GP1

I only have 2.5 games of watching the Zips under my belt this year, but from what I have seen, Middleton brings more to the table. However, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The team is winning, the players have accepted their roles and everyone is happy. KD seems to have this team dialed in (no pun intended) and he should keep doing what he is doing until a change is needed.

If the Browns are smart (which the aren't), they will bring in a veteran QB to start next year. Make Frye and Anderson compete for the #2 spot. Sign a scrub to be #3. Cut the loser of the #2 competition. Beef up the OL to protect the veteranMore than anything, the Browns need a QB who can throw the ball down field and can complete passes under pressure. It's the chicken or the egg argument. The Browns don't have an OL so teams pressure the QB. If the QBs would complete passes under pressure, teams would have to stop attacking. If teams stop attacking, it opens up the running game. The NFL is a QB oriented league and the QBs the Browns have now are woefully inadequate.I've never thought much of Frye's abilities and I think he played his way out of a starting position with the Browns last year. In fact, I think he played his way out of being the next Kelly Holcomb and his career is coming to a close in the next 2 years (This opinion was confirmed when I heard Terry Pluto say this year Frye would be in the NFL 10 years). He doesn't throw down field, if it wasn't for that little 5 yard pass to Winslow he would complete very few passes, he loses too many yards when he gets sacked, he fumbles every other time he gets sacked and he is slow mentally. Losing yards and fumbling destroy any chances of winning and he does too much of both.Browns fans are not going to be patient waiting for a third year QB to develop into an average QB over the next 2-3 years and at this point they shouldn't be patient. Remember how we all sat around for four years waiting for him to develop into a championship QB? We're still waiting. Average QBs are a dime a dozen, the Browns could pick up an average veteran and have a better QB than what they have with Frye and Anderson who are both well below average. The NFL is not kind to players, especially QBs. I think Frye is in trouble.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?amme...D(COLLID+fsac))A friend sent me the link to this web page. Just thought I would share since it isn't football season. It contains color photographs from WWII of various places. This happens to be the link to Akron. As you may know, color photos were few and far between back then so it is a bit of a treat to see.....especially the Air Dock with all of the old cars outside of it.

Here is why I don't agree.The people sitting in the lower level pay top dollar to sit there. I would guess that most don't want a continuous parade of people coming and going when someone arrives late to the game and there is the constant getting up and down to allow the ticket holder to sit down. Imagine sitting there and people coming up to you continually and saying, "Is someone sitting there?" while you arer trying to watch a game that you dished out $500 to sit in so you could have a good seat and not be bothered by late arrivers who didn't pay what you do. The people sitting there have bought the right not to be bothered with nonsense. Those people should be treated with respect.Secondly, I watched the entire game and the lower level looked full on TV. Unless a person was really paying attention to the tops of the ends, the entire stadium looked full.One of the things I know for sure is that when you give someone something for nothing, they expect something for nothing. UofA has spent decades conditioning the people of the area to expect something for nothing and it needs to stop. If someone doesn't pay to sit down low, they should not get to sit down low.

Was he wearing a pink suit?

If there were banners and now there aren't, shame on the University. I've never taken inventory. We can't hide from who we are. We are a school that started out Division III, then II, then I-AA and then what we are now. Instead of hiding from it, we should embrace it. It's our history.On Tuesday, I went to the UCONN vs. PITT game and I noticed their banners. Their team didn't always win something to be noted on a banner. Basically, they had one for every year in the NCAA Tournament and yes, they had another for years in the NIT (one for each category with the year only). They have some championship banners. They also have individual banners for Sweet 16 appearances and various other accomplishments.Banners are not only good reminders of accomplishments, but they can remind players every day, who may have not won anything (present players included), that they have something to prove and can leave their mark on the ceiling. You can get angry about various things in the past, but never hide from the past. We are who we are.

A couple of weeks ago I said that the bb team needed to string a few wins in a row together for the bandwagon to start. KD and his kids have done their part. Now it is up the people in Summit and Stark Counties to start to support this program. Too bad we scheduled a game on the same day and the same time as the NFC and AFC Championships. Couldn't they move the game up to noon?

Agreed!This nonsense has gone back to one of the greatest myths about UofA sports and that is Huggins would have stayed at Akron of Faust was not hired.There are actually a few good myths about UofA sports. Perhaps a topic is in order...even a poll.

