Typical Akron negativity

[skip-zip]

Was talking to some fellows while having lunch at a local watering hole today, and I brought up the subject of the new stadium, and how excited I am about it, and the future of Akron football and athletics generally. Wow. Sometimes I wonder why I live in Akron, a city that just seems to breed negative, pessimistic, pathetic bozos like these jokers, who simply have nothing good to say about anything or anybody.

I'm confused... what did they say to you? This story seems incomplete.

They basically called the stadium, and UA in general, a joke and one referred to the stadium as a "waste of money."The same guy said Akron is a sh*t town that will always be a sh*t town. His buddy agreed.Other than that, I had a lovely lunch.

First of all, I love Akron. But if these guys think Akron is a bad town, they should educate themselves to the fact that good or bad college football really doesn't have much of a correlation with the good or bad nature of the town where the campuses are located. But, to further elaborate on my last comment about the fact that Suckeye fans simply think that Akron football does not exist, reading all of this just reminded me of something that happened to me a few years ago.My wife and I stopped at BW's on Exchange to watch our season-opening road game at Penn State. It just happened to be on at the same time as the OSWho game against Northern Illinois. And even though we were literally right on Akron's campus, Akron was on TV, and we were in the city of Akron, you would have been sickened by what we experienced. Anyway...of course they all flooded into the place at gametime wearing their red and silver gear (probably most of them didn't even go to school there). And even though both games were running simultaneously, whenever we, or a few of the other Akron fans cheered a good play, they'd turn and look at us like "what the heck are you cheering about"??,,,,as if we were applauding something that NORTHERN ILLINIOIS did !!!!!!I really think many of them were completely oblivious to the fact that Akron was even on some of the tv's!!....or that Akron Football could possibly attract people to a bar to catch the game coverage. I think to these people, Akron is simply just another city within the Suckeye community of fans.

[Buckzip]

Some of you guys have serious penis envy...

[Class of 82]

Class of 82, I grew up in Akron, moved away, lived on the West Coast for many years, and came back about four years ago. You are exactly right about the incredibly negative vibe that exists in NE Ohio. I don't know whether that's simply a product of 40+ years of bad economic and demographic news. It probably is.Don't let anyone intimate that somehow you should just be more positive, however. The negativity aspect of this area is a real downer, and I say that as someone who loves it here and plans to retire in the Akron area. STZ

Similar experience here, SeeTee. I can't tell you how often people ask me why I would ever leave SoCal to return to Akron. When I tell them that the quality of life here is actually far better at about 1/2 the cost, they look at me like I'm crazy. (The only times I wonder... for a second or two... about it are in mid-winter when it's 2 degrees!)I don't know. I guess I just have an idea that Akron... for all of its warts... has incredible potential. And a significant part of that potential is the continuing development of the university in all of its aspects, but particularly in football's and basketball's ability to involve the community in a common source of excitement and pride. Crazy me.

[Class of 82]

First of all, I love Akron. But if these guys think Akron is a bad town, they should educate themselves to the fact that good or bad college football really doesn't have much of a correlation with the good or bad nature of the town where the campuses are located. But, to further elaborate on my last comment about the fact that Suckeye fans simply think that Akron football does not exist, reading all of this just reminded me of something that happened to me a few years ago.My wife and I stopped at BW's on Exchange to watch our season-opening road game at Penn State. It just happened to be on at the same time as the OSWho game against Northern Illinois. And even though we were literally right on Akron's campus, Akron was on TV, and we were in the city of Akron, you would have been sickened by what we experienced. Anyway...of course they all flooded into the place at gametime wearing their red and silver gear (probably most of them didn't even go to school there). And even though both games were running simultaneously, whenever we, or a few of the other Akron fans cheered a good play, they'd turn and look at us like "what the heck are you cheering about"??,,,,as if we were applauding something that NORTHERN ILLINIOIS did !!!!!!I really think many of them were completely oblivious to the fact that Akron was even on some of the tv's!!....or that Akron Football could possibly attract people to a bar to catch the game coverage. I think to these people, Akron is simply just another city within the Suckeye community of fans.

I think we've all been there and done that to one degree or another, skip!On the positive side, I was in a packed bar watching the MAC championship, and having about 200 people go absolutely nuts when Hixon caught the winning TD was absolutely awesome. Most of the people there were just watching casually most of the game, but they were sure watching intently at the end.

