Wagon Wheel Week (Game Eight)

[ZippyDoo]

I agree with exit on that one.  I try to support the PLAYERS as much as possible, but have zero faith in the coaching staff.  Ohio is coming in here undefeated in the MAC and Western follows up with one loss still playing to go to the championship.  I hardly believe they are going to overlook the Zips and I certainly don't think for a second that they will be outcoached by Akron staff at this point.  And by the end of the season for that home finale, Buffalo may have a whole lot to play for. They are currently tied for second with MIAMI and Central as their only true tests left.

 

There might be more visiting fans at the last three games than home team fans...

 

I wonder if any fans will break out the brown paper bags a la the New Orleans Saints if any of you or old enough to remember...

 

 

[ZippyDoo]

GP1, I don't disagree with you necessarily.  You do have some valid arguements and I am mostly saying the same thing.  Without a good product it doesn't matter what day of the week you are playing on.  If this team was even 6-2 or 5-3 you may still pull a decent crowd if they were still competing for the MAC or they could at least hype the "bowl contention" angle.  

 

For me the problem is this coaching staff can't compete with anyone.  The players can, the coaches can't.  I know the players call the play and it's up to the players to make the plays, so I know some of blame goes on them.  But the amount of fault to fall on Moorehead has been talked about at nauseum on here.  He has to go sooner rather than later.

 

The stadium is beautiful.  It is a shame, almost criminal in my opinion that the product on the field does not match the stadium and the drawing power just isn't there.  Goodrich was a genius for the offensive coordinator for opening day, homecoming day was a nice size crowd and beautiful record but there the product just is what is they are probably going to end the year 1-11.  Joe is going to end the same way he came in.

[Zippy87]

2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Even if you wish to make that argument that's largely overlooking the fact that home viewing is better than ever. There was a time if you wanted to watch Akron play you had to go to the game. Watching on TV wasn't even an option. Let alone watching in high definition on a 70" TV.

 

Not to mention ESPN has spent those 25 years brainwashing a generation into believing if you're not first, you're last. There isn't the same type of community there used to be in sports. When I was growing up in the 1990s going to a high school football game used to be the thing to do on a Friday night regardless of if you knew someone playing in the game or not. I don't know anyone who attends games now outside of my niece and nephew who are both in high school.

 

The number and quality of options for entertainment today far exceed what we had growing up, both in-person and at home. 

[kreed5120]

47 minutes ago, GP1 said:

 

I know why I don't go to high school games and haven't for years. It has nothing to do with ESPN. The quality of football isn't good enough for me to spend my time on. The last time I went to a high school game I was so bored I left at halftime. The MAC is the lowest quality of football I will watch in person. I can stay home and watch better quality football on TV. I wish the NFL played on Friday and Saturday nights. It would be great to watch a Saturday afternoon Zips game starting in the afternoon, go get a nice dinner, and have an NFL game waiting for me when I got home. 

 

How you feel about high school football is how most feel about MAC football. The quality, especially with Akron being a mid-tier FCS caliber program competing in FBS, isn't a level of play most care to watch.

 

I left a countless number of games as an undergrad when I sobered up at half-time and we were down 3+ scores during the Ianello years. I eventually just quit attending games all together. Didn't matter if they were a Tuesday or Saturday. Wasn't worth my time.

[ZippyDoo]

to me the questions about dropping to FCS and his goes way above my head would be

 

1.) would Akron get the talent necessary to compete at the level once the players know they are at an FCS level school or would Akron still not be able to compete in offering what other FCS schools offer?  

 

2.) would competing/winning at the FCS level maybe even playing for whatever type championships that were available be enough to bring in a crowd that would support the team to generate money?

 

I don't have the ability to sit and try to figure out the cost pros and cons to going FCS and whether or not the program would come out ahead by dropping down in the long run.  If the product on the field is still going to suck and no one is going to come support them anyways what would the savings be?  If the product is good enough to compete and win and people are going to start coming out and watching competitive games then maybe it is worth it.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if there are FCS teams right now that could out coach this staff.  I'm sure the talent level of the Zips team is competitive enough to carry them past most, but the way this staff is they may just try and lose a few more games on purpose and not give the players a chance.

