GP1

In a big boys and girls world, we don't always get what we want.If people are going to go to games and sit there stewing because they did not get to park where they want to park, then they shouldn't go to games and make themselves miserable. The games are intended for people to have a good time. Try to have a good time everyone. MAC games are really fun to attend if you just let yourself. The cost of going to college athletics is not going down any time soon. In fact, if you read the WSJ article I noted above, it is now more expensive in many markets to go to college football games than NFL games.Mike brings up an interesting point about the reduction in the cost of season tickets for UofA in an attempt to make the new Administration look bad. The truth is that many people who were over charged when the price structure changed were kind enough to donate the money to the University athletic scholarship programs in lieu of a refund. Good thinking Athletic Department and thanks to those kind people out there who think more about giving than taking. One last thing about the WSJ article is that is says tickets for the Notre Dame vs Penn State game are selling through scalpers at $875 per ticket. What does this say about the original price of the ticket?

There is not a separate charge of $500 to park at Akron. You can park for $5.00 a game if you wish. It's still amazing to me how misunderstood the parking mailer was/is.

Some how, some way he has to do it. It's up to the coaches to call plays that will help him develop and succeed under pressurer while passing from the pocket. Troy Aikman is one of my all time favorite NFL players. He got his butt kicked for a while at Dallas while he stood in the pocket and got killed. The accuracy he developed during this time helped get him to the Hall of Fame. He learned to be poised under pressure and look how his career turned out. The ability to do this will only make Frye a better player in the long run. The question is whether Cleveland fans will want to watch him learn on the job? The other is, do the Browns really see Frye as the QB long term? If not, maybe they will not mind him running around just to make things happen and when they improve their line they can abandon him in place of a pocket passer. The truth is none of us really know what the coaching staff thinks of Frye because we don't get to sit in their meetings behind closed doors.

If someone could link to this article it would help others understand how good we really have it at UofA. The article is on page P3 of today's Wall Street Journal and it is titled "Deep in the Pocket".One interesting thing that stood out to me was that Syracuse charges $180 per seat for a season ticket ($30 per game). Is the value of a Syracuse game twice the value of UofA's most expensive ticket? I don't think so. If anyone tells you that going to a UofA game is too expensive, please do me a favor and tell that person they are full of crap. Then find out why they really don't want to go. Money should not be the issue unless the family is poor.

When I listened to the nfl radio guys at Browns camp they were saying the same thing.The Browns will be scouting a lot of teams QBs, and looking for a cut. Interesting, I should get my own radio show. It clicked for me one day while watching an ESPN story on the Jets at the gym and I thought to myself, "GP1, one of those guys will end up with the Browns before all is said and done." The question is whether either of those two will want to come to Cleveland given they can go with any team they wish at that point. The only upside the Browns could sell to either is the potential of starting in Cleveland. Other than that, they could go back up with a good team in a really nice climate.The Browns will have to pick up a cut. I can't remember a time when there was such a lack of talent at the QB position in the NFL and no NFL team is going to give up a decent back-up QB in a trade. Especially since the Browns really have nothing to give up. A winning NFL QB must stand in the pocket and throw most of the time. Frye must do this to succeed long term. Scrambling leads to nothing but confusion and holding penalties. Guys like Mike Vick never win anything in the NFL because they either get killed running around, or their running is supposed to make up for their lack of throwing ability and it always backfires.

Reserved seats are much better than GA because the sun will not be in your face the whole game. The only advantage is the closer proximity to the beer garden.The band and students will be on the visitors sideline. It's about time we allow our students to sit over there and heckle the visiting team as bad as ours gets heckled at every other school.Akron needs to move some fans over to the visitor's side just to keep the stadium from looking empty during film session with recruits. All in all, this isn't a bad move.

Former Zips QB Mike Johnson is the WR coach with the Ravens. Interesting.......

DrZ is 100% correct. If Frye is going to have any success in the NFL, he must throw the ball down field.Campbell will not be the back up. Here is my prediction:The Jets have three former starting QBs in camp this summer with one rookie. Only three will make the team. Chad Pennington, Kellen Clemens ®, Brooks Bollinger and Pat Ramsey. The competition for the roster spot is between Bollinger and Ramsey. Pennington will make the team since he has been there so long and the Clemens will make it because he is a rookie and they can make him the third QB and not pay him a lot. The loser between Bollinger and Ramsey gets a one-way, all expenses paid trip and an apartment in Berea to Cleveland where one of them will cry himself to sleep every night wondering what he did to make the football Gods angry with him. When this happens, the poop will hit the fan around Cleveland.

