GP1

On Rasor's blog, they are having a discussion on ticket prices. This needs to be addressed before it gets out of hand on this board.IMHO, $20 is not to much money to spend on a ticket to a D-1A football game. $15 is not too much to spend on a GA ticket. I pay $33 per ticket to go watch an ACC team play.Someone mentioned that people are not able to pay their electric bills and they can't afford the ticket prices. First, it is horrible that someone can't pay an electric bill. Second, going to a football game is the least of the problems this person has and probably isn't high on their priority list. Lee Adams mentioned in his discussion about student attendance that kids would rather text and call one another on their cell phones than pay attention to the game. In the 1970s when he was in school, this didn't go on. Of course it didn't go on, fax machines were not even used in the 1970s. I'm not even sure push button phones existed then let alone texting. The first cell phones in the 1980s were the size of a suitcase. Kids text today, that's just the way they are. A casual walk through the student center around lunch would reveal probably 50% of the studens texting or talking on the phone.We are living in one of the worst economic times in the history of the US. It is what it is and $5 tickets are not going to change that. UofA can not create another generation of fans who think going to a UofA football game should only cost $5, or even worse free. The demand just isn't there at this point in history. Keep ticket prices where they are and when the economy picks up in a couple of years, they will be selling more tickets at a higher price point than $5.

Actually, the team has moved forward in many ways, especially in the talent department. Once JD is gone we should all feel optimistic about the future. The right guys will be on the field and they will be put in a better position to win. That's the good news. The bad news is there are still several games left to suffer through this season. The Zips are suffering through a bad case of mismanagement and that is more easily corrected than a case of no talent.After this season, I will be very optimistic about the Zips near future in the MAC. There is no reason we can't be the best team in a bad conference. The talent is there, the management is not.That is absolutely the most postive comment I've ever seen from you.Where is the real GP1 and what have you done with him? Thanks!At the end of this season, I will be composing one of my usually brilliant posts on why the fans of this program should feel bullish about the future (assuming a coaching change). It all starts with talent.

I like it! He turned 80 this summer. And would it have been more appropriate for Arnold to ride a motorcycle than a golf cart?? Thanks for your adult response Z.I.P. He actually looks great. I have a friend who is a member of Latrobe CC in Pennsylvania where Palmer is a member. He said AP is one of the nicest people at the club. Nobody dares to call him anything other than Mr. Palmer.The golf cart was donated to the school and he autographed it. It will be auctioned off over the next couple weeks on their web page. All money will go to their scholarship fund. Good luck with your bidding.

Last night I saw something at the Maryland vs. Wake Forest football games that surprised me in a positive way and you guys should hear about it. Not often am I star struck, but the person I saw last night was a great American sports personality and is universally respected throughout America. The reaction to this man by both teams was first class.Before Wake runs out on the field, they do a little "Open The Gate" presentation for the fans. A famous Wake graduate is selected to open the big iron gates or ride out on the back of a motorcycle when the team runs out. They give a background on the graduate and what they did at WF, everyone claps and the team runs out. I've seen Tim Duncan, Chris Paul, Muggsy Bogues (Muggsy is universally loved in North Carolina), Ricky Proehl, former coaches/athletic directors, etc. open the gate. None of them came close to the reaction the man last night received from the crowd and from both teams.This graduate was driven out on a golf cart because he is too old to run or ride on the back of a motorcycle, and when he arrived at mid field he got out of the cart to clap for WF. Spontaneously, a line of about 25-30 WF players and about 5-10 Maryland players went up to shake the hand of the man who Opened The Gate. Normally, only a few WF players will shake hands and none of the opposing team will shake hands. Even the head coaches shook the man's hand. I was shocked because this man is probably old enough to be the grandfather or even great grandfather of the players. Sometimes I wonder about the age of the players and what appreciation they may have for the people selected to open the gate because of the age difference. And the man was......Arnold Palmer. Here is to things you won't forget and good moments during tough times.

