GP1

This is a good point. Recruiting is huge for the future of any program. I'm not going to pretend to know much about basketball, because I don't, but I do think I notice a good athlete when I see one.The young players on this team don't look like the type of player that would scare me if I was a good MAC player. I see some kids who play well together and hustle, but nobody really strikes me as a great athlete. Ultimately, good players win games. Do we have the players to sustain long term success? Romeo is a good player, but does he have the skills to be the "go to" guy every team needs?By the way, can I get a hall pass to miss the game Saturday?

How little are we talking here? I don't want any LBs shorter than six foot.

Go for it CK! It's too unhealthy to hold in emotions.

I have to agree with ITZ. The coverage during the MCB was very good and they ran a lot of different types of stories. I've even noticed they are getting the players numbers and names correct.Maybe the Beacon has earned some slack.....for now.

There was a nice full page advertisement in the ABJ this morning. It was on the back of the sports section and was a letter from JD Brookhart to the fans thanking everyone for coming to the MCB. Underneath was a Fear The Roo advertisement also. I can't seem to find it on the internet.

I think the Zips will come in right around 10,000. The ticket office had sold around 5,000 as of yesterday though. It's hard to tell because there will be a certain number of people who buy tickets on the internet and just print the ticket up at home. Students really need to turn out though....and they should take their parents to the game with them to increase numbers.If Akron does not get at least 10,000, they will NEVER get a chance for an at large bid for a game again without significantly increasing regular season numbers. This guy is brilliant!

I mentioned before why there will be no dome, but let me expand on the point that the University can not afford a dome. One of my biggest sales was on Ford Field where I sold over 2,000,000 square feet of product and a lot of it went into the roofing assembly so I do have a little experience with the construction of domes.A dome is out of the question because the pure costs of installing the roofing membrane on the dome will be too excessive. It cost millions of dollars just to install the membrane and insulation on Ford Field because of wind considerations, etc. The contract to put on the membrane and insulation at Ford Field was in excess of $7 million. Roofing prices have escalated significantly over the past five years and I'm sure a dome on Akron would cost in excess of $10 million. That was peanuts compared to the steel structure. I won't get into the engineering mistake that caused the roof deck to pop off when it was first installed, but that change order was huge to correct it and it almost didn't open up on time. The cloth hanging down from the roof in Ford Field to keep you from seeing an ugly underside of the roof deck was almost $500,000 to install.I would be surprised if the University could afford to excavate the land to have an in ground stadium. That's why newer MAC stadiums (Miami, Can't, BG, etc.) are not in ground. If you want it in ground, get ready for fewer seats.Finally, the cost of the new construction of a structure is only 20% of the lifecycle cost of that structure. So if you have a $20 million dollar building, it costs you about $100,000 million to build and maintain the structure over the life of the building. The state is having enough money problems to allow a hugely expensive roof to be replaced every twenty years. After about 60 years, the deck replacement on the roof would bankrupt the school. Without a dome, there is no HVAC maintenance, no leak problems to pay to fix and no extra costs to run the HVAC equipment. The cost to run the structure is reduced by not having a dome.It's fun to speculate about a dome, but in reality it just isn't in the cards.Sorry about the long winded post, but most of mine are long winded anyhow. This topic is much less funny than a Dick Clark post or a poll about Brady Quinn's sheman sister.

I work in the construction business and I can tell you that with enough time and money they can do anything.The problem is they need a new stadium as soon as possible, so they don't have time. I assume they are having trouble getting the money or they would have stated publically that the stadium is a done deal. So, without a lot of time or money, we are going to have an outdoor stadium when we get one.The discussion about a retractable dome is pointless. The reason Ford Field has a permanent dome is the cost of a retractable dome was going to be about $20 million more.Give me a 30,000 seate stadium on campus and I'll be happy. All I need to be happy at a game is a field, a seat and some beer.A dome would be nice if they could afford it.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/spor...es/13554399.htmAllow me to rewrite this headline for everyone: "Moorhead Promoted to Co-Offensive Coordinator: Brookhart Will Continue to Call Plays".For those of you waiting for black helicopters to pick you up, it could mean that the current OC is interviewing for other jobs......which may not be a stretch in that business.

