Football
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My first words were, "Holy crap. That stadium looks absolutely breathtaking." Your thoughts?
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STADIUM RENDERING
Previous post: What's up with the stadium plan
Next post: Some thoughts on the stadium
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It wasn't the bowl, but a horrible coach (Faust) who proved he couldn't win beyond a high school level and he only won because he recruited from 6 states. When Jim Dennison was coaching, the rubber bowl was packed for the Acme Zip Game and we always had a winning season. The appeal of a new stadium will draw crowds at first, but you have to have a winning team to keep them coming. Hopefully they will enclose both ends, because the winds get pretty nasty in that part of campus durign the winter. Bottom line is Akron is not a football school like the overrated football team with a school in Columbus. I hope it works well for AU.
Get out of the 70's Craig, it's UA, not AU. Get with it.
Has any one though of what's going to happen to historic Joe's Sun Bar? I guarentee I spent more time in there than in class in my years at Akron U. I'm glad to see this project moving forward. I never went to a single football game because I hated the trip to the rubber bowl.
Give this place a year…. After YEAR 1 of this stadium, we will have big crowds, but let's see how bad they get after that. You guys continue to bring up the campus and thousands of more people: THEY AREN'T GOING TO COME IF THEY AREN'T WINNING!
I am a Zip fan, and have been for a long long time, but you guys are all jumping for joy for a new stadium and expect it to be packed and want to add 5000 more seats to make it a bowl? WHY!!!!!!!!!! They are going to be empty every darn week.
20,000; if we can't manage that in Year 2, then their is NO HOPE! We will always be a 2nd rate program as the I-AA down the road continues to succeed and pile on the success they have had for so long in the I-AA Ranks. I kind of wish we were in the I-AA because we could maybe field a winning team and get some bigger crowds by playing Youngstown in the new place!
Lovely stadium, but where is the parking for the thousands of fans? Is there a parking deck hidden in one of those residence halls?
I hope im still here to see it ….
I can't believe some of the negativity on here. Please people stop the loser mentality and cheer the hell up. The stadium is a great great thing for the college and city. I'll be at the games with my friends and family and you idiots can complain on the internet for the rest of your lives. I don't care about you guys.
I too cannot understand all the negativity. This is a win win situation for all parties involved. First of all, given that the zips have been relatively competitive in the MAC with the WORST facilities is nothing short of a miracle. I can only imagine our potential with recruiting with the best gameday and practice facilities in the conference. Second of all, we will see an instantaneous spike in attendance, and I think the stadium will have that great intimate atmosphere that is at Canal Park. Not to mention all of the positives it does for the surrounding community this is a tremendous get for Akron.
I'm not being negative, I'm being a realist. I am ecstatic about that beautiful stadium they are going to put up, but you guys act like this will put us on the same level as Penn State and the Big East and those types of programs: IT WON'T! It will seat 27,500 and all those seats won't be filled come year 2 because people will stop coming if we ARE NOT WINNING.
Winning teams bring in the fans: BOTTOM LINE! My family lives in Youngstown and I have to hear it from them about YSU and how well they are doing and how many people go to the games and how their 32 loges are sold out every year, and how thousands of people tailgate right near the stadium for 10 hours on gamedays! You think I want to hear that: NO! But they are right.
I went to the Youngstown St. v. James Madison game in Youngstown last year and I got to admit, it was an atmosphere we haven't seen at Akron in decades! It was loud, packed all over the place, and the best thing was it was on ESPN2-HD.
It's sad we are 2nd rate to YSU down the road, but we are what we are! And until this program win's, that place will maybe be half full each and every week. You won't get fans popping 10-15 bucks on tix for a loser.
Unless you're less then 30 years old. There was time UA was rokcing as well. Try during the Dennison era back in the 1970's. I know as I went to games all the time when I lived in Akron. The bowl would be filled for the annual Acme Zip games and average attendance was 15,000 per game unless they were playing Kent St or YSU and then attendance exceeded 20,000 for home games. You had 29,000 at the bowl just couple of years ago for game when the Zips beat Marshall. The team has had five winning seasons out of the last eight and are on the Div 1A minimum average 15,000 per game at a falling apart Rubber Bowl that's five miles away from campus. The Zips continue to be competitive in the MAC and they'll be filling the new stadium.
Win or lose, I think the stadium will be a great asset to the University and City of Akron. Just look at the brownies and Cleveland
Those games are awesome to go to because of the crazy fans and maybe some alcohol is involved. The only thing that is missing here are places to tailgate and nice bars and restaurants for people to walk to before and after the games.
P.S. Swanny – I care about Manny's! That's one of my favorite bars to go to because of the nice patio and their family is so nice. I've only been to Pint's a couple times and never stayed longer than 10 minutes. Who wants to only have one bar around anyways?? Competition is the key to success and improving the market. At the rate Pint's is only good for bad-mouthing other businesses. Maybe if they tried making their business better instead of ripping on the better establishments they might earn a bit more respect and make their place nicer.
