Football

If there's one expert on the NFL Draft, it's ESPN's Mel Kiper.

He says Andy Alleman is looking like a second rounder.

Considering Alleman is a guard from a small conference, that is pretty high praise. Scouts love Alleman's potential as a mobile blocker.

At first, scouts thought the former Zip would fit in with a zone blocking scheme, like you'll see in Denver and Atlanta. Now, I think that restriction is gone.

Don't take Kiper's word for pure gold, however. Players may rise or fall a round or two on draft day. A lot of circumstances — such as a projected first rounder falling — could bump Alleman to the third round, where I think he'll wind up.

Baseball

Akron split a doubleheader with Ball State today.

The Zips relied heavily on leadoff hitter Phil Bednar in the 13-5 win. The infield transfer from Ball State tallied four hits and two RBIs against his former team.

In the loss, Akron found itself in an early hole after allowing three unearned runs, ironically on a Bednar error.

Next up for the Zips (10-5) is a home game on Wednesday against Cleveland State.

Men's basketball

Here's a reminder that the university is throwing a party to congratulate Akron on its season on Monday.

It starts at 7 p.m. at Rhodes Arena. The first 500 attendees will receive free pizza and pop.

• Not that I should really complain about this, but the NCAA Tournament has been rather drab this season. No major upsets. The biggest Cinderella was VCU, who got bumped in the second round. I say I shouldn't complain because the predictability of the tourney allowed me to nail all four Final Four teams. If you want to ride my luck to your bookie, I have UCLA over Ohio State in the final.
• I talked to my neighbor, a Kent State fan, today about the Zips. He said he heard on the radio that the NCAA and NIT snubbed the Zips because LeBron James chose to forgo college for the NBA. Wow. These idiots will say anything to burn up air time.

Baseball

Two big innings sunk the Zips 10-5 in a soggy conference opener against Ball State.

The teams will play two tomorrow.

Track

Akron had a big day down at Wake Forest.

Ten athletes qualified for the NCAA Regionals.

Baseball

The Zips will wait another day to measure themselves against the MAC Champions.

Weather washed out game one at Ball State. Game two of the series is still set for today at 4 p.m.

While you're biting your nails, awaiting the results of that game, read this fascinating interview with first baseman Doug McNulty.

Track

Larisa Arcip was Akron's top finisher on day one of the Wake Forest Open.

She took third in the 800. A bunch of Zips placed in the top 10 in the event, which includes 50 teams.

Football

Jon McClain performed well in limited action last night for the Canton Legends.

Technically, he was one-for-two on extra point attempts. The "miss" was actually a bad snap that the holder tried to turn into a two-point conversion.

The Legends fell to the Reading Express, 50-19.

I'm Mike Rasor, your Canton Legends beat writer.

Football

Bill Morgan, media relations guy for the Canton Legends who also works for UA, gave me the scoop of what the American Indoor Football Association entails.

He said the field at the Canton Civic Center is 50 yards long by 28.5 yards wide. Jon McClain might have problems kicking because — get this — he must avoid banging a field goal attempt off the overhanging scoreboard and lighting support bars.

I am truly fascinated by this league, and I plan to attend a game in the coming weeks to check in on McClain.

Track

The Zips will head to the Wake Forest Open this weekend to kick off the outdoor track season.

For those of you who are confused about how track works (like I was), there is an indoor season during the winter and outdoor season during the spring.

You may wonder what's the difference. Well, weather plays a huge factor for MAC teams. Coach Dennis Mitchell told me his troops possibly could hold an advantage in inclement weather.

I'll go on the record to say I think the men will finally break through and win their first MAC title. The women should be able to repeat as well.

• I think I ticked off Mitchell with my comments about secondary sports the other day. He disputed some of my statistics in an e-mail.
• He had one good point, however. Although his track teams combine to lose more than $900,000, his 90 athletes, many of whom are not on scholarship, bring in a lot of tuition dollars. Assuming no athlete is on scholarship and each one lives in the dorms (both of which are an egregious stretch), these athletes conceivably could bring in $2 million a year.
• I'd say it's close to $1 million, which would indirectly allow the track team to break even.
• To my knowledge, no other team can say that.
• Mitchell, understandably, was upset that I implied his sport has no value to campus. Although I already responded to him personally, I'll clarify that for the rest of you…
• There are 24,000 students at the University of Akron. Go out and ask 1,000 of them where the track team is traveling this weekend. I'm telling you from first-hand experience that this commuter campus simply does not know or care.
• Is that a problem? In some ways. My central argument, however, is that the track team affects very few of those 24,000 students — probably around 90 to be exact. To waste hundreds of thousands of public dollars for that minimal impact is careless, in my humble opinion. I don't mean to pick on track. You can substitute volleyball, women's soccer, golf and even baseball.
• Of course, Mitchell is right in saying track supports itself, so that doesn't apply to his team.