[dreal1scout]

Some well thought out postings. Botom line IMO is we must beat Penn State's ass and then most everything will get much better. Penn State is not unbeatable by the 2009 Zips. They are our B..ch, and the sooner our team believes and realizes this fact, the sooner our meteorological rise to NCAA importance will happen. It's coming September 5, '09 and I believe it. PSucks!!!!!! GO ZIPS

[Captain Kangaroo]

Some of you guys have serious penis envy...

If, as ZipGrad01 and you infer, Zips fans are jealous of Ohio State, then you are 100% correct.

[Buckzip]

Some of you guys have serious penis envy...

If, as ZipGrad01 and you infer, Zips fans are jealous of Ohio State, then you are 100% correct.

Absolutely no need to be Jealous. I love both schools that I have graduated from. I don't put one over the other. I wouldn't change a thing with my College Choices.

[bigham78]

Some well thought out postings. Botom line IMO is we must beat Penn State's ass and then most everything will get much better. Penn State is not unbeatable by the 2009 Zips. They are our B..ch, and the sooner our team believes and realizes this fact, the sooner our meteorological rise to NCAA importance will happen. It's coming September 5, '09 and I believe it. PSucks!!!!!! GO ZIPS

Not to stop your early season smack talking.But, I'd like you to keep this mindPenn St 45Temple 3Temple 27Akron 6Penn St returns a lot of weapons on offense and I'd be careful about talking smack looking at that comparison from last season.

[Buckzip]

Some well thought out postings. Botom line IMO is we must beat Penn State's ass and then most everything will get much better. Penn State is not unbeatable by the 2009 Zips. They are our B..ch, and the sooner our team believes and realizes this fact, the sooner our meteorological rise to NCAA importance will happen. It's coming September 5, '09 and I believe it. PSucks!!!!!! GO ZIPS

Not to stop your early season smack talking.But, I'd like you to keep this mindPenn St 45Temple 3Temple 27Akron 6Penn St returns a lot of weapons on offense and I'd be careful about talking smack looking at that comparison from last season.

Don't get all worked up. Every year some UA fans believe we will beat a big time team. We always get smoked, but eventually we will win one of them.

[g-mann17]

Some well thought out postings. Botom line IMO is we must beat Penn State's ass and then most everything will get much better. Penn State is not unbeatable by the 2009 Zips. They are our B..ch, and the sooner our team believes and realizes this fact, the sooner our meteorological rise to NCAA importance will happen. It's coming September 5, '09 and I believe it. PSucks!!!!!! GO ZIPS

Not to stop your early season smack talking.But, I'd like you to keep this mindPenn St 45Temple 3Temple 27Akron 6Penn St returns a lot of weapons on offense and I'd be careful about talking smack looking at that comparison from last season.

Don't get all worked up. Every year some UA fans believe ... eventually we will win one of them.

There I fixed that for you Buck.

[bigham78]

Some well thought out postings. Botom line IMO is we must beat Penn State's ass and then most everything will get much better. Penn State is not unbeatable by the 2009 Zips. They are our B..ch, and the sooner our team believes and realizes this fact, the sooner our meteorological rise to NCAA importance will happen. It's coming September 5, '09 and I believe it. PSucks!!!!!! GO ZIPS

Not to stop your early season smack talking.But, I'd like you to keep this mindPenn St 45Temple 3Temple 27Akron 6Penn St returns a lot of weapons on offense and I'd be careful about talking smack looking at that comparison from last season.

Don't get all worked up. Every year some UA fans believe we will beat a big time team. We always get smoked, but eventually we will win one of them.

I wasn't worked up.There's nothing wrong with believing in your team and Toledo came into Happy Valley and smoked Penn St in 2000.But, when I see those kind of results and see a glaring comparisons of a common opponent from last season.I have to post the factual data to smack talk.I believe the first game of the season and preseason rust. UofA should be able to move the football on Penn St rebuilt defense.But, unless UofA brings a far better defense then they displayed last season. I'm hardly seeing upset in this game.

[ZachTheZip]

That Akron-Temple game was tied 6-6 at the start of the 4th quarter. Only another collapse at the end of the game allowed them to win like that. It's the most glaring problem with the Zips and it's something JD said they are focusing on.Penn State has a weak and thin secondary which will be exploited by Akron's passing game. The positional matchups almost all point in Akron's favor.

