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[Zipmeister]

Bingo! Can the University do a better job of marketing, etc.? Sure. Can the coaches do a better job of getting the team ready to play and win? Of course. Can the players do a better job of committing themselves to the team, work harder, etc.? Absolutely.

What can the fans/students do? Exactly what AK says above. SHOW UP! Bring your friends! Pick up a homeless person and bring him! Talk to people at work and encourage them to come out.... what was the quote.. ? "If you don't participate in athletics.... at least be an athletic supporter"...

Some may lack the testicular fortitude to be an athletic supporter. To them I say ballderdash.

[NewZipsFan]

@AKSportsFan, I think the problem with all your "what ifs" is that longtime Zips football fans have already tried all those things and more over the years, and they've just kept getting disappointed by mostly mediocre performance on the field.

Everyone wants to believe it will be different this time. But no one really knows what will happen when the irresistible force of Coach Bowden meets the immovable object of mediocre Zips football.

I guess then, those long time miserable fans have the right to be pessimistic and keep a "wait and see" attitude before coming back.

But quit raining on my parade! If I want the glass half-full, it's dadgum gonna be half-full. If I say we're going to win the MAC this season - well, dadgummit, we will... ok -- that train of thought didn't go exactly where I was meaning it to..

I just don't understand how you can be a fan, but not be a fan. Maybe we should ask the people in New Orleans how they did it... or Tampa Bay.. or Chicago (white sox or cubs or whoever the heck hasn't won a world series since they invented the wheel or something...)

It's 30,000 people. That's less than 1/3 the size of The Swamp. Students at UF (30,000 undergrad) have to be in a lottery for football tickets -- only about 9,000 get them. That means that about 80,000+ people purchase tickets and actually TRAVEL to Gainesville (not exactly paradise - or even a great little town for that matter) to see UF beat the crap out of FAU. Yes, they're Gators, and I can't stand them, but THEY ARE FANS.

[Captain Kangaroo]

That means that about 80,000+ people purchase tickets and actually TRAVEL to Gainesville (not exactly paradise - or even a great little town for that matter) to see UF beat the crap out of FAU. Yes, they're Gators, and I can't stand them, but THEY ARE FANS.

105,000 flock to Columbus to see OSU play Youngstown State. It's never helped the Zips cause.

[K92]

A lot of posters on this board have gone above and beyond in support of Zips Athletics. I salute them. They are not the problem.

There is no magic bullet for the attendance issues. Even if Akron joined the Big East, it would not ensure a sold-out Info. The Zips need to win and win in an entertaining fashion. That is beyond the control of any fan. What fans can control is how much they are willing to contribute to the festive atmosphere in the stands and in the parking lots. There are way too many sticks in the mud. Just my observation. At many highly attended sporting events, its just as much about the party as it is about the game or match or race. A happy medium would be optimal. Unfortunately, we haven't had much to brag about on the field or at the party. I will continue to support the Zips, but I am not going to set myself up for a big disappointment when the Info is empty again this fall. I am cautiously optimistic.

That being said, the irrational exuberance of NZF and others is refreshing. Like I said before, hopefully you brought about 20,000 fans with you!

[johnnyzip84]

A lot of posters on this board have gone above and beyond in support of Zips Athletics. I salute them. They are not the problem.

There is no magic bullet for the attendance issues. Even if Akron joined the Big East, it would not ensure a sold-out Info. The Zips need to win and win in an entertaining fashion. That is beyond the control of any fan. What fans can control is how much they are willing to contribute to the festive atmosphere in the stands and in the parking lots. There are way too many sticks in the mud. Just my observation. At many highly attended sporting events, its just as much about the party as it is about the game or match or race. A happy medium would be optimal. Unfortunately, we haven't had much to brag about on the field or at the party. I will continue to support the Zips, but I am not going to set myself up for a big disappointment when the Info is empty again this fall. I am cautiously optimistic.

That being said, the irrational exuberance of NZF and others is refreshing. Like I said before, hopefully you brought about 20,000 fans with you!

