Opening Week Picks, News & Notes

[MACReport]

We have posted our opening week news, notes and picks heading into the opening week of MAC football (yesss!!!) at MAC Report Online with preview and picks for every game and updated news items.Please check it out at: http://www.macreportonline.comAlso, we have a new poll running on which team you think has the best chance at an out of conference victory (we excluded Ohio's game against G-W...that's a no-brainer -- we hope!). Here are the results of our poll about who will win the West this season:Central Michigan 622 42.3% Northern Illinois 460 31.3% Western Michigan 132 9% Eastern Michigan 125 8.5% Toledo 84 5.7% Ball State 47 3.2% Number of Voters : 1470 First Vote : Thursday, August 23 2007 14:53 Last Vote : Wednesday, August 29 2007 14:19

[Dr Z]

The first ever "Patriot Bowl" will take place as Akron hosts Army at Cleveland Browns Stadium (capacity: 73,079) on Saturday. Unfortunately, reports are that ticket sales are seriously lagging for this one and the Patriot Bowl may wind up being one of the more poorly attended games this weekend in the MAC.

[Ryno aka Menace]

The first ever "Patriot Bowl" will take place as Akron hosts Army at Cleveland Browns Stadium (capacity: 73,079) on Saturday. Unfortunately, reports are that ticket sales are seriously lagging for this one and the Patriot Bowl may wind up being one of the more poorly attended games this weekend in the MAC.

Are you really surprised? I am glad I didn't get my hopes up. And to think we are one of the schools that's closest in proximity. Well the hell with it I am still going and I am still going to tailgate even if I am in the wrong lot by myself. Go Zips Blow these suckaz out the water!!!!

[GoZips88]

The first ever "Patriot Bowl" will take place as Akron hosts Army at Cleveland Browns Stadium (capacity: 73,079) on Saturday. Unfortunately, reports are that ticket sales are seriously lagging for this one and the Patriot Bowl may wind up being one of the more poorly attended games this weekend in the MAC.

Psst ... hey, organizers ... price the tickets like you really want the general public to come catch a game they could generally care less about and you might put butts in seats and sell some concessions.

[ZachTheZip]

The first ever "Patriot Bowl" will take place as Akron hosts Army at Cleveland Browns Stadium (capacity: 73,079) on Saturday. Unfortunately, reports are that ticket sales are seriously lagging for this one and the Patriot Bowl may wind up being one of the more poorly attended games this weekend in the MAC.

Everybody needs to bring at least 10 friends with them. We might make 15,000 actual bodies in the stadium if we try really really hard. The AK-Rowdies and the Army recruiters both had tables up in the student union this weekend and were promoting the game. My guess is about 150 students will show up. It should be better for the home games, though.

[johnnyzip84]

I'll go ahead and comment on the West poll. I think Ball St. will rise up and win it this year. Davis is a bigger, more polished version of his brother at QB and their defense is pretty good too. It should be a real battlem though, with the West looking to be considerably stronger than the East.

[skip-zip]

In spite of the optimists on this site, I predicted a poor turnout for the Patriot Bowl from the very start. In fact, I'm now thinking that it might even be lower than I even originally predicted.Isn't it strange that Toledo drew 36,000 for a home game against Navy a few years ago? In that almost-as-bad-as-the-Rubber-Bowl stadium of theirs?We'll end up having the lowest attended game of any MAC team this weekend, and we'll be in the largest venue.Embarrassing. I'll have fun though.

[Zipgrad01]

I don't know anyone planning on going to the game me and a few immediate family members. My uncle was going to go and take his 2 teenage grandsons, until he saw the ticket prices. He said "I am not paying that much to watch Army play." I think a lot of people feel that way and that is why this little experiment may be a 2 year and done thing. It is hard enough to get people to MAC game period and they expect people to pay major college ticket prices to watch Army.I think the bowl game is a great idea, however, it should be like I posted before and call it something like the "MAC vs BCS" bowl or something similar. They can put an Ohio MAC school against a team from the Big Ten, SEC, Big East, etc... I am sure the fan interest would be much higher if Akron was playing Michigan State or South Carolina.

[akronad]

Like skip-zip, I was a pessimist in regards to this game. It looks like maybe 15k-18k. My reasons are many, and I'll try to keep them brief.1. Read either today's BJ or PD and you'll see that we are living in the midst of a poverty area.2. People have less $'s for entertainment than they have in the past. Look at last night's Indians game. You have a team that is 1st place at the end of August and you can't even fill the place.3. Air Show4. Indians game.5. Taste of ClevelandI could probably mention 5 more events, but why?I said it when this was announced and I'll say it again, "This s--ks!!!"

