Holy Crap!

[Z-P]

For those of you who can't pull up the ABJ, here's the article:Zips don't deserve those empty seatsBy Tom GaffneyThe character Charlie on the hit television show Lost might have provided the series' signature moment when he stared into the camera and asked, ``Where are we?''A pointed -- but admittedly non-creative -- ripoff of that would be my own signature moment of staring into the stands at Rhodes Arena and asking, ``Where are the fans?''The Zips, who host Western Michigan tonight, are one of the best and most energetic teams in the Mid-American Conference, yet the crowds watching border on being statistically insignificant.Rhodes Arena has a seating capacity of 5,500, but the Zips have drawn an average of only 3,036 for nine home dates. That places UA seventh in MAC attendance for a team that is second in the standings.Only one game has drawn more than 4,000 (4,461 on Jan. 21 against Eastern Michigan).Three have reached 3,000 (3,106 on Jan. 26 against Miami; 3,056 on Jan. 14 against Northern Illinois, and 3,886 for the Nov. 26 opener against Youngstown State).That average is just 55 percent of capacity -- and trails last season (3,369) -- at a school with an enrollment of 24,000, and in Summit County with a population base of 550,000.It is hard to understand, given the makeup of the team and its accomplishments.The Zips have a charismatic, popular and knowledgeable coach in Keith Dambrot, who has deep Akron roots and a history of being one of the area's biggest boosters.And when the starting lineup is announced, the words ``from Akron, Ohio'' are mentioned three times, attached to the names of senior center Matt Futch, junior forward Romeo Travis and junior point guard Dru Joyce III.Not only that, but this team wins at home (9-0), and entertains at home, too, with double-digit margins in all but the Miami game.Part of the entertainment value comes in how the team plays. The Zips are old-school, emphasizing teamwork, balance, chemistry and defense. They shoot well, defend well and never back down. They can beat you playing all types of tempo. And they could be one of 65 out of 334 Division I basketball schools headed to the NCAA Tournament.In summary, they are fun to watch. And at a decent, if not spectacular, arena and at a price that shouldn't tax most household budgets.That changes the question from ``Where are the fans?'' to ``Why?''Certainly, the university has done its part to promote and market the team. Billboards and advertisements proclaiming ``Prepare for the fantastic'' and ``Fear the Roo'' are ubiquitous. Former athletic director Mike Thomas and associate athletic director Mike Waddell put together an advertising plan that seemed destined to succeed.It has succeeded, really, but many more fans are needed to put it over the top.(Caution: Danger ahead. The small percentage of Zips fans who blame the media for all woes and believe our area has a Duke, North Carolina or UConn in our midst should stop reading and spend your time elsewhere. This will ruin your day.)The Beacon Journal has provided preview stories on the team before every game this season. But media outlets are not in the business of promoting schools' sports teams. At UA, that is the job of new athletic director Mack Rhoades, Waddell and their capable crew.The media are in the business of providing information that readers, viewers or listeners not only want, but also demand.That being said, decision-makers in the media are not impressed when they see Rhodes Arena half-full. There is a bottom line, and a 3,036 average at a school and in a community this large does not dazzle.Get angry if you will, but it might help to channel it in the right direction. Fans who look around Rhodes Arena in dismay or blame external forces can do their part by encouraging as many people as possible to find their way to 376 Carroll St., for the final four home games. Word of mouth often is the best advertising.The newcomers will not regret going, and they will have fun.Maybe the question then will be, ``Where are the empty seats?''Your thoughtsWhy don't you go to University of Akron home basketball games?Please let us know and we will print the best responses. All identities will be kept confidential.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Naming Waddell and Mack! Wow...........Guess Tom reads the Nation...............More later, I'm sure

[liljc]

A nice little scolding from Tom Gaffney...whatever it takes to light a fire under people is ok with me. Thanks, Tom. Go Zips!

[Zippy989]

Ok Tom,using your own logic and taking it a step further..... Why does the BJ cover Can't?? they average only a few more fans than the Zips... this for a team that has 7 concecutive 20+ win seasons, NCAA and NIT tournament appearances and on and on...Bottom line, when the local paper and media treat MAC as second class... so does the community...Need proof? BJ covers OSU like they are local right? Offer average BJ sports fan a free ticket to OSU game or free season tickets to Zips games.... which do you think he'd choose?

[flipthezip]

Tom- Nice article. I too would love to see more people at every game. Just let them know that the correct address for the James A. Rhodes Arena is 373 Carroll St.Continue the accurate journalism we have come to expect from the ABJ.

