Yes - The Rumor Wheel Spin Landed on Houston

[ZachTheZip]

Hey Mack, if you really want to go out on a positive note, get men's Soccer into the C-USA for us.

[g-mann17]

Hey Mack, if you really want to go out on a positive note, get men's Soccer into the C-USA for us.

What benefit would that have? We basically have a Memphis situation right now as it is. Constantly win, so we constantly get our NCAA birth. Do you think it would have been a different story if we were in C-USA this year? A better seed? No it wouldn't have. We still would have had to given up home field advantage. Right now we almost have the benefits of playing as an independent. We only have 5 MAC opponents, we get to select the best schools to fill out the rest of the schedule but with all the benefits of conference affiliation. Championship and automatic bid. If the MAC schools manage to ditch the least expensive mens sport (shin guards, uniforms, and a ball) then that just gives us more reason to push for an entire sport conference switch.

[ZachTheZip]

Hey Mack, if you really want to go out on a positive note, get men's Soccer into the C-USA for us.

What benefit would that have? We basically have a Memphis situation right now as it is. Constantly win, so we constantly get our NCAA birth. Do you think it would have been a different story if we were in C-USA this year? A better seed? No it wouldn't have. We still would have had to given up home field advantage. Right now we almost have the benefits of playing as an independent. We only have 5 MAC opponents, we get to select the best schools to fill out the rest of the schedule but with all the benefits of conference affiliation. Championship and automatic bid. If the MAC schools manage to ditch the least expensive mens sport (shin guards, uniforms, and a ball) then that just gives us more reason to push for an entire sport conference switch.

The MAC is extremely close to collapsing as a men's soccer conference. We have 7 teams, and the NCAA minimum is 6. Only 5 are true MAC members, with Hartwick being a D-II school that plays up and FAU being way out in Florida which is a long distance to travel tor all of their games for a non-revenue sport that they aren't even that good in. If another full-time MAC school drops the sport to same money I think the entire conference will drop it. We're the only reason they host the sport to begin with. C-USA is a better overall league with higher travel budgets, but not so good that we won't continue to dominate. It would help get the Zips a higher NCAA seed thanks to a tougher conference schedule, while not worrying about having to go independent and losing the chance to play in the RPI-boosting tournament.

[Zipsrifle]

Put me in the "Not really sure what he accomplished" camp. Hard to tell when the relationship was so short. Thank Mack, good luck....Next--->

[tbozeglav]

I really like how Mack is getting credit for the stadium and field house... stadium? I can understand that, but field house? last I checked that was already in the process of being built when he showed up...

[ZachTheZip]

We're getting called out by a Houston blog.I don't think you'll find a single zipsfan who thinks that Rhoades was a great AD. Above average, sure. Even a good AD. But not great. This isn't something to panic over.

[Z.I.P.]

I really like how Mack is getting credit for the stadium and field house... stadium? I can understand that, but field house? last I checked that was already in the process of being built when he showed up...

Well, even without trying, Mack Rhoades has received credit for building half the UA campus. I would say he is responsible for overseeing CONSTRUCTION of a new football stadium; a softball stadium, and improvements to the track and field facility. Rhoades stay in Akron shows that the job is more of a stepping stone than ever before, to bigger and better things. And when I write that, I say it in a good way, OK? The AD's job for the past decade is to lay out the athletic vision of Dr Luis Proenza. Hopefully the Prez will stay in place for another decade -- or at least until our 5000 seat soccer stadium is dedicated and ready for our national champs to play in. I don't care if you call it Proenza Place, or the House That Caleb Built, so long as it gets built. Good luck Mack, and don't pay attention to all the talk about doors hitting you on the way out. Not that you would.

[zippyrifle32]

We're getting called out by a Houston blog.I don't think you'll find a single zipsfan who thinks that Rhoades was a great AD. Above average, sure. Even a good AD. But not great. This isn't something to panic over.

I think he's great.

