GP1

Ideas that come to mind first are:1. Public projects are notorious for change orders. Keeping some of the money for that would be a good idea.2. Hire a better breed of sub-contractor.It is good that they are bidding this project as early as they are. This is encouraging. As Akron, and quite frankly the rest of NE Ohio, continues to turn into Youngstown, contractors will become very hungry and need to build their back log. Getting bids this time of year in Ohio is a good way to keep the costs down. Get ready for the change order fights though.I'm not shocked the steel pricing came in lower than anticipated. The cost of steel in the US has been impacted by the construction boom in China in recent years driving up the costs of insulations and things like steel. Building in China and in the US has slowed recently so the cost of steel is down. UofA is getting a good deal. Maybe things are finally falling their way on this project.Nice job by the ABJ publishing this story. It will help keep future bidding for the stadium low as contractors will be more competitive in their bidding after what they see in the first round of bidding. I wonder if the people at the ABJ are actually smart enough though to connect the dots between the low bidding numbers and the lack of economic growth the leadership in NE Ohio is giving the public. Probably not.

How about one like Brian Williams?Stop making sense and seeing things clearly!

Why is it dangerous to bring in JUCO players? The only reason not to do it is some of you may like the comfort of losing. There is no rule against bringing in JUCO players. I understand that JUCO players may not be the whight type of players that you guys love, but they are good players none the less. They can also be immediate impact players.Teams out west bring in JUCO players all the time. If we have three or four on the team, it isn't a big deal. Look at the rosters of teams like Fresno State, Hawaii, Boise State, New Mexico, etc. Those teams load up with JUCO players. Vic Green was a JUCO player and one of the top five players ever at Akron. The same goes for Biggs. Mike Johnson was a JUCO player. If bringing in JUCO players allows us to bring in a player like Vic or Biggs, I say bring in more.

I think JD has averaged three assistants turning over each year. That's about normal for a school like Akron. I would anticipate a higher than average year this year.It's hard to fire a coach at Akron, because the turnover is so high with coaches just leaving. If he fires the OC and four other coaches leave, that would be a very difficult thing to overcome.One thing coaches do is try to leave on good terms. One way of doing that is staying through recruiting season and then leaving. If you guys remember, Alford left the week after signing week last year. Not many will leave now, but with the turnover in the coaching ranks this year, a lot of coaches will be trying their hand in assistant positons in Arkansas, Michigan, etc.

Akron should downgrade it's schedule to low level mid-major programs. This year, 50% of Akron's OOC schedule finished in the Top 25 (UCONN and OSU). 25% of the schedule finished in the top half of a major conference (IU). 25% was junk (Army).If Akron changes their schedule, they go from a 4-8 team to a minumum 6-6 team. The only thing keeping Akron from being a good football team is a better QB and a more favorable schedule.On the other hand, the basketball team has done a good job of creating the illusion the team is really on the rise because of the schedule they play. I actually think it is a brilliant move on KD's part. Let them play 50% of their OOC schedule against Top 25 teams, 25% against teams like Purdue or Notre Dame or WVU and 25% against the junk they are currently scheduling (they have already lost two of those games). I'd like to see where they finish then. My guess is they would only win 20% of those games, come into the MAC schedule completely demoralized and be an underwhelming team. Remind anyone of the Zips football program?

Funny!!!!I don't know if it will keep Akron from becoming Youngstown, but it may slow it down for a year or two.Only the ABJ could sell this story as some big deal for the Mayor. At a minimum, the Mayor should be maintaining the current business base in Akron. The ABJ should only get excited when they start bringing jobs to Akron.On a side note relating to the ABJ, notice my signature line. It references one of the great shows ever on television (HBO). The new season of The Wire will start in a few weeks and it will be the last season. Each season of the program has an underlying theme pertaining to why the urban areas are just broken. This year will be about the media and how it contributes to the fractures in urban areas. The ABJ is a horrible paper that is somewhat responsible for the lack of reporting on the problems in NE Ohio, especially in the city of Akron. Every bit of bashing this board does on the ABJ is justified.

They can't buy anything with committments. They need to get out there and close these deals.....and soon.My wife is an accountant and I am in sales. She always reminds me that a sale is not complete until the customers check clears the bank. We need to get checks clearing the bank.

I have always been under the impression that using bonds to raise revenue for capital improvements for atheltic facilities at public universities is fairly common. A quick Google search shows that many schools that have recently built or renovated their stadiums have used bonds, including Iowa, Central Florida, Marshall, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming, Illinois, and Florida Intl. I'm sure there are many more, but I stopped looking after a minute.Good search. I'm sure all of those other schools are not in red ink.My understanding is UofA is using tax money to pay for the stadium because they are building dorms as well. I'm cool with that. I'm just concerned the bonds will be difficult to pay off.

