Football
The Buchtelite's story about gameday regulations impressed me. It discusses the policies for road closures, parking and tailgating. It's definitely worth a read if you plan to attend a game.
I'm disappointed about the prohibition against coal grills, but I think the university is doing a great job to create a fan-friendly gameday experience.
Miscellaneous
Here are some issues to watch in the coming weeks:
Will Hunter Yurachek and his staff continue their diligent work in selling tickets?
What other, if any, members of the athletic department will leave the university when Tom Wistrcill arrives — either by choice or by dismissals?
Will Wistrcill and the new administration make any immediate changes to the first season at InfoCision Stadium, considering his overwhelming success in opening Minnesota's stadium?
Will Yurachek surface as a candidate for Kent State's athletic director job, which becomes vacant on June 30, 2009? (Man, that would throw another twist into this rivalry!)
- Other notes…
Here is Tom Gaffney's story from today's press conference.
The ABJ's Patrick McManamon wrote a column wondering why Yurachek wasn't given the job.
My thoughts…
A lot of people within the athletic department are dismayed about President Luis Proenza's decision. It was a surprise. Many employees have worked with Yurachek. They knew what they were getting: A knowledgable, gregarious person who was great to work with.
Try to think of it from Proenza's perspective, though. The university had the opportunity to snag a person who had accomplished the exact thing that will be most important for Akron. He made a new stadium into a financial success.
People don't realize this, but Akron is paying a mortgage of sorts on InfoCision Stadium. The university must make service payments on its investment. Candidly, Proenza knows thing could go in one of two directions. 1) InfoCision Stadium opens with a blast, then fades into the back of everyone's memory (see Canal Park). 2) InfoCision Stadium helps to create a network of students and alumni who become life-long Zips fans (see Jacobs Field).
Could you entrust this task to Yurachek? Yes. But is there someone whose life experiences better suit the job? Yes. For that reason, I side with Proenza.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Its kind of amazing that everyone keeps saying Yurachek should have been hired, and he's great and all this. Maybe he is, who knows, but it should also be brought up that he walked into a potential gold mine and threw it away.
Remember 2006 when just about everyone in Ohio was going crazy over Fear the Roo? Merchandise was flying off the shelves. Sure it was a campaign taken directly from Maryland, but who cares, Akron finally had the public's attention.
Enter Yurachek, exit Fear the Roo.
All of a sudden there was "Roo City" (lame) and "The Roo Zoo" (seriously? the Roo Zoo?) The Fear the Roo logo gets remade to be less intimidating, fear the roo merch can't be found. How incredibly stupid. Its not like Akron didn't have at least one team to get behind and continue the Fear the Roo campaign in the soccer team.
The new stadium should have been marketed 24/7 from the moment they came up with that computer rendering. Instead there might have been 1 billboard taken out on RT.8. Instead of having it pounded into people's heads, there was very little marketing done and what was done was pretty weak.
Let's face it, Yurachek arrived and Akron's athletics took a step back in terms of public awareness. If the Wad had been hired as AD, everyone in Ohio would know about the Info and Fear the Roo would be going strong. The Wad cared about Akron and knew how to market it. More Ric Flair and less Yurachek! WOOOOOOOoooooooo!
I have to agree with keil in that after Waddell left, the university didn't keep up the same intensity with Fear the Roo. Not sure if this falls on Hunter or if it was Mack's decision, but there was a good thing going that has been pretty quiet from a university perspective.
Mike,
I agree with your thoughts on why Wistrcill was hired over Yurachek. You made very good points on want to make life long zip fans and have a chance of seeling the stadium out for years to come and not just this year.
Kiel,
The idea of getting away from fear the roo was extremely stupid! I agree with you on that. I think the new regime at the time wanted their own marketing campaign which failed miserably as opposed to the fear the roo campaign. I really hope they bring back Fear the Roo!
What's worse about the "Roo Town" campaign to me is the fact that several ads I saw (including one in the JAR) had the slogan in front of a city skyline. What city skyline? It was Cleveland's. Granted, it was a silhouette, but it was definitely Cleveland's skyline with the Terminal Tower, Key Tower, and former BP building clearly visible. Also, "Roo Town" is not original. BYU did a "Cougar Town" campaign with the city of Provo, Utah a few years ago.
I wouldn't say "everyone in Ohio" went "crazy" for Fear the Roo either. Maybe in Akron, but not Ohio. It sold well, but also debuted at a time when the Zips were doing well in football (coming off their MAC title) and basketball.
