GP1

InfoCison is nice, but is still probably one of the smallest stadiums in D-IA.KD has been here for a few years now and the same crowds still exist. LBJ has loose connections at best with UofA. He has bigger fish to fry.Zeke..... Weren't we saying Frye for Heisman a few years ago?My guess is Walt Harris wanted something to do while his house is being remodeled.Soccer program - Not enough people care about soccer.Major campus improvements compared to what? Everyone is growing their campus.Zippy - Nobody really cares.Rebrand Fear the Roo. How about eliminate?What if instead of all the above, UofA and the MAC produced a product people wanted to go see? I'll say it again, you can't assume your customers are stupid.

Or, maybe the Steelers knew Russ Grimm was a big meathead who couldn't hold the big chair.....The Steelers have a stable organization, hired Tomlin then forced him to do things the Steelers way. There hasn't been radical change with the Steelers since Tomlin entered the scene. For example, Tomlin is a 4-3 defensive coach and the Steelers are 3-4. They made him coach with the 3-4. They also forced him to keep the existing defensive coordinator on staff. What Tomlin brought to the Steelers was much more intelligence than Cowher and he got away from being a "players coach" to the ball buster the Steelers needed to get over the hump. The best thing Tomlin did was bring in an offensive coodinator who has a reputation for putting points on the board. The Steelers were not winning championships with defense, they were losing them with defense. They won with offense like all championships are won. What does this mean for the Zips? UofA needs to bring in someone who shares Dr. Proenza's vision for the University and is willing to work in that framework. Just like the ownership of the Steelers forced Tomlin to do things their way and not his way.

I honestly think that will save his job 7-5 will not cut it. 5-3 in the MAC will not save his job. JD will have to run away with this to even be around next year.Going 7-5 as a MAC school is about the same as going 9-3 at a BCS school. Most schools would be happy with 9-3. Only the Alabama's, USC's, Florida's of the world get upset with 9-3. 7-5 is good enough at a MAC school. We would look absolute idiots firing the only coach to take us to a bowl game, and two at that.

The same thing happened to Chase Blackburn. It's about getting with the right team at the right time.

Wisconsin recently hired a play-by-play guy to be their AD. I can think of one guy right now who has been at the University his entire career and has had a track record of success at each position he held. He has also worked in Athletics before, but I think an encounter with sanity drove him out into a better part of the University. I'm thinking about George Van Horne. He is well respected within the Univeristy, has fundraising experience, worked in Athletics, was a former student athlete and is pretty smart so he would make a good manager. Just a thought...... He would be nuts to get back into the rat race that is Athletics, but just a thought.

The problem is not concentration of teams, it is too many teams. Get rid of Buffalo, Temple and N. Illinois and make everyone play everyone every year. Create competition. Eliminate the MAC Championship game. The winner of the regular season, after playing everyone else in the league, is the one with the best league record.

Right now, the MAC is all the things you describe. They can't change low level, because the NCAA is now designed for them to be low level.What the MAC can change is boring and producing a product people want to see. If you want people to watch your games, play when it is convenient for people to go. If you want people to think the league is "big time" don't schedule games for when nobody can attend and the stadiums are half empty. Tuesday and Wednesday night games are killing the league. Night games in general are bad. Play on freaking Saturday afternoon starting between noon and 2:00.Another thing hurting the MAC is the top teams used to win with late game scoring and execution. Now, teams are a lot more likely to blow games than grasp victory from the jaws of defeat. People find late game heroics entertaining and not boring. It's up to the players to do this though.How does UofA joining C-USA help C-USA? I do not think it does. Adding bad teams to an already bad conference does not make a bad conference good. Adding Marshall has not been good for the league. In fact, it has made Marshall a bottom feeder in the league. Marshall was a very good MAC school and had no business joining C-USA. In the two sports that count, MBB and FB, we would get killed in C-USA. Making the jump to C-USA for the soccer team is just foolish. While the soccer team is the best program in the Athletic Department, most people forget about it the day after the season ends.

It was my pleasure. I figured an important topic such as this needed the best poster on the board to start it.