Well said, Keener.

Maybe if we brought these guys back for halftime?

[Class of 82]

There is no magic bullet for the attendance issues. Even if Akron joined the Big East, it would not ensure a sold-out Info. The Zips need to win and win in an entertaining fashion. That is beyond the control of any fan.

Exactly right. It's clear that the stadium won't sell out until the product on the field warrants it. Curiosity about Coach Bowden might bring a few people out for the opener, just like curiosity about the new stadium brought people out for the first game or two. But curiosity in the short term is no substitute for entertaining football, as recent history has amply demonstrated.

[NewZipsFan]

A lot of posters on this board have gone above and beyond in support of Zips Athletics. I salute them. They are not the problem.

There is no magic bullet for the attendance issues. Even if Akron joined the Big East, it would not ensure a sold-out Info. The Zips need to win and win in an entertaining fashion. That is beyond the control of any fan. What fans can control is how much they are willing to contribute to the festive atmosphere in the stands and in the parking lots. There are way too many sticks in the mud. Just my observation. At many highly attended sporting events, its just as much about the party as it is about the game or match or race. A happy medium would be optimal. Unfortunately, we haven't had much to brag about on the field or at the party. I will continue to support the Zips, but I am not going to set myself up for a big disappointment when the Info is empty again this fall. I am cautiously optimistic.

That being said, the irrational exuberance of NZF and others is refreshing. Like I said before, hopefully you brought about 20,000 fans with you!

I hear you... and if I'm going to be a fan, I will do my best to "feel your pain" of the past. My preference, of course, would be for everyone to be drinking the Kool Aid

[zippy5]

I hear you... and if I'm going to be a fan, I will do my best to "feel your pain" of the past.

Why would one do such a thing?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Why would one do such a thing?

Those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat it.

[johnnyzip84]

Those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat it.

In other words, we're REALLY hoping Coach Bowden is the ANTI-ANELLO

[GP1]

There is no magic bullet for the attendance issues.

Actually, there is a magic bullet and it has "winning" written on it. Our major problem in the past has been that when we locked that bullet in the firing chamber, we often shot ourselves with the bullet before the gun even got out of the holster.

Over the years, we have had countless discussions about our problems winning in football and what caused the problems. The truth is, we have been our own worst enemy. There was always a "building process" and never a "winning process". I have a good feeling that is going to change in the relatively new future.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Wistercil rolled into town a few years ago, guns-a-blazin', ignorant of the Zips football history, and thought he'd generate a ton of money by charging $5,000 per parking space to those fans desiring the coveted Lot 9. Instead, he spent a lot of time wiping whip cream pie remnants off his face.

No one appreciates the energy NZF has brought to the football board more than me, and no one is more excited than me to have Terry Bowden as Zips Football Coach (except NZF), but if you saw the looks on the faces of the handful of Zips fans exiting our final game of 2011...it was like a Death Camp in the parking lot. Vacant stares...player's parents in tears...bad stuff. I think it is important to make sure the new regime is aware of the history. And what they're up against in righting the ship. Otherwise, it plays-out like the pep rally in Fast Times at Ridgemeont High.

[skip-zip]

There is no magic bullet for the attendance issues. Even if Akron joined the Big East, it would not ensure a sold-out Info. The Zips need to win and win in an entertaining fashion.

Right. There is no magic bullet. And Big East play won't "ensure" a sellout.

But, let me tell you what it would do, even if we don't win games right away.

The biggest problem we face is that fans on the fringes, and beyond the fringes, have never recognized Akron as a part of the teams competing on the national stage, regardless of the fact that we are all D-1A. This perception among those people would change INSTANTLY. And for the first time, those people would identify with Akron as being in the same league as other schools who have a chance to reach the ultimate prize in the largest division of college football.

The Browns don't win, yet they still have plenty of fans. It's because they still begin every season as one of only a few dozen teams with a chance to win a Super Bowl.

