GP1

Okay.I bet if the public knew when, and what time the games where, they might go too.If there was only a way to get a big poster and hang it over a major highway in Akron...now that would be cool. :rolleyes:PS I still remember the Jason Taylor one on Exchange Street a long time ago. I wish I took a photo of that.PSS I will be taking a photo of the new Portage County Pansy one on 43 soon for a new contest, stay tuned... I think the University should take advantage of the new digital/electronic billboards on Rt 8, Interstate 77 and on Interstate 76 to promote our teams more. Start putting up schedules, pictures and whatever. Those new billboards really catch your attention. Start advertising!!! Yes, they should start advertising, but billboards are not the way to go. History has proven to us that billboards don't work. They may sell other things, but Zip tickets are not one of them. Let Can't have every one of them if they want. They will get the same results we did.......poor.My understanding is that ticket sales are up from last year (they were up last year as well). OSU is probably a good reason for that, but they are still up and that's all that matters. All done without a single billboard. Amazing.I don't know what to make of our current marketing department. I may not always agree with them, but they seem to be getting results after years of declining ticket sales. They must know something I don't. Results are all that matter.Media guide looks good too.

I'm thinking they could blow up the Rubber Bowl with 10-15 M-80s...........

Rewriting the Akron QB record books for Getsy was like rewriting "Dick and Jane". Whatever, the records were never that impressive.Amazing, the QB, who touches the ball every play, is the key to winning. It all starts there guys. Offensive line and defensive line mean nothing if you don't have a QB to win games for you in the clutch. As Jackson goes, so will the Zips. Sorry CJ, but that's just the way things are........now you need to deal with it.

Or having a "Reversal of Fortune".Good post. I feel good about this upcoming season as well. Folks worry about losing players, but they forget that every four years there is an entire new set of characters.Until I see evidence that the 3-3-5 defense can produce some three & outs and get pressure on the QB, I'll go with seven wins. A solid season in this day and age.

For guiding them to a tried and true method of not selling ticket?Memo To Can't State Athletics: Please continue to buy as many billboards in Summit County possible. In fact, buy every billboard in Summit County. We know from history that this method does not sell tickets. Enjoy the same empty seats this method has brought UofA over the past 20 years. No go drink some bong water.

With every baseball game I watch, one thought always comes to mind. Why do baseball managers wear the same uniforms the player do? It's really a funny sight to watch an old man like Bobby Cox slump onto the field wearing a uniform that is designed for a young athlete. Anyone remember Tommy Lasorda in his? Yikes.Anyhow, since it is a slow summer, should football coaches be required to wear the same uniforms as the players? For the sake of humor, I am voting yes. It would be just too funny.

I'm not comparing anything about the game other than the level of promotion. To me, there has been virtually no promotion of our game to-date. I hope it changes. If anyone so much as lifts a finger to promote it, it will draw 35k+.FYI - The K.e.n.t. game will sell out this year. That will put UA's home attendance average at 30k/game after 2 games. I understand what you are saying. I'm just trying to point out the problems they may have selling tickets. I'm the guy who thinks there should be 20,000 at every game at the RB because I think MAC entertainment is that good. The same with the basketball team......I have no idea why they don't sell out evey MAC game. The JAR only holds 5,500 and the entertainment is excellent.IMHO the game is being promoted in all the ways that have failed in the past. 35,000 tickets is possible, but not with billboards and radio ads on WKNR. I just don't know what amount of money Akron gets out of this game. If it is a lot, they should put a lot of effort into it. If there is some community non-profit backing the Patriot Bowl that will get an amount of money that does not make it financially cost effective to promote the game on their own, they shouldn't do much. One of the key drivers for this game will be Akron season tickets as both this game and OSU tickets can be included. This is a ripe year for selling Akron tickets.I'd like to know how full JD's, KD's and Kest's speaking schedules have been this summer. Time is running out quickly for JD's schedule. Tic Toc............

I'd like to know the share of the revenue UofA gets for the Patriot Bowl before I get too excited about what they are doing or not doing. It seems to me that it is a game sponsored by someone outside of UofA. I have heard the usual radio spots about it on Cleveland radio and there is an electronic billboard running at Browns Stadium at the east and west end zones. Historically, this type of promotion has failed miserably for UofA. I have no doubt it will fail here as well.On the surface, let's compare the two games. A weekend in Chicago vs a weekend in Cleveland. Chicago wins.An in state team (NIU) vs. a BCS bowl participant from a state with absolutely nothing to do in it and adjacent to Illinios. This compared to a historically bad D-1A program vs. a very bad Army team with a large national following that has no desire to go to Cleveland for a vacation. The Chicago game will be like a home game for Iowa. Chicago wins.MAC vs. Big Ten.......MAC vs. CUSA. Chicago wins again.Really heavy drinkers in need of another excuse to drink (Cleveland) vs. really, really really heavy drinkers in need of another excuse to drink (Chicago). Chicago wins. More people turn out to be happy than miserable.Chicago is a much better sports town than Cleveland. They also have a Big Ten team in town which sparks interest.The fans of Dekalb want to support NIU...they get good crowds. The state of Iowa wants to support UofI. If they get a huge crowd in San Antonio for a bowl game, more will certainly drive to Chicago for a holiday weekend. Army, who knows? We know that the people of Akron won't go to a game unless the tickets are free. Chicago wins.The Chicago game is much more easy to sell than the Cleveland game. Nobody should be surprised that game is sold out already. Nobody should be surprised if less than 25,000 show up to Cleveland.Have a good day eveyone.