Great Three Stooges analogy.I hope you feel optimistic about the Zips future. Once the mismanagement is gone, the losing should be gone as well. The talent is there that is being wasted. I just hope Nicely doesn't transfer after the coaching change.

Actually, the team has moved forward in many ways, especially in the talent department. Once JD is gone we should all feel optimistic about the future. The right guys will be on the field and they will be put in a better position to win. That's the good news. The bad news is there are still several games left to suffer through this season. The Zips are suffering through a bad case of mismanagement and that is more easily corrected than a case of no talent.After this season, I will be very optimistic about the Zips near future in the MAC. There is no reason we can't be the best team in a bad conference. The talent is there, the management is not.

I agree...but it is tough to dedicate the time to smoking them.C'mon CK! It's a 6:00 kickoff.

Grilled ribs? Smoked ribs?

I can see what you are saying and I don't disagree. I've never really agreed with the marketing direction of UofA and I've left many brilliant posts on this board saying that.

Wouldn't it be funny if the Ravens played the Cleveland Browns in their old Cleveland Browns uniforms in Cleveland. And I mean old CB uniforms....like the white helmets they wore long ago.

This is what my senior prom date is doing today. Can anyone top this?

I told the kid petitions were naive and misguided but if he wanted to make some money off of it I thought it was great. My wife told me I was mean......

I met the owner of this page at the All Ohio Alumni outing in Charlotte last night. Young kid from OU.While I think things like signing petitions for a guy to stay in a city are silly, I'm all for this kid making some money off of the situation.

And with our eastern pull, we would be more attractive to the Big East...... Just kidding.....

This actually looks pretty cool. There are guys I know the names of from big time schools playing.I would love to see the NFL create a true minor league. I think it would be good for the NFL and for college football. NFL and college have become very different styles of play over the past few year and a minor league would better develop players for the NFL. It would also give the players who are only playing college football in order to make the NFL an option.

On your top toolbar, click on 'My Controls' then on the left, under options, select 'Board Settings'. You can fix the time from there, probably GMT-5:00, DST in effect (for now).I didn't have to do anything. Honest to God, two hours ago it was wrong and now it is right. I smell conspiracy...

Has anyone noticed that the ZN web clock is about an hour behind?

Have any of the people complaining walked on a job site in the past few year? The truth is, there are a lot of Mexicans working in construction in the US and the other part of that is they are the only people willing to work hard enough to assemble a building on time. It was not intended to be a knock. Sorry to the sensitive.As the guy who drops the "racism card" whenever you have the chance in discussions about talent level of suburban football players, you ought to recognize a sweeping generalization when you write it.My apologies to the kids in the suburbs. I had no idea how difficult their lives were....but then again, I did see The Breakfast Club when I was young.

Just for the record, the rules of the NCAA are such that only a lawyer can understand them. In fact, the University compliance officer for athletics is a lawyer. How do we expect a football coach to know 100% of the rules when I bet the compliance officer has to look them up from time to time. With that being said, there are going to be violations from time to time and that is what the self reporting process is for.OK, so there is a non-severe penalty associated with a minor violation. Tell that to Reno....

What evidence is there of this strategy working in the past 25 years?

Let's be honest, people were critical of Mack because he wasn't Mike Waddell. Those people were idiots. Unfortunately, a lot of them still post.People are being critical of the new guy because it appears as if his first big decision was a mistake.

Yep, I mean why would you tell a person who is just forgetting to put in one bolt in each car to completely stop what he's doing until they see if it's a problem?I hate to be the overreaction police again, but here it goes. If you forget to put a bolt in a car, someone can get killed. If you forget to use the right color pen, your company might lose it's ISO 9000whatever status and you get written up. Investigation is needed for the former and not for the second. From all accounts, Reno forgot to use the right color pen.

