or went away not to be heard from again. I could list a bunch of guys from Faust's first 5 years who are at BCS schools and in the NFL coaching today. Player talent and coaching during the first 5-6 years of Faust were better than at any time during the D-1A era......and then the wheels fell off....... in a hurry. Both JD and Owens have guys from their early staffs at big time programs. Akron is a good place to cut your teeth. The point is, Coach I needs to win in his first 3-4 years or it all starts to unravel beginning with the coaching staff. It is critical the Zips win sooner rather than later. If you lose and assistant coaches start to leave, it is one of the major signs of a program being in trouble. Some coaches on the staff will leave after next year. UofA will be a place for them to collect a pay check until they can find a better paying job in a better conference. Get over it, that's the way it is.

I mentioned one time I get a publication from Wake Forest called Gold Rush. You can't find this on line. It is about Wake athletics. I'll type a bit of information from it about Wake soccer since some of you are going to the game. Below is typed word for word. Deacons at a glance 2009 record 17-4-3 (5-2-1 in ACC) Coach: Jay Vidovich (225-87-31 in 16 years at WF) Key returnees: Anthony Arena (So., D/MF), Akira Fitzgerald (Sr., GK), Andy Lubahn (So., MF) Key losses: Corben Bone, Austin da Luz, Ike Opara, Zach Schilawski Outlook: Four members of the Deacons earned All-ACC recognition last year, and all four of them are now in MLS. Yet the National Soccer Coaches Association of America picked WF No. 3 nationally in its preseason poll. That's a testament to the program, the system and the talent depth that has set a benchmark for years. Vidovich said the group showed energy and ambition in its early practices, but if they stay steady and just grow, they figure to be among the elites in college soccer again.

This is a good deal for UofA.....not great, but good. Regional television is about the best avenue the MAC can get. Tuesday and Wednesday night ESPN games have not been good for the MAC and this is a step in the right direction of getting away from that disaster. Like DrZ said. This is a good deal for the schools. Now the schools have to live up their end of the deal and provide quality entertainment for those watching the games. If the games are good, it will increase ticket sales.

Or, one develops a following because of their greatness.....as long as we are exploring Vulcan logic.

Someone mentioned BBQ around the WS area. Go to Lexington to either Smiley's or Speedy's. BBQ in the south means pork. Chopped BBQ is what a lot of people call pulled pork. The special in Lexington is the sliced BBQ. I recommend the sliced in Lexington. Try it without the sauce and see how good the flavor of the pig is before you put sauce on it. It may not need sauce. Placing the meat on a bun is a no-no. The bread takes away from the flavor of the pig. Knife and fork only.

It's hard to tell from this photo. She looks like an old hippy woman from Asheville.

This sounds like an overwhelming public demand for the Great Gee Pee Wan. People know a good thing when they see it. Let's face it....Captain Kangaroo pays for this board, but the Great GP1 owns it.

The Great GP1 will not be attending. Going to the mountains for the weekend. To be honest, I wouldn't drive across the street to watch a college soccer game let alone 70 miles to Winston-Salem. Go to downtowon WS and start at the Mellow Mushroom. It is kind of in the center of the "things to do" area of the city. Pizza is good. Walking distance from Marriott and Embassy Suites. If you want to go to a really good BBQ place, go to a place called Gadzooks (I think). It is on the street that runs between the basketball arena and the football stadium up the hill on the same "block" and side as the football stadium. You will have to drive there as the bb arena and fb stadiums are off campus a few miles. Jim Noble has a great place to eat in WS as well. Eat a good dinner and go to the Fox and Hound across the street to watch sports after dinner.

I know alot of Cuse fans are staying north of Akron in Macedonia next to I-271. I've driven through the area and looks pretty nice. Any good late night restaurants around Macedonia that will still serve around 11pm? BTW, so where is "The Valley"? anyone have a street intersection? I googled it and it looked to be pretty far out in the suburbs. Directions to the Merriman Valley, from Market Street on the northern edge of campus So this is the place? Yes. Papa Joe's is a very good place to eat if you like Italian. My wife and I lived just above that in west Akron by Stan Hywet Hall and we used to go there all the time.

I know alot of Cuse fans are staying north of Akron in Macedonia next to I-271. I've driven through the area and looks pretty nice. Any good late night restaurants around Macedonia that will still serve around 11pm? BTW, so where is "The Valley"? anyone have a street intersection? I googled it and it looked to be pretty far out in the suburbs. I would tell your friends staying in Macedonia to change their reservations to this Courtyard in Stow. Macedonia is a nice place, but I don't think it offers much of what you are looking for. The Courtyard is off of Rt.8 which you will need to drive to get to UofA. Around there is a Brubakers and a Skyline Chili. There are other places as well. Within walking distance if you have been drinking. It is not much further south than Macedonia...just a few miles that you have to drive at some point. Remember, be safe. A DUI in Ohio results in a 3 days in jail. We want you to come back to Ohio, but not for that reason.