[dre22era]

2 hours ago, GP1 said:

Then make it about more than the game. Involve the entire University. Involve the students and faculty in a more meaningful way. Involve the alumni in a more meaningful way. Involve the general community around Akron in a more meaningful way. The lie we were all told, and anyone who goes back long enough on this board knows I thought was stupid from the beginning, was the "exposure" lie. TV exposure isn't going to help a school like Akron. In person exposure would be awesome because people would get to see first hand what a great campus, student body and faculty the school has. ESPN isn't going to do that for us.  We need to do it ourselves. 

 

I know why I don't go to high school games and haven't for years. It has nothing to do with ESPN. The quality of football isn't good enough for me to spend my time on. The last time I went to a high school game I was so bored I left at halftime. The MAC is the lowest quality of football I will watch in person. I can stay home and watch better quality football on TV. I wish the NFL played on Friday and Saturday nights. It would be great to watch a Saturday afternoon Zips game starting in the afternoon, go get a nice dinner, and have an NFL game waiting for me when I got home. 

I dunno what cave you been in but Ohio HS Football is top 4 in the country which was why Canton McKinley versus Massillon sold out Paul Brown Tiger Stadium the same time Akron/Kent were playing. 
Columbus local TV broadcast 2 HS games a Week Fridays on Friday Night Rivals on WWHO (The CW Columbus) and OHSAA Game of the Week on Spectrum News 1 and one could argue at times the broadcast is better than any MAC Game on ESPN+ providing replays from multiple camera angles like a college game. 

I live in the Maryland DC area and know more whats going in in Ohio HS sports than Maryland and can watch the games from here! 
7 Divisions in Football and 5 Divisions in Basketball and every HS State Championship game in both sports are on TV i can watch from Maryland. And best believe every single one of those games are sold out. 
Just around the corner from UA Archbishop Hoban High School sells out their stadium for every high profile match up. 

They last played at InfoCision Stadium in 2024 for the OHSAA Division II State Semifinal against Avon and they drew over 10,000.
5 state championships 

• 2015
• 2016
• 2017
• 2018
• 2020

All Under the leadership of HC Tim Tyrrell who should be the next HC at Akron. 

I Been saying it for years. But nah we rather hire and overpay overrated OC. 

That man recruits better than Akron. 

Edited Monday at 04:57 PM by dre22era

[kreed5120]

51 minutes ago, ZippyDoo said:

to me the questions about dropping to FCS and his goes way above my head would be

 

1.) would Akron get the talent necessary to compete at the level once the players know they are at an FCS level school or would Akron still not be able to compete in offering what other FCS schools offer?  

 

2.) would competing/winning at the FCS level maybe even playing for whatever type championships that were available be enough to bring in a crowd that would support the team to generate money?

 

I don't have the ability to sit and try to figure out the cost pros and cons to going FCS and whether or not the program would come out ahead by dropping down in the long run.  If the product on the field is still going to suck and no one is going to come support them anyways what would the savings be?  If the product is good enough to compete and win and people are going to start coming out and watching competitive games then maybe it is worth it.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if there are FCS teams right now that could out coach this staff.  I'm sure the talent level of the Zips team is competitive enough to carry them past most, but the way this staff is they may just try and lose a few more games on purpose and not give the players a chance.

 

Akron already operates on an FCS budget, albeit upper tier one. Dropping down would force us to have to cut expenses as we'd lose millions of dollars in revenue. I don't think being a 6-7 win team in FCS is going to be any better for us than being a 2-5 win MAC team.

 

It certainly would be better for us financially. 

[exit322]

2 hours ago, ZippyDoo said:

I wonder if any fans will break out the brown paper bags a la the New Orleans Saints if any of you or old enough to remember...

 

Maybe a snuggie face covering.  The empty stadium games are cold.

[exit322]

1 hour ago, dre22era said:

7 Divisions in Football and 5 Divisions in Basketball and every HS State Championship game in both sports are on TV i can watch from Maryland. And best believe every single one of those games are sold out. 

 

I assume you're talking about Maryland's HS football title games being sold out.  The 7 OHSAA title games drew on average 4,679 last year.

