a-zip Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Who said "Don't feed the troll"? Seems appropriate here.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryno aka Menace Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Ryno, 50K was paid attendance, 45K was who showed up through the turnstiles. The UA sold 9850 ticket the total allotment from bowl officials. Other fans had to buy their tickets at Ford Field. Since 45K showed up, Memphis brough maybe 2K, I estimate our crowd at 15-20K and the other 22-27K to be local fans.All in all a great showing of support. It remains to be seen how we travel to bowls in the south, but I have to imagine that the MCB would clamor to get us back next year. Thanks for clearing that up...but even so the crowd cheered more for Akron!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipper Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 I am saying that it takes more than one decent season to start talking about being a great program and 40,000 fans a game and BCS teams, etc. Wrong-o. It actually take NO decent seasons to start talking about it. Ask Mike Thomas. He was talking about this kind of year when he walked in the door at Akron.You clearly are not in business, TR. You first set the goals, the bar, very high, then you go about achieving it. First you start talking about it, then you go about doing it. This is what Akron athletics has done in the last five years. You may like it or not, but we are ranked higher than Toledo in all sports rankings, higher in academic ranking (much), and higher in football practice facilities. The new stadium is coming no matter what our record was this year - this year's success just helps it along. You have no clue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quickzips Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Feeding the troll only encourages him to continue coming out from under his bridge, I suggest we stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJGood Posted January 1, 2006 Report Share Posted January 1, 2006 Just wondering something. What is the capacity of the Rubber Bowl now? Isn't it as big or bigger than the Glass Bowl in Toledo anyway? People have been talking about our stadium like it is a tiny little facility. Somebody once told me that the Rubber Bowl was the second largest college stadium in Ohio. How close is this to being accurate? This may have been an error on their part but the Rubber Bowl certainly isn't tiny!Go Zips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quickzips Posted January 1, 2006 Report Share Posted January 1, 2006 The capacity of the Rubber Bowl isn't really the problem. I don't remember an exact number but the capacity is somewhere around 35K. I believe it is the largest stadium in the MAC. There are two major (and many minor) problems with the Rubber Bowl.1.) Distance from campus. Students such as myself must drive 10 miles down 77 or route 8 to the Bowl from campus. It does nothing to help boost student interest in the football program when many students can go their entire college career without ever setting eyes on the football stadium.2.) It is old. The damn thing was built in the new deal era and years of neglect have taken their toll on the old girl. Case in point, the endzone stands which remained covered for most of the season because they were a safety hazard. It has been stated many times that to update the Rubber Bowl and bring it up to standard would cost just as much as building an entire new stadium.Bottom line is the U bought the Rubber Bowl for $1. It really doesn't owe us anything. We've gotten more than our fair use out of it. But it is time to move on with updated facilities in the heart of the campus. Continuing to play in the Rubber Bowl will only be a constant reminder of the lack of unity that has traditionally existed (and still does to this day to some extent) between the general population of the University and the Athletics Department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UA Fan Posted January 2, 2006 Report Share Posted January 2, 2006 Opened in 1940, The University of Akron's Rubber Bowl ties for largest football stadium in the Mid-American Conference, and is the second largest collegiate stadium in the state of Ohio. With current capacity at 31,000, The Bowl is runner-up to Ohio State's Ohio Stadium which packs in 101,568 along the banks of the Olentangy.As far as MAC stadiums go, the Rubber Bowl is tied with University at Buffalo Stadium as the largest in terms of seating capacity.The Zips' horseshoe-shaped home has been a gathering spot for Northeast Ohio football fans and event goers for 64 years. In 1999, UA football fan No. 3,000,000 passed through the Rubber Bowl turnstiles, marking six decades of Zips gridiron action at The Bowl.The site of 300 UA football contests, 19 preseason Cleveland Browns' games, a regular-season NFL game in 1952, over 1,500 high school games (including dozens of OHSAA playoff games), as well as many soccer matches and scores of concerts and shows, the Rubber Bowl has stood the test of time.In 1940, the UA football team abandoned well-worn Buchtel Field to play at the municipally owned Rubber Bowl.The Bowl began to develop under the plans of B.E. "Shorty" Fulton in 1933. With the help of the Civil Works Authority, Fulton had 180,000 cubic yards of dirt carved out of the side of the hill neighboring Akron Municipal Airport. Fulton, the airport manager, turned the site into a recreation area.Then in 1939, civic-minded citizens, headed by C.W. Seiberling and James Schlemmer, sports editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, raised $30,000 to help construct the stadium on the site. The amount was raised by subscribing $1 from 30,000 Akronites. A federal grant of $516,000 was obtained and construction began. The stadium was dedicated before 37,000 people on August 10, 1940.Akron opened its playing history in the Rubber Bowl on Oct. 5, 1940, against Western Reserve, before 17,472 spectators. Although the Zips lost 6-0, the Rubber Bowl has since been an excellent home field, as evidenced by UA's overall mark of 181-114-10 ties (61.0 percent).In June 1971, the University accepted the title to the Rubber Bowl from the City of Akron and began a program of refurbishing the stadium. University trustees authorized $175,000 for improvements. First priority