Dambrot says 'yes' to Duquesne this time

[kreed5120]

4 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

No one cares about those teams. Also to your second point - find an example that has a comparable arena.

 

Yes, and nobody cares about VMI, but that didn't stop 11,000 Akron fans attending last years football game. People don't attend Akron basketball games because they aren't interested in attending. Any opponent that would drive up attendance UNC, Duke, OSU, Kentucky isn't going to come to the JAR.

 

As for your 2nd point, using this unbiased arena ranking Siena jumps out at me as they averaged 5,925 fans playing in the MAAC.

 

http://www.scout.com/stadium-journey/story/1681072-college-basketball-arena-rankings

[zippy5]

4 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Yes, and nobody cares about VMI, but that didn't stop 11,000 Akron fans attending last years football game. People don't attend Akron basketball games because they aren't interested in attending. Any opponent that would drive up attendance UNC, Duke, OSU, Kentucky isn't going to come to the JAR.

 

As for your 2nd point, using this unbiased arena ranking Siena jumps out at me as they averaged 5,925 fans playing in the MAAC.

 

http://www.scout.com/stadium-journey/story/1681072-college-basketball-arena-rankings

[kreed5120]

 

13 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Once again I used an unbiased arena ranking as I've been in 2 out of the 351 basketball arenas. If you want to take the time to go through and assemble pictures and rank all 351 arenas, please go ahead and do that. I'll work from there.

Edited March 29, 2017 by kreed5120

[zippy5]

I just don't see why you think it's so far fetched that people don't want to sit on bleachers to watch MAC and lower level D-1 teams.

[kreed5120]

4 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

I just don't see why you think it's so far fetched that people don't want to sit on bleachers to watch MAC and lower level D-1 teams.

 

I just think people are kidding themselves if they think us playing Belmont or Valpo instead of Radford is suddenly going to bring huge crowds in and I'd say those are both pretty good teams. College basketball IMO just isn't that big of a deal in NEO and that's the real problem. This is a football heavy area. If Akron was located in an area where high school and college basketball was a bigger deal, I'd say our crowds would be much larger.

[Spin]

On 3/27/2017 at 11:18 PM, skip-zip said:

 

No, it's called Finding 50 Million Dollars

That doesn't happen by bickering among people who could spearhead that effort over the details. 

[dre22era]

After reading the last 2 pages 

What in the world is going on in here?

NIT? Potatoes?

 

Edited March 30, 2017 by dre22era

[Valpo Zip]

The 1500 hardcore fans will consistently go to the games regardless of who the opponent is. They even enjoy attending the exhibition game because it allows a sneak peak at the freshmen who will redshirt for the year. They enjoy seeing Big Dog dunk over a 5-8 kid from Malone because Dog is a good kid and he wears the right jersey. When we play Coppin State, hey, it is a D1 win. But there are only so many of those fans.

For the average fans, they want to be entertained. They want to see competitive basketball where the game goes down to the last play... not a game where the outcome is known even before tip off.

Few years back, attempting to defend his scheduling strategy, Dambrot said stuff like: we will never get an at large bid, the OOC doesn't really matter, and the only games that matter are the 3 in Cleveland. Fans pick up on that. People don't want to go to games that do not matter. Kent games always mattered, OU games always mattered. And the numbers show that.   

Edited March 30, 2017 by Valpo Zip

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, Valpo Zip said:

The 1500 hardcore fans will consistently go to the games regardless of who the opponent is. They even enjoy attending the exhibition game because it allows a sneak peak at the freshmen who will redshirt for the year. They enjoy seeing Big Dog dunk over a 5-8 kid from Malone because Dog is a good kid and he wears the right jersey. When we play Coppin State, hey, it is a D1 win. But there are only so many of those fans.

For the average fans, they want to be entertained. They want to see competitive basketball where the game goes down to the last play... not a game where the outcome is known even before tip off.

Few years back, attempting to defend his scheduling strategy, Dambrot said stuff like: we will never get an at large bid, the OOC doesn't really matter, and the only games that matter are the 3 in Cleveland. Fans pick up on that. People don't want to go to games that do not matter. Kent games always mattered, OU games always mattered. And the numbers show that.   