FMR is right on the money. The cost of construction is on average only 20% of what a building owner will put into a structure for the life of the structure. Do the math...... Whether a football stadium or basketball arena, UofA will have trouble supporting the structure long term.While we all want a new stadium, it could become quickly run down if they don't find a regular revenue stream to keep the structure at an acceptable level for fans to enjoy a day at a game.I go back and fourth on the idea of the Big East. Immediate TV and BCS revenue is a good reason to join because UofA will have a new stadium to maintain. The money needs to come from outside of NE Ohio because historically the people of this area have not shown even the slightest interest in putting their own money into the program. TV and bowl revenue is a good source of immediate money. We'll get our ass kicked on the fields of play, but we'll have money to support the stadium.

I don't see eight wins, but Akron plays OU at home, gets a bad Miami program on the road (same with BGSU) and Can't at home. I really like our chances to get seven wins. Hell, any more seven wins can get us in the MACC.My biggest disagreement is winning at UCONN. UCONN is bad, but they seem to have our number and playing on the road will kill us.Akron will have a good advantage next season with a mobile QB. Can't has a mobile QB, but they caught us early in the season last year and eveyone figured out they were a one trick pony by the end of the year and they fell apart....Akron will not be a one trick pony. I would go as far as to say we will have a better all around QB playing for us next year than Can't. It all starts with the QB though....if you don't have a good one, nothing else matters. If Jackson stinks, the team will look bad. It's a bad shake for CJ, but that's just the life of a QB. The best offensive line, the best receivers and the best running back can't overcome a bad QB.

When I first heard this, I thought maybe Romeo could be like Chase Blackburn. Blackburn was a guy who needed a shot to prove himself to the NFL and he did it in the Browns spring camp. The Browns cut him and the Giants picked him up and Blackburn has become a reliable player for NY. The Browns cut the wrong Zip that year. My initial thoughts were wrong though.Chase was an NFL talen in the wrong defense playing a position he was not designed to play. He had the speed and size to make an NFL team though.Romeo doesn't have the outside shot he would need to play in the NBA and he doesn't have the size to compete in the middle.Stranger things have happened though.

Blair is a good guy.By the way Blair, you owe me a phone call.

I'm not 100% sure, but this endowment is handled like others, it will be placed in an account that will earn around 10% interest per year that goes directly to the programs. If the budgets are 4.5 million dollars combined, that is 10% of their budget ($450,000). Nice hunk of change!This is a huge endowment for the athletic department. I think they spend around $10.5 per year and don't bring in nearly that amount of money in dollars generated.I don't know how much Mack had to do with this donation, but it looks good under his watch.

He did just enough to lose.

I noticed Saturday night that the exterior electronic message boards on both ends of Browns Stadium are running continuous adds for the game. That's a good sign that even the Browns are supporting the game. We'll see.

Good post Z-P.I was the first to say on this board that Frye would not beat out Anderson and it looks as if I may be right (I was also the first to question his ability his senior season, but that's another topic). Frye just doesn't have NFL ability. He has the ability of a guy who only won 19 MAC games in four years. Winning that few games in a low mid-major conference didn't happen by accident.I was watching Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN a couple of weeks ago and Joe Morgan made a point about pitchers who always lose close games and people feel sorry for them. His point was that those pitchers do "just enough to lose". That's Frye....he does just enough to lose.Don't be ashamed to say that Frye is not smart.....he isn't. Things are almost always as they appear to be. Anyone who has ever heard the guy speak and watches how he carries himself could come to no other conclusion. He just isn't a smart guy.The point where I would disagree is that Anderson will not start the season. The head coach has to win NOW and waiting for Frye to come around will not be an option. If BQ is not the option early, and Anderson gives them the best option to win, he has to start or the coach is doomed.Frye needs to make it through this season (I think) to qualify for the NFL PA pension. I say good luck. As little as I think about his QB ability, it would be nice for him to have a decent steady income.Those of you who think Quinn is not a tough guy didn't watch him play in college. I didn't see him play much, but I saw enough to know the guy took a beating against much better competition that Frye had to face in college and kept coming back for more. He almost single handedly took Notre Dame to two consecutive BCS games. NFL teams need winners and he will help Cleveland win.