"The University will pay for the extras by selling bonds..."For those of you who may not understand this, bonds = debt. Selling bonds could be a sign that money is not coming in fast enough. Selling bonds is not a good thing.This means that the University has added to the sea of red ink the Athletic Department swims in annually. Since bonds mature over a period of time, the University is gambling they will not only reduce the existing red ink, but also, the stadium will produce enough revenue to reduce the operating budget short falls and pay off the bonds in the future. Why am I feeling more cynical than usual?Over the next 20 years, this new stadium could either be the best thing ever to happen to UofA, or an albatross around the neck of the University. I don't see a middle ground.

Terry Pluto would. He LOVED Crawford. After the chair beatings, drop-outs, gun charges and 20-loss seasons, I'll never forget Pluto writing his "Underdog" column. I'd take Crawford back...in the same University capacity as Gerry Faust. Crawford was, and probably still is, as solid a man as you'll ever meet. But he was a bad head coach.I'm absolutely convinced Terry Pluto has had a detrimental impact on sports fans in NE Ohio.

Absolutely correct! Akron didn't choke the game away last night. You guys have to understand something. Winthorp WENT OFF the last five minutes. It was as impressive of a display of college basketball as I have ever seen in person. Akron couldn't do anything right because Winthrop would not let them.Back to my original post. Did Akron play bad? Of course. However, for the vast majority of the game, Winthrop played well below their standard.....their stats were bad like the Zips stats were. They are a team that has made three straight NCAA Tournaments and have the banners in their gym to prove it.....winners find ways to win. Akron did not take advantage of their struggles. When they found their footing, they smashed us. My prediciton would be if Akron played them in a best of seven series, the Zips might win one. Last night would have to be the type of game they won and they let it slip by.The Zips will learn from this. The first thing I hope they learn is they need better and bigger athletes on the team. KD is a good coach, but not a great coach. Players make coaches great. He needs to get better players.

GP1, can you confirm this?Sorry.....I wouldn't know him if he walked in my house.

Three other thoughts about the game last night. I wanted to sleep on them before posting them....12. I arrived at my seat 20-25 minutes before the game. Here is what I saw. The Winthrop team was warming up and you could tell they were as serious as a heart attack about the game coming up. There was no laughing or kidding around. On the other hand was Akron. There was Nate L. and Nick G. throwing the ball to each other acting like a couple of baseball pitchers and giggling like a couple of school girls. They were bahaving so poorly that one of the balls flew into the stands and could have hit someone. I'm sure that if Coach D. had been on the floor, he would have taken his belt off and beat those two boobs like the children they were behaving like. By the way, why does Nick G. wear a sweatband around his head? The guy doesn't play long enough to sweat.13. I'm going to try to get some photos on the board today. Please note the quality of uniform. Winthrop had Nike and they looked great. We wear that Addidas (sp?) and look like a bunch of hobos. When Winthrop runs out of the lockerroom, they are all dressed EXACTLY the same down to the shoes. Akron has various types of tops on and various types of shoes. Maybe this is nitpicking, but things like that matter. Nike = classy, Addidas = not Nike. Get out of the Addidas contract ASAP!14. Coach D. could learn from the post game interview Winthrop's coach gave on the radio. Instead of KD complaining about the crowd in interviews, he should be thanking those people who come to games. A lot of you put out your hard earned cash and time to go watch teams like Walsh. You all should be given awards for showing up to those games. Winthrop's coach made a big deal of the influence the crowd had on the game and the influence they had. I'm here to tell you all that there were maybe 3,000 people at the game (6,100 seat arena). That's a generous estimate. The crowd noise was anywhere from quiet for the first 35 minutes to kind of loud the last five. The roof certainly was not getting blown off the arena. KD needs to worry about his team on the floor and let others worry about tickets.

