GP1

As it stands right now, we do not need a new arena. As awful as the JAR is, it is not sold out except for a couple of games a year. When seasons start to get sold out, then they should look at building a new arena. There is no long term evidence in sports proving that "if you build it, they will come". They might come for a season or two, but when the excitment ends over a new arena, the big crowds will end. Let's see what football attendance is in three years. The last thing UofA needs is a top notch bb program with a 9,000 seat arena that sits half full for 80% of the home games.

Terry Pluto breaks out with another "The Little Engine That Could" article. Next, he will write an article in which he talks to himeslf.

As it stands right now, tOSU is a third place team at best in any of the top three conferences (PAC 10, Big 12 and SEC). They would be either forced to get better or be exposed for the fraud that they are at this point. tOSU would be luck to win 11 games in the scenario I propose. They could still make the playoffs though depending on their division.

Interesting thoughts...you've put some time into this. I don't agree with this, but I see your point. I think going to DI-AA will kill the program unless there is some defined way to step up to DI-A in your plan and it is actually possible to go DI-A. I don't have a solution to be honest. I just think we should consistently and convincingly win the MAC before even thinking about moving. Here's a thought off the top of my head to clear up the National Championship battle. Maybe some type of mandatory out of conferece games that match up the BCS schools with the school not in the BCS mid season. Like a Bracket Buster in BB. Each team would play away one year, and home the next year to eliminate the home field advantage phenomena of the bigger schools. This way when an undefeated MAC school has lets say, USC show up in town, if they win, we have a valid reference point.Actually, it didn't take much time at all. This is the second time I have posted something like this and it didn't take much time initially. To me, the direction college football is going lends itself to only a handful of team being able to compete at the highest level on a regular basis. There are lots of schools at the BCS level that never intend to compete at the highest football level. Duke comes to mind as well as Vandy as well as Northwestern as well as Baylor.This plan allows the NCAA to admit to what it is, a money making machine for large schools. The BCS schools would make even more money in this plan. Could tOSU make more money with an out of conference schedule consisting of the first place schools from the other divisions or by playing Can't, Akron, OU and some BCS school? I think so. They could charge out the ying yang for tickets to these games and make more money then pass that along to the players or to add another wing to their football factory. Heck, if you really want to make some money and you are already paying the players, have a 15 game season where you play your counterpart from the other divisions (first plays first, second plays second, etc.) home and home the following season. Then allow 16 teams in the playoffs consisting of the top four finishers in each division playing for a conference championship and then the final four play for the national championship over a two week period.The NCAA is always going to protect the BCS schools because that is where their bread is buttered. I'm not passing judgement, because I'd do the same thing if I was the NCAA. It only makes good business sense for them. The NCAA can't wait around for conferences like the MAC, that has been around since 1946, to figure anything out. When second and third tier teams start to threaten the dominance of BCS schools, the NCAA will change the rules again to protect the BCS schools.A lot of people will say this is just the rich getting richer and they would be right. The NCAA is there to make certain the rich get richer though. Why not just make the rich really rich and put them in a position where they don't play outside of their own conference and everyone else can play each other at their own level?I think a lot of the draw to college football is the fact that the National Championship IS up in the air for almost the whole season. OSU can pad their schedule with 7-8 home games a year and a couple cupcakes, make a ton of cash, and fans will be thinking they deserve the National Championship until they lose 2 games which is unlikey to happen until the last couple games. If you have to run the gauntlet every season, that anticipation could be gone early on. I agree, it would be too much like the NFL.Actually, the anticipation and excitment would be increased. Think about the NFL. Every year, there are a certain number of teams that are only 6-6 after 12 games and have a real good shot at making the playoffs based upon their remaining schedule. Lots of teams have made the playoffs with 9-7 records. Teams have won divisions with 9-7 records. The same would happen in my scenario.