[Buckzip]

Like skip-zip, I was a pessimist in regards to this game.  It looks like maybe 15k-18k.  My reasons are many, and I'll try to keep them brief.1. Read either today's BJ or PD and you'll see that we are living in the midst of a poverty area.2. People have less $'s for entertainment than they have in the past.  Look at last night's Indians game.  You have a team that is 1st place at the end of August and you can't even fill the place.3. Air Show4. Indians game.5. Taste of ClevelandI could probably mention 5 more events, but why?I said it when this was announced and I'll say it again, "This s--ks!!!"

Those are all legit excuses. And that is what they are is excuses.We all want this program to become big time. However, until we get people in the community excited and going to games it will never happen.There is so little support for this team that it depresses me. Look at this board if you want to see how little support there is. This is the only UA board. However, there are only a handful of us that post regularly. The rest just stop by once in a while. It's f'ing game week, and this place is a ghost town. Sure the Tribe didn't sell out, but they still got a pretty decent crowd.There is now ay I would expect UA to sell out Brown stadium, but there is no excuse not to have at least 25,000. It is the first game of the season. People are hungry for football. I was watching high school games on TV with teams I don't even know just to try to satisfy my football fix.The new stadium will help. However, the novelty will wear off after a few years. If the team doesn't start to win we will be right back to where we are now. When I say win, I don't mean 7-5 or even 8-4. I mean 10-2 or 9-3 on a down year.Yeah, that is expecting a lot. However, that is what winning programs do. We consider 7-5 a good year. At big time schools, coaches get fired for that.

[Ryno aka Menace]

Like skip-zip, I was a pessimist in regards to this game.  It looks like maybe 15k-18k.  My reasons are many, and I'll try to keep them brief.1. Read either today's BJ or PD and you'll see that we are living in the midst of a poverty area.2. People have less $'s for entertainment than they have in the past.  Look at last night's Indians game.  You have a team that is 1st place at the end of August and you can't even fill the place.3. Air Show4. Indians game.5. Taste of ClevelandI could probably mention 5 more events, but why?I said it when this was announced and I'll say it again, "This s--ks!!!"

Those are all legit excuses. And that is what they are is excuses.We all want this program to become big time. However, until we get people in the community excited and going to games it will never happen.There is so little support for this team that it depresses me. Look at this board if you want to see how little support there is. This is the only UA board. However, there are only a handful of us that post regularly. The rest just stop by once in a while. It's f'ing game week, and this place is a ghost town. Sure the Tribe didn't sell out, but they still got a pretty decent crowd.There is now ay I would expect UA to sell out Brown stadium, but there is no excuse not to have at least 25,000. It is the first game of the season. People are hungry for football. I was watching high school games on TV with teams I don't even know just to try to satisfy my football fix.The new stadium will help. However, the novelty will wear off after a few years. If the team doesn't start to win we will be right back to where we are now. When I say win, I don't mean 7-5 or even 8-4. I mean 10-2 or 9-3 on a down year.Yeah, that is expecting a lot. However, that is what winning programs do. We consider 7-5 a good year. At big time schools, coaches get fired for that.

Buckzip as usual you speak the truth but it will be difficult to keep any coach that goes 9-3 10-2 consistently at the MAC level. I agree we should have higher standards but i feel this programs main problem is retention of scholarship athletes. Correction retention of our top recruits.

[Buckzip]

You are right, we would lose the coach. That's ok though. Once you start winning, along with having the better facilities and new stadium we would be able to get a better group of candidates applying. Eventually we could pay the coach enough to stay. At least unless it is is one of the real high profile jobs.

[a-zip]

So what is th excuse now?Broken down stadium?Fiberglass seats with spinters?Poor Opponent?Prices too high?Lousy team?Who's fault is it? Help me out..........Yea, lets build a new stadium!