[GP1]

2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

How you feel about high school football is how most feel about MAC football. The quality, especially with Akron being a mid-tier FCS caliber program competing in FBS, isn't a level of play most care to watch.

 

I left a countless number of games as an undergrad when I sobered up at half-time and we were down 3+ scores during the Ianello years. I eventually just quit attending games all together. Didn't matter if they were a Tuesday or Saturday. Wasn't worth my time.

Half the crowd at Wake Forest games leaves at halftime. Maybe it's not about the football but about the endless TV timeouts, unnecessarily long halftimes and replays turning what used to be a 3 hour game into a four hour game. 

 

We look at things as Zips fans. The rest of the world is seeing their game day experience the same way and responding the same way Zips fans do. 

[kreed5120]

3 hours ago, ZippyDoo said:

 

I wonder if any fans will break out the brown paper bags a la the New Orleans Saints if any of you or old enough to remember...

 

Apathy is too strong. Showing up with a paper bag shows you still care. They just won't show up. Just look at the football forum as a prime example, the same half dozen or so people represent like 90% of the posts when looking at the last few weeks. There were very few posts in this thread until game day and this is our rival. Many have quiet quit on the program.

Edited Monday at 06:04 PM by kreed5120

[GP1]

1 hour ago, dre22era said:

I dunno what cave you been in but Ohio HS Football is top 4 in the country which was why Canton McKinley versus Massillon sold out Paul Brown Tiger Stadium the same time Akron/Kent were playing. 
Columbus local TV broadcast 2 HS games a Week Fridays on Friday Night Rivals on WWHO (The CW Columbus) and OHSAA Game of the Week on Spectrum News 1 and one could argue at times the broadcast is better than any MAC Game on ESPN+ providing replays from multiple camera angles like a college game. 

I live in the Maryland DC area and know more whats going in in Ohio HS sports than Maryland and can watch the games from here! 
7 Divisions in Football and 5 Divisions in Basketball and every HS State Championship game in both sports are on TV i can watch from Maryland. And best believe every single one of those games are sold out. 
Just around the corner from UA Archbishop Hoban High School sells out their stadium for every high profile match up. 

They last played at InfoCision Stadium in 2024 for the OHSAA Division II State Semifinal against Avon and they drew over 10,000.
5 state championships 

• 2015
• 2016
• 2017
• 2018
• 2020

All Under the leadership of HC Tim Tyrrell who should be the next HC at Akron. 

I Been saying it for years. But nah we rather hire and overpay overrated OC. 

That man recruits better than Akron. 

If rather have Jim Grobe. 

[dre22era]

31 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

I assume you're talking about Maryland's HS football title games being sold out.  The 7 OHSAA title games drew on average 4,679 last year.

Well does that look fun to sit out in? 
Tickets sold vs attendance. 
Many folks who bought tickets didn't show up 

[dre22era]

30 minutes ago, GP1 said:

If rather have Jim Grobe. 

Yeh lets rely on a 74 year old on a total rebuild of our dead program. 

Thats a Great "long term" goal. 
Also his Career Record is 117–121–1

Edited Monday at 06:35 PM by dre22era

[exit322]

9 minutes ago, dre22era said:

Well does that look fun to sit out in? 
Tickets sold vs attendance. 
Many folks who bought tickets didn't show up 

 

The OHSAA attendance numbers are generally pretty accurate.  Can figure most people at the game were on the home side, as they have a lot of those seats under cover.

[dre22era]

19 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

The OHSAA attendance numbers are generally pretty accurate.  Can figure most people at the game were on the home side, as they have a lot of those seats under cover.

FYI InfoCision Stadium is in the discussion of proposed future sites for the Championship Games. 

[exit322]

5 minutes ago, dre22era said:

FYI InfoCision Stadium is in the discussion of proposed future sites for the Championship Games. 

 

I think it'd be smart for Akron to try and get them.  It's not going to bring life-changing revenue to change anything, but it will be a net financial positive.  And it'll get people to visit that otherwise wouldn't.  If that even brings a dozen students down the line...

[kreed5120]

2 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

I think it'd be smart for Akron to try and get them.  It's not going to bring life-changing revenue to change anything, but it will be a net financial positive.  And it'll get people to visit that otherwise wouldn't.  If that even brings a dozen students down the line...