Interesting thoughts...you've put some time into this. I don't agree with this, but I see your point. I think going to DI-AA will kill the program unless there is some defined way to step up to DI-A in your plan and it is actually possible to go DI-A. I don't have a solution to be honest. I just think we should consistently and convincingly win the MAC before even thinking about moving. Here's a thought off the top of my head to clear up the National Championship battle. Maybe some type of mandatory out of conferece games that match up the BCS schools with the school not in the BCS mid season. Like a Bracket Buster in BB. Each team would play away one year, and home the next year to eliminate the home field advantage phenomena of the bigger schools. This way when an undefeated MAC school has lets say, USC show up in town, if they win, we have a valid reference point.Actually, it didn't take much time at all. This is the second time I have posted something like this and it didn't take much time initially. To me, the direction college football is going lends itself to only a handful of team being able to compete at the highest level on a regular basis. There are lots of schools at the BCS level that never intend to compete at the highest football level. Duke comes to mind as well as Vandy as well as Northwestern as well as Baylor.This plan allows the NCAA to admit to what it is, a money making machine for large schools. The BCS schools would make even more money in this plan. Could tOSU make more money with an out of conference schedule consisting of the first place schools from the other divisions or by playing Can't, Akron, OU and some BCS school? I think so. They could charge out the ying yang for tickets to these games and make more money then pass that along to the players or to add another wing to their football factory. Heck, if you really want to make some money and you are already paying the players, have a 15 game season where you play your counterpart from the other divisions (first plays first, second plays second, etc.) home and home the following season. Then allow 16 teams in the playoffs consisting of the top four finishers in each division playing for a conference championship and then the final four play for the national championship over a two week period.The NCAA is always going to protect the BCS schools because that is where their bread is buttered. I'm not passing judgement, because I'd do the same thing if I was the NCAA. It only makes good business sense for them. The NCAA can't wait around for conferences like the MAC, that has been around since 1946, to figure anything out. When second and third tier teams start to threaten the dominance of BCS schools, the NCAA will change the rules again to protect the BCS schools.A lot of people will say this is just the rich getting richer and they would be right. The NCAA is there to make certain the rich get richer though. Why not just make the rich really rich and put them in a position where they don't play outside of their own conference and everyone else can play each other at their own level?

I actually voted I-AA for many reasons.First, the MAC is basically a I-AA conference pretending to be a major conference.Second, the NCAA should just admit the high level BCS schools are involved in professional sports and do the following:1. Separate out the best 40 schools from the past 50 years and have them as the DI-A schools. They could have four 10 team conferences with a playoff at the end of the year. 2. Pay the players a percentage of the gross revenues in equal amounts per player. A lot of these players are getting paid under the table, they my as well make it above board. I knew a guy from college who played in the NFL and he told us the guys from the big schools (mostly SEC) had a section, row and seat number at the basketball arena they had to visit at a certain time each week. On the back of those chairs would be an envelop taped to it with cash.3. All schools that don't make the new BCS level will become I-AA schools. Maybe the NCAA should add another division to include these schools. 4. The schools at this new BCS level would not be allowed to play anyone outside of this level. 5. They could have 12 games per year with three OOC teams. The teams that finished first in their divisions the previous year would have to play each other the following season in order to create some level of parity.6. Create parity by reducing the number of spring practices you are allowed to have depending on how far you go into the playoffs.7. Never reduce scholarships for successful teams.

For years, everyone complained that the Beacon doesn't run enough articles to get people interested. Now the Beacon runs an article that at a minimum will remind people about the new stadium and the team and I see complaints. I say, while it is about time, hats off to the Beacon for running the article. Wouldn't an article about where to park be handy in a few weeks as well?

In addition to the usual failed strategies they have deployed in the past and will use again this year (direct mail, radio and yes, BILLBOARDS), the Marketing Department should be hammering the two following items:1. A first class stadium. The stadium has been delivered.2. A first class game day experience and then deliver on a first class game day experience.After doing these two things, they need to pray daily that the team is good.The Marketing Department has no control over what happens on the field, which is the real unknown in sports. The Dollar General nature of the MAC in recent years will not help. If the ultimate product people come to see is poor, the game itself, people will not come back. BTW, could someone please give us an estimated time of arrival on when the thread complaining about a billboard Can't State bought on Route 8 will appear? We all know how Can't State has been packing in Dicks Stadium with it.