[GoZips88]

I thought Mack did a decent job in his 3-1/2 years here in Akron. I always found him to be very approachable and nice to talk to. I agree with many of you that I don't like being a stepping stone in someone's career and would prefer a resident over a transient any day. A Dambrot in every position is pie in the sky but why not dream big . Best of luck to you and your family in Houston, Mack.Reading through the official release from Akron, I saw the following ..."Not to be lost in the excellence on the field and in the classroom is the fact that UA student-athletes have completed over 1,600 hours of community service over the last three years."Pretty poor by Can't standards. I believe their student-athletes racked up over 16,000 hours of community service over the same period of time ... with all but a handful of those hours being mandated by a judge.

[ksu sucks]

I thought Mack did a decent job in his 3-1/2 years here in Akron. I always found him to be very approachable and nice to talk to. I agree with many of you that I don't like being a stepping stone in someone's career and would prefer a resident over a transient any day. A Dambrot in every position is pie in the sky but why not dream big . Best of luck to you and your family in Houston, Mack.Reading through the official release from Akron, I saw the following ..."Not to be lost in the excellence on the field and in the classroom is the fact that UA student-athletes have completed over 1,600 hours of community service over the last three years."Pretty poor by Can't standards. I believe their student-athletes racked up over 16,000 hours of community service over the same period of time ... with all but a handful of those hours being mandated by a judge.

You guys need to go on the url 'kid posted and let that turd know how you feel about Mack.

[g-mann17]

I thought Mack was a quality person and had a great set of concepts that hopefully the athletic department sticks with and builds on.Ponder this for a moment, we complain about stability and lot of us think we need the same leader to get there, but how many times did they change leaders in our country, or how many managers do you think the pyramids had.

[zipboy]

What did Mack accomplish?1. The coaches for the most part all seemed to think he supported them well. I always had the feeling that KD and JD liked him. KD wanted him to buy home games, and he did.2. He gave extenstions fairly quickly to KD and JD (the one good year), Porter, Mitchell. Again, I think he made the coaches feel valued.3. He hired what seems to be really good coaches in tennis and women's golf. The jury is still out on wbball, swimming, softlball, wom soccer, and volleyball4. It seems that academic support is better. KD instead of Dan Hipsher is one of the reasons for bball. For football, maybe he did make it easier for JD.5. What he said would get done, got done.6. He sure got Elton Alexander to show him some love, more than Elton has shown anyone. Another couple articles, Elton would have him founding UA.Where was I disappointed?1. In the press release, it said that men's bball season tickets increased every year. Maybe true, but overall attendance dropped from the 3500 range to 3000 this year. I never saw any new ideas to generate fans.2. An interview about a year ago, Mack sounded like a deer in headlights when talking about the football schedule and the MAC. Seemed like he got pushed around a little early on which hurt us.3. IT would have been nice to have locked in some more OOC football games especially with the new stadium.Didn't know the guy but wish him well. I still smart at only 3.5 years. For that type of postion, you need 5 years to implement and see a plan through. He did not do that.

[zippyrifle32]

I thought Mack did a decent job in his 3-1/2 years here in Akron. I always found him to be very approachable and nice to talk to. I agree with many of you that I don't like being a stepping stone in someone's career and would prefer a resident over a transient any day. A Dambrot in every position is pie in the sky but why not dream big . Best of luck to you and your family in Houston, Mack.Reading through the official release from Akron, I saw the following ..."Not to be lost in the excellence on the field and in the classroom is the fact that UA student-athletes have completed over 1,600 hours of community service over the last three years."Pretty poor by Can't standards. I believe their student-athletes racked up over 16,000 hours of community service over the same period of time ... with all but a handful of those hours being mandated by a judge.

You guys need to go on the url 'kid posted and let that turd know how you feel about Mack.

done.one major thing he did was restructure the athletic academic support. he got rid of the incompetent advisers and got anne jorgenson in there to run that whole department and she is amazing. the way study hall was ran and the accountability is a bit different as well, and the academic numbers show how successful it was. the class attendance policy was huge as well.

[johnnyzip84]

With the "we don't want to be Akron" quip, I'd settle for a game with UH anywhere in any sport. Of course, soccer would be a nice place to start

We whooped their women's basketball LAST year. And the only soccer team in town is Brian Ching's Dynamo.