Good point. The defense was wearing down, but I think it has more to do with the size of the players on the field and not the scheme. Over the course of a game, not to mention the course of a year, small players wear down against larger players. Football has moved to size up front and speed behind it. Florida didn't beat OSU because they were faster, they beat them because they had bigger and more physical players up front and backed them up with speed. An offense can run the clock out on a tired defense when they have the lead.This is no slap at Mackey, but just because he lines up a LB, doesn't make him a LB. The kid is a strong safety all the way. When he lines up and constantly plays against bigger players, his talents are not being fully used.I haven't liked the 3-3-5 defense since NIU and Memphis ran up a bunch of points on us at the end of the 2005 season. I just think it's a gimmick and I don't like gimmicks.

No GM in his right mind would make a trade for Frye. Most probably have never even thought about him.1. Back-up QBs can be signed without giving anything up for them. If anyone wanted him, they could wait until he gets cut and then pick him up. There isn't much risk in waiting as there is little reward in picking him up.2. All Miami had to give up for Trent Green was a 5th round pick. I don't think the draft has high enough rounds to make is worth giving one up for Frye.3. Most picks after the third round are marginal players and tend to become back ups. Why would anyone trade a back-up pick for a back-up player? A back up QB almost never plays. A back up DB or LB or RB can at least play special teams.4. Why would anyone trade for a player that is unlikely to pan out and has at best 2-3 years left in his professional career?

I don't know if this is true or not, but didn't I tell everyone this a couple of months ago? Still a lot of time to change his mind if is true.

I just think that people with decency don't like to see racism cloaked in morality. The KKK was founded on racism cloaked in morality as well.

I don't think there is any question the stadium will be completed for the 2009 season. The announcement is done and I'm not certain what everyone is waiting to hear. All they really need is to award the contract and a ground breaking ceremony.It does not take long to build a stadium because most parts of it can be completed while the foundation and supports are being completed. For example, the next time you go to a Browns or Indians game notice that about every two rows of concrete have a horizontal caulk joint. Those panels were made somewhere else close to the site and brought to the stadium and put in place by a crane. Panels can be poured and stored untill they are needed. You'll notice that the panels also have small 5" x 5" concrete patches in two places where you rest your feet. There are hooks below those patches they hook the crane up to and then patch the hook hole when the panel is set in place.18-24 months will be more than enough time to build it.

The way the MAC Championship game was won was evidence of JD being a better coach than LO. LO's teams were comically unorganized and timeouts were frequently misused in order to straighten out the mess. Being unorganized is largely the fault of the coaches. His team would have never been in a position to use all three timeouts to hold NIU to three and out and make a last minute drive to win.It's all about stability.In LO's last year, two of the seven wins were against I-AA teams. Cal Poly was terrible and we could have gotten 22 guys off of this web page to beat a dreadful Howard. Given how we schedule now, Cal Poly would be replaced by Michigan taking that team to 6-6 and another I-A team would have been added that we would have stood a good chance to lose to taking the team to 5-7. There is really no comparison between LO's last year any year since JD took over.

As many of you know, I see a lot of the sports world through the eyes of a Steelers fan. There have been many times in my life when I looked at them and thought to myself, "Self, they have no idea what they are doing". I was almost always proven wrong. There were years when I loved Cowher, and years when I hated him. Not until last year did I not care whether he stayed or left. In the end, he won 149 games in 15 years (more than any other team during that 15 years), many AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl trips and one championship. His first two years were very difficult and he also had many difficult years and the team stuck with him for what I think was for the better. Back to the Zips.Unless there is an absolute implosion the next couple of years, it is best to stick with JD. JD inherited a program that was flat on it's back when he took over and it wasn't until he decided to start Biggs that things turned around for them. Switching coaches constantly is not the way to build a good program. Sometimes it is best to stick with what you have because the saying "the grass isn't always greener on the other side" exists for a reason.If you need another NFL analogy to make up your mind, look at the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones has taken what was once an ass kicking machine in the 1990s and basically turned it into...take your pick between the Giants, Dolphins, Panthers or Chiefs. He did it all because he couldn't stay in the shadow of a great coach like Johnson and he changed coaches constantly. Stability is the key.

Actually, it proves he can win the MAC Championship and take us to a bowl game.

I see this comment more and more often on the board and I find it just silly. We won all the games that needed to be won to get into the MACC. How is that backing in?The fact is, once in the MACC, we won the game on the field against a really good NIU team. Coaching and the play of Getsy had a lot to do with winning the MACC.Enough with the backing in already.