Nah, Joe would probably hitch a ride with someone so they would pay the parking. He would be complaining all day and all night about "them horseless buggies" and about how teams don't run the split option any more. And whats this I hear about the "forward pass"? It will ruin the game. I love it.

The rule should neither help nor hurt any team as all teams are impacted by the rule equally. However, Akron does run a ball control offense and they have a tough defense this season. A major factor in winning football is controlling the ball throughout the game. Ball control allows a team to exhaust the opponent's defense with offense and stopping your opponent with a well rested defense late. After you stop the opponent with your defense late, you control the ball with the lead against an exhausted defense until the end of the game. This new rule allows Akron to more easily run the clock out on an opponent than it did in the past. My prediction is that Akron will have a lot of late leads to protect this season and with their ball control offense, this rule and a good defense they are going to win a lot of games. Or at least run the clock out on a lot of teams.Now, I always like to run a little smack, and that dinosaur Joe Novak is a good one to target (especially since our young whipper snapper of a coach beat him last year in the MACC). Back when Joe started in football and those new fangled leather helmets became all the rage, commercials were not that important. Try to follow me now Joe....You want your team on television for recruiting purposes. You want the networks to pay for the television rights to produce the game. How do you think the networks pay for the rights? If you were a sponsor, would you settle for a 15 second spot at the same price as a 30 second spot? Since the networks are helping you to recruit and support college football in general, shouldn't they and their sponsors get something in return? Maybe when Joe retires, he can move to Akron and complain about paying $5.00 to park at a football game.

Nobody really addressed the basic question. If OSU loses out on a national championship chance by losing to Akron, there is a good chance they will have another chance within a couple of years so the loss to Akron is not nearly as important as Akron beating OSU. If Akron beat OSU, the program would be taken to a new level. One thing you would not see any longer is Akron students wearing OSU gear. Ticket sales for Akron's first couple of home games would sell like crazy. It would have two years of positive impact for the program that could lead to a decade of success.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/spor...es/15223184.htmI was sitting at Dilly's yesterday on Triplett Blvd. getting a burger and hot dog when I saw a bunch of vans starting to pull up at the Rubber Bowl. I just figured they were maintenance people getting back from a late lunch or something. I had no idea they were setting up for practice on the lower grass area by the runway.I like this idea. First, it forces humility on the players. Second, there are now three classes of Zips who have no idea how bad it used to be to go to the Rubber Bowl for practice every day. They now know what the Seniors on the team had to go through when they were younger and it is something they can all now relate to together. Both the seniors and younger players should not forget where the come from, and it wasn't that long ago that they did not have that beautiful field (inside and outside) to hold practice. I'm not certain they should go there every day, but once is a good reminder.

Tip 1: Stick with a lite beer. It's easier to drink 12-15 of them before a game rather than trying to chew down 12-15 Guinesses.Tip 2: Bring lots of people and buy a keg as it's cheaper in the long run.Tip 3: Bring lots of girls with loose morals. It makes the after game party more fun.

We are just going to have to agree to disagree. I don't believe for one second that for the past 20 years people have not been going to games because Faust wanted to use a different brand of shoes. There are now recent alumni of the University who were still in diapers when Faust came to Akron. These people don't care about the past. If this is indeed the case, these people really need to get over it and find something more recent to be bitter about. The other argument to the story is that Akron moved to the big time. Did you want to stay in the small time? The people of Akron don't go to games because they aren't really interested, or they expect a free ticket. Nothing else can explain it.Dennison was not the answer when moving Akron to D-1A as he had almost no experience at that level (remind anyone of Owens?). Faust was the answer, but keeping him as long as they did was a disaster.

Zips Win! is back! Always a sane view of the world that is UofA sports. I agree with a minimum $15 for reserved seating. Miami charges $24 for GA seating and they get no more people at their games than we do.

How much money did the university pay for the when 15,000 fans drove to Detroit for the MCB? You want to confuse the discussion here by talking tickets. This thread is about parking. Fine then, is $5.00 per game too much to pay for parking? How much should it cost to go to a game? How much should it cost to park in Lots 1, 4 and 5?By the way, the amount the University charged for tickets to the MCB probably resulted in a financial loss. In all fairness, when a school goes to a game like the MCB, they are likely to lose money. Where were all of these fans for the MACC? Financial losses do not support new stadiums once they are built.

