GP1

As a season ticket holder for many years, a new stadium must happen...and soon. The Rubber Bowl is a disgrace to the University, MAC and college football. It must be replaced. The bigger crowds, more money, possible high school football playoffs, etc. will be nice, but mostly, I just want a nice place to go watch a game. I think that is the best reason to want a new stadium. Give the fans and people in NE Ohio a place to go enjoy a fall day without having to look at a dump like the RB.

This is about the time of year the coachiing merry-go-round starts moving. One more will probably leave before it is all over. It's just a fact of life in that profession. Good luck to Matt. He is a real good guy.

Wouldn't that make him SAADWTW?

I'd like to take this opening to make fun of myself about this topic and the player. I've mentioned before that I have a brother who coached college football for several years including a couple at Maryland. He knows more about football than anyone I know personally. Last year we were sitting in Athens at the OU game and in the middle of the third quarter my brother leans over to me and says, "GP1, Chase Blackburn is the best player on Akron's team". I about blew a gasket......no, I did blow a gasket and told him he was f*&^#$g crazy because Blackburn doesn't really stand out and do as much as he should. I also said there were about six guys on Akron's team better than him. I can almost quote exactly what my brother told me at that point. He said, "No, seriously, he's big, he hustles, he's fast and he is always around the ball. He's a perfect candidate for an NFL team. In the right defense, he would dominate the field." Again, I protested and told him Blackburn couldn't make an Arena League team. As it turns out, I was exactly correct. There is no way Blackburn can make an Arena League team because he will be too busy practicing in NFL mini-camps and playing in NFL Europe. So here is to my prediction. Here is to Blackburn getting with a team that plays a defense he fits into.

Late in the year Akron has been scoring a lot of points. I look for that to continue. Look for the young Memphis QB to have a tough day in a pressure situation, but their RB will keep them in the game. Akron 34 Memphis 28 Could be one of the best bowl games this year.

I'm not 100% certain about this, but I think if a Prop 48 pays his way his first season and then graduates in four years, that person is able to have a 5th year. Kiki has one more year coming in football because he is graduating in May.

I don't know if anyone saw it on FOX Sports Ohio last night at 6:30, but they had a half hour show on the Zips season and MCB. Very well done.

Maybe we are all missing the obvious. Doesn't Cincinnati seem like a game that would be attractive for both schools with the Thomas connection?

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.

Aww Man I am taking 12 people to the game and I was told to go to Hockeytown and now you are the 3rd person to say it sucked or it was O.K., I wanna make this a fun trip for my family and friends so I don't have to beg them to come to the game and support AU. It does suck, but there is no other place to go for a sports type feel. Akron will be on the sideline opposite of the MACC so the walk will not be as far. Akron will also be wearing white again.

The #1 running back in the nation wouldn't crack our 2-deep?? You're insane. This kid is going to be a star. Guys don't typically get recruited based on what they did in high school, they get recruited based on what they can bring to a program in the future. They are like stocks, you don't buy based upon what a stock's past performance, you buy based upon the probability of future performance. There are a lot of stars playing college football who never played on a winning team in their entire life prior to college, but someone who gets paid to find players (college coaches and recruiting coordinators) think they will be a good player someday. If enough of these people think the player will be good, then they will typically get recruited highly regardless of how they played against Hoban. I went to a high school football game for the first tiime in years this year, so I don't really keep up on who is good or not, but if OSU offers a player a scholarship, the player is a really good player regardless of your feelings about OSU. OSU is in the business of trying to win national championships and giving scholarships to stiffs does not move that goal forward. ITZ is correct that if a player is recruited that highly, the school is almost obligated to play him as a freshman to see what he has. The player may not start, but he will get a good bit of playing time. Maybe this kid is just leveraging Akron against OSU to increase his signing bonus with OSU. On another recruiting note (maybe this is in the recruiting section already), my understanding is that the best WR in central Ohio and probably in the state is coming to Akron. I have no idea what his name is, my HS football coach brother told me about him and this news. I guess he runs a 4.2 fourty for real. It makes sense. Why would you go to OSU if you were a good WR and not Akron? OSU is wasting Ginn's ability with that borring off tackle offense and JD coached Bryant and Fitzgerald to award winning college careers.

I think the yes line should read, "HELL YES!!!!!!".

http://www.bceaglesfootball.com/ndfan.htm This is really funny because it is so true. I could really care less who wins the OSU vs. ND match up. However, if ND wins, dormant fans across the country will be demothballing their ND clothes and proclaiming they "have been a fan their entire life".

None of this is directed at you Buckzip, so don't take it personal. This reminds me of my life. I work in sales and there has NEVER been a time when a customer has come up to me and said, "You know GP1, you should really charge more for your product". The prices listed for this merchandise are more than fair. If anyone thinks they are too high, please let us know what each item should cost. Please keep in mind that the NCAA, MAC and U of A are not running a charity for fans and need to make money off of these products. Please take into consideration when pricing the product the following items. 1. Cost of raw materials, 2. Cost of labor to produce the material, 3. Cost to transport the material to the retail location (trucking, packaging, cost of loading and off loading the truck, etc), 4. Cost to store the materials, 5. Cost to pay the labor to sell the goods. 6. Any other costs you wish to factor in. If you don't know the answer to these questions (I have no clue what the answers are either), then don't bitch about the cost of a product. Look, the point is that $20.00 is not too much to ask for a hat showing your school's first ever conference championship in football. Fork out some chash everyone, being cheap is a sin.