Hunter goes public with this comment. I have to admit, this is what I am looking for in a candidate. This is a pretty aggressive move for a candidate to take. There is no doubt in his statement.Interestingly enough, I know a guy here in the Charlotte area who is both a friend and a business associate. We have known each other for a while and just kind of stumbled upon the Hunter conversation at lunch a couple of weeks ago. This guy knows Hunter well and they went to school together.Seriously, if we promote that guy I will be incredibly disappointed. The biggest jump we ever took in marketing was under Waddel. NOTHING happened before that, and imho, NOTHING much has happened since. I'm not saying Waddel is the guy but I am saying HY is NOT the guy. I agree - do a national search. Greg Burke is one candidate I want to see involved:http://www.nacda.com/sports/div1aaada/mtt/burke_greg00.htmlhttp://www.nsudemons.com/ViewArticle.dbml?...;ATCLID=1368422He is from here, I know he still has family here, he has sat in the AD chair and apparently done very well. Compare his accomplishments to HY's. This is what we need to be looking for - experience and stability.Degree from Can't State.......maybe we need to continue the search.

The great GP1 is an excellent shot with a 20ga shotgun but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a rifle or a pistol. GP1 just doesn't have the patience for a rifle or pistol. I actually really admire what the rifle team does but since I know nothing about the sport, I stay away.

CK mentioned the other day we would debate Mack's legacy here at UofA. Well, let's get started with the most important opinion of all....GP1's.As a lifelong Steelers fan, I love stability. When I think of Mack, I think of stability. I don't keep close enough tabs on what goes on in the athletic department as much as I did when I lived in Akron, but everything seemed to function smoothly when he was there.Football - The easy thing to do the past couple of years would have been to fire JD. I absolutely hate constant coaching change (although this is a make or break year for JD). In my 40 years on this Earth, the Steelers have had only three coaches. I like stability. Keeping JD could have also been a result of not having the money to buy him out, but the way we easily roll up debt in this country Mack could have found a way around that. Mack has publicly stood by JD as JD changed his recruiting evaluations and now I think/hope things will turn around this season and we will at least be in the black in the win category. It isn't hard to observe the extremely high turnover in the MAC football coaching ranks to understand that it probably is not the best thing for the league or the schools involved.W. Basketball - Same as football.... It would have been easy to fire Coach Kest after a couple of seasons, but he didn't. Coach Kest has her hands more than full with that program and I think she is up to the challenge. Mack has provided a stable environment for her to make very difficult changes necessary for that program to win. I think they are going in the right direction. I think J. Kest is a very tough coach and that is exactly what the program needs. Kest understands that touchy feely does not win games and she booted the weaklings who were interested in things other than winning.M. Basketball - Mack basically allowed KD to do whatever he wanted to do with the program. That was a good thing. Mack didn't let ego get in the way of a good thing. Mack did his part with the program. Basically, the buses ran on time and that is all the next AD needs to do with the MBB program. Like any good administrator, make sure the buses run on time.Soccer - The program continues to do well. See "the buses running on time" above. I know Mack gets a lot of flack for the game moving from Akron to Chicago last year in the tournament, but some times the NCAA does things no AD can control. Please don't bring up changing conferences at this point. Conferences do not look to bring in good teams to their conference for only one sport. Only desperate conferences such as the MAC allow one sport only participation and it has been horrible for the league.Track - One national champion and a list of accomplishments as long as your arm. This program is doing well.Rifle - See track.Every othe sport - I could really care less and if the great GP1 doesn't care, neither should anyone else.Marketing - I don't like and have never liked the marketing approach of the athletic department. At least Mack got us away from giving away tickets to fill up the rotting mess that was the Rubber Bowl. Unless the MAC improves overall, it is going to become increasingly diffiult to trick people into spending their hard earned money to watch crap. The next guy really has his hads full. Priority #1, the Fear the Roo campaign is stale and was never an original idea of anyone at UofA. Think of something else that is original. If the next AD can't think of anything original, hire a marketing company to think of one for you.Alumni Relations - I have always had a good relationship with the development department from George Van Horne, Gary Bogue, Pat Kreger and Blair Danner. I moved away before getting to know anyone else, but I still stay in touch with Gary, George and Blair. I think they do a good job and even though some of them no longer work in Athletics, they are always happy to take a donation and very thankful for it. Money - I have no idea if they are making more money now or not. ISP was a long overdue addition to the Athletic Department and Mack can be credited with that. I'd like to know more about money.Grade - I think Mack gets a solid "B" for his efforts. He isn't the kind of guy who set the world on fire, but the Mike Thomas stacked the cards in his favor and he didn't do anything to misplay his hand.Stability was the key. Good luck Mack.