That is one of the most cynical statements I've ever heard. The fans you've just insulted will support a winner. Getting fleeced should not be part of the equation. Telling anyone not to take themselves so seriously is hilarious. Doctor, heal thyself. I don't think it's cynical at all, it's the truth. When free tickets were no longer given out, people no longer went to the games. Will the fans of NE Ohio support a winner or do they just support a team when they get free tickets? When I was in HS in 1986, I came up to an Akron game late in the year when they were playing for a spot in the I-AA playoffs and there were about 6,000 people at the game. Where were all the people supporting a winner in mass then? If people who want free tickets are insulted, let them be insulted. I could care less because they are doing nothing for the University by free loading off of it or Acme or any other business buying the tickets and giving them away for free. The businesses are doing much more for the University than the fans at that point and they should get the special perks associated with big giving. Giving away tickets has not created a paying fan base in Akron. It has only created a fan base that expects a free ticket and won't go to a game if they can't get a free ticket. I apologize to anyone who takes offense to this, but every bit of evidence points to the fact that it is the truth.The question is still out on the table....How much should it cost to go to an Akron game? How much should it cost to park in Lots 1,4 and 5?

It costs $5 to park at a game. Is this really an arm and a leg? If someone tells you they will not go to a game because it costs $5, please call that person a liar and ask them why they really don't want to go.

This is money they use to eat and pay bills. Stupid suggestion, period. It's a joke....don't take yourself so seriously.

Good responses UADavid and ftbr. Here is the reality of Acme Zip. Acme Zip was a give away program where people received a free ticket for buying a lightbulb. My freshman year we had the fourth largest crowd in history for an Akron home game the second year into Faust's time at UofA. Can't moved the ball up and down the field that night with Wilkerson at RB and Mason coaching them. Fan support did not die with Dennison beiing let go, it died when free tickets were no longer given away at games to the bitter, chaep bastards who live in NE Ohio.Nobody is answering the real question. What should it cost to go to an Akron game? From what I can tell, it costs a family of four $39 to buy tickets and park at a game. This is more than reasonable. It's only $60 for the same family to sit in reserved seating. I'm still waiting for answers. Does anyone think it should cost less? If so, do you want to be able to afford a stadium some day with people paying less than this amount? Do you think they can support a new stadium with the amount of money they currently bring in with tickets?

Please no more fireworks!Anyhow, your economic analysis assumes the value of the product Akron is offering is equal to the value of other commodity products of the same type, such as drywall or lumber pricing. If there is a perceived increase in value of a product, people will pay more money for the product. Akron football is a speciality product that should be in demand because of the success of the season last year. Now is the time for them to raise prices. The real question is how much? I don't believe that if Akron sold tickets for $1.00 each that any more people would buy a ticket than they do now. If Akron sold 30,000 tickets per game at $1.00 each, they would make exactly $150,000 in ticket sales this season. Just enough to almost pay JD's salary and nothing left over to pay for maintenance on a new football stadium. If they sell 12,000 tickets at an average sale of $10 then they will make $600,000 this season and then add the walk up sales and it becomes much more than what you get at a lower price. Don't apply the laws of supply and demand to the seats in the stadium, it must be applied to the product within the stadium and that product is a damn good one that deserves a higher price.Here is the question I ask all of my customers when they complain about the price of something my company sells.....How much should it cost? So I ask everyone on this board, How much should it cost to go watch a D-1A football game, sit close to the field, watch kids play hard in a good conference, get a chance to watch UofA have a good team, enjoy an evening with your family and friends and spend time watching a sport you like at the University you went to school? I'm of the opinion that UofA does not charge enough for the product they offer.The minimum the school is asking to park is $5.00 per game to park in the general lot which is $2.00 more than you had to pay last year. There is absolutely no place in that letter that says you have to pay $500 to park to go to a game. You guys have a lot of nerve to complain about the cost of parking when hardly any of you probably had any intention of parking anywhere other than general parking. I agree with Z-P, this was a simple fundraising letter that has been completely blown out of proportion on this board. I'm ashamed that graduates and students of my University are unable to read and decipher a simple letter such as this. Shame on most of you.

Cincinnati is a sinking ship and it will never get better. They will never be able to compete in the Big East with the big football or basketball powers. Why would JD leave to go to that place when if he plays his cards right and has success, he could go somewhere that pays a million dollars per year?Mike Thomas will reign over eight to ten years of misery in Cincinnati. He will fire both the football coach and basketball coach before he gets fired himself. The next guy will do no better. In the mean time, he will make a ton of cash.