[GP1]

Wistercil rolled into town a few years ago, guns-a-blazin', ignorant of the Zips football history, and thought he'd generate a ton of money by charging $5,000 per parking space to those fans desiring the coveted Lot 9. Instead, he spent a lot of time wiping whip cream pie remnants off his face.

Respectfully, this wasn't a major problem compared to the history of losing and an inability of ANY athletic director to put a winning product on the field for a sustained period of time. Wistercil couldn't possibly have been ignorant of our football history...the records are easy enough for even a dimwitted guy like him to read. He was ignorant of how to manage the exit of an existing coach (Reno issue ties into this) and hire a winning coach that would put a winning product on the field. If this team won and where people parked became our biggest problem, I'd be all for it. In the mean time, parking is way, way, way down on the list of past problems.

Our problems stem from not winning, not winning and not winning. If we win, everything else takes care of itself.

[NewZipsFan]

Right. There is no magic bullet. And Big East play won't "ensure" a sellout.

But, let me tell you what it would do, even if we don't win games right away.

The biggest problem we face is that fans on the fringes, and beyond the fringes, have never recognized Akron as a part of the teams competing on the national stage, regardless of the fact that we are all D-1A. This perception among those people would change INSTANTLY. And for the first time, those people would identify with Akron as being in the same league as other schools who have a chance to reach the ultimate prize in the largest division of college football.

The Browns don't win, yet they still have plenty of fans. It's because they still begin every season as one of only a few dozen teams with a chance to win a Super Bowl.

I agree with you. Perception is reality. And the perception is that the Big East has better football teams in it. It may not - but what it does have is an automatic berth into a BCS Bowl Game - and that is HUGE.

[NewZipsFan]

Those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat it.

Because its called empathy. I can empathize with the long suffering, unhappy fans -- that doesn't mean that I would allow that to cloud my very loud, overly exuberant and pie in the sky outlook for the near future of the Zips football team.

The only way to get people over to your "side" it to understand them first.

[Captain Kangaroo]

In the mean time, parking is way, way, way down on the list of past problems.

Likewise respectfully, the post wasn't about parking, but about decisions made by someone ignorant to the status of the program. Wistersil saw new stadium, new coach...he saw how Minnesotans ate up their new facility and sold it out...and he thought "the cupboard was full" in Akron...he could charge Big10 price$ for Zips football. Then, in came the cream pie. Everyone in Akron saw the pie coming but him.

This has all been hashed and re-hashed before. I'll drop it. Real hope is now residing in Akron. It's time for excitement. Go Zips!

[GP1]

Go Zips!

Go Zips!

[skip-zip]

I agree with you. Perception is reality. And the perception is that the Big East has better football teams in it. It may not - but what it does have is an automatic berth into a BCS Bowl Game - and that is HUGE.

Even much more than just the automatic BCS bowl bid. Simply the perception that the teams in that league are part of the group of teams that have a chance to win the big prize.

[K92]

Even much more than just the automatic BCS bowl bid. Simply the perception that the teams in that league are part of the group of teams that have a chance to win the big prize.

Sadly, I think the overwhelming perception is that the Big East champion has zero chance of winning the big prize. It is a much maligned conference by fans of the other 5 AQ leagues. West Virginia's beatdown of Clemson was the Big East's first BCS win since Louisville beat Wake Forest. Just sayin.

[zippy5]

Sadly, I think the overwhelming perception is that the Big East champion has zero chance of winning the big prize. It is a much maligned conference by fans of the other 5 AQ leagues. West Virginia's beatdown of Clemson was the Big East's first BCS win since Louisville beat Wake Forest. Just sayin.

The big east has done quite well in BCS bowls, no? WVU over Oklahoma, Georgia, Clemson. Their play has been considerably better than the perception they get. But i agree, it's all about perception. Still the big east, without pitt, wvu, and Cuse is still leaps and bounds ahead of the MAC.

Also WVU beat OU after L'Ville beat WF.

[NewZipsFan]

The big east has done quite well in BCS bowls, no? WVU over Oklahoma, Georgia, Clemson. Their play has been considerably better than the perception they get. But i agree, it's all about perception. Still the big east, without pitt, wvu, and Cuse is still leaps and bounds ahead of the MAC.