Football

Despite a brief collegiate career in football, former Zips kicker Jon McClain will play professionally.

After an impressive tryout, the Canton Legends of the American Indoor Football Association signed McClain and expect him to assume the role of first-string kicker immediately.

Funny thing is, McClain found his job similarly to how he took over for Matt Domonkos for the Zips. The Legends recently lost a game because of poor kicking.

"Jon flat-out out-kicked his competition in the tryout and I'm excited to see what he'll do for the Legends in a game," coach Bobby Olive said in a statement.

Miscellaneous

Spring is in the air. The birds are chirping. Kids are outside playing.

This is a grossly superfluous aside, but I absolutely despise newspaper stories that begin with some variation of this series of obvious observations.

Bet your left thumb that anyone who uses that as a lead is a terrible or lazy writer.

Anyhow, back to my reason for blogging tonight. I had some thoughts pop into my head while mulling over the athletics department budget data…

• The football team lost $3.3 million dollars last year. To put that in perspective, people around the university often complain about the "overpaid" administration. A recent Buchtelite story showed the 24 administrators, not including president Luis Proenza, earn about $3.3 million.
• Three million dollars. Let that sink in. First, you need to know $3.3 million is not an abhorration from similar programs. Someone close to Kent State's program told me the Flashes are about $4 million in the red, too.
• It makes you ask yourself, is football worth it? I carefully say, yes. First of all, football brings a sense of cohesion to a campus. Now, UA doesn't necessarily feel it right now with an off-campus stadium, but you certainly will notice a buzz around campus starting in 2009. I've been on Northern Illinois' campus on a gameday, and, forgive the Disney-sounding adjective, it is truly magical for a college football fan.
• Now you're asking, so what? Well, the football program's money-making potential should skyrocket starting in 2009. Attendance will rise. Corporate sponsorships should as well. Here's another ploy UA is certain to use: bringing prospective students to campus on a gameday. It's that lure that made me absolutely crazy about Ohio State as a high school senior.
• Those are intangible benefits. Let's not forget the benefit to the community of having a stadium sit right next to a shady part of Akron. It should serve to chase some of the bums away. UA's University Park Alliance plan should do a lot of that also. But I digress.
• Eleven of the other sports lose between $250,000 and $600,000 a year. Those sports, aside from men's basketball, have little benefit to campus. Few students attend the matches, meets or games. If the sports went away, probably only the athletes would notice. However, the NCAA requires Division I programs to maintain a certain number of sports. As much as you want to whine about the volleyball or baseball team combining to burn almost $1 million, it's a moot point.
• Everyone should praise the rifle team for being so effective with a budget under $90,000. Coach Newt Engle earns just $4,184 to lead one of the nation's top 20 squads. Not bad. I could be wrong, though. Maybe rifle is just an incredibly inexpensive sport regardless.
• Here's where my real horror lies: The women's basketball team blows almost $900,000 a year. Holy schmoly! I recognize Title IX forces gender equality, but come on! I'm not the world's biggest fan of Title IX; nor am I signing petitions to repeal it in regards to college athletics. I think it's pretty clear the provision is costing public institutions money.
• A UA administrator brought up an excellent point to me when UA was considering firing Kelly Kennedy last year. There's no disputing her ineffectiveness as head coach. However, is it really worth eating the final year of her contract, worth almost $100,000, when the women's basketball program only grosses $25,000 in revenue? I said, no.
• Overall, I argue a lot of these rules from Title IX and the NCAA cripple the budgets of small Division I schools. Ohio University, which probably was well over its sports quota, is cutting three sports. I don't blame the Bobcats. Although many of these teams have tradition or whatever, you're talking about taxpayer money.
• Maybe I'm just too conservative fiscally, but no team is worth blowing $600,000, unless it brings some other intangible value to campus. If you are able to cut that team, without losing Divison I status or angering Title IX, you do it. Period.

Your thoughts?

Football

Sorry if you're getting tired of reading blog entries.

I've got a ton of time on my hands since it's Spring Break.

Anyhow, Dan Kadar of NewEraScouting.com (and the Buchtelite) wrote a pretty thorough analysis of Andy Alleman. He compares the former Zips guard to the Packers' Daryn Colledge, one of the finer guards in the NFL last season as a rookie. Kadar projects Alleman as a second or third rounder.

He also scouted Luke Getsy, who received less favorable reviews. However, Kadar is one of the few people who actually thinks an NFL team will draft Getsy — in the sixth round, to be exact. I respectfully disagree.

• Akron's spring camp opens March 29. The Blue-Gold Spring game is on April 15. The ABJ asked me to report heavily on the Zips those two weeks, so I'll probably be there for most practices.

Football

This is the time of the year where we will see Akron's coaches working hard to build a foundation of trust with high-profile recruits.