Yes, exactly. What game do you think would be the best? Morgan State or Indiana. I think Indiana as we'll have the kinks worked out and it will be a big win!I don't think it is an either/or. Any game will be fine and will have an equal impact but in a different way.The Morgan State game should be an easy win for the Zips and could get out of hand early. It could be a calm day for everyone at the game. In fact, the stadium could be half empty by the end of the third quarter. Recruits could see the Zips really having a lot of fun during the game.Indiana could really be walking into a buzzsaw the second game. The stadium will be packed and loud, the Zips will be fired up and sometimes visitors come out flat in these circumstances. There is a part of me that thinks the Zips have a better shot at winning this game than repeating in Syracuse (although both games are winnable for the Zips).

Try this. Go a month without watching ESPN. Find your sports fix in other places. MLB channel, NFL channel, Fox Sports, SI.com, Satellite radio etc... See if you are a more informed sports fan for doing so. PS You are going to miss some TO, Farve and Ochocinco stories, but you might just make it.I agree. ESPN has become terrible over the past few years and the anchors have become silly cartoons of themselves. The only shows worth watching are NFL Live and College Football Live, but those shows are on in the afternoon. I especially dislike the summer long "kids with terminal diseases" stories. I know kids get cancer, etc. and I know it is awful, but when news is slow, do we have to watch a different version of it every day? I watch sports to get away from daily life, not to have a bigger pile of crap hoisted upon me.Everyone should go out and buy a book called, "God Save The Fan". There is quite a bit in this book about what ESPN has actually become and how it has become nothing but a promotional tool for ABC/ESPN sports casts.

Akron is not a good example for this story. The point the writer is making pertains to the "arms race" going on in college athletics. Info is being built in small part because we are trying to keep up. In reality, the Rubber Bowl should have been shut down years ago for safety reasons and the cost of rennovating the RB would have been at least equal to if not more expensive than building a new stadium. People in the know will tell you that the City of Akron had large concerns about the safety of the RB for the last 3-4 years that dump was standing (slouching...whatever you want to describe it as) and it took a lot of begging just to keep it opened as long as they did. Believe it or not, we are getting off on the cheap building the new stadium. $65 million is not that expensive if you look at the cost per seat which is less than $2,500 per seat. What is the cost per seat of the new Cowboys stadium or even the new Minnesota stadium? I believe we got a pretty good deal for our money. It's all about how you view things.....Attention Mike Rasor........Speaking of the cost of the new stadium. Find out what the final cost of the new stadium is after it is complete. Look into it around December when all of the change orders are close to complete. Look into any law suits as well. There almost always are some on any construction project.

I have a feeling that when the recruits attend the first couple of games at a packed, spanking new stadium, there will be a rush of verbals.

I missed that marathon...but wasn't former Toledo coach Tom Amstutz cast in the role of Sgt. Schultz in that series? I know nothing.....nnnothing!

Most cults don't give up their ground that easily....

Did you go to the Mellow Mushroom? That's where my wife and I go to eat after the games.

The parking lot next to the JAR where the coaches currently park OR SE corner of Spicer and Carrol. Easy access to Rt.8 always a plus.

why should they play wake forest? if you want to play bottom-feeders, at least go to the pac-10, or big-10Wake is not a bottom feeder at this time. Here's the last three seasons2006 11-3 ACC Champions 2007 9-42008 8-5They're 2-1 in Bowl GamesThey're 3-0 VS Florida St (Not saying much since they're down as of late)All their losses except 3 games over the past three seasons have been competitive games.I hardly see 8 wins per season in the past three season as a bottom feeder and ACC conference championship with BCS Bowl as being anywhere close to being a bottom feeder.What these statistics don't show is a really bad loss to Navy, a team that lost to a MAC school, in W-S and then a blown game against BC in the last seconds with BC playing their back-up QB. They also lost a winable game against Miami thanks to running the ball around 45 times and passing only like 9 times or something insane. They also don't show an unimpressive win against Navy in their bowl game last year.Wake was 7-5 team last year with a win against a bad team in a bowl game. I think they struggle to go 6-6 next year. I hope I'm wrong because I paid for my season tickets, but I don't see how they can do better.