Hunter goes public with this comment. I have to admit, this is what I am looking for in a candidate. This is a pretty aggressive move for a candidate to take. There is no doubt in his statement.Interestingly enough, I know a guy here in the Charlotte area who is both a friend and a business associate. We have known each other for a while and just kind of stumbled upon the Hunter conversation at lunch a couple of weeks ago. This guy knows Hunter well and they went to school together.

If JD goes 7-5 and they go to a bowl game and then gets fired, the very next person who gets fired should be the AD who fired him. If JD gets 8 wins this year, he should get a longer contract and a raise. If they go to a bowl game, that is enough to keep him.

30-50lbs is pretty unhealthy, especially in a matter of 8 months. I would have to see it to believe it.Is he pregnant?

How about.........neither? Better yet, let's have a huge search for the position and see who is out there. We might be surprised.Would taking Waddell be a step back? I should watch what I say, my last comment signaled a PM from UAM that I have yet to read.... Should I read it or just throw it directly into the trash like all the other PMs I get on this board? Anyhow, back to the question. The answer is probably, YES. New blood brings in new ideas. I have never liked UofA's athletics marketing and I'd really like to have someone come in here and show an ability to execute a plan other than what they learned at some athletics marketing seminar. I really want a guy who is out in the public A LOT. I think that is important. Mack seemed to be a good enough administrator, but I don't remember seeing him or reading about him a lot out in public. Like I said, do a national search and if (God help us, they are nice enough guys) Waddell and Hunter are the best, so be it.

Does it matter?

Didn't Owens have three wins against I-AA teams in his last five years. Throw out three BCS loses the last five years and replace them with I-AA teams, and Brookhart has 30 wins. I'm not defending JD, I'm just trying to add perspective.

There don't seem to be too many minority ADs in college athletics in general. I wonder if that will be a factor?

Why do we want the guy everyone else keeps passing on? He has had a couple shots at a big chair, including here at Akron, and has not landed the deal.If we need a guy to bring in money, we at least need someone who can close a deal.

Yeah!! Its OSU fault!! I love people on here. If I have said it once, I have said it a million times......OSU has been the big school in Ohio from the beginning. They play on national tv every week. They are ranked in the top 10 every year. They play in an enormous sold out stadium every week. They play the likes of Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State, USC, Texas, etc... every year and play in big bowl games. They have names like Woody, Eddie George, Archie Griffin...blah, blah...They had 14 guys drafted in one year!!Akron has only been D1 for 20 years. We have had what?....2 or 3 winning seasons? We have been to one bowl game, which we lost to Memphis. We play in the worst conference in the country. We play teams like Can't State, Temple, Eastern Michigan, Morgan State and Buffalo every year. Up until now our stadium was a 30,000 seat decaying dump in the middle of a muddy field that we can't even sell out on a sunny day when we play our arch rival!! If we played on tv it was on ESPNU or Fox sports Ohio where nobody saw it. We haven't had as many players drafted in our history as OSU had in one year. I could go on and on.....Please....tell me why everyone should be all juiced up because we have a new stadium? You think because they live in Akron that they should abandon their generations of OSU fandome to root for Akron? My answer is why? Until we give people a reason to be excited, why should they be? A stadium is a good start, but it is only a building. Until we put year after year winners on the field, nobody will care. Say what you want, but that is the honest truth of the matter. We are excited because we went to Akron and we are sick of hearing about how we stink and are irrelevant. You can't make people excited and you can't make people care. Well, you CAN make them care. Its called winning and beating teams people know.Also, don't give me this "go away" speech. I dish out a grand a year for Akron season tickets. I am excited as hell for the season to start, but I am not naive enough to believe that everyone should be a Zips fan because they live in NE Ohio. I am also not blaming OSU for their success. That reminds me too much of class envy and I cant stand it.I can't really argue against the logic. In almost every metrix, OSU is probably better than UofA, but it might be important to look at other issues around OSU that may benefit UofA.1. tOSU can not beat a decent team to save their life. Fans are growing tired of this. Fans get tired of watching second tier teams.2. The talent level at tOSU is not as good as the big three conferences: PAC 10, SEC and Big 12. Fans get tired of watching second tier talent.The point is this, tOSU is putting crap on the field and if it wasn't for a steady dose of MAC teams, a horrible conference and a huge cheap shot of a UofMiami running back in the national championship game, Coach T. might just be shopping for fruit at the Upper Arlington farmers market every week with John Cooper.The product tOSU puts on the field is almost unwatchable and I think most consumers know crap when they see it. I was at the USC vs. tOSU game last year and it wasn't so much unwatchable as it was laughable. The MAC, and more specifically UofA, needs to put a quality product on the field to give the crap eating tOSU fans something to go watch that is entertaining. Most people aren't stupid enough to spend many more Saturday afternoons watching Coach T. run the ball into the line every play against really bad competition in low scoring games. I'm not saying the MAC needs to have as good of players as the Big Ten, they just need to be entertaining. I'm not saying UofA needs to win a no less than 8 games a year, that would be unrealistic. Just play good football and the fans and winning will follow.Consumers can only fool themselves for so long. Soon tOSU fans will finally admit they are a second tier team. It is fun to skip a third tier team like UofA to stay at home and watch a top tier team play if the top tier team is your favorite team. I think it is more fun to go watch a third tier team play than to stay at home to watch a second tier team like tOSU play.