I just got home from the game. Just some thoughs.1. As sports fans, I hope all of you at least have some understanding of athletic talent. Here is the truth of the game tonight. Winthrop had better players at every position than Akron. Period. They were taller.....they were faster......they moved better......they shot better (especially when it counted)....they smothered Akron with their athletic talent at the end of the game. Where are our 6' 3" guards? Where our 6' 9" centers who have soft shots from five feet? How come none of our forwards can gracefully drive to the basket or hit a pull up jump shot?2. Winthrop was absolutely horrible for 35 minutes of the game and they still won by 10 (I think). Had Winthrop played the way they are capable for 40 minutes, Akron would have lost by 25. When Winthrop was playing bad, Akron did nothing to burry them. Winthrop couldn't have thrown the ball into the ocean for about five minutes. Had Akron poured it on the first 35 minutes, they would have won easily.3. I said earlier on the board that Akron should schedule big time teams, because according to you folks, they have a good team. I didn't think they would get run out of the gym. I am here to say that I was completely wrong and I should stop listening to you people until I see things myself. The team I saw tonight would lose by 30+ to a UNC or someone like that.4. Coaching. Outside of recruiting better athletes, I'm not certain what else KD could have done tonight. My only question is why when Winthrop was pressing the last ten minutes, was Dials bringing the ball up with his parallel partner as Quaid? Wouldn't Middleton have been a better partner?5. I'd sure like to know where the muscle is Nate L. and Quaid M. added to their frames. HGH and now.6. I like the Dials/Middleton back court better than the Dials/Dru back court. I also really like that McNees (sp?) kid. He hit some good shots tonight.7. Winthrop looked like a team that plays higher level competition than Akron. When they hit the gas, they went. When Akron hits the gas, they sputter.8. Wood was absolutely smashed in the head with about four minutes to go. It happened right in front of me.9. Akron is what they are. At half, I was convinced they would win the MAC Tournament this season. Now, I'm hoping they will win the MAC Tournament. There is a big difference.10. No inside/outside game again this year. It's either all inside, or all outside. When our big guys had the ball, they didn't seem to be able to get the ball to a smaller player on the perimeter easily. This has always troubled me with the team. I like all five players being involved.11. Lots of local UofA grads at the game. None of us knew each other and we all live in the area. I wish the Univeristy would have alumni organizations around the country so we could watch games on TV with like minded people. Every other school does it......and we wonder why there is no alumni support.

Good thought out points by everyone. I can't get the following thought out of my head.If UofA loses the MAC Tournament, even with 25 wins, and does not even get in the NIT, what good is the schedule we are playing other than winning a lot of games? If the answer is that they are building the program, the question is then, into what? The Gonzaga analogy is a really good one. However, they mixed in winning their conference tournament with a lot of wins every year. If the Zips want respect, they are going to have to earn it through a Tournament championship either this year or next (For some odd reason, I think it is going to be this year as college athletics have a theme this year of "expect the unexpected"). If not, they will increase the reputation as a program that wins a lot but can not win the big game.Why play one or two big teams early? Sometimes getting your butt kicked is a good indicator of where the program is and needs to go. It can also expose the players to a higher level of play and thus improve the players expectations and performance by putting them in a higher pressure situation. I still believe everything should center around the MAC Tournament and those three days in March. These early season games teach a good team like UofA a lot. From what I read, it seems as if Akron is playing well and should not get run out of the gym by anyone. They need to step up the scheduling to find out how far they have come. KD is a good coach and would have them ready to play against anyone.Again, really good posts everyone.Have a nice night.

Rock Hill Newspaper ArticleAbove is a local paper article for the game tonight. The theme of the article is Winthrop needs a win bad tonight after losing three of their last four.No coverage in the Charlotte Observer. The reporters must not want to make that 15 mile drive from Charlotte to Rock Hill.Good Luck Zips!

Actually, you are all right!Like a Robert Mondavi brand of wine, it is average, but not great. It will provide some enjoyment, but not enough to make the skilled pallets of the powers that be in the NCAA to take a second look come March.skip-zip, the point about Miami is correct, but the final analysis of their schedule is incomplete. At the end of the year, Miami will be better off because of playing a rigorous schedule. The most boring coach in the world, Charlie Coles, knows it's all about preparing for the MAC Tournament and that is what Miami is doing. Coles plays top teams so his team can become accustomed to playing high level competition in the Tournament. Akron, on the other hand, prepares for the MAC regular season. Akron will pile up a lot of wins, but not a lot of people will take a second look at them if they don't win the MAC Tournament. There is really no right or wrong, just a matter of what you think best prepares the team for the MAC portion of the schedule. If Akron wins the MAC Tournament, everything will be fine. If they don't, it doesn't matter because based upon last year, wins are not enough.

Thanks for your support I think Akron could get a big time program to play them the Q. UNC came to the Convocation Center, or whatever they call it now, a couple of years ago. The place was packed. The purpose of playing the major programs early is to prepare the team for high level competition. While Davidson lost a close game to Duke yesterday, they are now better prepared for their conference play than they would be had they played a cupcake.If a mid major wants respect, they need to do these things.