[akronad]

Hey BuckZip: I agree that what I said was excuses, but what are you going to say when we only get that 15-18k at the game.BTW: I wasn;t really trying to make excuses, but just trying to show people that there is (believe it or not) other things happening in Cleveland this weekend.I hope we get 30k to the game! I would gladly take the lambasting from everyone if that did happen.Like you, I can;t wait for the season to begin. Because of my job, I'm required to watch at least 2 HS games per weekend plus any other sports activities duirng the week. So, I get more than my share of sports, yet I'm willing to follow the Zips on Saturdays (or any other day).Let's hope for the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Buckzip]

Hey BuckZip: I agree that what I said was excuses, but what are you going to say when we only get that 15-18k at the game.BTW: I wasn;t really trying to make excuses, but just trying to show people that there is (believe it or not) other things happening in Cleveland this weekend.I hope we get 30k to the game! I would gladly take the lambasting from everyone if that did happen.Like you, I can;t wait for the season to begin. Because of my job, I'm required to watch at least 2 HS games per weekend plus any other sports activities duirng the week. So, I get more than my share of sports, yet I'm willing to follow the Zips on Saturdays (or any other day).Let's hope for the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

akronad, I wasn't trying to insult your post. I agree with what you said. Unfortunately that is the way things are.

[Zipgrad01]

Of coarse the PD and ABJ will tell you we are in the midst of a poverty area. That fits their agenda. It is a bunch of bs. Yeah, inner city Cleveland and Akron are poor, but what inner city isn't? The surrounding Cleveland and Akron areas (ala suburbs...the people that buy tickets to sporting events) are not poverty stricken. It seems like everyone is buying new houses and new cars. New shopping developments are exploding everywhere. Almost everyone I know is richer than they have ever been. I will give you the Indians game and the air show, but money is not the issue, it is the product that nobody wants to see. You think the Browns-Steelers game would sell out if the Tribe was playing? Um...yeah.People here aren't that baseball crazy. They were years ago when we won the division every year, but we have flopped lately and people won't go until closer to playoff time. The Cavs didn't have a problem selling tickets.

[skip-zip]

Ok, there's the answer I was waiting for. ZipGrad is correct. This is a product that nobody wants to see. It's Army and Akron, two teams towards the low end of the D-1A level. The "curious NE Ohio football fan" who some of you were counting on to come out to this game is NOT interested. Folks, look at MAC attendance over the years. Has anyone seen any dramatic changes? Does anyone in our league fill up their 35,000 seats on a regular basis?People want to see WINNERS. And I'm not talking about teams with a chance to win the MAC. Very few people I know, even the biggest of football fans, pay any attention to what's going on in the MAC. It's the teams with a chance to win the National Championship that garner the attention. Like many of you, I am also scared that when the novelty of our new football stadium wears off, the crowd levels will dip once again. Heck, I'm sure other MAC teams have built new football stadiums in the last few decades, but are any of them doing much more than meeting the bare minimum for attendance like us?I've been around Akron football since the early 80's when I was a student. I've seen just about everything you can imagine to draw more people to Akron football games. And I now believe that the only thing that will bring real change is if we somehow get to a level like Marshall did, and can show the area football fans that we can compete on a NATIONAL level.Until this happens, we'll continue to be a "oh, Akron had a game last night?" community.

[Buckzip]

Ok, there's the answer I was waiting for.  ZipGrad is correct.  This is a product that nobody wants to see.  It's Army and Akron, two teams towards the low end of the D-1A level.  The "curious NE Ohio football fan" who some of you were counting on to come out to this game is NOT interested.  Folks, look at MAC attendance over the years.  Has anyone seen any dramatic changes?  Does anyone in our league fill up their 35,000 seats on a regular basis?People want to see WINNERS.  And I'm not talking about teams with a chance to win the MAC. Very few people I know, even the biggest of football fans, pay any attention to what's going on in the MAC.  It's the teams with a chance to win the National Championship that garner the attention.  Like many of you, I am also scared that when the novelty of our new football stadium wears off, the crowd levels will dip once again.  Heck, I'm sure other MAC teams have built new football stadiums in the last few decades, but are any of them doing much more than meeting the bare minimum for attendance like us?I've been around Akron football since the early 80's when I was a student.  I've seen just about everything you can imagine to draw more people to Akron football games.  And I now believe that the only thing that will bring real change is if we somehow get to a level like Marshall did, and can show the area football fans that we can compete on a NATIONAL level.Until this happens, we'll continue to be a "oh, Akron had a game last night?" community.