[Z-Pouch]

Tom - Nice article. Finally, someone at the ABJ speaks out and takes on an issue directly with some edge.He's absolutely right. It's our problem not the ABJs ( In the end, they will be indirectly part of the solution but only reporting on UA’s actions) - To correct it, we need wins , creative marketing and promotions, student groups, league and MAC championships, bowl games, MAC tourney wins and post season tourneys. I think you get the point - we are getting there but undoing years of average play and lack of student support doesn't happen overnight. We've got some big BB games coming up - people will show up because UAM will do the right things to fill the seats.I hope they follow thru and print the "why I don’t go to games responses". It will be great feedback for UAM and pinpoint issues to address with the potential fan base

[zen]

I think I'll chose to ignor the predictable excuses he makes for the ABJ along with the hand wringing about all the other reaons why attendance isn't where it could be, and instead I will focus on the fact that this article, itself, in a way sheds light on the state of the team and the fact that there are plenty of seat for people to grab. :)Was this article online only, or in the ABJ paper as well?

[JP Morgan]

Interesting. I am looking forward to the responses by readers as to why they don't go to games. Mine is 3 kids under the age of 4 :blink:

[zen]

Interesting. I am looking forward to the responses by readers as to why they don't go to games. Mine is 3 kids under the age of 4 :blink:

Someone has been busy.

[msopher]

I thought it was a good read but I agree with Zippy 989 in that if you treat the MAC as 2nd class, then the community will as well.Still, I think it is a bit embarassing that a team like the Zips averages slightly over 3,000 fans a game. Something needs to be done about this.

[Sloopy]

Until Akron Basketball beats Can't State in the first battle of the year between the two teams the population not going to buy in and come to the games in masses. My parents live in Akron and my Dad tells me he hears about the Zip games all of the time on radio, in the paper, and on cable tv. He has had season tickets for more than 20 years but cannot get other people in the community to come to the games with him because of this that or the other excuse. I think the Akron community does not know anything about the MAC and therefore does not understand that Buffalo is a good team or that WMU has been an NCAA team in the last 3-4 years.Akron had a great bowl game turnout but could not draw more than 15,000 fans to a single football game in 2005. Will that be different next year?Winning draws fans, not a bobblehead giveaway or free hot dogs. If the Zip hoopers had done their job the other day at Can't State the house would have been about 3,000 tonight. I look for big crowds for Ohio and Can't State and really bad crowds for WMU and Bowling Green. Who the heck would schedule a game on valentine's day? Not too many wives or husbands will be at that one.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I hope they follow thru and print the "why I don’t go to games responses". It will be great feedback for UAM and pinpoint issues to address with the potential fan base

If you think UAM will use the pathetic feedback of the bitter clowns that respond to this plea, you're nuts. Here...I save everyone some time:WIN. WIN SOMETHING. DON'T HOLD ON TO A PIECE OF SHIT COACH LIKE HIPSHER OR CRAWFORD FOR A COLLECTIVE 15 YEARS. WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP. WIN SOMETHING.We've sucked for 15 years. Totally sucked ass. Sucked to the point of embarassment. During this time our 7-mile away rival has 7 consecutive 20+ win seasons and a sack full of championships. We have 16 wins in February and Tom Gaffney wonders "Why are there only 3,000 fans at a game?" Dork.The only reason that column was written was to justify their shitty coverage. "Why don't we cover games? Because no one cares. See...look...only 3,000 in the area care.""The Beacon taking a controversial stand?" Give me an f-ing break. Where were they when Lee Owens was stinking up the Rubber Bowl? No where. In fact they openly lamented the Zips attempts to improve the football program by ditching Acme and firing Owens. I remember when Crawford was fired. Pluto wrote an article titled "Underdog"...a sappy story about what a swell guy our 3-24 coach was. He never once called for the guy's head.Dennis Helsel was a total buffoon. Did anyone in the Beacon take the time to publicize his numerous blunders? No. Pluto wrote his annual "Come see the Zips 'cause the work so hard...get floor burns...blah blah blah" column a month ago. That would have had some credibility, except for the fact that he wrote the same damn column 4 years earlier. In that game, Hipsher's Zips lost to EMU at home. EMU won 3 TOTAL games that season. The Zips played like total crap that night. I rode a canoe back home that night from the river of pee that had poured down Bryan Hipsher's leg as he bricked 2 free throws to lose the game by one. Pluto had numerous chances to rip Hipsher for this game, and in general his his self-destructing teams...to rip him for playing his D-III son in a D-1 conference. Instead he recommended the community come out and support Hipsher's garbage. Lauding the BJ for ripping on the Zips 3K attendance is laughable. They've had legit resons to question a lot of goings-on in the University's athletic department over the past 15 years and they've placed their head in the sand. Why: Because it suits their purpose. If the teams are bad, they don't have to spend the $$ to cover it. The BJ is flat broke.I read the Beacon last week. They didn't even send a reporter to the Signing Day Press Conference. If Morgan was there, he only wrote notes off the press release. Zero insight. Zero opinions. This, for the #1 ranked class in the conference...for the MAC Champions? Then you have the usual errors like Jabari being a senior and the pic where Rybek is listed as a Buffalo defender... and Linhart is listed as Rybek.Gaffney condecendingly talks of "the small number of Zips fans that disagree..." F him. If he wants to take a real stand, tell him to get the balls to stand up to Larry Pantages for once and tell him their lack of coverage and constant screw ups not only hurt attendance, but prolonged the job tenure of some absolutely terrible coaches. Zip AD's in the past were gutless enough to let shitty coaches hang arounf because it could be done "under the radar." Low stress...just hand out extensions and let thigs roll on.F The Beacon. Their motives for articles like Gaffney's are very tran$parent.