The Browns are a great analogy. They are still suffering from a hangover from a speed kills guy, Butch Davis. Butch thought everything could be like Miami and completely forgot his days in Dallas when they were winning Super Bowls with a physical running back and full back, a great offensive line and a tough defense. It had little to do with speed.The Zips must be more physical if they want to continue to run that 3-3-5 defense.

I have to admit that I didn't see much college football this year because I went to 10 of 11 regular season Akron games and you miss out on the other teams when you go to games. The bowl season allowed me to see a lot of games and come to a personal conclusion about what Akron needs in its program. I know we had a topic similar to this, but now that the games are over, you may have a different opinion and I'm interested in what you guys think.The days of just saying "speed kills" are over. Only Lee Corso and SEC punch drinkers continue to come to that conclusion. In fact, Corso is probably still wondering why Florida State, Florida or Miami didn't win the Rose Bowl last night. Big, physical players at every position is now the trend in college football and as long as football is football and not a track meet, it should be the Zips trend. Memphis did it to Akron, Texas did it to USC, LSU did it to Miami, Penn State did it to FSU, Toledo did it to UTEP, Wisconsin did it to Auburn, etc.Akron needs bigger players at every position. I don't mean fat @$$es, just taller and more athletic players. In the Motor City Bowl, Reggie Corner played the halfback pass perfectly and lost out to a bigger and more athletic WR. If we don't get that type of recruit, we will always lose those battles and win around 6-7 games a year hoping to win a final game to make the MACC. That type of player is out there and we need to get some. Toledo gets them, Miami gets them, NIU gets them and Marshall used to get a ton of them. Why not us?I would like to know from someone like InTheZone who is around the team frequently if we have in fact recruited this type of player the past two seasons, or if we have just recruited a bunch of fast dwarfs. I haven't stood close enough to any player to know what we really have.On another note, I had an ugly flushback last night watching the Rose Bowl. Does anyone remember the days of......1. Poor time out management2. No defense3. Going for it on fourth down and not making it giving the other team good field position.4. Passing up easy field goals for no points later

We do have to give Toledo props for one thing. Last night they put up a statistic on the longest winning streaks in history and Toledo was high on the list with a bunch of real heavy hitters. So the MAC did get some good play last night.

http://www.sportspickle.com/features/volum...-0104-hawk.htmlI always enjoy a good mean spirited read on Sportspickle.com. This one somehow fits this topic. I have no idea how this topic continues, but it does. Isn't this an Akron board? Oh well, good humor this time of year needs to be viewed.

Damn, that's a nice dome. I bet it is cool in the summer and warm in the winter and dry during a rain storm. It would be nice, but I'll take anything as long as it isn't the Rubber Bowl and I can go to a bar before the game.

Nothing gets me as excited as the NIT basketball tournament. If the NCAA wants to put on a one game freak show the night before the Super Bowl after all the bowl games have been played, then fine. But that will just be the first step for those who want a 16 team playoff nonsense. They'll never shut up.

Never apologize for your opinions Zipsrifle.

I don't agree at all. The same people with the OSU stuff would continue to wear their OSU stuff and probably wear it to the game AND cheer for OSU. They would also be pissed off to no end if Akron beat OSU.I travel all over the country for work and this is something that isn't just isolated to Akron and Ohio. I know a guy in Nashville who graduated from MTSU and every week he goes to UT to watch the Vols. I could tell you the same thing about Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia, etc. People tend to follow their bigger state schools. I don't agree with it, but that is the way it is.Akron just needs Akron alumni to be Akron fans and everything will take care of itself. Akron doesn't need the greatest players out there, we just need better players than every other MAC team. The Akron alumni can influence that by just coming to games and if we make the conference championship game and bowl game, they need to go to that as well.