I will take great on some plays and average on others. It could be much worse. Give the kid a chance. He is a true sophomore. Give the kid a break. I don't know how good the kid can be. This is the year he must make huge strides. I still have to see his accuracy and we won't know that until the bullets fly for real. I also want to see how he plays in the MAC. Let's say he does look great on some plays and average on other plays. Average to great is a good range for a MAC player to play in. That's good enough to win in the MAC. I think this kid has enough to win in the MAC. He just needs to win. Fans give all sorts of reasons for teams not winning. If the players execute, you win. If the players don't execute, you lose. The one constant over the past 20+ years in D-1A for Akron has been the inability of players to execute. It's not about stadiums or coaches or athletic directors or any other reason fans like to give. Sports are about the players on the field. Our players need to play and win. Period.

100% of all marketing efforts should be put into selling tickets for home events. Bus trips are a waste of effort for the marketing staff. Stay focused on selling tickets for home games. Next year when they play at tOSU, reserved season ticket holders from 2010 should be able to purchase tickets at a 1:1 ratio for this game as long as they re-up their season tickets. Those who want to just buy tickets for this game should be required to purchase five general admission tickets for every game for every one ticket they get for the tOSU game. I don't care how they do it, just make it so the tOSU fans masquerading as Zips fans have to pay at least $600 to go to this game.

Cuse is getting their first Chipotle soon...about a mile from the campus. BTW, to the poster above...I'm not in my 20s but wanted to get info for the younger fans coming to Akron. It is frequently the case that a city must update their sewage system prior to opening a Chipotle. Maybe that was the case.

From the looks of your post, my guess is you are in your 20s. I'll leave the downtown bar scene picks to the younger ZipsNation members. If you are going to list this on the Syracuse board, your readers should know my picks below are probably for the "not interested in the bar scene" crowd...older folks who like good food without all of the drunks. If you want something really special, go to Lannings. It is the best steak place around. I actually think it is the best steak place in Summit County. You will need your own car. If you are coming with your wife/girlfriend, she will love the place. Dockers and button down shirt minimum. Diamond Grille is overrated. Ken Stewart's Grille is another good local Akron place. Used to be much better than it is now, but still good. Great cocktail bar. Away from campus. Crave is the best place to eat downtown and technically, you could walk there from the stadium but I would advise driving. I lived on the west side of Akron and my wife and I used to love to eat at Gasoline Alley. Great deli food and really good specials. Off campus and will need a car. If you are walking around campus on Friday around lunch, go to the Martin Center and eat in the restaurant in the basement. Really good food. If you are looking to knock off 3-4 hours, a tour of Stan Hywet is always interesting. The Seiberlings built the place and they are the people who founded Goodyear Tire and Rubber. If the Biltmore is a must see in Asheville, NC, then Stan Hywet is a must see in Akron, OH. If you feel like taking a walk in the country, drive up to Peninsula, OH and rent some bikes or walk part of the Towpath Trail. Walking about a mile north and a mile south is a good trip. You could eat lunch at the Winking Lizard or Fishers (is Fishers still in business?). Only about 30 minutes at the most from campus. Take the interstate there and don't drive through the Valley. When you drive through the Valley, you drive by the sewage plant and it smells like a....well......a sewage plant. I would recommend anyone staying a night or two to stay in west Akron/Montrose. Close to Cleveland if you want to see the Rock and Roll HOF, but it is still basically in Akron. Anything you may need is within 4 miles of the area. Enjoy your trip.

Great topic!!!! I don't know the answer, but how many above were starters last year and how many are new starters?

What's holding us back is our own stupidity. We would be just as stupid in another conference.

We will never be a big time football power....period. What decent football conference would want a team like ours in their league? By the time we ever get to the point where we dominate the MAC, college football will have changed into something other than what it is right now. Those changes are not going to include UofA in the highest level. Let's dominate the MAC and then see what happens. Moving just to make a move is suicide.

Boise State's OOC schedule is as follows: VA Tech (BCS) in Washington DC where 90% of fans will be VA Tech fans. @ Wyoming Oregon State (BCS) Toledo That is a stronger OOC schedule than most BCS schools play. Our schedule is too heavy with BCS schools and should be revised so we only play one per year. Wyoming would be a perfect OOC game for us as would other schools from their conference.

They could call it "Astrooturf".......................that is one terrible joke............