GP1

in addition, you can do a towel giveaway promotion, but you can call them sham shammies These may be the two best marketing ideas in the history of the MAC. I'm not kidding either.

How is the above-listed offense to be confused with over-darkened window tint?Maybe the over-darkened windows are the equipment violation. When I think equipment violation I think more in line with a tail light or something being out.

The MAC is too busy screwing itself to get screwed by any other entity.Ryno, you shouldn't be too hard on the logo......it's a sign of our "building". The MAC has been building for years.........in a floodplain. Every few years, the building gets washed away and they go back to the floodplain to build again.

I have to respectfully disagree with this point. Teams like OSU and other BCS teams have their alumni and fans by the short hairs. They have more people who want season tickets than seats in their stadium. YSU is part of the season ticket package for OSU and anyone who wants season tickets must buy the game. Fans may buy the tickets and not attend the game or give the ticket to a friend, etc., but they must eat the crap OSU dishes out to them. I wish we had this same problem.

I always thought the last word on YSU would be "suck" as in "they suck".

Zips Make EDSBSScroll down to July 21.

I've actually thought of a good radio ad for this non-existent game. Keep in mind that I think honesty is always the best approach with a customer as it is respected. Here it goes....."Come see the University of Akron Zips take on the College X Piles of Crap at InfoCision Stadium on August #. We know this game is a sham. You know this game is a sham. We know that you know this game is a sham and you know that we know this game is a sham. What do you expect? It's the end of summer, the Indians stink and you people are starving for some football and you know it. Don't pretend you aren't. We have it. You will receive a brand new Terrible Sham Wow (variation of Terrible Towel) at the gate. See you at the game."I don't see any reason we can't get Sham Wow to make some of their product with the Zips logo on it. One of two directions can be taken with these sham games. The first is to insult customers and act like the game might be interesting. The second is to embrace the sham that these games are (like we have embraced being called the Zips and kangaroo mascot) and run with it.

Week 1 College Football ScheduleI don't like it either, but are we missing the trend? Look at the number of I-A teams playing I-AA teams week one in the above link.I think BCS teams have figured out that the loss of five spring practices has resulted in too many possible upsets the first game of the year. The BCS schools found a solution with the help of their most loyal and biased supporter, the NCAA. The solution? Add a 12th game to the schedule at the beginning of the season before taking on I-A teams so the BCS teams can get the extra five days of practice they lost in the spring. At the end of fall camp and before I-A games is a I-AA team that allows the BCS schools another payday and basically a scrimmage in front of their home crowd. Last year, OSU played their second team the second series of the game against YSU.....talk about shams and a waste of four hours for anyone going to that game. I really believe this has been a huge contributor to the inability of the MAC to surprise many BCS teams as of late.If the Zips scheduled in the following manner, I wouldn't necessarily like it, but I would understand the need for the tune up game.Week 1 - I-AA patsy. Instead of the Acme Zip Game we could call this sham of a game the Sham Wow Game and everyone attending gets a free Sham Wow.Weeks 2-4 consist of the following games in any order - One BCS payday on the road, one non-BCS school (home and home) and one BCS school (home and home).I would really like to play all OOC games before any MAC game.