I love this topic.The only reason other levels of college football have a playoff is there would be no interest at all in their divisions if there wasn't.I like the bowls because for almost two straight weeks I am able to turn on the TV every night and watch a college football game. I love college football and I just like to watch games.The NFL has a playoff because there are only 32 teams and the purpose of the NFL season is to determine who gets into the playoffs and then who wins the Super Bowl. The purpose of the NCAA football is to determine conference champions for almost every team out there.A playoff would create an insurmountable recruiting advantage for those teams that make it every year and it would end up being the same 16 team in every year. Look at the other divisions, it is the same teams in their playoffs every year. Mount Union? The other teams in their league can't even come close to beating them now because every good D-III player in Ohio goes to Mt. There are no institutional checks (draft position, scheduling, etc.) like the NFL has to level the playing field for those teams who do not make the playoffs. Good programs like North Carolina State would be destroyed by a playoff.Attendance at college football playoffs at neutral fields would be horrible. It is one thing to fill a 18,000 seat stadium for NCAA basketball, it is another to fill a 80,000 seat stadium for football. Most fans can barely afford to go to a bowl game let alone four straight away games.Some say there is more money in a playoff system. I say that is a load of crap. Athletic Directors are pretty smart people and I'm sure they all have calculators and have sat down and calculated the take on bowls vs. playoffs. If there was more money in a playoff system, we would have one already.A football playoff would make the regular season as irrelevant as the current basketball regular season is. Every week, football games are hugely important and I want to keep it that way.A friend once told me the NCAA basketball tournament is the greatest "spectacle" in sports and football could have the same thing. I said that if I wanted a spectacle, I would go down to a trailor park and watch domestic violence cases break out. I don't want a spectacle, I just want good entertainment. The bowls are good entertainment and I was hugely entertained in Detroit on December 26. The trip to the Motor City Bowl was worth every penny I spent going to it.Lastly, I don't think the Earth will fall off of it's axis if there is not a football playoff and we keep the bowls.

www.motorcitybowl.comI don't know if this has been posted or not, but there are some great photos on this board. The size of the crowd is impressive to me. I knew it was big, but I didn't reaize how many people were actually on the Akron side until these photos.

There is an experienced stick up guy on the loose right now in Columbus. Maybe you could call Mo C to do the hold up for you.

Don't bother......I'm not a very likable guy.For those of you voting and not giving an opinion, shame on you!

I think you hit the nail on the head with the money. Five years ago we were paid something around $365,000 to play OSU. That same year or the year before K-ent went to WVU and only made $200,000. As far as recruiting, I think it would help on a small level to have OSU on the schedule. Especially with in state recruits. At least we could match the other Ohio MAC schools that play OSU.A game at Browns Stadium against OSU is not the answer for Akron. Look at the wonders playing OSU at Paul Brown in Cincinnati has done for that program. Four years later they are one of the worst teams in the Big East.Akron should take the approach Toledo does with their team. Toledo was on national TV 12 times in the past two seasons because they are willing to go anywhere and play anybody on any day. Kids will be attracted to playing on TV more than playing at OSU. I agree Akron should schedule two BCS teams on the road each year for the money alone. If you can get a two for one deal then great. The other games should be against any D-1A team willing to play us home and home. Maybe a home and home against Pittsburgh or Cincinnati or someone like that. I'd love Akron to include some west coast teams. Boise State, New Mexico, Fresno State, Air Force,......how about Colorado State?How about this? Opening day of a new Akron stadium, OSU comes to town. The only way to guarantee tickets to the game is to buy Akron full season tickets. Sell the tickets for that game at a way inflated price to pay OSU what they would want and sell the remainder at a normal price.

I love the "congratulated" line.Look, this young lady knew exactly what she was doing. She did a segment for ESPN's Cold Pizza and she had on the split jersey during the game. I hardly feel sorry for her. She wasn't hiding from the media in any way.

Was anyone more disgusted than me about the constant showing of Brady Quinn's horse faced sister in the stands yesterday? I know this isn't an Akron topic, but the answers might be fun.In the second half, AJ (I'll never have as good of an NFL career of Katzenmoyer) Hawk sacked Brady Quinn and OSU apologist Brent Musberger (sp?) said, "I wonder what they said to each other?". The poll allows you some selections to decide. Feel free to post your own if you wish.ZipsWin!, you can take your time on this one. I'm sure you have a lot of reading to do. The Notre Dame excuse machine was probably late getting out all of the excuses for Notre Dame loss and trying to explain why they are actually a better program than OSU even though they are 0-3 against them in the past ten years. I'm sure they are beating the drum for how tough their schedule is, even though it was absolutely horrible this year. If you tell a lie long enough, people begin to believe it.

Interesting you posted this ITZ. You have been conspicuously quite about this subject the past couple of years. I've always felt there was more than meets the eye about your lack of comment on this subject. That goes for others on this board as well. Happy New Year everyone.