GP1

The MAC does it all the time. It must be smart.Building since 1946........The only advantage CUSA and other similar conferences have is they have not been around as long as the MAC so their record of stupidity is not as long. Maybe we can merge with one of those other conferences and bring our average years of stupidity down. I'm sure there are people around the country dying for a MAC/CUSA merger. They could name the conference..."The Worlds Biggest Train Wreck (TWBTW)"Even gamblers don't care about the merger. They will gamble on anything so any Tuesday night game in front of an empty stadium is fine for them.Someone has yet to tell me how two bad conferences merging into one really large crappy conference makes a good conference...... Please help me out someone. Spare us the media coverage....nobody is paying attention. Spare us better competition.....the competition will remain equally as bad.

I have news for some of you. Buffalo is not a big media market. That is why the Bills can't wait to flee upstate New York like the remainder of the population. Buffalo is a small city that is getting smaller by the plant closings and better opportunities elsewhere.

Talk about going from bad to worse. How does adding an already bad team to a bad conference make the conference better?

It's the coaching staffs job to turn around a "Losers mentality". When a player comes here he doesn't bring it with him, most who make it to this level have been "Winners". We have had three different coaches in the past 20 years. None have been able to turn it around. At what point is it no longer the coaches fault and the fault of the players?Coaches show players how to play and they call the plays. Each player on this team individually needs to play better at critical times in games. Coaches get the blame, and that is part of the job, but the real blame falls on the shoulders of the players. Players get coaches fired. There is too much talent on this team to continue to lose. "Enough is enough!" In fact, teams love year slogans, "enough is enough" should be the slogan this year.

Offense vs. Defense is always a good debate.The bottom line is this. It really doesn't matter if the Zips have not had enough losing. At some point, everyone on the field has to say "enough is enough" and go out and execute and win games. The talent is there and it has been for years. A losing attitude is killing this team and has been killing this program for many years now. Our problem is not talent and not coaching, it is the losers mentality.

Well, the Zips have had numerous school record-breaking offenses and players going back to the Butchie Washington era. We have exactly one championship that we were very, very fortunate to win. Overall, our defense during that time has been generally bad to mediocre. Coincidence? Not on your life.Owens teams always put up big numbers on offense, except when it mattered. It's more than numbers, it is when you put the number up that matter. It's about winners vs. losers. We tend to have players, I don't care what side of the ball they play on, that don't perform late in games so we lose. We will be losers until the players decide they want to be winners and do all the right things at the end of the game. There is a fine line between winning and losing and we almost always seem to be on the losing side.

Actually, the adage defense wins championships exists to make the kids who play defense and not good enough to play offense feel good about themselves.Offense is the key to any sport with the exception of baseball where one player, the pitcher, can dominate a game. Offense puts pressure on the other team to score points if they take a lead. Offense puts the other team in bad field position. Offense breaks momentum with big plays. Offense gets the lead early and then holds it with a good running game. Offense puts a team in the lead and then forces the other team to have an unbalanced offense leaning towards passing which makes the defense look good because they know what is coming.If a team can run a balanced offense, even an average offense can make a good defense look bad because the defense has to guess at what is coming.Michael Irvin said it on his radio show not long ago. "People can say all they want, but points win games."The Steelers had the best defense in the NFL last year and it fell apart in the last five minutes of the Super Bowl only to be saved by the Steelers offense. It is fiction that defense wins championships. Defense wins championships if the offense puts them in a position where they know what is coming from the offense.

I don't disagree with anything you said, I just want to add to it. We need good players making big plays WHEN THE GAME IS ON THE LINE. We have good players that make good plays. I've been saying it for years, we need a winning attitude. It is now up to the PLAYERS to win some games.

Let's just hope it doesn't become SNAFU Stadium........

Maybe.... "The Executation Chamber on Exchange"....let's just hope we are not the ones being executed weekly.Or..... "The Backyard on Brown"Or.....SUFO

Yankee Stadium was called "The house that Ruth built".Ours could be called, "The house that scamming little old ladies out of $25 at a time in the name of religion built."

I was the youngest of six children. When my oldest sibling went to college, there were tears from my mother. The day I went to college was one of the happiest days of my parents life and it wasn't because they were so proud of me or even remotely upset I was leaving the nest . The car only slowed a little as they ("they" meaning my sister and my mother....Dad didn't even make the trip.....still makes me laugh today) threw me and my clothes out the door in the dorm parking lot.