I think if you reread my two posts above, I agree with you that there is good competition in the MAC and I like it. Most people don't. If they did, more people would go. I also encouraged KD not to encourage free tickets as the team is good and has come a long way.The MAC is it's own worst enemy right now for many, many reasons. The near future, unfortunatel, does not look good for the league in any sport.

I think you may be right, but I'd like proof. Did WMU, Toledo and Miami have early season increases in ticket sales after their tournament runs?Miami had a big early season crowd (according to my nephew) at the X game earlier in the year, but has that translated into season ticket sales?I like the MAC, but I think that is an indication that there is something wrong with me and not others. Ultimately, is the product the MAC puts on the floor enough for people to spend money on BB or FB tickets? Clearly the answer is no. The MAC is straight Dollar General. Everyone should take a look at UofA's BB schedule...does anyone really get excited about the home OOC games? While the Zips have a better OOC home schedule than last year, they are still shopping in the bakery. Davidson played Duke yesterday in a home game at a sold out Bobcats arena.....they played UNC two or three weeks ago at a sold out Bobcats arena. Davidson gets large crowds in their arena in Davidson and doesn't win the conference every year. These types of games give the perception that Davidson is a big time program and people go to their games because they believe they are a big time program.Some on the board believe the Zips schedule is great as it gets the Zips ready for the MAC. I think just the opposite. The Zips are trying to pile up wins against average teams in the hopes of drawing crowds with a good record. They are now winning and people are not going. They don't go because the team is not perceived as a big time program because they don't play a very good OOC schedule. If Akron wants to win the MAC, they need to grab their balls and schedule tougher teams early in the season, take their lumps and learn from the high level of competition playing the major programs offers. Miami does this every year and they are very competitive come MAC Tournament time with average talent. We learned that last year. Why can't Akron schedule a game against OSU or some other regional major program at the Q early season?You're right though Capt., it is a lot of things. I get very frustrated. Now that I'm further away from it, I'm understanding why I get frustrated and I don't like the reality I see. I'm just glad all I have to do now is buy my way out of not having to watch it.

I like Coach D., butt he is half right/half wrong.Is the BB program good cheap entertainment? Of course. College BB games last only two hours, the seats are close to the floor in almost every seat in the arena and the team is playing well.Shoud they be giving away free tickets? Absolutely not! Never devalue yourself or your players Coach D.! You guys have come too far. Giving away tickets is exactly how Akron stays at a mid level, mid level program. At some point, money has to come in. Akron has spent decades giving away tickets and people expect it. Change expectations.Is the personal touch Coach D. is talking about needed? It is long overdue. I don't know the answer to the following question, but I'd like to know how many public speaking engagements were lined up for KD and JD during the off season? Butch Davis spent the summer speaking almost every day in North Carolina about the football program and trying to sell tickets. Sometimes there were 35 people at the events, sometimes there were 350. The point is they are making the effort to sell the program. The had good crowds for the team even in a bad season.Remember, it's not billboards and newspaper advertisements, it's selling the program to people on a personal level. It is something UofA Marketing has NEVER done and is long overdue.

Getting rid of the Odd Corner is very simple. The student government should organize a campaign to encourage all university customers of the Odd Corner to buy their bowls, bongs and rolling papers at another store. Boycotts have traditionally worked well in US history. Why not one here?

If you don't laugh at the broadcast, you will cry. This is completely on ESPN.I like following trends. The trend of the mac this year is that it sucks. The suckiness (sp?, word?) of the mac has taken over a great network like ESPN.As far as the game, Miami is having the same problem as Akron did. They are trying to run the read option with a QB that never keeps the ball and runs. No disrespect to CMU, but the only difference between them and the rest of the MAC is their QB. If Akron has a decent QB, they win last week. If Miami has a decent QB, they win today. Miami has guys open and this QB can not complete a pass to them.Here is something funny, my dog just gave himself a boner and is having trouble walking.

DAMN!! You beat me to it. For all love Charlie gets on this board, the silence for Dwight is pretty deafening. Did you know he has 22 career NFL interceptions? He trails Vic Green by only 3INTs as the Zips all-time NFL INT leader!Dwight StatsVic GreenGiven the love for "suburban" players on this board, the silence should be expected.Great pick up on the statistics. I had no idea Smith was that close to Green in interceptions. Although, Smith plays a more interception friendly position than Green did.The Green vs. Smith debate would be a good one. Green had a Hell of a long career, which proves how good he really was. He also only played two years at Akron so he was not around long enough for people to really remember. I guess the debate should wait until Smith finishes his career.

NFC Defensive Player of The WeekJust in case any of you forgot, the best player from the Owens era keeps on keeping on in the NFL. Great job Dwight!!!!