Disagreed and here's why. I think a big problem JD has run into with recruiting SO MANY kids from Florida is that they come from a different world and many times (not all the time) have discipline and attitude problems. From players I've talked to the unity that used to exist on this team is just not there anymore. Good points, but if the kids want more unity, they should join a fraternity. If they want to hold hands and sing "We Are The World", they should join a commune in California. This is a major college football team and not a love fest.There is not enough Division 1-A talent in Ohio for OSU, Akron, OU, BGSU, Can't State, Toledo, Miami and Cincinnati to field top notch teams year in and year out. How did all of that team unity and discipline work out for Ohio State when they were getting their asses kicked by Florida last Monday?We went throught the "bring in local kids" nonsense with Lee Owens and it was a disaster.

The answer to the question of "JD should..." is, get the best players possible on the field regardless of where they are from.

If you allow people to sit wherever they want, then they will feel entitled to sit wherever they want. When the new stadium is built, they will feel entitled to sit in the reserved sectiion even if they didn't pay for it because like a child they will say, "but we did it at the Rubber Bowl". If people want to sit in reserved seats, they should pay to sit in them. It's not much more money to sit in reserved than GA. The Univeristy needs to break the culture of entitlement.

http://www.dispatch.com/prep/preps.php?sto...0111-E7-00.htmlJust got back to my hotel and found this article in the local paper.

They probably could not afford to do so. A really good marketing executive probably makes much more than either JD or KD.

No it isn't. They were nice people, but just more of the same billboard buyers and newspaper add buyers we saw here for the past 20 years. They also had more than their share of give away programs as well. There was actually a decline in season ticket holders for football during their time. If the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.....well, we would still be in the same boat we are now.....someone who cut his teeth at Virginia buying billboards and newspaper adds resulting in half empty stadiums or full of people who didn't pay to get in and us bitching about it. It goes on, and on, and on, and on.........One thing they were really good at though was self promotion. And we can continue this discussion further if anyone wishes.

This is so unbelievable it must be true.Why wouldn't the athletic department just offer 10% of any NEW season ticket order sold or Z-Fund contribution raised by an Athletic Department employee to that employee? Hell, open it up to anyone working at the University and get everyone involved. Employee sells 10 Family Packs for football @ $100 ea., employee gets $100 bonus, etc. The incentive must be there to produce similar to my company only paying independent sales agents commission. If they sell a lot, they make a lot, but so do we. If they don't sell a lot, they don't make a lot, but the cost of sale was kept low. I wonder if anyone at an athletic department convention has ever offered up this idea. The pay for some of these people is so low, they would bust their ass just to make a few extra dollars.Give 20% commission to any NEW reserved seat sold for football. I think my tickets were only $15 each, so the net after commission would still be $12 which was more than the general admission seating (normal or Family Pack) and they have a new customer buying high end tickets at face value. Even if tickets remain the same price next year, there would be an increase value of the ticket 20% if the person renews.UofA will never know if they can change the culture around Akron and sell more tickets unless they get away from buying billboards and newspaper adds. Try the other way.

Thanks for the props. I don't know if it as much a secret as a cultural problem in Summit and Stark Counties. A person can't drive through Akron without knowing the University is there, and everyone knows they have sports teams so it can't be a secret. The cultural problem must be challenged head on and the only way to do that is in person.You folks really need to understand something about college athletics marketing departments. These people go to conventions every year to learn the next great way to design a billboard and newspaper add. There is almost zero original thought (there is acutally little original thought in universities in general, but that is another subject). We have a long list of former and current athletic department staffers who have spent time at Virginia. Does anyone think Virginia needs to do anything more than put up billboards and newspaper adds to sell tickets? It's easy for them. It's hard to sell at Akron because billboards and newspaper adds are not the way to sell tickets in a market like Akron. In fact, billboards and newspaper adds aren't even selling.If we fired all of the people in our marketing department right now, we would just get more of the same because the culture of university athletics is so inbred that someone else would be hired, from some other school, that someone knows, who attends all of the same billboard and newspaper add conferences that the previous group did and the group before that, and the group before that, and the group before that.......... I've seen enought billboards and newspaper adds in the past 20 years to know they don't work for UofA. Listen to Marlo (signature line below).