 

The program is, or was until last week, in the best shape it's ever been and still we have only 1,500 hardcore fans as you put it. That's where the problem lies. That screams low ceiling to me. Say what you will about the schedule (I do agree I'd like to see quality mid-majors during OOC at the JAR but I just skip the Adrian type games, not boycott the entire season), but I witnessed a lot of fantastic finishes this season at the JAR some good, some bad. I'm counting 10 of our 14 home games decided by 10 points or less with several of those being decided by the last possession. People that skipped the Ball State game because they felt it was a no name program even though they show up in October and watch the same school play Akron in football, missed one hell of a finish.

[Valpo Zip]

I totally understand that. But the established culture with the basketball team has been that the only games that matter are the 3 in Cleveland. average fans did not know that Ball state is now a good program and they knew that the outcome of the game didn't matter.

With all due respect, the comparison to the football games is an apples to oranges comparison. In FBS football, you have a total of 108 teams. You play 11 of them. Every single game becomes important. Even if you play in the worst conference and you schedule the worst competition (which we don't), you can still claim that you are playing top 108 teams. How many Top 108 teams did Dambrot schedule per year? 

[kreed5120]

8 minutes ago, Valpo Zip said:

I totally understand that. But the established culture with the basketball team has been that the only games that matter are the 3 in Cleveland. average fans did not know that Ball state is now a good program and they knew that the outcome of the game didn't matter.

With all due respect, the comparison to the football games is an apples to oranges comparison. In FBS football, you have a total of 108 teams. You play 11 of them. Every single game becomes important. Even if you play in the worst conference and you schedule the worst competition (which we don't), you can still claim that you are playing top 108 teams. How many Top 108 teams did Dambrot schedule per year? 

 

FBS is 128 teams and seasons are 12 games. Or playing teams teams like Buffalo and Bowling Green means we played the worst teams FBS had to offer and we play in the same conference as said teams. Excuse me as I barf since we lost to both .

 

I do agree football games carry more significance since there are fewer games played. That isn't the reason however that football attracts more fans. The reason a bad or mediocre Akron football team is able to significantly draw more fans than a very good Akron basketball program is solely because football is the much more popular sport and more fans want to go to see it. Removing Radford and replacing them with UNC-Wilm isn't going to suddenly bring thousands of new fans to games. The average fan wouldn't know the difference between the two. The people that would are the hardcore fans that already attend games. 

[Valpo Zip]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

 

FBS is 128 teams and seasons are 12 games.

 

You're right, it is 128 teams. My bad I had a brain fart

I said we play 11 of them because we typically play an FCS team every season. 

 

[kreed5120]

8 minutes ago, Valpo Zip said:

 

I said we play 11 of them because we typically play an FCS team every season. 

 

Fair point

[MDZip]

15 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Once again I used an unbiased arena ranking as I've been in 2 out of the 351 basketball arenas. If you want to take the time to go through and assemble pictures and rank all 351 arenas, please go ahead and do that. I'll work from there.

Someone already did it. For those of you who don't want to look at the Zips were 251 of 351. Seemed about right to me.  

[kreed5120]

3 minutes ago, MDZip said:

Someone already did it. For those of you who don't want to look at the Zips were 251 of 351. Seemed about right to me.  

That's what I used when I pointed out Siena. I agree 251/351 on the surface sounds like it would be about right. 

[Sergeant Zip]

Former Barberton High School Coach, Ken Rector, and Zac Jackson talk Keith Dambrot, Nike, and a new arena starting about the 12 minute mark.

Edited March 30, 2017 by Sergeant Zip

[Spin]

20 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

Exactly.  Given our opponents and the JAR, 99% of the people at Akron basketball games are total die hards who truly bleed blue & gold.  The other 1% probably saw relatively slow basketball, against a team they'd never heard of, while torturing their backsides on wooden bleachers and won't be in a hurry to return.

 

this...

[Balsy]

If I ever win the over $500-powerball, I will personally finance the building of a new stadium for the Akron Zips basketball team.  

[1981 grad]

I wish Kd nothing but success in the future.  However, afte thinking about Dambrot's decision to leave the program, I can't help but feel a little bitter about his leaving for the following reasons:

 

He always indicated that Akron was his dream job and would never leave the program.

Talked about using that statement as a selling point to recruits.

All season talked about how Kwan and Big Dog graduated from Akron, could have gone anywhere but were loyal to the program.

Always talked about building Akron as a successful mid major and becoming the Gonzaga of the East.

The University treated him well making him the highest paid coach in the MAC, and honoring him when he became the winningest coach in Akron history.