You are absolutely correct.Most people know that sports entertainment has different values for different people. You are either a diehard, like a Browns fan, or major college fan, or you are just a generic fan that will watch whomever is playing just to see some football.We have very few diehards. Therefore, we have a lot of people that may just want to see some football. If they want to see it live, they can go to a high school game and see some great games in NE Ohio. They are usually closer and always cheaper. Plus they see neighbors and friends at the games. I believe these people connect watching UA football to watching high school football. IMHOI remember back in the 70's and 80's my parents would take us to the Acme-Zip game. The RB was usually sold out. What happened to that? It was an awesome experience.I would look forward ot that game every year. I remember there was a slight chill in the air, and I was excited to go.Gee, if it's not Acme, why can't we find another local company to align with that will somehow fill our stadium? What happened to all of those people.? We were DII and DIAA at the time too.

[Zipgrad01]

Times were different then. There wasn't a lot you could do besides go to some games, etc...Now people stay home and watch their 400 channels on tv every night. The kids would rather play video games, and both parents now work, so they are tired when they get home. You need something that will really DRAW them out of the house and MAC football just doesn't do it. The only way MAC football will get it done is if we have a winner and we are bringing BCS type schools to Akron that will spark a fans interest. Army, Middle Tennessee State, North Texas, Temple, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, Cal Poly, etc...will cause people to watch re-runs of the Soprano's.We need to get teams in here like Pittsburgh, WVU, Michigan State, etc in Akron to draw fan interest. Also, until the students care enough to go to the game, this program will go nowhere. More students go to Mount Union games that UA games and they only have about 3,000 kids in the entire university.

[g-mann17]

Wasn't this thread supposed to be about the MACReport online. The biggest problem right now is that there is no sense of community ownership. It's not about winning. It's not about the age of the stadium. It's not about the opponent. Some of you are going to try to burn on this but look at the Cubs. Perennial bottom dwellers and always outsell the White Sox. Why? Because the community feels it's their team. YSU has good seasons, but they don't have big crowds because they bring in Michigan State, Penn State, and Alabama. It's because YSU is Youngstowns team. The current marketing trend for the Zips even points to this. "Roo Town: This is YOUR Team". They want the surrounding community to feel it's their team. (yes I know I'm Captain Obvious)Akron as a city, and Summit as county needs to start helping with promoting these events and getting the companies involved. (ala Acme-Zip games in the 80's). Some will say this isn't their problem. But it is. If you create an atmosphere and sense of ownership that fills a stadium 6 weekends a year, you get people coming to the city and county and they realize there are other things to do besides sit at home and watch their 400 channels or play their videogames. Look around. Portage promotes Can't, the Mahoning Valley promotes YSU. Look at the Toledo area, direct competition with Michigan. Do they win yes (and that is important). But you can have a winner and people still won't go if they don't feel it's their team (ask the White Sox or any southern NHL Team). Toledo promotes the University's sports programs. There is no excuse why Medina, Wayne, Summit and Cuyahoga Counties should not be Roo Town. Bottom line, we need to be successful, but we as a community need to promote our team (and that is us not just the politicians)

[Zipgrad01]

You can promote it all you want, but if the public isn't interested they won't spend the time or the money to support it.YSU has their fans because they have produced national titles. Same thing as Mount Union. Akron has won nothing and has never been a winner. People don't want to support a loser. YSU has won throughout the years and it has caused a lot of the fan support. They grow up raising little YSU fans and the trend continues. The Cubs haven't always been terrible, they just haven't won titles. That is a huge difference. As for the white sox....it is in the ghetto and people fear for their lives to go to the games. Not only that, most people in Chicago are Cubs fans. You can deny it all you want, but just look at NIU and Iowa this weekend. NIU never sells out their 30k seat stadium. Why are they selling out Soldier Field? 1. Because they have been a winner. 2. Because they are bringing in an opponent people are excited to watch. Until Akron is a consistent winner and plays teams fans want to see they will never get that community support that you want.

[g-mann17]

You can promote it all you want, but if the public isn't interested they won't spend the time or the money to support it.

Generations ago the Cubs were a winner. When Tressel was at YSU they won titles. That is history. Post 1960's the Browns have never won anything, they sell out. Why? Because it's our team. You can say what you want, Soldier Field sold out because it's in a city of almost 3 million. And they promoted the hell out of the game. Do you really think Chicago gives an F about Iowa? Notre Dame is "their" team. NIU and Iowa both have a nice following. Their Alumni promote the schools where ever they go.It's simple until the community recognizes they have a team, that is worth a damn (and we are) it's always going to look the same. The first thing about marketing is that the "Public" isn't interested unless they know about it. Quite frankly, FirstMerit and Cleveland did a crap job of promoting this game. The City of Akron does a crap job of promoting the team. (Oh they do a great job of letting you know when the Styx cover band is playing lock 3) but when was the last time the city promoted a Zips game? Oh yeah it was called the Acme-Zip game.But wait and see how attendance is once the stadium is built. Then we can nickel and dime attendance issues.