One tactic both Keith Dambrot and J.D. Brookhart's staffs use is being the first team to offer a scholarship.

On top of the seven offers Akron already made, here are three recent ones…

• Domonick Britt, QB, Trotwood, Ohio. Imagine Quade Milum lining up behind center. Britt is 6-foot-5 and 175 pounds. He's a threat to scramble, but he also threw for 3,000 yards as a junior. Eastern Michigan and Illinois are Britt's other offers. He also has interest in Miami (Fla.), Ohio State, USC, Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Reading some of Britt's quotes, he appears destined for big-time college football as long as he has a good senior season. Although the recruiting sites have not issued star ratings yet, it's my guess that Britt will merit at least three stars.
• Larry Dawson, RB, Akron (North HS). An athlete coming out of North High School? Yep. Dawson, at 6-0 and 200, has interest in Connecticut, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh and Ball State. The Zips are his only offer to this point.
• Rich Bell, DT, Salisbury, Conn. Scout.com calls him a center. More than likely, Bell fits in as a defensive tackle in college because of his 4.8 speed. The 6-2, 270 pounder says Akron leads the race at this point, but the Zips also are his only offer. Other schools of interest include Boston College, Connecticut, Penn State and Rutgers.

Men's basketball

Terry Pluto wrote a really good column about Keith Dambrot and how the Zips coach has handled the past 10 days.

Here's the Cliff's Notes:

1. Dambrot is taking the Zips to a tournament in Alaska (no, not the big one in Alaska). But still, some high-majors will be there. Also expect home games against Temple and St. Louis and road games against Clemson, Mississippi State or a Big Ten school. From my conversation with him, also expect road games against solid mid-majors from the Missouri Valley Conference.
2. Dambrot isn't leaving anytime soon. He felt like it for a few days, then decided to let this week motivate him, not scare him away. The public support for the team has been phenomenal.
3. Dambrot thinks the Zips can be even better next year.

Speaking of public support, UA is throwing a Celebration Night for the Zips on Monday evening at Rhodes Arena. It starts at 7 and fans will receive free pizza and pop. Players will sign autographs, too.

I really hope people show up. It's hard enough to get fans to come to a game against St. Francis. This is a pep rally for a team that won't play for another eight months.

Miscellaneous

As much as we love Zips sports, we have to admit athletics isn't the University of Akron's most lucrative venture.

I'm working on my senior honors project, which is a look inside where UA spends its money.

Thanks to associate AD Mike Rodriguez, I have some figures from the athletic department.

Here are team expenses…

1. Football - $4,072,698
2. Men's basketball - $1,116,389
3. Women's basketball - $915,060
4. Women's track - $591,818
5. Volleyball - $497,719
6. Men's soccer - $487,428
7. Baseball - $484,683
8. Softball - $475,347
9. Swimming and diving - $440,860
10. Women's soccer - $391,064
11. Men's track - $337,597
12. Tennis - $299,747
13. Golf - $264,600
14. Rifle - $89,630

And here are revenues…

1. Football - $740,749
2. Men's basketball - $574,659
3. Women's basketball - $25,806
4. Men's soccer - $22,616
5. Swimming and diving - $11,366
6. Golf - $11,124
7. Women's track - $8,721
8. Softball - $8,696
9. Volleyball - $7,189
10. Baseball - $5,290
11. Men's track - $3,818
12. Women's soccer - $2,305
13. Rifle - $278
14. Tennis - $214

And here are the biggest losers. All of these figures are in the red. No UA team makes money…

1. Football - $3,331,949
2. Women's basketball - $889,254
3. Women's track - $583,097
4. Men's basketball - $541,730
5. Volleyball - $490,530
6. Baseball - $479,393
7. Softball - $466,651
8. Men's soccer - $464,812
9. Swimming and diving - $429,494
10. Women's soccer - $388,759
11. Men's track - $333,779
12. Tennis - $299,533
13. Golf - $253,476
14. Rifle - $89,352

I took several notes after checking out this data. I'm curious first as to what you think. Feel free to start the discussion below.

Football

Akron lost tight ends coach Mark Nori to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday.

Nori will work with San Francisco's offensive line and serve as an offensive assistant.

He spent three years with the Zips, developing tight ends Kris Kasperek and Merce Poindexter. My buddy Brian Flaherty, a converted quarterback, also has seen action on most short yardage situations.

Nori played parts of four years as an offensive tackle in the NFL.

Baseball

In his weekly press conference, coach Pat Bangtson talked about the sweep at Memphis, starting MAC play at defending conference champion Ball State and the emergence of several true freshmen.

Wait. The baseball team has press conferences?

Just kidding. I'm excited to sit out in a lawn chair and watch the Zips this spring. That, of course, is dependent on 70 degree weather.