The Cleveland Browns could ruin our soccer pitch

[GP1]

I agree. The field is well kept. It is a beautiful field. Nothing brown should land on the field.

[Dave in Green]

You're overstating it just a little DiG. I said that I also have some connections and know that they [university officials] have considered offering the competition soccer field for the Browns, not that they conceivably could.

Here's my best guess. UA did an analysis of every possible option that could be used to accomodate hosting Browns training camp. Due diligence would require listing all options, even those likely to be rejected. One option would be to include the soccer pitch on the long list. The potential damaging effects that have been so well covered here would also have been considered by those in the know at UA. So while your sources are no doubt correct in saying it was considered, I think it's likely that was only in the long list, and it was rejected before it reached the level that ZZZips would have heard it being seriously discussed as a viable option. I think it's prudent for Zips soccer fans to remain cautiously on guard that such an option might still be under consideration. I don't think there's any need for anyone to get paranoid about it.

[Zip_ME87]

I think it's prudent for Zips soccer fans to remain cautiously on guard that such an option might still be under consideration. I don't think there's any need for anyone to get paranoid about it.

It's the Rob Ianello effect. Once you've experienced a boneheaded blunder like that, you start believing all kinds of boneheaded blunders will happen.

Edit: My understanding is that the only truly effective cure is removal and replacement of the root cause.

[Spin]

Akron football and soccer fans don't need the Browns on campus. What we need is for both programs to win, win, win, and win some more. If Akron football has a good season, the program itself will bring people to campus. Let's hope for a bowl season. Let's hope Penn State is the only loss, and let's hope we aren't required to bring pitchforks to Cub Cadet asking for Embick to be fired at the end of the season.

It is nice to think about people coming to campus, but we should all prefer to have people come for our programs and not for some crap organization from up north.

There's no comparison to the groups of people who would come to a pro team camp to who the Zips (might) have come to games if the teams were relevant.

You want a broader base of people to see the campus. Well, anyone concerned with things like enrollment and future growth. It would help break the community college stigma that parents have that Akron is like CSU or Tri-C. or parents/students who think tOSU is the only choice in Ohio.

A winning Zips fotball program would do that, but not necessarily the same people, and not to the same scale.

[bobbyake]

There's no comparison to the groups of people who would come to a pro team camp to who the Zips (might) have come to games if the teams were relevant.

You want a broader base of people to see the campus. Well, anyone concerned with things like enrollment and future growth. It would help break the community college stigma that parents have that Akron is like CSU or Tri-C. or parents/students who think tOSU is the only choice in Ohio.

A winning Zips fotball program would do that, but not necessarily the same people, and not to the same scale.

Didn't the Brown's fan day at the Info accomplish that? And the LeBron welcome home party brought those same people to campus again. If those parents haven't seen the changes at Akron's campus yet, nothing is going to bring them out of their bubble to do so. Especially not Browns training camp.

[Balsy]

Didn't the Brown's fan day at the Info accomplish that? And the LeBron welcome home party brought those same people to campus again. If those parents haven't seen the changes at Akron's campus yet, nothing is going to bring them out of their bubble to do so. Especially not Browns training camp.

Yes. And it was only this year. Having a regular Browns presence on Campus every year would continue that.

And yes, it will bring them out of their bubble. Because they may have no reason to come to the Campus of UA regularly. With their beloved Browns holding camp, they will go. And realize how wonderful the campus is. Browns camp CAN bring them out of their bubble, that's the point.

[Blue & Gold]

http://www.ohio.com/sports/browns/marla-ridenour-university-of-akron-bid-for-browns-training-camp-could-have-implications-for-zips-soccer-program-1.522312

UA bid for Browns' training camp could have implications for UA Soccer program.

[Zip_ME87]

http://www.ohio.com/sports/browns/marla-ridenour-university-of-akron-bid-for-browns-training-camp-could-have-implications-for-zips-soccer-program-1.522312

UA bid for Browns' training camp could have implications for UA Soccer program.

Wistrcill said UA put together its proposal in two weeks. Here we go again ... lots of thought went into that. I'm sure Tom gave it the same due diligence that he gave to Rob Ianello's hiring. Damn well better have a real plan for this to be no more than a 1 time use of FES-CCF. I'm sure that has as much thought behind it as any decision he's ever made.

@JohnnyZip ... Do you stiil have that avatar of yours with the clown hair & clown nose? If so, can I borrow it?