The Zips should play Wake. In a year or two, they are going to become what they have historically been...potentially much worse than NC State was the year we beat them. Skinner's (QB) last season is this year, they lost Alphonse Smith (second round draft pick), Curry at LB (first round draft pick). Grobe will only be able to win a limited number of games running the fullback dive every other play without them and there will be a steady decline in wins. Actually, the past two seasons have produced a decline in wins.

I have always been interested in learning about various cultures. This weekend presents a great opportunity to learn about another culture. TV Land is running a Hogan's Heroes marathon and I would encourage everyone to watch the marathon to learn more about German culture.

I addition to all of this, I am sure there will be many, many Greek houses parking cars on their lots/yards to make some extra cash. Also, there will probably be quite a few off campus houses parking cars for beer money as well.

It's funny you mention Big Tobacco. The visitors side parking lot at Wake's stadium butts up against a cigarette plant.

The MAC needs to have a balanced schedule, one where we play all the teams in our own division, or else the NCAA can take away the MAC championship game. We're only allowed to do it now thanks to a NCAA waiver. granted on the premise that we're actively seeking a way to balance the divisions. You may not like the championship game, but it brings in more money than all of the MAC bowl games combined. Why in the world would you want to cut Buffalo, Temple, and NIU but keep Can't, BG and EMU? The MAC is too concentrated in northern Ohio. Dropping Can't and BG loses nothing for the league. EMU just sucks all around.Fine then, the MAC needs an odd number of teams added to balance the schedule. Add as many of the teams listed on the poll as possible to make an odd number. If the logic is adding teams is better, why not add as many as possible? Again, how does adding more bad teams to an already bad conference make the MAC better?I would hate to cut Buffalo, but they are an eastern school in an eastern state with no real rivals in the MAC. Tough decisions need to be made though. Temple doesn't really want to be in the MAC and someone else has to go so NIU gets it.The concentation of teams does not matter. Can't, BG and EMU stay because Can't State and BG have natural rivals in Ohio (UofA and Toledo) and EMU has the Michigan schools as rivals.

Wake Forest Football ScheduleThis is your chance to spend my money or have me save it. I have to decide whether or not to buy Wake Forest season tickets for next year. I have had them the past two years and really enjoyed the games. I don't think they will be as good next year as last year, but they are still probably a bowl team. I will not be going to the Elon game because I am going to go watch the Zips play Indiana that day. Baylor does not excite me and they are a step down from Mississippi last year. If Stanford can put up points on them like PAC 10 teams do, they could beat them. The remaining ACC games are pretty solid. The total price of the tickets is around $700 ($100 per game) for two seats when you include everything you have to pay for in order to get the tickets. Since Wake's stadium is so small, there is not a bad seat in the house and my seats are actually pretty good as they are half way up the stadium on the 30 yard line.The only other draw back is we have the Swiss Family Robinson sitting next to us. They are a family of unwashed hill people from around Asheville and they bring their tribe of children with them. They are nice enough, there is only one problem as I see it. Last year, the mother sat around breast feeding one of them every game. Can't she do that before the game?

If the logic is that adding one of the above teams would be good for the league, wouldn't adding all of them make the move that much better?I'll say it again. How does adding an already bad program to an already bad league make the league better and something the public wants to spend their time and money on? The MAC needs to be thinking about cutting teams and not adding. Cut Buffalo, Temple and NIU. Eliminate the MAC Championship game and make everyone play everyone like the Big Ten and PAC 10. Only 3 OOC games per team per year....one pay day, one D-1A against a low level D-1A team and one 1-AA team. That's how you make an already bad league better.

Why mention losing in your motto? It should be something like...."The time to WIN is now!" Or, "WIN Today!".