went to a lighting system which increased illumination of the field by more than five times.The most striking improvement took place in the summer of 1973. Spearheaded by a gift of $200,000 from Elza E. Hopkins and Clarkins Stores, and a community wide fund-raising drive directed by the Touchdown Club that provided more than $160,000, the University was able to install an all-weather artificial surface. Installation of AstroTurf got UA and area high school football teams "out of the mud."That same year, the Cleveland Browns' played their 19th (and last) preseason football game at The Bowl. The New York Giants defeated the Browns, 21-10, in front of 30,751 spectators. The Cleveland franchise had a 14-5 mark at The Bowl and attracted more than one-half million fans.In 1983, after 10 years, a new carpet was installed at a cost of more than $500,000. The funds to pay for the repairs and installation came from a UA bond issue.In 1991, more than $100,000 was contributed by the Coca Cola Bottling Company of Ohio, Summa Health Systems, National City Bank of Ohio and the Varsity "A" Association to purchase a new scoreboard.Prior to the start of the '94 season, the University Board of Trustees authorized funds of about $750,000 to fix the facilities' drainage system and apply new artificial turf to the floor of the Zips' football home. The stadium also got a complete paint job and the seats were refurbished.A new AstroPlay surface was installed prior to the 2003 season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJGood Posted January 2, 2006 Report Share Posted January 2, 2006 Thanks. I learned a lot here. I knew the Rubber Bowl was rich in history and was pretty large compared to the other MAC schools. That was why I posted on the topic. The Rocket fan at the beginning of this thread was making it sound like we had an abnormally small stadium.I agree changes need to be made and a new stadium is the most obvious answer to the football attendance issues. I look forward to seeing how this all ends up playing out. I also hope that once a new stadium is in place that the tickets prices won't jump to extravagantly. I'd still like to be able to afford to take my family of five to a game or two each season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToledoRockets Posted January 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2006 I was not saying you had a small stadium. What I was saying is that you can't evenpartially fill the stadium you have and you are talking about building a bigger one that would just be a huge white elephant. I agree that 10-miles is a long way for the students but most of your students are commuters anyway. Our campus only has about 4,000 students living on campus and yet we draw over 10,000 students a game at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeeprOFtheHous Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 I think the akron zips this season figured out how to WIN games with what talent they had. This comes from a great coaching staff. If youline us up man to man against toledo i am sure they out size us speed and strength, but what matters is we won! what needs to happen is Akron as a Univ. and an Athl. dept. can not let this FEar the Roo Fevor fizzle away. They need a way to keep it rolling through basketball and into next fall. Akron is moving up. The next big step is to sign a TOP recruit. We need to find away to keep these Nationaly ranked recruits FROM AKRON LOCAL SCHOOLS here!! the only thing that lacks is CONSTANT FAN SUPPORT and a new stadium. Think what the bowl would be like each weekend it the same fans came out that traveled to motor city? this would be a great place to play for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally B Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 What an idiot! Clearly you wish Toledo fans could be the same jackasses that Marshall fans were. Fortunately, we know not all Toledo fans are like that.So here are my ?'s for you TR.1) What about the crowds Akron had in d1aa. Was/is Toledo embarased that a d1aa team could out draw them and had a bigger stadium?????2) This is a pretty realistic message board, we look to the future, and respect the conference. We more than appear to be on our way up, and there is nothing wrong with anticipating growth.3) Word to the wise. Behaviorally speaking the dominant member of the pack doesn't pick fights, he doesn't need to tell anyone he's #1, it is already known. So what exactly are you trying to commuicate???4) People don't know how stupid you are until you open your mouth so don't get upset when we start calling you a flamer. 5) Preview of my future responses to youignore........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToledoRockets Posted January 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 ooooo...I guess you really got me there!First of all, how ignorant are you to try and argue that you guys had great crowds as a I-AA school and now you don't get good crowds? Akron never, and I do mean NEVER outdrew Toledo. Not when you were I-AA. Not now. You had a couple of big crowds at the Rubber bowl back in the day AGAINST YOUNGSTOWN! And ONLY against Youngstown.Yes, you are right, we here at Toledo have been shaking in our boots that Akron has not gone a whopping 13-11 in the last two years. That 20-0 whooping you took to Army really has us scared you are on the rise. Or is it the 13-6 throddling you gave Buffalo? I am not sure. But, you are right...we are really worried about you and Can't State becoming powers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToledoRockets Posted January 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 This just in. Let the games begin! Get your tickets early because we actually sell out our games!Toledo Future Football Schedules(Subject to Change)2006 ScheduleHome GamesKansas (9/16/2006)McNeese State (9/23/2006)Akron*Ball State*Central Michigan*Bowling Green*Away GamesIowa State (9/02/2006)Pittsburgh (9/09/2006)Eastern Michigan*Can't State*Northern Illinois*Western Michigan* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckzip Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Why do you guys keep feeding the Toledo troll?His jealousy for the MAC champs is funny to read, but not respond to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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