[Spin]

Didn't the Brown's fan day at the Info accomplish that? And the LeBron welcome home party brought those same people to campus again. If those parents haven't seen the changes at Akron's campus yet, nothing is going to bring them out of their bubble to do so. Especially not Browns training camp.

How many more attend training camp?

[Spin]

Wistrcill said UA put together its proposal in two weeks. Here we go again ... lots of thought went into that. I'm sure Tom gave it the same due diligence that he gave to Rob Ianello's hiring. Damn well better have a real plan for this to be no more than a 1 time use of FES-CCF. I'm sure that has as much thought behind it as any decision he's ever made.

@JohnnyZip ... Do you stiil have that avatar of yours with the clown hair & clown nose? If so, can I borrow it?

I hope so, that would be a great fit!!!

[Dave in Green]

Nice work by Marla to get all the details. The full story turns out to be somewhere between what ZZZips and Zip_ME87 heard from their sources. The Browns would only use the soccer pitch for the first year, and in return the soccer program could get a grass practice field which they might not otherwise get. It's still flexible enough that everyone could end up benefiting if the profits are fairly allocated.

It would be a lot more productive for UA if soccer fans focused their energy on supporting Coach Embick in trying to ensure that the soccer program gets its share of the benefits rather than fighting a program that could be good in the longterm for both the soccer program and UA.

[LZIp]

well written piece by Marla. Very informative.

[Zip_ME87]

Nice work by Marla to get all the details. The full story turns out to be somewhere between what ZZZips and Zip_ME87 heard from their sources. The Browns would only use the soccer pitch for the first year, and in return the soccer program could get a grass practice field which they might not otherwise get. It's still flexible enough that everyone could end up benefiting if the profits are fairly allocated.

It would be a lot more productive for UA if soccer fans focused their energy on supporting Coach Embick in trying to ensure that the soccer program gets its share of the benefits rather than fighting a program that could be good in the longterm for both the soccer program and UA.

I hear you Dave, but my experience is that hope is not a good strategy. Agreements like this potential one with the Browns should only be entered into after diligent and thoughtful planning. I won't make any more assumptions but request the evidence from the university that shows a real, viable plan to benefit from this and to not damage any program at the university at the expense of some university officials' whim. It could very easily be that UA enter into this with good intentions, but once signed, have no way to implement ideas beyond the first year due to funding realities and additional financial losses.

Marla's article is informative but falls short on details that she could obtain under public records laws if she were to ask.

[fknbuflobo]

Agreed. Let us see the cost benefit analysis. Better yet, task the masters level business planning program. Graduate students can perform the analysis. It appears fairly straight forward.

Key thing: This analysis must be made public, along with the entire recovery plan PRIOR to signing of anything.

[Zip_ME87]

By the way, I seem to remember a discussion on ZipsNation.org some time ago centered around controversy with Infocision. There were some articles about Infocision keeping a significant percentage of donations they raised through telemarketing for charitable organizations and maybe otherr things. I don't recall all of the details, but it seemed that numerous posters on this board were concerned about how that made UA look with Infocision's name on our stadium.

Is the controversy with Jimmy Haslam and Pilot/Flying J completely settled? I know it's died down, but is there anything more there? I sure would hate for the university to get bad publicity from a questionable relationship. I hope unversity officals considered this.

[LZIp]

Is the controversy with Jimmy Haslam and Pilot/Flying J completely settled?

Yes.

[Zip_ME87]

Is the controversy with Jimmy Haslam and Pilot/Flying J completely settled? I know it's died down, but is there anything more there? I sure would hate for the university to get bad publicity from a questionable relationship. I hope unversity officals considered this.

Yes.

Thanks LZip. I should have looked before I posted that.

http://rebateeducation.pilotflyingj.com/pilot-flying-j-reaches-agreement-with-federal-government/

[Dave in Green]

This is one of the first high-profile issues that Dr. Scarborough has been directly involved in at UA. When I previously did a background search on him I found some negatives, which left me with questions about him leading UA from some perspectives. But the one thing he has gotten pretty consistent high marks on throughout his career is his business acumen, so I feel more optimistic about his abilities to cut a good business deal for UA.

[Balsy]

I went to the Browns game yesterday. The win was awesome, but I did make one observation that pertains to this conversation: The Browns real grass field looked absolutely amazing. It did last year as well, but this year it looked absolutely gorgeous.

