GP1

I've seen so much complaining about refs after a win. MAC officiating is bad. It has always been bad. It will continue to be bad. Enjoy the win.

I was really busy at work this week and lost track of many things. Zips basketball was one of them. Nothing better than waking up on a Saturday morning, looking for where the Zips would be playing today and finding out they already won and the win was at Kent.

Eating a salad with your hands shows a lack of class. Helping others in need shows character. I'd take high character over high class. I wouldn't care if we had a stud QB who ate every meal with his hands as long as he works hard at helping his teammates be the best they can be.

I know a guy who ate his salad at a wedding reception in Key West who would also bend over backwards to help someone.

One other thing. I think younger people struggle with watching live sports events and television in general without assistance. For example, I like listening to music in bars. I'm also capable of understanding what's going on in the sporting event I'm watching without listening to the announcers. Younger people will throw a fit now if they can't hear the announcers during a game. Another thing I was reading about recently was young people watch television with the closed caption on even if they aren't hearing impaired. What kind of assistance would they need if at a game?

I really don't know. People don't go to games or even the movies anymore. My home TV is great for watching movies. It's a better view for most games than most seats. Watching a game at a bar, which I did Friday, is a pretty awesome viewing experience. Is a free T-shirt going to motivate me to go to a game? Probably not. I have more T-shirts than I need. I should probably go upstairs and throw a few away after this post. Beer? I can drink beer at a bar or home. Free parking? I probably blow more than $10 per day on things far more stupid than a parking spot. Free tickets? Maybe if they were decent and I didn't need chiropractic care after. I do like to attend events of high quality and gladly spend the money. This isn't a high quality opportunity.

That's interesting. VT tied for last is the most shocking part of the story.

What is the best thing to do when you find yourself in a hole?

He's hard to get to show up. Need to catch him on a good day.

Destruction

Ball hog.

Buffalo is playing well. This won't last long.

For the sake of many of us, they better hurry up before it's too late.

I can only State some facts. These are facts I pulled off of the top of my head. Coming last football season, they had the second most win in the ACC over something like a 6-8 year period. Only Clemson was better. They Were in the ACC championship two years prior. They have had several Top 20 rankings in the past 20 years and even some top ten. Their baseball team was in the college world series last year. In the past 20 years they have won six national championships in six different spots. The women's golf team won the national championship last year. They compete at the highest level in soccer, mens golf, women's golf mens tennis and women's tennis. Will Zalatoris is a known professional golfer. They contribute nothing? Their school and athletic department are not taxpayer supported. I think you may have them mixed up with Pitt, Boston College, Syracuse, Georgia Tech or NC State. Unless, you just don't know what you are talking about.

I don't know. Maybe they measure it differently. Maybe having SDSU helps. Maybe being in larger cities helps. A couple are the state school in their state.

The belief that another conference would solve all of our problems is delusional. I think there is a saying about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The lack of coordinated efforts on the part of G5 schools is a bigger problem. The idea that attendance is low due to a lack of awareness because the ABJ doesn't cover enough, or whatever, is nonsensical. Because of social media, people have more information about the state of Akron athletics than they ever have. Attendance in college athletics is down across the board at all levels of college athletics. The Zips are just down from already bad levels. It has more to do with societal changes and increased entertainment options than the product. The product is excellent. People just have many, many, many more options for their free time.

Good post. Many times kids want to go but to isn't practical. For example, is it practical or reasonable to take a elementary or middle school child to a basketball game starting at 9 PM on Friday night? If course not. For many kids that age is isn't reasonable to expect them to stay awake past halftime while watching a game that late on Friday night.

Years ago, I would argue about the price of tickets assuming it was a supply and demand issue. I was wrong. Akron doesn't have a ticket price problem. People aren't going to the games because of $7.00, $10.00 or $15.00 GA tickets. They need to sell hundreds of tickets, probably thousands. Thousands people aren't staying home because of the price of tickets. Bigger problems revolve around but are not limited to weather, start times and past game day experiences.

To be upset with the price of tickets, one would have to know the original price of the tickets. I don't think people are paying that close attention.

Class and character are different things.

Your point about recruiting is a good one. Position coaches are teachers, strategists and salesmen. JD is really good at the relationship and selling part. Maybe they need a boost in that area. I don't know because I don't care enough about recruiting to follow it closely.

Hiring JD is a bit confusing to me. A lot has changed since he last coached.

It's a NE Ohio thing. I moved from NEOhio almost 16 years ago. I always look back fondly. It's a great place with lots to do. Pro sports year around, great restaurants, great schools and suburbs, museums, Cleveland orchestra, the waterfront, national parks, universities....the list goes on and on. I travel all over the country for work. There is really nothing going on in NYC or Los Angeles that cannot be done in NE Ohio. I don't know how you make people appreciate what they have. Places aren't boring, people are.

The very basics of producing a game should involve concessions being open until the end and an open team shop for people who want to wait until after the game to on buy something.

So all of the lower bowl tickets aren't sold before the season starts?