If our procedure is to suspend coaches for extremely minor violations while the issue is being investigated, we need to revisit our procedures.When the AD throws a young coach under the bus and leaves him hanging to the point that the guy has to resign, I don't see how he couldn't have his hand in it either directly or indirectly. I have a feeling the new AD has really stepped in it here by throwing probably the only coach that could be considered a "fan favorite" under the bus.Another question...If this guy is a marketing genius, how come he could not see an overreaction to a minor situation in this case as a public relations disaster?

Momma, on the one hand I agree that we are all speculating about what happened. It's a board forum, wherein people do that. On the other hand yours is the second post that infers that the new AD is up to no good, setting up an honorable coach in order to not only get rid of him but to supply the excuse for getting rid of the staff later on. I would suggest that you are speculating just as much on that point, and I would also argue that based on the Zips' performance on the field so far, the AD needs absolutely no "other" justification to let the entire staff go at the end of the season, beyond the simple fact that after 5+ years of JD and Co, the team is a disaster on the playing field. Why would Wistrcill need any more than that to remove any of the coaches at this point?STZFans sometimes think firing a coach is like firing a regular employee where it takes months of back-up paperwork to fire them. Inreality, there are "outs" in the coaches contracts that are exercised when they are terminated. They can be fired at any time for any reason.I'd also like to clarify that my brilliant question raised on this thread. It's not that the new AD is up to no good, it may be that he is an overreacter. If that is the case, I worry about the guy being the AD. If this indeed turns out to be nothing, the new AD has made a huge mistake with Reno. Will his next big exective decision be to suspend KD for throwing an empty diet soda can in the trash instead of the recycling bin? Let's keep an eye on this guy. Something smells funny and it may be nothing, but let's be careful.My problem is that this team has become such a mess that we don't know the extent of the problems at this point. Is it in the coaching? Are the right players being recruited? Are there other currents and undercurrents that are badly dysfunctional? I think there are three problems with the team and the mess is easy to clean up at this point because there is talent on the team.1. The Zips are like the Dallas Cowboys. They have a lot of talent and not all of it is a fit for what they are trying to do. The Zips recruiting in recent years was like an NFL team that drafts "the best player available" instead of what they need. Draft what you need, not what looks good.2. JD's LOYALTY made him keep the last OC around too long and he was a drop back/traditional offense guy who didn't know what he was doing with the new offense. There is no rythm to the Zips offense and it has been years in the making. Someone else needs to come in and get things straightened out.3. JD's STUBBORNNESS with the 3-3-5 has created a soft culture on the team. It's not that the players are sissys or anything, it's that they are not being put in a position to be successful. This 3-3-5 has made the defense a "soft" defense and the offense is unable to knock anyone off the ball because the only time they compete against a physical team is in games.The Zips badly need a culture change. The problems are not in the talent on the field. The only way to get a culture change is to change the coach because he is too loyal and stubborn to change it himself.

Momma, on the one hand I agree that we are all speculating about what happened. It's a board forum, wherein people do that. On the other hand yours is the second post that infers that the new AD is up to no good, setting up an honorable coach in order to not only get rid of him but to supply the excuse for getting rid of the staff later on. I would suggest that you are speculating just as much on that point, and I would also argue that based on the Zips' performance on the field so far, the AD needs absolutely no "other" justification to let the entire staff go at the end of the season, beyond the simple fact that after 5+ years of JD and Co, the team is a disaster on the playing field. Why would Wistrcill need any more than that to remove any of the coaches at this point?STZFans sometimes think firing a coach is like firing a regular employee where it takes months of back-up paperwork to fire them. In reality, there are "outs" in the coaches contracts that are exercised when they are terminated. They can be fired at any time for any reason.I'd also like to clarify that my brilliant question raised on this thread. It's not that the new AD is up to no good, it may be that he is an overreacter. If that is the case, I worry about the guy being the AD. If this indeed turns out to be nothing, the new AD has made a huge mistake with Reno. Will his next big executive decision be to suspend KD for throwing an empty diet soda can in the trash instead of the recycling bin? Let's keep an eye on this guy. Something smells funny and it may be nothing, but let's be careful.