What if the Cavs come back from behind and win the current series and go on to win the World Championship? I think there is still a VERY good chance of the Cavs beating Orlando in six games (even though I brutalize Browns fans because they are such a stupid lot, I really like the Cavs).Anyhow, comparing low level programs to professional teams seems desperate. Remember, eventually people are going to go watch the games. Watching the NFL, regardless of how bad the Browns can be at times, is still far more entertaining than watching low level D-1A college football. Cleveland fans are so paranoid and insecure most of the time, this marketing strategy would backfire anyhow. I'd rather see the MAC make itself more entertaining within itself than worry about comparing it to professional teams.

Interesting thoughts continue.......I know lots of us want to believe the MAC should be able to win against mid level BCS teams. That just isn't the case anymore. I've said it before and I'll say it again. The MAC is closer to I-AA than mid level BCS. We can't even beat CUSA teams in bowl games anymore.

I'm all for more home games, especially since we will now have a home truly worthy of them.But I'm more than glad to have the BCS games as well... for several reasons:1) Kids who commit to playing in an Akron uniform deserve the chance to play quality opponents.2) Playing quality opponents makes your team and your coaches better over time, and sends the right kind of message both to fans and to potential recruits.3) I'm much more interested in seeing how the team I cheer for stacks up against a Penn State or Michigan State than I am in watching us play Morgan State, a game that excites me about as much as a tuna salad sandwich.4) And finally, as the most expensive athletic program--by far-- football bears the responsibility for generating revenue to at least help offset its tremendous cost. The new stadium will sure help attract better draws at home, but it also means you've got to be willing to go get paid on the road, too. If you want to continue as a D-1 program, this is just the reality. And, frankly, I'm okay with it.Anyways. My two cents.Interesting points. Here is my response to your points and respectful disagreement.1. They deserve to play ONE BCS team per year. Starting out the year 0-4 does nothing for the program.2. Recruits want to win, not just compete against teams better than they are while losing. Winning records are good recruiting tools. Losing records result in coaches getting fired every three years which continues the cycle of losing.3. Is it better to lose 45-0 against PSU or win 45-0 against Morgan State? Both are uninteresting, but one gets you one step closer to a bowl which is REALLY interesting.4. Break the bank one game a year against a BCS team. Starting 0-4 does not bring people to the new stadium.

This is a good point. It takes 22 good players to win. Big Ten schools usually only have 11 good players on the field compared to the Big XII, PAC 10 and SEC.In the end, a lot falls on the coaches shoulders because he is responsible for not as much the coaching (coaching staffs all know about the same things) of the players as much as getting good players to come to his school. Recruiting is the single most important thing a coach does.John Calipari (sp?) said on TV the other day that the three following things were necessary for a coach to be successful:1. Recruit good players2. Recruit good players3. Recruit good playersI couldn't agree more.

Parking discussions on this board always make me smile because it is IMHO a trivial matter yet it is taken so seriously. This is all we need to know about parking for UofA games. There will be enough. There is a lot of parking on campus and in Spicertown. Assuming 24,000 will drive to the games, only 12,000 spots are needed if you assume at least two people per car. Between commuters and Univeristy employees, there is typically enough parking during the day. All of it is well within walking distance. If you think about it, some spots only seem far away because you can't see the stadium from the lot (ie: the lots behind the Robs are only a five minute walk to the stadium yet it seems far). Has our society become so lazy that we can't walk five minutes to a game?.............probably, but I hold out hope.I would figure it out like this. Divide 24,000 by the average number of tickets sold per sale and you have a rough estimate of the number of spots necessary....probably a little more are necessary, but it is a good estimate. If that average is 3, then only 8,000 spots are necessary. 8,000 is probably close to the number of commuters and University employees that park each day. Some of you may think there needs to be a big marketing campaign, including billboards, about parking. Please don't start the thread. All the University needs to do is work with the local media on a story about where to park and walking distances from parking lots. Seems pretty easy to me. The ABJ has been doing a good job with the new stadium thus far and there is no reason to believe they wouldn't run a story like this as a public service matter. Now, go enjoy a game in a nice stadium and don't worry about parking.

Oh don't worry about them. They aren't going and neither is anyone else because the crime is so bad around campus. Oh, and also because the parking is so bad. And because tuition is too high. And because the city is ugly. And because the university is killing the area around campus. And because...well...you get the point.........and they fired Jim Dennison....... and they paid Gerry Faust instead of Bob Huggins........

This writer sums it up perfectly.

I put finish with a winning record. By winning, I mean at least 7 wins. In fact, 7 wins could win the MAC East so I guess I voted for two different outcomes but could only vote for one.