Mike, nothing else you wrote about was this interesting? so people or fans do read your blog but most don't care to respond I guess, you do a good job of reporting.The stadium is nice I like the fact that if you stay in one of those new dorms you can roll right out of bed on to the stands but as for the fair weather fans you are worse than the rubber bowl(: GO ZIPS
Red,
Recruiting updates aren't necessarily the most fascinating tidbits. Alas, such is life as a college blogger in the summer.
That's fine, but why is there any reason to believe that the zips cannot be competitive in the MAC with top facilities in the conference? This is the MAC people.
John,
Be sure to tell your therapist about the progress you have made; that is being able to admit your family lives in Youngstown. Now sack up and admit you attended YSU.
In 1970's YSU played home games at Austintown Fitch HS and couldn't sell that stadium out. Their current stadium when first built was one sided when it was built and it took a number of years before it starting selling out. Like when a guy named Tressell arrived. My point is saying what YSU is doing today is no different then UA during the the Dennison era. UA puts a winning product on the field, with the facilities they have today and fans will be there. The 29,000 plus at the Marshall game of couple of years ago more then drives that home.
Nope ZipMeister, My final decision was down to Akron and Youngstown State, but I didn't receive a scholarship from the Red and Black and decided to go with the Zips. The academics I received at UA were very much fine and helped me get to where I am today.
And I am happy to admit my family is from Youngstown; it is full of great tradition and has some AWESOME Italian food and family restaurants which nothing in Akron can beat!
As an Akron alum, I don't see how anybody could be pessimistic about this project. It's great for the university and great for the City of Akron. The adminstration deserves much kudos for this. They are doing it the right way. 27,000 is perfect in the beginning. As long as a competitive team is put on the field, which recent indications show there will be, the place will be packed early on. From there, it's up to the coaching staff to put a championship team on the field .
Every program has to start from somewhere and this is the perfect start for UA. Yes, it will be a new start. It will be up to J.D. and company to build off the new stadium and put a team capable of competing for the MAC Championship year after year. If they can do that, down the road I can see the university "bowling" at least one side of the stadium and bringing it up to 35-40,000. It will take time, but people have to have patience with this. In my mind, there is no reason why the people of Northeast Ohio can't have big-time college football in their backyard. This is the first step.
I, for one, plan on getting in line and ordering a pair of season tickets and making the 20 or so mile drive from Massillon once this is built. It's something I haven't done the past couple of years because, to be honest, I have not had any desire to spend multiple Saturday's at the RB. I know other alums who feel the same way. It sounds sad, but with the RB, Akron would always be a second-rate D1 football program.
Not to rant, but I have a good relationship with Lee Owens and Tom Stacy. They have both adamently told me that The University of Akron is a sleeping giant in the MAC. The missing piece was a stadium. I know what they were up against during their tenure at Akron. I've talked to both at length about that topic.
Now, that this piece of the puzzle will be in place, it's time for current students, alums and people of Akron to believe in their city and school.
Call me a homer, but I believe.
Kohl, you hit it on the head. I was a student at Akron for ~6 years. Went to a sum total of like 3 games, and most of my friends went to ZERO. Half of them did not know where the Rubber Bowl even was. I think having the stadium on-campus will be HUGE for attendance.
Btw I also agree with the person that said people in Akron are apathetic about things. I never really noticed it until I moved away, but it is true. Akron should be very proud of this stadium, it is a great thing!
I have been going to see the Zips play since the 1950's. My dad would
take my brother and I to 4 or 5 games a season. After my dad passed away we continued our loyalty to the Zips and travled to see them play VT, Maryland, Ohio State and a number of other teams.
During that time I seen the attendance go up and down with jumps from one conference to another. It seems that the MAC is a good fit for a school that has no place to go but up.
So let's forget all the negative comments and the comparisions to bigger or smaller programs by embracing the next page of what I hope will a center of pride for the university and the community!
OldZipfan, I am with you all the way. My father in law is an avid Zip fan too, last year went to see them play Penn State at Happy Valley. Has been to North Carolina also (I think). Anyway I think this will definitely generate some new fan interest. Will Akron replace the Buckeyes? No…but who cares? This is AKRON's team. There is plenty of room for Zip fans, so let them come out and have a good time!
It looks very nice, but I am sorry to see that my familiar childhood haunt is no longer as I remember it.
My grandmother's house on Spicer Street was destroyed to build a frat house. My first school, Spicer, is gone as is the house I lived in next door to it. My church, the Chapel at Brown & Vine is gone…
I am living in Scotland now and I see little left visit in Akron.
I guess that is the price of progress…
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