Soccer, KD, the Arena and Track

[72 Roo]

Like the Cap't I went to the soccer game against the Crew. I decided to start another thread because mine will also include basketball as I ran into KD on the way out and ended up talking with him for 10 minutes.First the game. The Zips were every bit the equall of the Crew who were going with 80% reserves or guest players.- Akron is freaky good. We've got speed, skill and guts. Many times the Crew took Zip players down only to be pounded the next (fair) chance we got. Gotta love that.- With potentially five starters out we are ready for a championship ala NCAA run.- The crowd was good but quiet. That will change when it counts. The Rowdies were subdued. I talked with a group of them before the game and they were quite proud that they made the Buffalo goalie cry by the end of the game. Gotta love that too.- Word is that the tennis courts will be torn out in the late Fall and the new field will be built 100 feet closer to the Student Union to accomodate a grandstand where the current bleachers are. The grandstand will be build after the 2010 season.On the way out I saw KD so I said hi and thanked him for the season. He was as gracious as a person could be. He talked about how excited he is for next year and then we started talking about the future:- Zeke may get a rebuilt dorm room. They can't find a shower high enough to fit him.- The men's and women's BBall programs are trying to work out a $5 million addition to the JAR that will give them better lockerrooms, offices, support facilities and study areas. KD is optimistic it will get done. He also said serious consideration is being given to eliminating the plexiglass rail and using either bringing the top bleachers out to the edge or getting more seating in the lower bowl. Don't ask me how. - This prompted me to ask about a new arena. KD said he feels one will get built with the city (because of the Qualer Square agreement) by Canal Park. He wants a minimum of 8,000 seats. The city does not want to exceed 10,000. He is pushing for the max the city will build ala 10K. I asked him is we could sign a 10 year deal with the city and then move to our own facility possibly built on Central Hower when we acquire it. He said that was a great idea, but he didn't see it ever happening. He emphasized he would be very happy to share something with the city. No timetable was given.- I ended by thanking him for his commitment to the university and his outspoken intention to stay and build. He said this was the best possible situation for him and as long as he could provide for his family he intended to stay. His mindset is that the money will come if he does his best.Why wouldn't everyone not want to play for a guy like that? What a great ambassador for the future of Zip sports.Other general thoughts on hoops that I heard walking around:- Adreian Payne still thinks highly of our program. One guy in the know said he thought it was misinformation that Payne's grandma wants him at home in Dayton. KD's visit followed Rick Pitino's and Payne's comment was that at least KD is not full of himself. Payne said he liked KD a lot. - Payne may not be comfortable at the big schools and likes Akron's climate. He also will need the academic support system that Akron has. - We are still seriously being considered by Payne. He likes our people, KD and the university. But my source is a realist. he said you never can predict what a young man will do.Let me close by saying I deliberately came early for the game to have time to walk around. The track is getting new permanent bleachers to hold 2,000 for the MACoutdoor championships, at least that is what I was told. Work is to be done before the end of May. I'm thrilled to see that. Coach Mitchell has done a super job in establishing the best track program in the state and one of the best in the Midwest. I can see us hosting many big events in the future as more is done to make the facility fan friendly.If you made it this far, hope you didn't find it boring. I love where we are going!

[Blue & Gold]

It's dissappointing to me to hear that the city only wants a 10,000 seat arena. IMHO I think we should really shoot for a 12,000 seat venue.

[Zips fan]

It's dissappointing to me to hear that the city only wants a 10,000 seat arena. IMHO I think we should really shoot for a 12,000 seat venue.

I am actually happy to see the city shooting for a 10K arena. I think that gives the Zips room to grow while not being so large that we would feel dwarfed by the new place. I remember when Akron played at Cleveland State, thinking how they could not generate any atmosphere with their facility. We would really need to push attendance up over 6K per home game at an off campus site to give the real home crowd feel. I think our crowds could come to match what Dayton has done with time and a couple of NCAA bids.

[72 Roo]

It's dissappointing to me to hear that the city only wants a 10,000 seat arena. IMHO I think we should really shoot for a 12,000 seat venue.