[zipsbandman]

The captain is right. This article left a bad taste in my mouth when I read it. It is simply their way of responding to many of the vocal zip fans on this board who have complained about coverage. What we are going to get in response are comentaries from idiot OSU junkies saying that Akron sucks, nobody cares about the MAC...yadeyadeya. There are no good intentions with that article.Let's start beating Can't for once in hoops and then we can start talking attendance. How bout let's make the NIT for once. We have done absolutely nothing in basketball, nothing at all in recent history. Where is that big road win this year? We lost to OU. We lost to Can't. Will we pull one off in Oxford? At Nevada? Maybe Buffalo? This article is not necessary.

[scottditzen]

Why does this make me dislike the ABJ even more? I've read it 3 times. IMO it is simply 1. a thinly veiled attack on the University and fans2. a condescending attempt to justify ABJ's historical ambivalence for the Zips. Interestingly, the tone of the article is almost like anger, as if from someone who knows the paper is going down the tubes, yet can do nothing to stop it.

[msopher]

Why does this make me dislike the ABJ even more? I've read it 3 times. IMO it is simply 1. a thinly veiled attack on the University and fans2. a condescending attempt to justify ABJ's historical ambivalence for the Zips. Interestingly, the tone of the article is almost like anger, as if from someone who knows the paper is going down the tubes, yet can do nothing to stop it.

But his point on attendance is dead on.

[scottditzen]

Yes, his point on attendence is right. Attendence is bad. But everyone knows that already. His purpose is to exonerate the ABJ and his reasoning just doesn't fly with me.

[Z-P]

My turn, so I'm up...............it's been a busy day!I've been on the fan board for better than 7 years now (first ZFF's infamous "Blue Board", the bbs and now the "Nation"), and have never posted about the ABJ..........but since Tim Gaffney called us out, here goes.I hear ya CK, but I like to "dwell in the present".............and I think the BJ has done a pretty fair job of advancing the bandwagon recently. Errors aside (the blow jobs are another issue altogether) they've been pretty good (compared to the past).I also think this article wasn't really that nasty after reading it a second time.You know how UAM's dragging the guys across town into the 21st century by sicking the Rowdies on them? This is kind of the same thing.And another thing, he's basically correct in his article..................yea, I know the past and the problems, but take a seat in the present, and he's right.However....................Tim you are kind of a butt for calling us out like you did. Butt that's OK, we're used to being crapped on and your dagger wasn't the worst we've ever seen thrown our way.While I'm at it Tom, I'd like to crack on you a little because you're mistaken on something. How many formers UA Students and UA Alum are in your SMSA? Don't you think they have any kind of passing interest in what the UA clubs do? You might surprise yourself by finding out. I'd bet my Pinto with the XM Radio on this...........the # of UA folks outnumber the OSU's by a wide margin...............and since you are in business at the BJ to make money, you might consider printing what they're more likely to have a passing interest in.............Another passing thought..........you guys at the BJ think you are a "National" paper in stature (never mind your comment about us being UConn ) and you are NOT. There's only one thing the BJ has, that comes close to being "National" in it's stature, and that's TP's column (easy Cap)..................he could take his act up 77 to the PD and you'd be in the crapper, even worser . So quit with the rant about us thinking we're UConn...............And another thing..................oh never mind. Whatever...........go Zips.Your article reminded me of something else: Props to the "Original" BOSS who's now a Nattie resident. Hope he's doing well!