It doesn't matter what they put on the web page as long as they don't go out and sell the program to the community.

http://www.cfbanalyzer.com/cgi-bin/chain.c...orida&year=2006Here is another. All that's missing is a guy with a raspy voice saying, "That means we could beat Florida."

Ohio University: The Bobcats lay claim to national title by virtue of beating Akron, which beat Bowling Green, which beat Eastern Michigan, which beat Toledo, which beat Northern Illinois, which beat Central Michigan, which beat Middle Tennessee State, which beat North Texas State, which beat SMU, which beat Arkansas State, which beat Troy, which beat Rice, which beat Tulsa, which beat Navy, which beat Stanford, which beat Washington, which beat Washington State, which beat Oregon State, which beat Missouri, which beat Ole Miss, which beat Vanderbilt, which beat Georgia, which beat Auburn, which beat Florida The above was copied out of ESPN.com. I don't think I have ever seen a more perfect example of Faustian logic outside of hearing it from the man himself.

Used to live in Storrs myself Zip Watcher, and about the same time you did. To add on your list of places.....how about the Bidwell Tavern in Coventry? Willington Pizza was awesome, the Greek pizza especially. Ted's grinders.....how about Ted's upstairs....four and a half walls, a bar, a dart board in the back and a lot of draft beers. Wasn't there a place called Woody's out in Ashford or somewhere like that....I can't remember the name of the little town? What was the name of that YSU like stadium they had on campus behind the basketball arena? Is Yale a school or a sound one makes when they ?

If this is true, I can't imagine what Nate is thinking . This guy is knocked kneed and has childbearing hips. He's more suitable for the WNBA than the NFL.

Zips Win! posted this topic at approximately 10:00 PM last evening. After 177 views there are only three comments and only one of them is about the game itself.Perhaps it is because it was a road game or perhaps it is because the Zips seem to be a little sluggish, but does anyone sense a little apathy about the BB team? I would have thought that a loss to a divisional team and a good analysis of the game by Zips Win! would have generated more discussion.The BB needs to get some consecutive wins under their belt against good teams........and soon. When the bandwagon comes around the corner, there actually has to be something to hold on to for someone to jump on. Is there much to hold on to right now?Dambrot said in his post game interview that Akron did not get the ball inside enough to generate fouls and he felt that the lopsidedness of the fouls was because of strategy. Any thoughts?

http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPI...0&ATCLID=742888Game statistics.

I can tell you that from years of working in the construction industry, well written specificaitons are skirted every day in the name of saving a few bucks and quality is destroyed every day because of it. "Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten." "The bitter taste of a poorly completed project lasts much longer than the temporary sweet taste of saving money."Construction managers work directly for the owner and are paid by the owner. Almost every large public project uses them now. UofA will be paying the company awarded this bid. I've always heard that the going rate for a CM saving money for a customer is about 10% of the savings so they have a huge interest in value engineering. Ten percent of $50 million is $5 million (much of which will have to go into paying for change orders). Ten percent of that is $500,000 and that's a huge incentive for the CM to value engineer. Being a public project, the successful bidder will probably bid at or below their costs and then make up the remainder in value engineering bonuses. The CM business is an absolute racket and if it wasn't for an even larger racket, lawyers, there would be no need for CMs.There are three ways to get a project.1. Good2. Fast 3. CheapThe trick is that only two can be achieved. Akron wants to build this stadium on the cheap, so getting it good and fast are the only two remaining options. If you want it cheap and fast, it probably isn't going to be good. If you want it cheap and good, it probably is going to take some time to police all of the illegal immigrants building the stadium so the work will be very slow. These are the realities of construction.When the plans and specifications for this project are released, those of us in the construction business should post regularly about what is being used to build our new stadium. I'd be interested to see what others in different fields think about the design and documents. Those of you not in construction can view them at the purchasing department or architects office at UofA. They are public documents and you have a right to see them. I'll even try to download them off of Dodge and get them to the moderators and maybe they can post them.

Yikes! Construction managers are the worst thing to happen to the building industry. Most get paid cash bonuses for "value engineering" projects. Value engineering is the process of destroying a well designed project in the name of saving money. In the United States, we have a unique way of improving a product until it no longer works.....that's "value engineering". The University has taken the first step in destroying the new stadium and the ground isn't even broken yet on the site.