It would be too much taking into account how much billboard advertising returns.Here is a better idea. Take half the money they spend on billboards and flush it down the toilet. Take the other half and spend it on scholarships for students. No matter what, half of the money will be spent wisely in lieu of ALL the money being flushed down the toilet on billboards.While I love the idea of the scholarship, I don't think a $450 scholarship will build the brand awareness that the football team desperately needs at this time. It pains me that we finally have a brand to market, and let an economically sound opportunity slip away. I know you like to see cash in the drawer at the end of the day from your marketing, but building a brand is not about that, you have to see the forest through the trees when measuring brand awareness.What else is there for marketing other than cash in the in drawer at the end of the day? Marketing results are ultimately measured in money. It is a business and they have to function on money...not wishes. Reminds me about an old saying about wishes, "Make a wish or $#!+ in your hat. See which one fills up first." Billboards have not and will not work. Can't State wishes that billboard on Rt8 would work. You are wishing that a billboard somewhere in Akron will work at raising brand awareness (see below for MAC brand awareness). Is the fact that UofA has a football team a secret? I doubt that.MAC schools individually have brand awareness and the league has a brand awareness. The exposure on ESPN, early season beat downs by BCS schools and disgraceful performances in bowls the past couple of years have given them increased brand awareness...although not a brand awareness they would like to have. Here is the MAC brand: a third tier D-1A conference (Dollar General). Sane people are not willing to pay to see third tier conferences play (we on this board are all actually a bunch of idiots for paying to go see it). Change that with a billboard.?.I have had Wake Forest season tickets the past two years. They play in the ACC (second tier conference) and they have a 32,000 seat stadium (around the size of UofA's and some ACC teams play in 80,000+ seat stadiums). They have been historical losers (remind anyone of a team we all love?). The past three seasons they have had winning records, an ACC championship, a couple of first team All-Americans getting drafted in the first round, three straight bowl appearances (the last two they won) with a BCS bowl appearance. Their games are NOT sold out when my wife and I go. They play Mississippi, Virginia, North Carolina, Vandy, Maryland, Clemson, Virginia, VA Tech, Miami, etc. Does everyone in NC know they have a football team and a good one? Of course. Will a billboard increase brand awareness? Barely.The point is this. I spent years in the forest believing there was some magical marketing "trick" that could get people to come to games. The new stadium is the "trick". MAC schools are playing "trick or treat" with their advertising and only marketing the "trick" end of it because there is rarely a treat when you get to a game. The people of NE Ohio are not stupid and they know a crappy product when they see it. Most have a good understanding of football with the exception of Browns fans. The problem the MAC has now is they are selling a crappy product and people know that; meaning the brand awareness is there. Never assume your customers are stupid. Fans have had too much TV exposure with the MAC to continue to fool people. MAC schools can't run adds saying, "Don't believe your own eyes. Listen to what I say. Our product is great."Since we should not spend all of our time complaining, I will offer solutions. The MAC and MAC schools don't need more brand exposure, they need less if they are planning on tricking people to come to games. ESPN games with empty stadiums are not helping the brand. Getting killed by BCS schools is not helping the brand. Getting killed in bowl games by CUSA teams is not helping the brand name. Some say adding more bad teams to an already bad conference will somehow make it a better brand (the logic behind this is almost insane...... 13 bad teams + 2 horrible teams = good football ). The MAC either needs to take the step of moving to I-AA to save itself, or the following:1. Ditch the ESPN week night games.2. Only one BCS pay day per year.3. Stop adding teams and actually reduce the number of teams to 10 with nine conference games per year.4. Ditch the MAC Championship played in front of 50,000 empty seats at Ford Field.

It would be too much taking into account how much billboard advertising returns.Here is a better idea. Take half the money they spend on billboards and flush it down the toilet. Take the other half and spend it on scholarships for students. No matter what, half of the money will be spent wisely in lieu of ALL the money being flushed down the toilet on billboards.

It's because football season is around the corner. Basketball is just something we fill the time with between football seasons. Board activity alone proves that.

You know I love ya DrZ, but after the lack of success of billboard marketing over the past 20 years, what makes you think billboards will work? Is it that sooner or later you may be like the broken clock being correct twice a day with this idea? Come to think of it, a billboard sales rep should donate one to UofA and claim credit for the increased ticket sales next year. He could say something like, "It wasn't the new state of the art stadium, or the buzz of the newe stadium, or countless articles in the ABJ, it was the billboard on West Market Street!"How did the Can't State billboard on Rt8 work out for them last year? Perhaps 10-20 more people showed up for games total because of it?Billboards don't sell tickets. The only reason athletic departments use them is because they don't have any better ideas and they heard about them at a conference they went to. I'm sure the debate will continue......

This is a link to an NFL web page where license plates are sold. I looked on Go Zips and couldn't find anything, but it could be my fault I couldn't find it. I want a nice (not plastic) Zips license plate for the front of my car. Does anyone know where I could get one? Was it my fault I couldn't find it on Go Zips? Help?