GP1

Only partly. If you classified it as, "If you have a falling down, unsafe disaster of a stadium in Ellet and you build it, they will come."I think the Zips are going to have great crowds this coming season and through next season. A lot needs to happen for that trend to continue after the first two seasons IMHO.

I like the way the Zips schedule. The Zips are in a perfect situation. They are about to become the best team in a bad conference. Winning lots of games, winning the conference and going to the NCAAs with a win every now and then spells a fantastic program and enjoyment for the fans. I don't know how getting smashed a couple of times a season will make the program better. In fact, it could prove the program is done growing and maybe not the stud many like to believe it is. It is a stud for a MAC program, but it ends about there. I think we worry to much about this scheduling issue. Just enjoy the winning.

Like a steak at The Palm?

He'll be the first guy in college athletics without a padded resume. Maybe an honest person.....hire him...

I'm not exactly certain, I just don't like small players at the D-1A level. Normally a scouting report makes a player slightly faster and taller than he may actually be. I'd rather have a kid show as 6' 5" and show up as 6' 4" than 6' 1" and show up at 6' even or worse yet 5' 11".Size matters. Just ask your wife/girlfriend.That's the second time you recommended that, so I went ahead and asked your wife/girlfriend and she said that tall QBs are overrated and the only size that counts is girth.She's just trying to make you feel better......It worked. I felt gooood! just messin' w/ya. The good thing about sex is that it is much like pizza.....when it's good, it's great....when it's bad, it's still good.....

I'm not exactly certain, I just don't like small players at the D-1A level. Normally a scouting report makes a player slightly faster and taller than he may actually be. I'd rather have a kid show as 6' 5" and show up as 6' 4" than 6' 1" and show up at 6' even or worse yet 5' 11".Size matters. Just ask your wife/girlfriend.That's the second time you recommended that, so I went ahead and asked your wife/girlfriend and she said that tall QBs are overrated and the only size that counts is girth.She's just trying to make you feel better......

They will be using oval shaped balls called "footballs".

I'm not exactly certain, I just don't like small players at the D-1A level. Normally a scouting report makes a player slightly faster and taller than he may actually be. I'd rather have a kid show as 6' 5" and show up as 6' 4" than 6' 1" and show up at 6' even or worse yet 5' 11".Size matters. Just ask your wife/girlfriend.

Flutie says "excuse me?"So does Troy Smith.You said DI. It doesn't matter what they are doing in the NFL.6'1" is fine."Fine"? Thanks for your ringing endorsement. We can do better than "fine".Listen Grumpy one. I don't know how good this guy will be. I was only commenting on his height. There have been tons of good college QB's that have been 6'1" and under.No, not grumpy at all. I just think that my original thinking (size matters) applies here. I think we have had too small of a team for a long time now (see comments on the 3-3-5 defense) and I don't like it. Size does matter at this level.

Flutie says "excuse me?"So does Troy Smith.You said DI. It doesn't matter what they are doing in the NFL.6'1" is fine."Fine"? Thanks for your ringing endorsement. We can do better than "fine".

Flutie says "excuse me?"Thanks for the photo of Doug Flutie doing what he did best in the NFL....standing on the sidelines watching the action.

So you put 100% faith in the OhioVarsity.com rankings, huh? You do that...I'll go with Walt Harris' opinion that maybe this kid is better than #13.You can go with whatever you want. I'll go with my old saying..."Regardless of what our wives/girlfriends tell us, size matters." 6' 1" is too small for D-1A football.

I have a question. If we offer and get a verbal, do we still have to give the kid a scholarship? 6' 1" is not tall enought for a D-1A QB. 13th best QB in Ohio, we can do better than that. We should be getting one of the top three or four QBs in the state yearly or at least every other year. 13 is way down the list....

They could call it White Elephant Arena.....

Actually, a circle doesn't have any corners. The circle I am referring to is the circle around the toilet drain Can't State is running around.

I love senior QBs that have played in the same system their entire career. I like our chances with Jacq this year in terms of putting up numbers and cutting down on mistakes in general.Everything about this team will fall back on how key players play in key situations in big games. The QB is the most important player on the field. At key moments in key games, Jacq must play well this year. This kid has all they physical talent in the world. A lot of guys do. He needs to carry the team this year. That's what senior QBs are supposed to do.

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).