 

I feel if it leaves Canton it would probably go somewhere closer to Columbus to placate the Cincy crowd.

 

It would be great for Akron if Akron could win it, but I'm not sure what we'd have to offer that would make our bid better than the Hall of Fame. Especially since they have an on-site hotel and Waterpark about to open. Not to mention the mystique of touring the HoF.

[exit322]

1 minute ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I feel if it leaves Canton it would probably go somewhere closer to Columbus to placate the Cincy crowd.

 

It would be great for Akron if Akron could win it, but I'm not sure what we'd have to offer that would make our bid better than the Hall of Fame. Especially since they have an on-site hotel and Waterpark about to open. Not to mention the mystique of touring the HoF.

 

The OHSAA wants wined and dined as much as possible, and of late only the HOF has been willing to do that.

 

But if Akron has a shot, they may as well.

 

IMO it's going to end up at the new Browns dome once it opens.  Haslam already hosts the soccer games in Columbus, so I can see that relationship expanding in that manner.  While the HOF stadium is not bad at all (kinda wish InfoCision woulda gone with bucket seats), it's not going to be nicer than a dome in early December.

[kreed5120]

3 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

The OHSAA wants wined and dined as much as possible, and of late only the HOF has been willing to do that.

 

But if Akron has a shot, they may as well.

 

IMO it's going to end up at the new Browns dome once it opens.  Haslam already hosts the soccer games in Columbus, so I can see that relationship expanding in that manner.  While the HOF stadium is not bad at all (kinda wish InfoCision woulda gone with bucket seats), it's not going to be nicer than a dome in early December.

 

I just don't see that happening because I don't see Jimmy spending $2.6 billion to host such small scale events. Especially when OHSAA will pocket the bulk of the ticket money. 

 

Not to mention having 3k fans for a D5 games in a 67k seat stadium is a bit absurd. Time will tell though.

[clarkwgriswold]

The consolidation of the state championship games to Benson HOF stadium has been very convenient but that place has absolutely zero charm.  The Fawcett/Paul Brown Tiger Stadium split was much more fun and a better atmosphere for the nature of high school games.  I also think Stark County benefited more from the split and people travelling between the venues.

 

I'd love to see them come to Infocison but I don't believe UA has ever even put in a bid.

 

As for Tyrell, seems like it was just yesterday he was shot down for the YSU job.  He's had a rough season this year, going 3-6 and losing the Feister brothers and some other talent.  We'll see how they do in the playoffs.  

[exit322]

22 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

The consolidation of the state championship games to Benson HOF stadium has been very convenient but that place has absolutely zero charm.  The Fawcett/Paul Brown Tiger Stadium split was much more fun and a better atmosphere for the nature of high school games.  I also think Stark County benefited more from the split and people travelling between the venues.

 

I'd love to see them come to Infocison but I don't believe UA has ever even put in a bid.

 

As for Tyrell, seems like it was just yesterday he was shot down for the YSU job.  He's had a rough season this year, going 3-6 and losing the Feister brothers and some other talent.  We'll see how they do in the playoffs.  

 

That's the thing, I do like going to the HOF stadium (if only for the chairbacks) but it's a completely charmless stadium.  Doesn't help that McKinley draws flies, either.

 

Stark County definitely benefited from the split.

 

I think you're right, UA likely hasn't put in a bid.

[GP1]

2 hours ago, dre22era said:

Yeh lets rely on a 74 year old on a total rebuild of our dead program. 

Thats a Great "long term" goal. 
Also his Career Record is 117–121–1

He's just getting started. 

Edited Monday at 08:41 PM by GP1

[Franch1se]

Had an absolute blast tailgating Saturday. Lot was packed early and weather was unbelievable. I agree with everyone's take that there was more than 12K there Saturday. But boy did I leave pissed off. I liked the Moorhead hiring but my god has it been a flop. Not asking for much just middle of the pack MAC football. I sat by the Akron baseball team and they all left embarrassed after that fake punt. 

[GP1]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

As for Tyrell, seems like it was just yesterday he was shot down for the YSU job.  He's had a rough season this year, going 3-6 and losing the Feister brothers and some other talent.  We'll see how they do in the playoffs.