What an absolute DICK to write crap like that at this time. I love his facts..."JD is from Colorado and the Colorado job just opened up...That means JD is a candidate for the Colorado job." Yeah, Lee Owens 7-5 was exactly like this year's 7-5. I guess it doesn't matter that two of Lee Owens' wins were against Cal Poly and Howard, while JD's were Division 1 wins that iced championships. Yeah, that one loss vs Can't was what got Owens fired. Boy if he'd have just won that game he'd have gotten a 10-year contract extension. What an absolute dick. Ahhhhh, CK saved me a lot of time. Thanks! JD will not get the job at Colorado. Someone with experience at a really big time program will get the job. JD's next step will be to a conference like the Big East where the competition is slightly better than the MAC and the pay is MUCH better than the MAC.

This is 100% correct. However, he was raised in Mobile, Alabama. From this point forward we will call him the "Alabama\Mississippi Philosopher". Uofmbrad, I think the overpriced beer is yours for the taking if you just give the answer.

In honor of what appear to be pretty friendly fans so far, I offer this trivia question. The first person to answer this question correctly will receive a completely overpriced $8.00 beer from me at the game December 26. The Peabody Hotel is in Memphis, and twice a day they have the famous duck walk where they either return the ducks that swim in the lobby bar to the roof or bring them to the fountain. It's really a great piece of Americana to see and if you are ever in Memphis I would encourage you go watch the duck walk in the afternoon, then go to the Rendezvous for ribs and then to BB's for music. Anyhow, a great Alabama philosopher once wrote the following words: "Management and labor keep rattling old sabers, quackin' like those Peabody ducks." If you are the first to name this Alabama philosopher, the beer is yours.

Yes, it was so empty that the first topic on a local sports radio show after Toledo's win was why didn't anyone go. I was there, don't pretend there were more people than what there were. By the way, Akron has had crowds over 30,000 many times in the past. You need to stop. Ignore ToledoRockets and get off this MACC attendance at Toledo. They drew over 20,000 for the game, but it looked empty for most of it because Marshall was up by 3 TD's in the first half and everyone left, despite the fact that Toledo won the game in the end. Who really cares right now? If Akron hosted a MACC game, I'm sure at least 20,000 would show up. Let's move on and talk about Memphis. Don't let this moron add fuel to your fire. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores101/1...4/101334340.htm Here is a link to a site that shows the stats for the game in Toledo. As we all know, these numbers are frequently inflated by those reporting them. Akron inflates their numbers all the time and so do the other schools. There is no way this number was reported accurately but I'll put it out there anyhow.

Yes, it was so empty that the first topic on a local sports radio show after Toledo's win was why didn't anyone go. I was there, don't pretend there were more people than what there were. By the way, Akron has had crowds over 30,000 many times in the past.

(I'm glad I can now laugh about those days) Isn't amazing how years of frustration were released when they won? It's been a real good feeling the past few days.

I just remembered this. There was one really creative student who had the old defense type of sign where you make a "D" and then have a fence next to it. You all know what I'm talking about. Anyhow, this student cut out a "Z" instead of a "D" and it was Zefence instead of defence. Get it? I thought that was pretty creative.

Worse than the championship played at the Glass Bowl a few years ago when it was half empty for the Marshall vs. Toledo game? Even with Toledo Tom taking up 25% of the stadium, it was still only half full.

I have some extra magnets from a couple of years ago. You can e-mail me through this web board and I will send one to you. Loyal fans should be supported by other loyal fans. I thought two years ago the magnets, with the helmet logo, were the best thing they have given away ever and they did it for only one year and then no more. Does this make sense to anyone but me? They could buy 1,000 of the magnets for say $2.00 each at the most. Sell them for $5.00-$7.00 each and they only have to sell 400 to break even at $5.00. I think they could sell 400 at basketball games alone. The good thing about the magnets, and this is an odd good thing, is that if you forget to take one off of your car, somebody will steal it. Then two goals have been accomplished. One, the University gets to sell another magnet because they are so cheap that you can easily buy another. Second, in a strange way, you have provided advertisement for the University because someone will hang that on their refrigerator at home and be reminded of the programs when they look at it.

http://gotigersgo.collegesports.com/sports...otbl-sched.html Here is a post for their schedule and how they did against each team. They look like a similar team to us. I hope the game is as close as the Championship game with us winning again.

Are we the next Syracuse? Probably not, but who cares? What we are though is on the brink of being the next dominant team in at least the MAC East if not the Conference, and that's all I care about. While ever team is on the down slide, we are moving up in talent and facilities. We just won the MAC Championship, it doesn't get any better than that. If I was a fan of another MAC school, I would be scared of what Akron has done in the past two seasons. Coach of the Year last year (should have been this year also), top recruiting class, another great recruiting class coming, MAC East Championship, MAC Championship, we were the team that drummed Marshall out of the league, new campus practice facility, new stadium on the way, improved campus that attracts the type of non "suburban" kid necessary to have a winning program, the list could go on and on. Fear the Roo. As far as the Motor City Bowl not wanting us there, tough shit. We'll see them on the 26th. If the MAC does not want us there, tough shit. We'll see all of them next season with our even more improved team. Next season our schedule will be much more favorable than this season. If the MAC doesn't want us in the league, tough shit. Kick us out and prove that you are all scared of us...that will make the Conference look like a bunch of Bush Leaguers. Could we be the next Marshall in that the rest of the league hates us? I hope, because Marshall was hated because we were all jealous of them because they won year after year. Being the most hated team is really a good thing. If you read other school's fan boards, schools like Toledo, Miami, NIU, BGSU and OU all think they are one day going to be in the Big East. If they want to go to that conference, let them. They will all become the bottom feeders of their conference the same way Marshall has in Conference DOA. What did Marshall get for that move.....nothing.