That perception seems to be a really tough thing to overcome. Even the staunchest UA supporters seem to be stuck in 1989...referencing games played 20 years ago...asking for 1-AA teams on our 2009 football schedule. Does that happen at Miami? Toledo? No. It happens at places like EMU, K.e.n.t and unfortunately Akron.We are getting a 60+ million dollar football palace. The place WILL be full. The teams WILL win. The opponents SHOULD be exclusively quality, 1-A OOC and MAC opponents. If the stadium is NOT filled to capacity -- heads should roll. You don't spend 60+ million dollars and use the same techniques to garner crowds that were used in the Rubber Bowl era. The bar has been raised, both on the field and in the stands. 5,000 person crowds and 4-8 teams can no longer be accepted.The "low hanging fruit"..."the easy way out" is:* Schedule 1-AA cupcakes to inflate the team's record (this is known as the "Lee Owens Technique")* Schedule "Band Night" and get a few thousand HS bands to pad attendance* Schedule YSUThis is 2008, not 1988. The Low Hanging Fruit Days are over. It is time to expect a quality Division 1 NCAA Football experience in Akron.Personally -- I think that dawn has arrived. But to many, only seeing is believing. So we'll need to wait until September 2009 for people to forget about Jim Dennison's firing, Murray State, YSU and HS Band Nights. I can't wait.Excellent post.I'm with you as far as not playing I-AA teams every year. As far as other teams around the MAC before I get to my question, Toledo played Liberty in 2007. BSU, favorite to win the MAC West, is playing Northeastern first game of the year and WKU later in the year. Here is the question.... Are we missing a scheduling trend in college football that is benefiting other schools and we are not taking advantage of it? I don't know the answer to this, but in recent years, UofA has been late to the party on various trends happening around college football. For example, running a Heisman Trophy campaign for a player who would never win it, late to the party with the spread offense and picking up the 3-3-5 defense when everyone is running away from it. Could the trend in college football, with the addition of the 12th game, be to allow D-I teams to schedule one cupcake per year to collect money and tune up the team for D-I teams since spring practice allows for less tune up time? The goal of the team should be to win the MAC East, make the post season and then let the chips fly. Does a tune up game in August against a I-AA team hurt or help win the MAC East or is it neither?Some of the I-AA teams Owens played were mid season games. I am completely against that as there is no reason to tune up mid season. I just see the trend of I-AA teams early season for I-A teams and it worries me that we are once again going to be the last to catch on. It might be nice to tune up on someone instead of everyone else tuning up on us.I hope my questions provide some discussion.

I like this. I got to see the Zips play once last year at Winthrop and now I can see them TWICE next year. The VCU game is a stretch, but I can tie that into a business trip to Richmond and maybe take a customer to the game and expense the tickets.VCU has a good team with a good young coach. That should be a good game to watch. I don't know much about UNC Greensboro, but you can read about them here. It looks like they play in the big arena in Greensboro (20,000 seats, former location of the ACC Tournament). I'm pretty sure they play in the same conference as Winthrop (Southern Conference) so the competition will be quality. These two games will be good for the Zips.

Your post got me thinking about the first game at IC. Is it too late to jam in a I-AA team to open the stadium the first game of the year? I really don't like playing I-AA teams, but this one time it may be a good idea to open the stadium with a win and build some karma. They need to guarantee sell outs as best as possible the first year. Game 1 against a I-AA team (the stadium will be packed regardless of the visiting team). Game 2 OOC against a BCS program at home could sell a lot of tickets.The downside with this strategy is I-AA teams (the last I heard) don't count towards bowl eligibility.

Everyone should read this article. It provides and excellent analysis of what it takes to win in the MAC (all of which I have been saying on this board for years and nobody listened....QB comes first) and the current poor state of the conference right now. In addition, the analysis of UofA is pretty good. Hats off to the author.

As a fellow Steelers fan, I expect better than this from you. A successful football team must be able to both run and pass. It's called balance. They don't even have to be great at one or the other, they just have to be good at both. Running endlessly is what lost AFC Championships one after another over the past 15 years. Once balance was established with a winning QB, they go to Super Bowl XL. Can you imagine what the Zips would be like this year with a Roethlisberger type QB with the talent they have?As far as almost winning the last time in Badgerland, every team that loses a close game thinks they were cheated somewhere along the way. Excuses are one of the main ingredients in keeping a loser a loser.I stand by my original post. The Zips need to be injury free (which does not mean laying down) after the Badgers game.