If A field of grass that is used specifically for football can look that well, be that well maintained considering that it is football, than there is absolutely no reason why ours can't be that well maintained even with football on it.

One year practicing on the pitch, for the possibility of having the browns on campus for awhile over the summer, is an absolute no-brainer.

[Zip_ME87]

One year practicing on the pitch, for the possibility of having the browns on campus for awhile over the summer, is an absolute no-brainer.

It took me awhile, but I've come to the realization that it's not worth discussing here any further for the following reasons. I've made assumptions without data, others have made assumptions without data. No proposal is a "no-brainer". There are pros and cons to everything and sound business decisions are made with due diligence and sound business information. The new UA President has said that himself ("We told Moody’s and Fitch that we would be a disciplined organization, with disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought and actions.") Preparing a proposal in 2 weeks doesn't seem like "disciplined thought and actions" to me, but that's my opinion based on my experience which I can debate vs other ZipsNation.org poster's opinion. That debate, however, would just be my opinion(s) vs others' opinion(s) with no data. I have submitted my public information request to the university and will refrain from making further comments based upon my interests and opinion. Instead I will see how thoughtful and business smart our new President is or whether he is just a politician employing smoke and mirrors for an idea that pleases him.

[Dr Z]

One year practicing on the pitch, for the possibility of having the browns on campus for awhile over the summer, is an absolute no-brainer.

The articles just write themselves...'Brian Hoyer Joins Little Brother on Campus.'

[fknbuflobo]

It took me awhile, but I've come to the realization that it's not worth discussing here any further for the following reasons. I've made assumptions without data, others have made assumptions without data. No proposal is a "no-brainer". There are pros and cons to everything and sound business decisions are made with due diligence and sound business information. The new UA President has said that himself ("We told Moody’s and Fitch that we would be a disciplined organization, with disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought and actions.") Preparing a proposal in 2 weeks doesn't seem like "disciplined thought and actions" to me, but that's my opinion based on my experience which I can debate vs other ZipsNation.org poster's opinion. That debate, however, would just be my opinion(s) vs others' opinion(s) with no data. I have submitted my public information request to the university and will refrain from making further comments based upon my interests and opinion. Instead I will see how thoughtful and business smart our new President is or whether he is just a politician employing smoke and mirrors for an idea that pleases him.

Yes. Let us wait for the hard data to discuss this further. But do not forget to follow up. I trust you will share the response to your well-written letter.

[Zip_ME87]

CORRECTION: There is one interest of mine, and hopefully many of yours, that is worth discussing here. I started this thread about a soccer pitch that means a lot to me and others, but the real issue here is the bottom line. The same source that told me about this in the first place (which turned out to be true) also told me that the numbers show that hosting the Browns Training Camp will bleed more funds from an already constrained budget. I have a relative who is currently enrolled at and attending UA. I don't want to see his or anyone's tuition costs further increased because of someone's whim. There was a soccer alumni, Varsity A, and supporter's dinner Saturday night after the article came out that morning. Why didn't the UA President and AD, who were in attendance, share their vision with that group? They knew that group out of all of UA's donors, alumni, and supporters was the most likely to be upset. If the data supports it, be transparent; explain it. I think we're all entitled to see the data that shows the benefits to UA. If you want to debate that, have at it. I'd love to hear your logic.

[Zip_ME87]

Yes. Let us wait for the hard data to discuss this further. But do not forget to follow up. I trust you will share the response to your well-written letter.

That's the plan. Whatever the data shows. If it shows real benefits with real supportable analysis, and a true plan for the Browns to only use Cub Cadet Field for 1-year, then I'll get behind it even if it makes me heart-sick to see football markings on our soccer field for 20 days in Year 1. I support UA, not just the soccer program.

FIXED

[fknbuflobo]

That's the plan. Whatever the data shows. If it shows real benefits with real supportable analysis, and a true plan for the Browns to only use Cub Cadet Field for 1-year, then I'll get behind it even if it makes me heart-sick to see football markings on our soccer field for 1 year. I support UA, not just the soccer program.

Now wait a minute! Nobody said anything about visible football lines on the field! That is why I want to see the details of this arrangement.

The presumption is that FE/CC would be completely re-sodded, removing all evidence of the Browns practicing there.

The beauty of FE/CC is a recruiting tool for the soccer programs, and is therefore critical to these programs' success. The Athletic Department should not lose sight of that fact.