I had forgtten about the women's victory last year, and who would figure that neither Rice nor UH would have men's soccer programs? Thanks for the information.I was looking at the UH athletic site and they have a picture of Mack and his wife giving some sort of three fingered gesture that I presume is a Cougar tradition. It looks like a combination of "Hook 'em Horns" and the middle finger. Seeing as how much UT and the other "old school" Southwestern Conference teams used to look down upon UH, perhaps it is

[g-mann17]

With the "we don't want to be Akron" quip, I'd settle for a game with UH anywhere in any sport. Of course, soccer would be a nice place to start

We whooped their women's basketball LAST year. And the only soccer team in town is Brian Ching's Dynamo.

I had forgtten about the women's victory last year, and who would figure that neither Rice nor UH would have men's soccer programs? Thanks for the information.I was looking at the UH athletic site and they have a picture of Mack and his wife giving some sort of three fingered gesture that I presume is a Cougar tradition. It looks like a combination of "Hook 'em Horns" and the middle finger. Seeing as how much UT and the other "old school" Southwestern Conference teams used to look down upon UH, perhaps it is

A quick wikipedia search said it was the Cougar Paw.Yeah doesn't look like any cougar paw I've ever seen

[johnnyzip84]

With the "we don't want to be Akron" quip, I'd settle for a game with UH anywhere in any sport. Of course, soccer would be a nice place to start

We whooped their women's basketball LAST year. And the only soccer team in town is Brian Ching's Dynamo.

I had forgtten about the women's victory last year, and who would figure that neither Rice nor UH would have men's soccer programs? Thanks for the information.I was looking at the UH athletic site and they have a picture of Mack and his wife giving some sort of three fingered gesture that I presume is a Cougar tradition. It looks like a combination of "Hook 'em Horns" and the middle finger. Seeing as how much UT and the other "old school" Southwestern Conference teams used to look down upon UH, perhaps it is

A quick wikipedia search said it was the Cougar Paw.Yeah doesn't look like any cougar paw I've ever seen

Thanks g-mann17. It sure is unusual.

[g-mann17]

Thanks g-mann17. It sure is unusual.

Looks to me like they were going for the easy Longhorn fan conversion. "Now our hand gesture is just like the hook'em; but not as big of a rip off of the surfer dude"Is that a prerequisite for a Texas collegiate program, you have to have a hand gesture?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Thanks g-mann17. It sure is unusual.

Looks to me like they were going for the easy Longhorn fan conversion. "Now our hand gesture is just like the hook'em; but not as big of a rip off of the surfer dude"Is that a prerequisite for a Texas collegiate program, you have to have a hand gesture?

Yes. George W Bush mandated it as Texas Governor several years ago.

[g-mann17]

Thanks g-mann17. It sure is unusual.

Looks to me like they were going for the easy Longhorn fan conversion. "Now our hand gesture is just like the hook'em; but not as big of a rip off of the surfer dude"Is that a prerequisite for a Texas collegiate program, you have to have a hand gesture?

Yes. George W Bush mandated it as Texas Governor several years ago.

Makes sense now. I also found out that their mascot is also a female.I think her name is Shasta

[johnnyzip84]

Thanks g-mann17. It sure is unusual.

Looks to me like they were going for the easy Longhorn fan conversion. "Now our hand gesture is just like the hook'em; but not as big of a rip off of the surfer dude"Is that a prerequisite for a Texas collegiate program, you have to have a hand gesture?

Yes. George W Bush mandated it as Texas Governor several years ago.

Makes sense now. I also found out that their mascot is also a female.I think her name is Shasta

Now THAT is all-time Zipsnation humor! :lol:I remember a silly old college football/politcal figure joke about Bring 'Em Young being one of Bill Clinton's favorite schools (I won't mention the other school, because this is a family show.....but they used to be in the OVC with Akron and Chris Simms' old man went there). This sort of flips that joke on it's macho head, as in The Bring 'Em Young Cougars

[Captain Kangaroo]

No salary was announced for Rhoades. He was making about $225,000 at UA. Maggard was making $415,000, which was the highest base salary for a non-BCS athletic director.

Safe to say Mack likely doubled his salary.

[NTXCoog]

With the "we don't want to be Akron" quip, I'd settle for a game with UH anywhere in any sport. Of course, soccer would be a nice place to start

We whooped their women's basketball LAST year. And the only soccer team in town is Brian Ching's Dynamo.

