The Larger Problem At Hand

[tbozeglav]

After I saw this bullcrap that we call the NCAA's decision, I did a lot of thinking about the situation we are in and I have come to a couple realizations.#1The NCAA hates us as do all the big-conference teams. We are a mid-major team who has a student section that has a passion for creating a homefield advantage. Since we aren't a large market team or in a conference that's any "good", we get shat on day after day by the NCAA.#2 (and this is the main point I am here to present)We had this coming. It really was inevitable that we'd get bitten in the a$$ somehow, but this "injustice" originates with ourselves. Before any of you jump on me for taking the NCAAs side (which I am not, I still think they made a poor decision), you all need to stand back and look at the grand scheme of things.What is the reason this decision was made? Our grass field was entirely farked by a large snowfall, then melting, rain, fluctuating temps from above to below freezing, etc. These are about the worst conditions one could ask for right now for a playing field. However, we put ourselves in this kind of a situation. We are a school located in NE Ohio where it notoriously snows like it has. The cold temps and the high amounts of precip cause the field to just become... muck. The question becomes why hasn't the University invested in an artificial turf field for the soccer stadium or even an advanced sub-field drainage system. The later of the two is a viable solution and I know those can be highly effective at keeping a field dry. However, I also wonder if this is the straw that breaks the camel's back and gets the University rolling to get the new soccer stadium in. I know that it seems somewhat idiotic to build two new stadiums, but if you're spending as much as they are on a mediocre football team, why can't they spend some money on a top-10 soccer program to provide state-of-the-art facilities? If the University would have thought ahead and saw how successful the program was and the support it needs to win a championship, they would have already had the facilities in place that would have prevented the very thing that has happened today. Had the U spent the money to give the soccer program a cutting edge playing surface, grass or turf, we wouldn't be sitting here bitching about the NCAA screwed us over. The real people at fault right now are ourselves (not you guys, but the University) for not providing the soccer program with the facilities they need to win championships. No other program at UA has had as much success as our soccer program and yet here we are using a severely outdated stadium (if you want to even call it that) and now are being forced to give up home field advantage because we weren't able to provide a playing surface that would be playable at any time.Just think about it... Yes, the NCAA screwed us by not letting us play at SVSM, but we wouldn't even be in this position if we would have had the foresight and planning to provide our team with a facility that could host the NCAA tournament even in the kinds of weather we are getting into at this time of year.If you have made it through this rant, I thank you. I just felt compelled to explain the other side of things so that hopefully we as a fanbase can have a clearer understanding of the situation before going off the deep end. Like all of you, I too am pissed off at the NCAA, but I am also pissed at the U for putting us in this situation in the first place.Again, thanks to any who beared with me through this rant.

[Zip Watcher]

While nothing here condones the lunacy of the NCAA's move, I think there's a lot here to consider. The facility issue does need to be addressed ASAP.

[GoZips]

I have to disagree.The University has planned and acquired money to overhaul the soccer stadium. It is on a time table.Which one of you runs with out an operating budget?Rightfully so Mack Rhoades and company established a time table to get the soccer stadium improved.Since the consensus was that the team would be Final Four competitive in two or three years the stadiumimprovements are timed to be in place for that run. Few, if any, expected the success of this year.Therefore, cut the management some slack.As for the NCAA, who among you has been calling and e-mailing media venues that could help us?Bitching on this board is like banging your head against a brick wall. It may feel good after you vent,but nothing gets done, save for the bleeding.The NCAA is not interested in the "little school" rising up. The NCAA promotes UNsportsmanship.The "committee" could easily find another stadium a lot closer to the University of Akron. Be it Baldwin-Wallace, John Carroll or a high school stadium in the area. They chose to do what they always do ... cheat. While the whole country enjoyed and rooted for George Mason a few years back the NCAA took steps to prevent that from reoccurring. Currently the NCAA is rewarding the Pig Ten with another trophy. A conference which in no way deserved five of their seven schools in the soccer tournament.All I can say is bitch, bitch, bitch, until you are so annoying that they hate you. They will either haveto kill us all or yield to the heat. So, give them lots of heat. A wimp never wins regardless.Would some one with graphics skills please conjure up a sign? Please take an NCAA blue and whitecircle logo and put the international red circle and slash through it. Then post it so we can wear them at the soccer game on Sunday.And, wieny wonk, no one stole Ohio in the 2004 election. The plurality was over 141,000 votes. Get over it.

[Zip Watcher]

I can't help but wonder if there's another rule in play here .. something of the order that a venue for an NCAA tournament game has to be a venue used in NCAA competition.For example .. all the sites for the NCAA mens & womens hoops tourneys are either home courts of a team, or host holiday tournaments or conference championships. A venue like the Q can get them due to the MAC tourney. Without those games there, they wouldn't be able to bid on tournament games.Perhaps UA should consider playing a game of lesser importance early in each season at Green St. Stadium to protect a contingency for the future. Were Green St. to be a "home of the Zips" for a few games, they could rightly call it a facility that has hosted NCAA events, and the Zips could chose either of their home pitches for a tournament game. Lots of schools (think the original Big East) have multiple venues for basketball, so why can't the Zips have multiple venues for futbol?This becomes moot once the new field is in place, but might be worth considering for next season .. if in fact this is the loophole that NCAA walked through this time.I'll bet there are more Rowdies at the game in Evanston than there are NU fans .. and I'm hoping wheels are turning (turf wise or legal wise) to ensure the next game comes back to Akron .. there's time to plan that contingency.Go Zips! Pound the Wildcats and make this a distant memory.