[xu9697]

82..Go to urbanohio.com if you want to find positive people about NE Ohio. It definitely can be a breath of fresh air (admittedly there is more Cleveland talk, but Akron is mentioned in spots and we would certainly welcome more Akron news!!!). MODS weed out all the crap on that site too.I am from the Cleveland area, and I totally think Akron is on the rise (SLOWLY). UA is a big part of it, and the more that the city and the university become intertwined, the better. But with the stadium, the new dorms, new apartments, etc., I look forward to taking the 45 minute drive to Akron for football, basketball and soccer games while also enjoying The Barley House and other local establishments.

[Zipsrifle]

Class of 82, I grew up in Akron, moved away, lived on the West Coast for many years, and came back about four years ago. You are exactly right about the incredibly negative vibe that exists in NE Ohio. I don't know whether that's simply a product of 40+ years of bad economic and demographic news. It probably is.Don't let anyone intimate that somehow you should just be more positive, however. The negativity aspect of this area is a real downer, and I say that as someone who loves it here and plans to retire in the Akron area. STZ

Similar experience here, SeeTee. I can't tell you how often people ask me why I would ever leave SoCal to return to Akron. When I tell them that the quality of life here is actually far better at about 1/2 the cost, they look at me like I'm crazy. (The only times I wonder... for a second or two... about it are in mid-winter when it's 2 degrees!)I don't know. I guess I just have an idea that Akron... for all of its warts... has incredible potential. And a significant part of that potential is the continuing development of the university in all of its aspects, but particularly in football's and basketball's ability to involve the community in a common source of excitement and pride. Crazy me.

I'm with you. People wonder why I left Detroit! I mean look at it, our unemployment rate is lower, we have fewer homes in foreclosure and hell, we don't have any huge corporations to go bankrupt! Seriously though, we were always planning on moving back to Ohio, I'm just glad I got out of Michigan when I did! I'm hoping to make a difference here and not stand on the sidelines and complain like everyone else.

[g-mann17]

I'm hoping to make a difference here and not stand on the sidelines and complain like everyone else.

I think that is the most important thing right there. Is it an easy out to bitch about everything and not do anything? Yes. And the problem in our area (most of society) is that everyone is a "victim". I mean simply that if they have a problem it's someone else's fault. There are certain things that are uncontrollable, crime, losing a job etc. But if your neighborhood looks bad ask yourself, have you helped out the old couple across the street so they can fix things up? If there are kids constantly causing problems have you personally done anything about? Report it? Call the local police to help form a neighborhood watch? I by no means want this country to go back to the 30's-50's but there are certain things our grandparents did that made life a lot more tolerable (and don't let anyone fool you, crime was amazing at this time you just didn't have 1000's bloggers compaining about everytime it happened). The simple fact is you have to try and accomplish things. People up here complain about crime, but how much of that crime has personally affected them. You have tons of resources here for leisure, a National Park, tons of Metro Parks, the Tow Path. Get out and enjoy what is there and tell people about it. Most of the country thinks of Akron and thinks dried up bombed out rubber factories, Youngstown would be empty steel factories, Cleveland they picture a river on fire. If there is one thing that I am truly passion about (and yes the athletics are fun) its finding a way to get people to realize that this state is a great place. GP1, god bless him, blames the weather, if that were true Colorado, New England, Seattle, and Utah would all be a shit holes. People will put up with weather if they know they can get a job and their children can get a decent education. We have those things, unfortunately they are all shadowed by negativity, instead of praising what Western Reserve Academy, and Firestone's Baccaulaureate programs accomplish we talk about how East Cleveland can't get people who could give a crap less about school is performing. I'm just saying it's a lot better than people think and its time some people step up to sell it that way and improve it even more.

[Dave in Green]

Hey, everyone wants to be as wealthy as LeBron James, right? Because if you have as many millions as LBJ, you can live anywhere in the world you want, right?Unfortunately, I don't have a fraction of LBJ's wealth. But I do share his good taste on where to live.

[Buckzip]

Hey, everyone wants to be as wealthy as LeBron James, right? Because if you have as many millions as LBJ, you can live anywhere in the world you want, right?Unfortunately, I don't have a fraction of LBJ's wealth. But I do share his good taste on where to live.

So you have an eleventy billion dollar house in Bath too?

[tbozeglav]

I do what I can to shine a better light on UA. When relatives call it Akron University, I promptly remind them its "THE University of Akron". I have been bugging my family to come down for the 1st game in the new stadium for months. Hopefully they'll do it.I also try to do the same thing about the City of Akron. My aunt constantly reminds me about all the crime in Akron. I try to tell her its not as bad as everyone cracks it up to be. Yes, there's crime and violence, but the reason it seems like there's so much of it is because of the media. They jump at the chance to publish every negative story they can get their hands on. Ever notice how much the news is all bad news and not good news? Granted thats because Americans generally like to hear about the problems in the world and couldn't care less about the good in this world, but it still doesn't change the fact that today's media magnifies our world's issues ten-fold.

