GP1

What are they? You only get three. 1=most important...3=least important.Mine are:1. A QB that can win games.2. A new defensive scheme.3. The key to the safe where they have the other 30 plays stashed. The same five were overused last year.What the Hell, it's my topic. I'll add one more:4. The map with directions to the exit of the graveyard.

What three things should Coach D. ask for (BB related) in his stocking this year? 1=most important...3=least important.

Two things. If bad officiating is a sign of gambling problems in college football, then all of college football has a problem with gambling and officials. Conference officials have always favored those teams in position to finish high in the standings or have the potential to go to a national championship game. Look no further than the calls WVU was getting against Pitt this year. The Big East wanted in the worst way to get WVU to the National Championship. If you guys remember back to when Marshall was in the MAC and in the Top 25, they always got favorable calls from the officials.Secondly, the person writing this article is a dick. There was no reason to name the other officials on this guys crew. There is no evidence any of them have any problems, other than being perhaps bad officials. This is actually more of an opinion piece than a news story.I'm not even certain what the purpose of this article was. Officials gamble?.....No surprise there. An offical who gambles engages in other bad behavior?......No surprise there. Questionable calls happen during a game?.....No surprise there.....They happen every game.

The discussion of depth reminds me of one of my most favorite sports comments...."Depth is great until you have to use it." An injury to CM or ND would spell disaster for this team.How is McNeese (sp?) playing? I thought he played well enough at Winthrop that the inclusion of these three freshman wouldn't be that important......unless they are better players.

Is that Freddie Boom Boom Washington I see?

I like the idea, but it will never happen.You guys living in Ohio need to think of it this way. When you look at your paystub and see your OH taxes, you have contributed to the stadium. The tax payers of OH keep MAC athletic programs floating and this stadium will be no different.

I'm sure Mr. Kotter wouldn't appreciate this statement.Weren't we all talking about 70s shows on the Batman/Dwight Smith pot scandal thread? I actually wouldn't mind if this board made fun of the 70s for a couple of weeks.

The fact that Coach Kest has the team at 5-5 at this point in the year could be the greatest coaching job in the history of the school. She is exactly what the program needed.

Wasn't there a Batman episode once where he encountered some type of gas and ended up being stoned. Honest to God, I think there was an episode like that once. Given that it aired in the 70s, it may have happened.

Dude, You never cease to amaze me! :blink: My kids read this board, I hope you are kidding about this? Half serious, half kidding.My guess is that 70% of the NFL smokes pot on a regular basis and 80% smokes pot at some point during the year. I don't swoon with outrage when I read things like this. In fact, I find the stupidity of the average NFL player funny at times.I don't think children across NE Ohio are going to go run out and buy a bong, an ounce of pot and go out and bang some chick in a stairwell because Dwight Smith did it. Considering what I read in the paper, kids smoking pot these days would be a welcome change from the smack and other harsh drugs they are using in their parents suburban basements.Most people reading my post probably just said, "There he goes again" while chuckling about some of the parties they may have gone to in college or go to in college. Sorry if reality can be both funny and harsh. Find some humor.

I'm sure a lot of us on this board smoked some pot when we were young. I'm sure a lot of us would smoke pot now if our companies did not have Puritanical random drug testing programs. I wish to only offer Dwight some advice in lieu of casting stones. I'll leave the casting of stones up to the racists and moralists who regularly post on this board. Dwight, smoke in your house and keep it out of your car.As far as having sex in a public place...Was anyone hurt? If not, shit happens. Having sex wherever and whenever you want to is one of the perks of playing in the NFL. Why is the Janice Joplin song "Get It While You Can" running through my head?Just keep on playing good football Dwight! Be smarter!

It's only a matter of time my good friend.....only a matter of time.High taxes, poor weather, bad schools, rapidly decreasing property values in Akron (look at all the for sale signs on homes, people are getting out as fast as they can) and a mayor who has only one answer...raise taxes again.The only job growth I could see is hospital building. They will be needed to take care of they dinosaurs left after the young flee. People who work in hospitals do not typically live in the city. Just like people working in the hospitals live in places like Boardman and Poland.

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.