After  learning that Antino and Josh were leaving the program as upper classman (don't know if this is true but has been discussed on this board) and losing in the MAC finals the last 2 years, I just get the impression the KD seemed to give up on the goals that he had set for our program.

 

Even with all of the above, I still think he has been an asset the University the past 12 years and hopes that he finds the satisfaction that seemed to elude him here the past few years. 

 

[Zipgrad01]

1 hour ago, 1981 grad said:

I wish Kd nothing but success in the future.  However, afte thinking about Dambrot's decision to leave the program, I can't help but feel a little bitter about his leaving for the following reasons:

 

He always indicated that Akron was his dream job and would never leave the program.

Talked about using that statement as a selling point to recruits.

All season talked about how Kwan and Big Dog graduated from Akron, could have gone anywhere but were loyal to the program.

Always talked about building Akron as a successful mid major and becoming the Gonzaga of the East.

The University treated him well making him the highest paid coach in the MAC, and honoring him when he became the winningest coach in Akron history.

After  learning that Antino and Josh were leaving the program as upper classman (don't know if this is true but has been discussed on this board) and losing in the MAC finals the last 2 years, I just get the impression the KD seemed to give up on the goals that he had set for our program.

 

Even with all of the above, I still think he has been an asset the University the past 12 years and hopes that he finds the satisfaction that seemed to elude him here the past few years. 

 

Screw dambrot. Why are so many people on here wishing him luck, etc??? He just gutted the program and is poaching all the recruits we had lined up. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I did that, but that is because I actually love this university.

 

Dambrot talked a lot of game, but as soon as the going got tough he took the paycheck and bailed. 

[NWAkron]

What I'm realizing and maybe everyone else is as well is that these coaches live in a different world where loyalty comes with a price tag.  What we are seeing is the cost of doing business in D1.  To the players loyalty also comes with its own type of price tag...That may be more playing time and exposure.  There is no allegiance to the fans or the school for some of these players.  they also knoe we as fans will transfer our loyalty to new players every four years and now to a new coach.

Edited March 31, 2017 by NWAkron

[skip-zip]

On 3/30/2017 at 2:30 PM, Balsy said:

If I ever win the over $500-powerball, I will personally finance the building of a new stadium for the Akron Zips basketball team.  

 

I think that's a very, very noble gesture on your part.  Can you "pledge" that donation to the U of A with that condition?

 

BALSY ARENA................that might take awhile to get used to.  

[kreed5120]

Who here wouldn't leave their job today if they could take the same job somewhere else doubling your pay? I don't have a problem with Dambrot leaving. I have a problem with how he left. Trying to poach our players is shady. He didn't even have the decency to have a team meeting to notify his players beforehand. Instead he left them in the dark and had his assistants do his dirty work afterwards.

 

As for the players, outside of maybe Josh Williams, none of these guys grew up caring about Zips athletics. These players came to Akron because it was their best and in many cases their only option at the time. As soon as they believe Akron is no longer their best option they move onto someplace else they feel is.

[clarkwgriswold]

Okay, I have a newsbreaking shocker for everyone-  THE WORLD, WHETHER IT INVOLVES A COACHING JOB OR JANITORIAL JOB, IS BASED ON MONEY.  Rare is the person who passes up more money to do the same job in another place.  If somebody walked in and offered me essentially 50% more to do the same job in a better facility on a higher level, I'd take it.

 

I get that KD's comments over the years now look disingenuous.  If he wants to blame it on the MAC and a lack of tournament seedings then he's run from a challenge he's always otherwise embraced, which is a bad look and deserves some criticism, but at the end of the day, he took a better paying job just as we all have at some point. 

Edited March 31, 2017 by clarkwgriswold

[clarkwgriswold]

6 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

Who here wouldn't leave their job today if they could take the same job somewhere else doubling your pay? I don't have a problem with Dambrot leaving. I have a problem with how he left. Trying to poach our players is shady. He didn't even have the decency to have a team meeting to notify his players beforehand. Instead he left them in the dark and had his assistants do his dirty work afterwards.

 

As for the players, outside of maybe Josh Williams, none of these guys grew up caring about Zips athletics. These players came to Akron because it was their best and in many cases their only option at the time. As soon as they believe Akron is no longer their best option they move onto someplace else they feel is.

Amen.  Your post hit as I was writing mine!