[sgm405]

The captain is right. This article left a bad taste in my mouth when I read it. It is simply their way of responding to many of the vocal zip fans on this board who have complained about coverage. What we are going to get in response are comentaries from idiot OSU junkies saying that Akron sucks, nobody cares about the MAC...yadeyadeya. There are no good intentions with that article.Let's start beating Can't for once in hoops and then we can start talking attendance. How bout let's make the NIT for once. We have done absolutely nothing in basketball, nothing at all in recent history. Where is that big road win this year? We lost to OU. We lost to Can't. Will we pull one off in Oxford? At Nevada? Maybe Buffalo? This article is not necessary.

Does everyone realize that before the Akron @ Can't sellout, Can't's average attendance was LOWER than Akron's?

[AK-Zips]

You know how UAM's dragging the guys across town into the 21st century by sicking the Rowdies on them? This is kind of the same thing.Your article reminded me of something else: Props to the "Original" BOSS who's now a Nattie resident. Hope he's doing well!

since you mentioned it, UAM has done all of the work and ran the show when MT was here anyway. Hopefully he doesn't run to Natti under MT's his shadow again... Keep it up UAM, this has been the best year i can ever remember for getting the word and interest out about UA sports!

[Z-Pouch]

I hope they follow thru and print the "why I don’t go to games responses". It will be great feedback for UAM and pinpoint issues to address with the potential fan base

If you think UAM will use the pathetic feedback of the bitter clowns that respond to this plea, you're nuts.

If UAM is smart, he will listen to the feedback. He's already got my money and yours. The people writing, which I doubt many will, are the one's that could be going to the games. There are bound to be a couple of good ideas or insight into the potential local fan base especially if a person takes the time to send something in. I hope we get to see them in a folllow up article w/university interviews and I hope we are open minded enough to listen and address them. Maybe a Gaffney/Captain sitdown is in order We will just continue to disagree on the Beacon (mainly their BB coverage). Gaffney’s coverage so far has been pretty good. In this article, he’s calling a real and difficult issue out and actually seems angry about it (Compare this to anything Morgan/FB has done). Does he take a few cheap shots at this board ? No doubt but overall I think he wants to see things improve. I do think he made a mistake in not interviewing Mack or Waddell to shed some light on the University’s take on the attendance. You know that I conceded Morgan in football and Pluto's woe is me editorials to you a long time ago. I just can’t give up on the BB yet. The one real positive I’ve seen from the Beacon is letting Rasor have space on Ohio.com. Now, you’ve got to admit that one. Maybe someday, we will be lucky enough to see someone like him at the Beacon, that is if it still exists a couple of years from now..

[Captain Kangaroo]

The one real positive I’ve seen from the Beacon is letting Rasor have space on Ohio.com. Now, you’ve got to admit that one. Maybe someday, we will be lucky enough to see someone like him at the Beacon, that is if it still exists a couple of years from now.

I enjoy the Rasor stuff as much as the next guy. I'd love to see him as the Zips beat writer one day because he knows, and prints the information Zips fans want to know. He also has critical opinions on things more substantial than attendance. However, giving him space to write Zips info on Ohio.com is the television equivalent of the Zips getting "exposure" on ESPN360.

[fear the brown roo]

captain, you are the freakin' MAN. nailed it right on the head

[UADavid]

I enjoy the Rasor stuff as much as the next guy. I'd love to see him as the Zips beat writer one day because he knows, and prints the information Zips fans want to know. He also has critical opinions on things more substantial than attendance. However, giving him space to write Zips info on Ohio.com is the television equivalent of the Zips getting "exposure" on ESPN360.

Is that ESPN 360 or ESPN "the ocho"?

[Big Zip]

I agree he is trying to get the ABJ off the hook for their pathetic coverage of the Zips. Funny thing about the ABJ when they decided to cover the football team leading up to the bowl game I learned something about the players. It's the same message in any sport...if you help the fans or community get to know the players they'll want to come out and root for them. We know nothing about Linhart, Ryback, or very little about any of the players for that matter because of the Beacon -- the information we have is because of this board and UAM. People want to read good stories about people....it's a pretty simple concept. I'm sure we could come up with a dozen angles to right stories about the Zips players from coaches, to announcers, hell don't you think it's about time they profiled Mike Waddell -- I think Mike has lived in obscurity long enough. Their is a great story there...heck there was a great story when Mike donated part of his liver to helpl his dad. Human interest...walk ons. The ABJ is a joke...I refuse to purchase there paper and only have a weekend subscription to the PD. They did a going forward look on the Big 10 yesterday.Hell if the ABJ wanted to prove us wrong they could match Akron article for article with the OSU articles and if attendance doesn't increase -- they win. Put your money where your mouth is Gaffney and Pantages. How about an ABJ Sucks emoticon?

[Big Zip]

Wow -- I just re-read that post...boy was the spelling and grammar bad. Haven't posted for awhile and I was in the moment....