[akronad]

To be honest, I see both sides of this issue very clearly.Do we need to generate community pride? Absolutely! I would guess that most of the people attending are less than a 90 minute drive from Akron. So, it makes sense to build from the core and work out.But, that will only go so far. You have to have a quality product on the field. A team that will win consisitently year in and year out. After winning the MAC and going to the MOtor City Bowl, expectations were high. Maybe, too high. Anyways, last year did nothing to help us after we fell flat on our faces after the NC State game.We need a way to bridge both community support and winning to draw not only the fans, but quality BCS opponents to our games.

[Zipgrad01]

Generations ago the Cubs were a winner. You are right, but the Cubs is a different story than Akron Zips football. The Cubs are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports.YSU is still a winner without Tressel. How many losing seasons have they had since he has left?The Browns have been a winner since the 60's, they just haven't won titles. The Browns were awesome in the 80's and 1st half of the 90's. Again...one of the most storied franchises in sports. However, attendance at Browns games has started to dwindle during the season recently. Why? Because they stink. People couldn't give tickets away last year unless guess what?.....the Steelers came to town. Why? Because everyone wanted to watch the Browns play the Steelers.What is Akron's excuse for the Army games bad attendance? The Cleveland metro area is over 2 million and they can't sell 20k seats? You honestly think it is because of marketing? It is because nobody wants to watch the game.Do you work in marketing? I don't. I am a plant manager, so I look at things differently and disagree with our sales and marketing team quite a bit. They try every sales and marketing scheme they can think of in order to increase sales, but it doesn't work. Why? Because our customers don't think our product is better than the other guys. They focus on marketing and gimmicks rather than focusing on the true issue and that is providing a quality product that the customer wants. If you provide the product it will sell itself. Right now our product is not good enough to cause people to support it. I will use the auto industry as an example. Look at all the commercials the Ford, Chrysler and GM dealers run. Look at all the incentives they advertise ($8,000 off sticker and 0% financing, etc) just to get people interested in stepping their foot into the dealership. Why do they do this? Because nobody wants their product! Do you see Honda, Nissan or Toyota doing those sort of incentives? No. Why? They don't need to use gimmicks to get people to buy their products because the quality of it speaks for itself. Same is true of sports and building a program. It is quality of product, not marketing.

[g-mann17]

I will use the auto industry as an example. Look at all the commercials the Ford, Chrysler and GM dealers run. Look at all the incentives they advertise ($8,000 off sticker and 0% financing, etc) just to get people interested in stepping their foot into the dealership. Why do they do this? Because nobody wants their product! Do you see Honda, Nissan or Toyota doing those sort of incentives? No. Why? They don't need to use gimmicks to get people to buy their products because the quality of it speaks for itself. Same is true of sports and building a program. It is quality of product, not marketing.

Well see, right there you fell into the marketing trap. Nissan, Toyota, and Honda have marketed their products as "better made" "longer lasting" etc. If you want to know the truth I see more Honda, Toyota, and Nissan incentive commercials then any of the other three. Hell Nissan spends money to make their car look like it's the best thing on the planet and that it is the "ideal suburban mom's" vehicle (Desperate Housewives).Look it's a combination of both. We have quality players, playing in a much tougher conference then is given credit (no it's not the Big East but we can still compete with most of those teams). But let's face it; if quality of product was the only selling factor (to use another analogy) The PS3 would be outselling both the XBOX 360 and the Wii, it's hands down the better product. But who is winning? The Wii because it is marketed as "everyone's" system.When we did win the MAC how did the City of Akron embrace us? Did they put up a sign that says "Home of the 2005 Mid American Conference Champions" Next to the "Home of Rookie of the Year Lebron James"? Nope, they ran article in the paper about Chris Wells signing with OSU. Which brings up another point JD has got to start beating out Tressel for these Akron kids. But I digress.Cleveland was in charge of marketing the Patriot Bowl. Akron and the University of Akron is in charge of the rest of the games. If there is not a huge joint push next year for the Rubber Bowl's swan song, then the City has failed us once again.