[g-mann17]

Hey, everyone wants to be as wealthy as LeBron James, right? Because if you have as many millions as LBJ, you can live anywhere in the world you want, right?Unfortunately, I don't have a fraction of LBJ's wealth. But I do share his good taste on where to live.

So you have an eleventy billion dollar house in Bath too?

I don't know about him, but I try to squat there every time the Cavs are on the road lol....

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

Ditto to everything you said. We lived in SoCal and Northern Cali, also lived on the East Coast. Chicago too. I love Akron, but mostly for its livability and potential. The economic bad news has driven a lot of the vitality from this place, and I am endlessly puzzled at those who insist on living here, in misery. It definitely gnaws at me. In my perfect world I'd live here year round except in February, March and the first couple weeks of April. Oh, and in that perfect world, there would be just enough growth here to make it a more dynamic and engaging place. Let's hope UA leads Akron toward that eventuality.STZ

Class of 82, I grew up in Akron, moved away, lived on the West Coast for many years, and came back about four years ago. You are exactly right about the incredibly negative vibe that exists in NE Ohio. I don't know whether that's simply a product of 40+ years of bad economic and demographic news. It probably is.Don't let anyone intimate that somehow you should just be more positive, however. The negativity aspect of this area is a real downer, and I say that as someone who loves it here and plans to retire in the Akron area. STZ

Similar experience here, SeeTee. I can't tell you how often people ask me why I would ever leave SoCal to return to Akron. When I tell them that the quality of life here is actually far better at about 1/2 the cost, they look at me like I'm crazy. (The only times I wonder... for a second or two... about it are in mid-winter when it's 2 degrees!)I don't know. I guess I just have an idea that Akron... for all of its warts... has incredible potential. And a significant part of that potential is the continuing development of the university in all of its aspects, but particularly in football's and basketball's ability to involve the community in a common source of excitement and pride. Crazy me.

[UA Fan]

Was talking to some fellows while having lunch at a local watering hole today, and I brought up the subject of the new stadium, and how excited I am about it, and the future of Akron football and athletics generally. Wow. Sometimes I wonder why I live in Akron, a city that just seems to breed negative, pessimistic, pathetic bozos like these jokers, who simply have nothing good to say about anything or anybody.I not sure why this is bothering me so much, since the majority of people I've talked to are pretty juiced about the new stadium, or at least think it's a good idea and good for the city. But this isn't my first experience like this, and these a-holes have put me in a really crrappy mood. GO ZIPS!P.S. And yeah... they were Suckeyes fans. the OSU

I have to relate my recent experience. I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in quite a while to catch up on things. He went elsewhere for his undergrad degree and later went to UA for grad school; now he makes good money in the medical field. His kid went to UA and wasn't eligible for financial aid grants, just loans and as a result came out with more debt than I ever thought a UA student would amass. I expressed my surprise and then he went on to decry the hefty tuition increases of recent years and that UA is spending so much money on amenities unrelated to education (rec center/fieldhouse, new student center, etc.) "just so they can try to attract more students". Then he threw a minor hissy fit over the fact that they're spending "hundreds of millions" on this palace of a stadium which of course is being paid for out of students tuition dollars, and why? "This is UA, they'll never be Ohio State. We're not talking about the Buckeyes, we're talking about the A-k-r-o-n Z-i-p-s" (dripping with sarcasm).Well, I just listened politely and was more amused than annoyed, knowing what UA is accomplishing and the reactions it's causing among the uninformed. As UA raises its standing people will be confronted with it more and more and become confused->angered. I too am surrounded by tOSU devotees, especially family, who think everyone else should be one too, even if they went to another Ohio school, and equate MAC sports with Div. III. It's a fun time to be a Zip.

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

Your reply to your EX-friend should have included the term "friendo" and an offer to choose heads or tails. F him, in the friendliest and most positive way possible.STZ

[g-mann17]

I'm always interested in these stories. The "sure I went to Akron and got a degree, but why are they trying to better themselves, they are what they are" deal.If your school isn't trying to better itself, to make itself more visible, than your alma mater is doing you a disservice. The more notoriety that Akron gets, the better my degrees look. So every alumni should be cheering on the advancements the university is making.