I have no idea how seat selection works so maybe I shouldn't type this, but it looks concerning to me that there are so few seats sold so far. What am I missing?

I have season tickets to Wake games and there is no beer sold in the stadium. Lots of wine and cheese in the parking lot before the game, but none in the stadium. No ACC school allows booze sales at their games. I went to the ACC BB championship in Charlotte a couple of years ago and sadly enough there were not beer sales at that event either.If I thought the kids wouldn't get out of hand, I would be all for it. Kids will be kids though and frequently bad behavior follows. If they need to drink that badly, they should just do what I suggested before and have their girlfriends stuff mini-bottles in their bras before the game.One of my co-workers a Wake Grad said there were sales at Wake games. I'll mention this too him when I see him at work today.At one time they may have. I have only had season tickets the past two seasons.Of course they should allow beer not only for the monetary benefit to the school but let's face it you can go to Iraq and give your life for your country and you can't drink a beer at college footbal game there's something wrong with that picture...They can use the profits from the beer sales to support the public relations campaign, including billboards, they will have to run after drunken students shower the field with objects.I'm also glad to see we are fighting in Iraq to protect the right to drink beer at football games.....I'm sure it is somewhere in the Constitution.

Or much thinking at all......

I dare anyone on this board to surf the net to see who is playing back-up QB with each NFL team. When you do, please notify everyone on this board of which happened first:1. Vomit2. LaughterBrett Favre could actually start in the NFL next year. The guy stinks.Frye will be competing against Bruce Gradkowski for back-up. My team, the Steelers, has Charlie (Where's my wheelchair) Batch and Dixon (for crying out loud, I don't even know his first name). If Roethlisberger was hurt for the season the first game, they would be lucky to win four games all season. The point is this. A lot of negative things get written about Frye and he deserves every one of them. However, considering the level of "talent" at back-up QB in the NFL, there is certainly a place for him there. Hell, half the starters stink.I say good for Charlie. It is better than a real job and considering the state of the economy, it is at least a job.

I have season tickets to Wake games and there is no beer sold in the stadium. Lots of wine and cheese in the parking lot before the game, but none in the stadium. No ACC school allows booze sales at their games. I went to the ACC BB championship in Charlotte a couple of years ago and sadly enough there were not beer sales at that event either.If I thought the kids wouldn't get out of hand, I would be all for it. Kids will be kids though and frequently bad behavior follows. If they need to drink that badly, they should just do what I suggested before and have their girlfriends stuff mini-bottles in their bras before the game.One of my co-workers a Wake Grad said there were sales at Wake games. I'll mention this too him when I see him at work today.At one time they may have. I have only had season tickets the past two seasons.