I don't know and I don't care. These Big Ten games are nothing more than preseason NFL games with little meaning (other than cold hard cash) and a lot of risk to player health. The Zips really need to be healthy going into the MAC schedule. All I'm asking for is six wins. This game is almost a sure loss so why get players hurt in a meaningless game?October 20, 1990 Akron lost SEVEN (appx. 32% of all starters) starters for the remainder of the season during the Florida game. Included in the injuries was the starting QB.

I didn't check their schedule, but this is probably the Badgers first game. They will take the usual BCS vs non-BCS approach to this game and show nothing the BCS teams can use against them. If the Zips can stop off tackle plays and basic passing plays, they could keep this one under 28. I'd like to think we could at least score 10 points against them.Nobody getting hurt is the key to this game.

It's brutal out there right now. If you think it is bad now, wait until Q4 08 and Q1 & maybe evern Q2 09. It's going to get worse before it gets better.

Thanks for saving me the time. Well said. We also have "building" though.

EDSBS TopicEDSBS has been running a regular topic written by a web site owner for various college football teams. It is a series of eight questions. Let's give this a try for the Zips.1. Color that best describes the upcoming season. Red sky evening after a rainy day. As the storms of the Rubber Bowl mercifully close, we are left with the hope of a better tomorrow. The Rubber Bowl has been an anchor around the neck of this program since we went D-1A. Someone once called the Rubber Bowl, "the old gal". That would be great if the old gal looked like Cher, but the old gal the Zips play in looks like a cast member from The Golden Girls.2. Name a country and period that best describes the Zips. United States immediately following the LA Purchase. We now have the land and resources to make a great team with the fieldhouse, campus changes and new stadium. Is Mack Thomas Jefferson or is he just John Adams filling a seat until the next great leader comes along? If Mack is Thomas Jefferson, who is his Lewis (of Lewis and Clark) that will map the new territory....JD or someone else?3. Name one or more important players. This is too easy for me. Whomever the QB is on a MAC team is the most important player. MAC teams live and die with their QB.4. Name two games to watch. Syracuse is my #1....if the Zips lose to Syracuse, it could be a really long year. An early season and I think the first home game against Ball State is #2..... Can the 3-3-5 defense stop a high powered passing attack the way it is designed to? I have a lot of questions about that.5. A game not to watch. Wisconsin. Getting our butts handed to us for a payday is not the sort of payday I like.6. Every hero is missing something in his belt. What are the Zips missing? Winning attitude. I guess this is just a general statement about the program over the past 20 years. Now more than ever, there is enough talent to have a winning team. Do the players believe they can win? Do either of the QBs believe they can produce a winner?7. Describe this season with a Jimmy Buffett song. This is a really easy one for me. I would love the Zips to win the MAC and it would at least be described as an unexpected, pleasant surprise if they did. In the song I Will Play for Gumbo, Buffett writes about how much he loves the dish and especially when it is unexpectedly served. My favorite line about being unexpectedly surprised with a bowl of gumbo is:"It's a little like religionand a lot like sex,you should never knowwhen your gonna get it next."If the Zips win the MAC this year, it will be completely unexpected but very enjoyable.8. What would you wager on the Zips doing this season? I would bet on covering the spread against Wisconsin. Tune up games are just the thing to keep the score close for Wisconsin. If they wanted, they could blow the Zips out by half, but they will keep it close with a lot of substitutions.

Good point and you have picked up on my biggest complaint about the defense. It's not that guys aren't lining up in the right places, it's that we use the wrong size guys to perform tasks more suited for larger people. A rover is not the size of a LB or DE and gets exposed because of it.

There is enough talent on the Zips to go 6-6 and compete well in the MAC. The only missing link, like at most MAC schools, is the QB. With bad play calling and the 3-3-5 defense, the remaining talent will go to waste.