I am actually happy to see the city shooting for a 10K arena. I think that gives the Zips room to grow while not being so large that we would feel dwarfed by the new place. I remember when Akron played at Cleveland State, thinking how they could not generate any atmosphere with their facility. We would really need to push attendance up over 6K per home game at an off campus site to give the real home crowd feel. I think our crowds could come to match what Dayton has done with time and a couple of NCAA bids.

It's interesting to see your point on the arena's size Zip Fan. KD actually said the same thing when we talked about the size. He cited CSU's lack od atmosphere because they can't put a crowd in the Wolstein Center. He thought Xavier's Cintas Center (10,000) was a perfect fit. He also said our attendance was too low for a university and city our size. We talked about all the new dorms and he agreed they would help. He also said that we shouldn't need on campus residents to boost the attendance. He tought the locals should be clamoring for tickets, like the old days of Memorial Hall. He ended it by saying he wanted to play a more exciting brand of BBall that he felt the community, students and locals, would respond to enthusiastically. I gpot the feeling he believes he can do it and he will succeed. What a positive guy!

[Z.I.P.]

It's interesting to see your point on the arena's size Zip Fan. KD actually said the same thing when we talked about the size. He cited CSU's lack od atmosphere because they can't put a crowd in the Wolstein Center. He thought Xavier's Cintas Center (10,000) was a perfect fit. He also said our attendance was too low for a university and city our size. We talked about all the new dorms and he agreed they would help. He also said that we shouldn't need on campus residents to boost the attendance. He tought the locals should be clamoring for tickets, like the old days of Memorial Hall. He ended it by saying he wanted to play a more exciting brand of BBall that he felt the community, students and locals, would respond to enthusiastically. I gpot the feeling he believes he can do it and he will succeed. What a positive guy!All hail King Keith! In all seriousness folks, Keith Dambrot has changed everything about the basketball program (as many of us predicted when he was sworn into office), but I think he would also be the first guy to put the Kybosh (not being a New Yorker, I don't know the proper spelling of that one) on the smarmie attitude being generated toward him personally. Keith knows he is not the "owner" of the program, the University community is. To put it in other words, Keith is just keeping the seat warm for his replacement. Let's hope the seat stays warm for a long, long time. More to the subject, many of you are probably too young to remember that when the JAR was planned (and before it bore that awful name) the powers that be campaigned for it to be more "realistically" sized, at 4,000 seats. That the powers now think 10,000 seats are necessary is a sign of how things have changed in the Rubber City. All hail the change!

[Captain Kangaroo]

He also said our attendance was too low for a university and city our size.

Getting to the NCAA's more frequently than every 23 years will help attendance. If the team can get off to a decent start in 2009, the big crowds will be there. Joe Akron will be excited. KD will need to begin complaining about something else...like concessions.

[RootforRoo44]

He also said our attendance was too low for a university and city our size.

Getting to the NCAA's more frequently than every 23 years will help attendance. If the team can get off to a decent start in 2009, the big crowds will be there. Joe Akron will be excited. KD will need to begin complaining about something else...like concessions.

BRING BACK THE JALAPENOS!!!

[skip-zip]

He also said serious consideration is being given to eliminating the plexiglass rail and using either bringing the top bleachers out to the edge or getting more seating in the lower bowl. Don't ask me how.

I've heard him talk about this idea of adding more seating using this method as well. And I also am not sure how they would get that done. For one, how would you get to your seat? Climb all the way up from the bottom? I know, I'm getting old and I think about these things. This also reminds me again of one major design flaw of our current arena. Most placed have you entering at mid-level so that you can go up, or down, to your seats. Unfortunately, my seats are in upper reserved, so that's a lot of steps by the end of a night.

[ZachTheZip]

If they eliminate the plexiglass railing and move the bleachers forward, they don't need to move them all the way up to where the lower bowl starts. There's really no need for the track to be so wide. It could be cut in half and still be comfortable enough to navigate even with a big crowd. That would add three or four more rows to the bleachers or maybe two more rows in the chairbacks.I think that the way the arena is designed the most you could ever get in there by moving the bleachers forward is 6,000 if you keep the chairbacks.