I had forgtten about the women's victory last year, and who would figure that neither Rice nor UH would have men's soccer programs? Thanks for the information.I was looking at the UH athletic site and they have a picture of Mack and his wife giving some sort of three fingered gesture that I presume is a Cougar tradition. It looks like a combination of "Hook 'em Horns" and the middle finger. Seeing as how much UT and the other "old school" Southwestern Conference teams used to look down upon UH, perhaps it is

A quick wikipedia search said it was the Cougar Paw.Yeah doesn't look like any cougar paw I've ever seen

While many do like the thought that it's basically giving UT the middle finger, that's not the official story. The official story does involve UT though (from the UH athletics site)..."In Texas, all of the major universities have adopted a hand sign which signifies to all other Texans where your loyalties lie. The Cougar Hand Sign is no different. Although the original hand sign was the "V" for Victory until 1965, events conspired and a new hand sign was adopted. The inaugural football game between University of Houston and University of Texas during the 1953 campaign witnessed the birth of a blood rivalry between the state's two largest universities at that time. However, it also led to the adoption of another Cougar Hand Sign. During her transport from Houston to Austin, one of the fingers on Shasta's paw was severed when the cage door was closed. As the University of Texas partisans and players caught wind of the accident, they mimicked the animal by bending their thumb over the ring finger against their palm. This gesture implied that the Cougars were invalids. The Cougars would go on to lose the game 28-7. The cougar faithful, still mindful of the stinging defeat suffered 15 years earlier, never forgot the taunting that they received. The next time the two teams faced off (1968... a whole 15 years later), UH tied UT 20-20. At that point, the students thought there might be a bit of magic in that sign, and the hand sign was adopted replacing the "V". In 1976, the Cougars first football season in the Southwest Conference, the Coogs & Horns met for the third time ever. The Coogs put a beating on the Longhorns that they have yet to forget 30-0 (a.k.a.the "Dad's Day Massacre") in front of the largest crowd to assemble in Memorial Stadium at that time. That victory ended the Longhorns famed winning streak, and the embarrassment also signaled the end of legendary UT Coach Darryl K. Royal's career. After that victory, the Cougar Hand Sign became firmly entrenched. "So yes it is a paw, it's just missing a toe.

[zippyrifle32]

With the "we don't want to be Akron" quip, I'd settle for a game with UH anywhere in any sport. Of course, soccer would be a nice place to start

We whooped their women's basketball LAST year. And the only soccer team in town is Brian Ching's Dynamo.

I had forgtten about the women's victory last year, and who would figure that neither Rice nor UH would have men's soccer programs? Thanks for the information.I was looking at the UH athletic site and they have a picture of Mack and his wife giving some sort of three fingered gesture that I presume is a Cougar tradition. It looks like a combination of "Hook 'em Horns" and the middle finger. Seeing as how much UT and the other "old school" Southwestern Conference teams used to look down upon UH, perhaps it is

A quick wikipedia search said it was the Cougar Paw.Yeah doesn't look like any cougar paw I've ever seen

Little Joeys cover your ears and eyesI believe the technical term for that hand gesture is "the shocker" and is often used in conjunction with the saying "two in the pink, one in the stink". that's the kinkiest couger paw I've ever seen.

[ksu sucks]

Little Joeys cover your ears and eyesI believe the technical term for that hand gesture is "the shocker" and is often used in conjunction with the saying "two in the pink, one in the stink". that's the kinkiest couger paw I've ever seen.

HAHAHA you're right. These UH fans are condoning sodomy everytime they stick up this little hand gesture. How awesome.

[g-mann17]

Little Joeys cover your ears and eyesI believe the technical term for that hand gesture is "the shocker" and is often used in conjunction with the saying "two in the pink, one in the stink". that's the kinkiest couger paw I've ever seen.

HAHAHA you're right. These UH fans are condoning sodomy everytime they stick up this little hand gesture. How awesome.

Well technically the thumb placement is all wrong. You have to keep a finger on the button so to speak. But don't ask me, ask Shasta...Never did I think I would get two chances to use the same gag.