[skip-zip]

Wow..what a crazy last 24 hours...a big win ...followed by another screwing of Akron.Zipwatcher...you may have a valid point. If we had played a game this year at SVSM....would we have been able to claim that as one of our home fields????GoZips...a good perspective on what it's like to be a MAC level program. Folks, it's hard for a school like us to justify major expenditures in a soccer complex. And for those who make the argument that "well...soccrer wins...give them more money". Well, I wish that was true. But, the major revenue generating sports (yes...football and basketball) are going to get a HUGE percentage of the budget every year...like it or not. Schools like us simply don't have much money to throw around to benefit non-major sports. But, I still am hopeful that the changes to the soccer complex will become a reality someday.

[tbozeglav]

I really hope what has transpired over the last 48 hours really gets things moving to get the soccer team a facility they need and deserve. I am not saying the University is at fault, but it is plainly obvious that the soccer team needs facilities that are more accommodating to the weather extremes we experience here in NE Ohio over the course of the soccer season. We have gone for 80-some degree day games to sub-freezing and snow night games in the same season. Now, I know we aren't the only ones who must deal with these extremes weather conditions, but I think it's time the University takes a good look at a program that has been a consistent winner and a great asset to the community and realize it's time they spent some money on a successful program. I know that there has been talk of a new stadium, but I think it's time they move from talking about one to actually getting to building one. I firmly believe that if the University wants to continue having a successful soccer program, they are going to have to spend some money on a new playing surface so that in the future this does not happen again. Now, whether or not it should be turf or grass is beyond me. I don't know how many college programs have turf home fields (aside from those that are dual purpose football and soccer stadiums) and whether or not its a suitable playing surface for collegiate soccer, but if turf is too expensive, why not spend money on an advanced drainage system? For example, back at my alma mater (high school...) they had a softball field put in years back. That field could probably take a couple inches of rain and it'd still be playable within an hour after it stopped raining, and they don't even have a tarp for the infield. Now, I know soccer is entirely different in the way it wears on the playing surface, but if you install a system that minimizes the amount of residual water under the sod, you don't have the problem of the entire field getting turfed by the cleats...Honestly, I really hope the NCAA revisits this. However, I also hope the University revisits the soccer stadium plans and gets on them as soon as they can. I can tell you without a doubt that it'd be worth every penny in the long run.

[Zipsrifle]

Excellent points by all. Now, I continue to wonder, why wasn't ICS sized so that we could play soccer there? To my understanding, the field isn't big enough to allow for a soccer field. That would have eliminated at least part of this discussion.

[Hilltopper]

Here is a turf field that would be available. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41....mp;t=h&z=18Its at Bolich Middle School in Cuyahoga Falls. I went to a girls soccer state playoff game there a few weeks ago and it is in excellent shape.

[ZipAlumn]

After I saw this bullcrap that we call the NCAA's decision, I did a lot of thinking about the situation we are in and I have come to a couple realizations....... Just think about it... Yes, the NCAA screwed us by not letting us play at SVSM, but we wouldn't even be in this position if we would have had the foresight and planning to provide our team with a facility that could host the NCAA tournament even in the kinds of weather we are getting into at this time of year.

With respect I have to disagree a bit. Yes the soccer team should have a better facility, but so should the rifle team and they a first class also. There is only so much money to go around and despite their problems the football team does bring in more revenue than soccer.Also I don't think anything would change the mindset of the NCAA. Big Conference vs Little Conference. Big venues (with video boards, large seating capacity, & lots of close by parking) vs Lee Jackson Field type venues. Big money vs "Akron type" money.I am really mad and nothing will make me happy over this. The least Northwestern can do is get this match shown on the Big Ten Network. The least Chryst and Rhoades can do is pitch a fit to the NCAA. But probably neither will happen because when you're screwed --- you're screwed. :nutkick: :rolltide:

[GoZips]

I just had a thought (an intelligent one at that).The NdishonestCAA has actually given the University and its lawyers an open opportunity to get thegame moved back to Akron.Since D'Ann Keller stated a rule that tournament games MUST be played fields that college competitionhas taken place, the University has a strong case.Keller claims she already approved playing the Akron-tOSuck game at St. V-St. M.She has de facto created a playing surface previously used for collegiate tournament competition.Legally more games could be played at St. V-St. M.It just takes a lawyer and an injunction. In fact, Keller could gracefully yield and allow the game(s)to take place at St.V-St.M. Then, work to change the rules for the future. For 2008 she has opened the door to allow play at St.V-St.M