As for Yurachek being a candidate for KSU, I'll be reeeeeealy surprised if that happens. Not because he's at Akron, but I have a hard time believing KSU would hire someone who has never been an AD at a Division I school. The only way I'd see an assistant get promoted is if the current KSU assistant gets the nod.
With the stadium, while it should boost attendance this year, the ONLY thing that will keep attendance up is consistent winning and the only MAC school I have ever seen do that was Marshall and we all know what happened to them: moved to Conference USA and has struggled ever since. Even the perennial MAC "powers" like Miami, Toledo, and BG do not draw well when they are struggling (Miami rarely draws well EVER). It's virtually impossible for a non-BCS school to have teams that are consistently good every year or even most years. Sure they'll have great runs like Central Michigan has had lately, but once the run is over, back to mediocrity and small to moderate crowds. Seriously, name one MAC school that consistently sells out. And even Central's run has been good by MAC standards, but hasn't done much on the national level. Good marketing can increase attendance (even KSU has been able to do that), but not sellouts. Winning, and winning on the big stage, creates sellouts: see Ohio State among others. Ohio State has such a large following in and out of Ohio because they win and have won for a long time. Plain and simple.
I've never gotten the "Roo Town" thing at all. That little slogan sucks.
That said, it's a bit hard to Fear the Roo, when your football team goes 4-8, 5-7, 4-8. No fear there, folks.
Overall, I tend to agree with Kiel's assessment here, though.
Bring back Fear the Roo! I still say it. Lot's of people have not let it die. I've got a friend who just yesterday bought a Fear the Roo t-shirt. So yes, UA, start majoring in Fear the Roo once again! We all love it!
"Had Akron used a search firm when it last hired a basketball coach, it's doubtful it would have found a high school coach from the city".
What a putz! Since accuracy isn't his forte he could have done a quick wiki search and found his statement in need of editing. KD was an assistant bball coach at Akron for several years before getting the job.
"But when a loyal employee like Yurachek can't use his body of work to advance at the school where he works, it's eyebrow raising".
What does he think HY presented? He came up short!!! No one will say he was the second choice nor would they say "why were we paying him"? You say nice things about everyone who was interiewed.
What's more "eyebrow raising" is this stupid article. What purpose did it serve and how did it get past the editors. Just another negative article on UA by the hometown paper. At least Tom Gaffney got the story right. A few puff stories in the beacon on the Zips don't make up for the years of lousy treatment. Keep on losing interest in the paper with reduced circulation.
Mike, your blog and a few Gaffney articles are the only things going for the zips at the Akron Barely Journalism. Keep up the good work.
I don't even think Pat M. has earned the right to have a published opinion regarding anything related with UA athletics. All he EVER writes about are CLEVELAND sports. The Browns. The Indians. The Cavs. This is the ficking AKRON paper for crying out loud!
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2009/08/midamerican_conference_footbal_2.html
Mike,
Many of us live outside of the Akron area and are unable to pick the local broadcasts. Will there be access to video or audio broadcasts online?? If not…can you get the new AD to make this happen?? I would pay for the access rights and I am sure many more would too. Additionally, it would increase the awareness of the program. All I can find now is the link above from the MAC.
Your help on this issue will be greatly appreciated as I will be in Bali and would really enjoy watching the games online…or at least listening to them.
Thanks
Doug,
Doesn't ZipZone have a video package for most games? For audio, I normally go to 1350 AM's Web site. I'm often listening through my computer. I think you should send Tom Wistrcill an e-mail and ask him to put your request on his to-do list. It is a great idea to increase the media for fans.
–Mike
ZipZone used to have live video of home games for basketball and football, but they didn't do that last year. Probably because, at least for the basketball games, they simply broadcast the videoboard feed, which was usually just animations and replays instead of the actual game. People complained, and instead of actually fixing the problem they just stopped doing it alltogether.
I've just read the whole discourse on here, from Mike's incorrect guess, onward. Here's what I think may have happened. The search committee wanted — but likely not with close to unanimity — to hire Hunter. Dr. Proenza had serious questions about Hunter's ability to take Akron over the top in marketing and putting butts in seats. The exec search co. found and supported Tom. In the end I think the Prez lost some sleep over this decision — not wanting to dis a member of the "family", but he decided he had to go with who he thought had the best overall experience, and Minnesota is a lot bigger stage than Akron. However, it will take time to see if Tom can duplicate his success, as he finds out just how difficult his current job is.
Great job with the gameday, huh?
Parking spaces so small that you cannot throw up a tent.
A 4 hour limit on tailgating! What are we, in grade school? OSU fans would burn down the place if they had such a rule.
And as pointed out, no charcaol grill. Good luck keeping a gas grill lit in that wind.