Here are some questions I would like you guys to ponder about Zeke. Is he the guy who is going to make the Zips great right now? Is he the foundation for a team that will be great after his time at Akron?Zip Watcher could chime in on this one as he went to school at UCONN, but Zeke could be Akron's Cliff Robinson or Chris Smith. UCONN didn't win anything with these guys, but they were the foundatioin for the future of the program that included Don. Marshall, Donny Marshall, Ray Allen, etc. that took the program to another level after they got it winning in a very tough conference.Instead of putting pressure on Zeke to make UofA Gonzaga while here (I think that is unfair), I would rather look at him as the solid foundation for the future of the program. If it happens while he is at Akron, even better. One player really didn't do anything for UCONN. It wasn't until they were able to use the minor success from one player to attract better players years down the road that the program really took off. It may take more than Zeke's four years at Akron.

Raising pricing is one of the most difficult things to do in any business (one of the easiest things to do is lower pricing or keep it the same). In order to raise prices and maintain existing volume, one very important condition must exist. First, there must be a real increase in the value of a product to the consumer. The Zips must raise prices now when the new stadium is opening as the increase in the value of the venue has increased. The new stadium is a real and tangible improvement in the general product. In time, the product on the field must improve to keep the volume, but for now an improvement in packaging should be enough to raise prices. The Zips have one, maybe two years to improve the product on the field or people will turn away. I'm not asking for much here. Six wins gets us a bowl game and a good chance at the MAC Championship Game. I'd take that. It's all about getting to the post season. God Bless Joey Chestnut, a great American. Some people have the heart of a champion, he has the stomach of a champion.

I wonder if 5 years from now posters will still be asking about the status of Harvey?

Good questions. First a comment. The only thing MAC ADs see five years into the future is their next job.Wlll the BE implode? Hell no! The league can sustain itself on being one of the best, if not the best, basketball conference in the country.BE Split? Into what? The trend in college athletics is to have mega conferences. They are as big as they need to be and the competition is pretty good. There is strength in numbers and if they split they lose strength. The only possibility of leaving would be Pitt or WVU going to the Big Ten and I don't think either school is in a hurry to do that. They will never give up the BB only schools either. It helps make them the mega conference for BB. They are big enough for football.Memphis leaving C-DOA? Memphis is a basketball school. If they leave for the BE, they lose their automatic bid to the NCAA each year and their guaranteed 22 wins as they may not be hands down the best team in the conference.The Zips are going to no other conference and nor should they. The MAC is a I-AA football conference with a 1-A tag on it (Look to see how MAC schools did in bowls. How did our league chamion do agains an average Clemson?). App St would stand a better chance in football in C-USA or the BE than UofA or even most other schools in the MAC. As far as basketball, God bless you guys and your enthusiasm, but I think you guys are letting the fact that the Zips rack up lots of wins against horrible OOC teams, get to the finals of a bad conference and beating an unmotivated FSU team in a completely irrelevant tournament (OSU looked more relieved the tournament was over rather than happy they won) get to your heads. I lived in Connecticut for a year and saw a lot of BE basketball. I went to some ACC basketball games last year including the ACC Tournament. Akron would get killed in the BE if they had to play night after night at that level of competition. We can't even beat Winthrop for crying out loud. We would be the worst team in the league....hands down. Here is the real question, Why would the BE want us? Why would C-USA want us? Don't give me the media market crap either. As bad as Akron would be in those leagues, nobody would tune in to watch blow outs. Local TV would be better off showing reruns of Fat Albert.Here is my question. Why can't we just try to be the best team in the worst league? I believe being the best team in a lot of sports in the MAC is an achievable goal. If we could get to that point, we should all be happy.Getting back to the logo. I'm absolutely amazed the league has been around for around 60 years and is probably still in relatively the same shape it was in 60 years ago. Being this bad for this long should not be advertised.

I was thinking of making a complete mockery of this logo by creating a poll. The poll would use my original slogan of "Building Since 1946" or whatever year it says. You guys could vote for the completion of the slogan. Who would like to participate in the mockery?