Interesting posts. One item on the letter sticks out to me and it is on the "Priority Parking Application". It says, "__My Z-Fund contribution of $500 or more has been submitted previously." There is no line to write in an amount. There is a similar line toward the bottom of the same form. I wonder if a person gave $500 over the past year if they automatically qualify for the priority parking? If that is the case, it should have been more clearly stated. If that is the case, many on this board may already qualify. $500 is only $41.67 per month (or $1.37 per day) and it is a tax deduction. Some of you college students and younger alumni could easily take $41.67 in tip money off of bars in a month period and contribute it.In any event, many corporations give thousands of dollars and will qualify for at least three passes automatically based upon how I read the form. I don't see how this change is going to impact the average fan or even if you will notice a difference when you are at a game. Most of these spots will go to corporations and may or may not get used like you see at an Indians game, or any other big league sport in the country, in the parking decks. My guess is that all of these priority parking spots will be taken by the first game. There aren't that many spots. If they are all sold by the first game, some of you should come in here and apologize for statements about the current administration....... and then when you are through apologizing, start to bash them again for not pricing the spots at a high enough price.What we are seeing is just the nature of sports today and Akron is far behind the curve in increasing the revenue flow with sports. Just look how far behind we are with teams like Toledo and how we were with Marshall. Our falling behind didn't start with the new AD or even with Thomas and UAM. We started out behind and it's been going on for years and has been a slow crawl. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but at some point it has to change if everyone wants a new stadium and a big time program. Giving tickets away didn't work, strange festivals the weekend of games didn't sell tickets, Acme Zip didn't really sell tickets in a meaningful way. At least the new AD and staff are asking for the money.There is plenty of parking in the General Public Parking and if you drink five or six beers without going , you can pee from the general parking lot into Lots 4 & 5. If parking in general parking more closely fits your buying range, park there.

Thanks for the recommendation. However, my day of going to college bars have long since past.

For each Zips away game this season, I will provide ZipsNation with my personal review of places to go when traveling to an away city. Since some of you are already talking about what to do at the Penn State game, I'll throw in my opinion on places to go while in town. Mostly, the reviews will be for people spending the night.In terms of places to eat, I would recommend four places (one I can't remember the name of). The first is a place called The Tavern (or something). This is an old place in the downtown area of State College. Good place, good old style atmosphere. The food is good, but they don't give you a lot. They do have about eight side dishes on the menu and you can get all eight with the cost of your meal if you wish. This is my second favorite place in State College. The food can be a little bland and served in old lady portions.Another place to eat is a place called Champs (not the same as the Champs chain) west of town on the street called Atherton or Allerton or something. This is a great sports bar with outside seating. For those of you wishing to do some drinking before the game and watch football, this is a great stop. Outside seating is good also. Get the macaroni and cheese as a side dish.There is a place in town called Broadway Deli, or maybe Boardwalk Deli. This is a good place for sandwiches, etc. Good beer selection. This si the one I can't quite remember the name.The best place in town to eat is called Spats. Good food selection with prices ranging from reasonable to expensive. They do some Cajun cooking which is good. Good wine list. Not a dress down place. You will be satisfied with your meal at this place. Make reservations.If you are looking for a place to drink at night, there are a thousand places to drink in a college town. GP1 will be hanging out at a place called The Pickle Room after what will most certainly be a grotesque display of eating at Spats. It's clean, they have good beer, they have sports on TV and they play good music. That's good enough for GP1. Students come to this place, but they tend to be older and they don't come until after eleven when most of us old farts are getting ready to turn in. If you are looking to get a load on, taxi service is pretty good in State College.If you enjoy golf, the Penn State Golf Course is top notch. PSU offers a Golf Course Management Degree and the students help maintain the course. It is great to play and is a good value. I played with two other guys and we had two carts and the round cost a total of $125. There are two courses, white and blue. The White course is what most golfers should play as most golfers are not very good. The White course is comparable to playing a good public course. The Blue course is the Big Ten Championship course and is difficult. In addition, PSU is changing the Blue course in order to hold the NCAA Championships there in 2007 or 2008 so it is currently under construction, but it can still be played. The Blue course is like playing at a good country club.Let's see....eating, drinking, golfing, sports on TV........that about covers it. Enjoy your trip.