Umm... honestly -- who cares who is in the Big East as long as they have an automatic BCS Bowl berth. That fact alone will attract higher rated players, etc. We can win the dadgum conference every year and play in a BCS Bowl game - I'd rather play in the Orange Bowl than the Beef O'Brady's Bowl, or the Meineke Car Care Bowl... just sayin'...

[K92]

The big east has done quite well in BCS bowls, no? WVU over Oklahoma, Georgia, Clemson. Their play has been considerably better than the perception they get. But i agree, it's all about perception. Still the big east, without pitt, wvu, and Cuse is still leaps and bounds ahead of the MAC.

Also WVU beat OU after L'Ville beat WF.

Sorry. I had forgotten about WVU beating Oklahoma. Red face. But my point was that BE seems like the promised land to a lot of Zips fans, but really doesn't garner a lot of respect in CFB fandom as a whole. Maybe I will just be quiet now.

[zippy5]

Sorry. I had forgotten about WVU beating Oklahoma. Red face. But my point was that BE seems like the promised land to a lot of Zips fans, but really doesn't garner a lot of respect in CFB fandom as a whole. Maybe I will just be quiet now.

Yeah, I agree, everyone views it as crap...but the crap of the BCS. As long as they're getting an automatic bid, I'd love to be in it.

But, if my math's correct, they're 7-7 in BCS Bowls, but the public doesn't really like facts. They even had the best bowl record since the BCS started as of this article.

24-10 since the 2005-2006 bowl season.

I don't want to derail this thread into a big east argument, but...It's not as bad as people think.

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

Sadly, I think the overwhelming perception is that the Big East champion has zero chance of winning the big prize. It is a much maligned conference by fans of the other 5 AQ leagues. West Virginia's beatdown of Clemson was the Big East's first BCS win since Louisville beat Wake Forest. Just sayin.

Who cares? Is the Big East more maligned than the crappy MAC? The MAC is THE WORST man, THE WORST. It's worse than just bad. It's dirty grey, it's the former Soviet "stans", it's the worst kind of athletic badness, which is to say that it's small-time and terribly bland. The MAC is lentil soup with no spice and no taste, it's trying to keep a buddy from laughing when trying to distinguish one directional school from another, it's explaining to people that there are those who actually give a s__t about beating Can't, even as they look at you like you're a kook. The MAC is the lay-down-to-be-murdered-by-Wisconsin for cash league, the "is that really D-1 football?" league, where every school is so close to each other in the same region that it all looks and feels the same. The MAC is the kid who never gets chosen for pick up teams, it's the Debby Downer of sports leagues. It's Pleasantville in black and white, except the film never shifts to color. The MAC is the Siberia of sports leagues, it's where teams are exiled for being too shabby, too boring, for lacking any vitality. When someone wants to snidely make fun of something crappy they call it MACtastic.

I would be happy to see UA join ANY other league of substance. If it's the MWC/C-USA, let's go! If it's the Big East, minus the Pitts and Syracuses, so be it. The MAC is where you're left when the music stops and THERE ARE NO CHAIRS LEFT. If North Korea were building some horrible old version of a Soviet version of a crappy old Fiat, the designs for which they stole in 1956, and the North Koreans were still throwing these buckets of 1956-technology crap together, they would be called THE MAC. "Hey Comrade, can I help you push start your grey, 1973 MAC so you can struggle to the coal mine, belching black smoke in -3C temperatures this morning?"

Now that we have KD pushing the BB team, Porter maintaining a top-flight Soccer program, perennially competitive track teams and Terry Bowden, who sure as hell better do good things with this football program (please God!) I can see the crowds gathering at the wall. Soon there will be brave ones who climb the wall to cut the barb wire and then the crowds with sledge hammers will show up. We're in East Germany right now, and it's cold and it's dark and it's grey. I want West German goodness. I want some color. I want freedom from the MAC and all it represents.