Terry Bowden Interview on 92.3

[Dr Z]

After listening to the interview again, one of coach Bowden's best comments.

"When we start winning games that Akron hasn't won before, that's when the fans will come"

I didn't catch this the first time. Coach can lay a lot on you quickly.

Talking about JPT being able to speak to a recruit on campus "...can he do it, yes, has he done it, yes, will he continue, yes he will..."

Coach was in studio for the interview:

[scottditzen]

Add 10,000 students?

That would make Akron a MAJOR University, and I don't mean in athletics.

I assume that also means building more dorms, because we won't draw another 10,000 local students. AND don't want to!!!

All the big name schools have:

*Most of their students living on campus (or upperclassmen in off campus housing).

*A resident audience (see above) for their teams.

The biggest problem with Akron, all the way back to 1967, has always been APATHY. All the "townie" students just go home after classes. And can't bother returning to campus for a football or basketball game.

They need to change the culture. A resident student population sees Football and Basketball as a social event. Akron has just never had that.

And out of town Alumni gives you a national fan base.

Ever jump onto I80 Eastbound after a Penn State Football game? A giant traffic jam all the way back to New York. THAT is what makes an athletic program work.

I would love this.

[jupitertoo]

A sizable portion of those 10k will be online students. Think University of Phoenix.

That's true of several state schools. OU is making a big push into online and projects 38,000 total students in next several years. Higher education has become an unbelievable big-business scam. It's all about collecting tuition and fees, not educating students.

[Wally B]

The first thing I caught from the interview goes back to our discussion on the new arena.

It has to be O N C A M P U S. "When you bring the alumni back for games, you want them to see the buildings you want them to pay for." They will want the same thing with the basketball arena.

Right smack on campus. Not across Exchange. Not across Market. Not across from Polsky. On campus.

Not to highjack this thread into basketball, but I seem to remember a report suggesting the demolition of Shrank South (as opposed to the Iconic Shrank North). Wouldn't this creat a nice, convienent and preminently accessible arena sized vacancy, smack dab in the center of campus?????

I'd still favor a downtown area on main across from Canal Park, but lets save all of this for a sperate thread....

[Dave in Green]

JPT clearly remains a polarizing figure for some. I have no emotional investment in the man, pro or con. For me, he's simply an asset -- neither a deity nor a devil. If some continue to worship the ground he walks on, then I'm glad that he's walking on UA campus ground and not a rival Ohio university. Ideally the JPT worship will result in some benefit to UA, perhaps less than his worshippers might imagine and more than his detractors would admit.

I'm confident that Coach Bowden is a big enough thinker to see JPT more as an asset than a rival, and that the two men understand that working together can accomplish more good things for UA than they could alone or working against each other.

[Wally B]

JPT clearly remains a polarizing figure for some. I have no emotional investment in the man, pro or con. For me, he's simply an asset -- neither a deity nor a devil. If some continue to worship the ground he walks on, then I'm glad that he's walking on UA campus ground and not a rival Ohio university. Ideally the JPT worship will result in some benefit to UA, perhaps less than his worshippers might imagine and more than his detractors would admit.

I'm confident that Coach Bowden is a big enough thinker to see JPT more as an asset than a rival, and that the two men understand that working together can accomplish more good things for UA than they could alone or working against each other.

+1

[Spin]

A sizable portion of those 10k will be online students. Think University of Phoenix.

Don't forget distance learning...

And did I just see a billboard on the interstate the other day for University of Akron Lakewood???

[LZIp]

Don't forget distance learning...

And did I just see a billboard on the interstate the other day for University of Akron Lakewood???

probably. it opened last year I believe.

[Spin]

probably. it opened last year I believe.

You'd think it would have been big news. It's not like I'm a full time student or anything (for two more days )

https://lakewood.uakron.edu/

[Jalapeño Zippy]

That's true of several state schools. OU is making a big push into online and projects 38,000 total students in next several years. Higher education has become an unbelievable big-business scam. It's all about collecting tuition and fees, not educating students.

This coming from someone who supposedly works in higher education...look in the mirror. You're the problem. The job of the administration is to get students to UA, get them to pay for the education. It is the professors job to educate so that the students have a positive experience and feel like they get what they paid for.