Football
Man, that was a disappointing game — all around.
It was a beautiful day, yet we had attendance of 16,381. Last year's homecoming game (at the Rubber Bowl, for Pete's sake) had attendance of 17,119.
The Zips outgained the Bobcats in total yardage (346 to 292), but Akron lost by two scores. I'm not going to give grades this morning. I'm sick of watching bad football. Let's put it that way. Let's also put it another way: Almost every position on the team has underperformed. Is there a bright spot here and there? I suppose, but Brian Wagner can only play one position at a time.
J.D. Brookhart said the team will keep swinging and never quit. They better not quit; they're on full scholarship in exchange for playing A GAME they like to play in front of thousands of people. Is that really what this team has been reduced to? Not quitting. To me, that's a euphemism for: It can get worse.
I like Brookhart personally. It pains me to say this because Brookhart has a family, he has poured a lot of his heart into this job, and it's not completely his fault, but I have seen enough. This coaching staff has an incredible set of resources, and we still haven't seen a winning football team in four years. Whether it happens tomorrow or in early December, it is time for a change. My patience has expired.
I will gladly eat those words if a Patrick Nicely-led team finishes the season winning six or seven games, but I don't see it happening anymore. What a terrible month for Akron football.
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NICK,
MAYBE YOU ARE HAVING A HARD TIME WITH THIS. BUT I DON'T WANT YOU SITTING IN OUR NEW STADIUM. SORRY ABOUT THE KENT STATE STATEMENT. THEY DON'T WANT YOUR COMPLAINING EITHER. GO ZIPS
AND LEAVE THE COMPLAINING TO NICK, SHEMP AND THE OTHERS THAT
DON'T WANT A WINNER IN AKRON.
Maybe someone can show this zipsjwk kook the "caps lock — off" button. He's coming across as a real blowhard windbag, both in his type and his words. Funny, unless people agree with this sort of "fanatic," their thoughts are worthless "complaining." Good luck in the real world and job market, zipsjwk. You're gonna need it.
I know I'm definitely in the minority, but I still think that JD can turn the season around. It's been a difficult year and I realize his past record, but I'm not ready to throw the towel in on JD. Here's to a big turn around with Nicely.
Don't get your hopes too high for Nicely. He's got a tremendous level of talent, but remember that other teams will now be scouting and adjusting to address his strengths — something Ohio never had to do. He will undoubtedly have some good games and some games when he really looks like what he is – a freshman.
Looks like this blog name should be changed to "The joe desjardins Blog?"
Seriously, joe…can you give us another 30 posts on your thoughts? I bet you can do it before noon today?
5 posts. Realism has what, 10? G-Mann, 8? Get back to replacing that hot water heater, Schneider. Or are you an adjunct professor in plumbing science at Hilltop High?
I was just over at Zips Nation, and it's truly amazing the number of "fans" who think "they" have to somehow do the athletic budgeting/accounting for UA. Their logic is, "I'd rather have 10,000 people in the stands paying $20 a head, than a full-house paying $10." And further, they want a more "upscale" clientele at the games.
Alrighty then. Guess they've forgotten this is college football. Yes, a 2-1/2 hour game with a team that loses two-thirds of the time over the past four years. They really need to stop comparing our prices to any other school in the country, because Akron is in a fairly unique situation: new stadium, half (or more) empty, no fan interest, no good team, no jobs, no student support, no answers. But yet, those dudes will just defend the $20 tickets to their dying breath. It's pretty remarkable.
No surprise at all that the people on "Zips Nation" would rather have 10,000 people paying $20/person than "a full-house paying $10."
I mean, all they would need to do is simple math (10,000 people each paying $20 = $200,000; 30,000 people each paying $10 = $300,000; $300,000 > $200,000). But this IS the University of Akron we're talking about. And, if you've ever met some of their die-hard fans (or "Rowdies," if you will), you'll notice many of them probably aren't capable of such logic…
Oh, and this is only my seventh comment.
Yeah, and I'm sure the players would much, MUCH rather perform in front of 10,000 widely-scattered rich snobs sipping their lattes (or booze from the loge level), rather than 30,000 spirited, cheering fans going nuts and serving as the 12th Man.
It's no wonder Akron's foibles are a laughingstock throughout the league. They talk about a new stadium for two decades, build it, no one comes, and the elite-minded fans don't care. If you can't get a belly laugh outta that, you can't read.
The best thing that came out of Saturday's game was the QB tearing his ACL. I feel bad for the kid, of course, but he was killing the team with his bad decisions, inaccurate throws and tendency to run-first, throw second. Also, the coaching decision to put him in the shotgun 90% of the time put him behind the eight ball. The backup QB made nice throws, accurate and crisp. Where the starter was tossing it 10 yards away from any reciever, the backup put it in (or very near) their hands. The receivers need to work on their catching, but the QB was significantly improved. UA may have a winning game or two in them yet…
Wow! Haven't seen this much activity since they were giving away day old fish…better not go there. Anyway!
This coaching staff has not been able to put players in a position to win for 4 years now. Mr. Brookhart et al were still not settled on personnel going into the season. Jacquemain was QB almost by default. But, we all could see they were not comfortable with him when Rodgers started getting playing time so early(remember Luke Getsy in '06? Wasted all year playing him even after it was all over). Running back. Feel bad for Alex Allen. His injuries cost him a career. He WAS the best back on the team. Shuford? Might be a nice kid but not a back at this level. Now they decide good old Joe Tuzze is the starting TAILBACK?! Jeremy Bruce is not a DI talent. He may hustle and rant and rave but he is not a receiver or running back at this level. West Virginia didn't want to keep him. We could go on. But, it is obvious that the Montgomery/Harris duo didn't figure this thing out.
Defense? We still have the same coordinator. Against good teams like PSU,CMU,Indiana that bunch still couldn't make key stops and gave up big yards.
Attendance? As I said before, there NEVER has been a fan base for Akron football. Not one of any size. I have been watching these guys since the late '60's when they were good. Went to the playoffs. As we have all heard ad nauseum, the Acme Zip game was really the only big crowd on a consistent basis. Ticket prices should be adjusted for the remainder of this season because the product is so bad. Do 2 for 1 or something just to get some people in to the Info. for those bad weather November games. Akron U students don't come out in big numbers anyway. Next year??
But above all,bring in a HEAD coach who has been a successful head coach at a lower level. Nothing replaces the responsibility of HAVING to be in charge and being ultimately responsible. We don't need someone else who is going through OJT.
Oh well,off to Buffalo. Go Zips.
I know several people are fond of knocking Lee Adams, but he generally speaks the truth, whether you believe it or not.
Case in point: The QBs. Though he had a SENIOR starter, Jim Tressel made an early switch to Pryor because he gave the Bucks a better chance to win. Can you see J.D. ever doing that? He rode the losing Getsy train to a lost season. He's made poor choices at QB since then, and apparently, the best of the lot began this year as a 3rd-stringer. In short, J.D. places FAR, FAR too much weight on age/class, rather than football talent.
I also like Lee's idea of 2-for-1. Fine…all of those crybabies who are DEMANDING that tickets be kept at $15 or $20….fine. Just offer a free ticket for every $15 or $20 ticket purchased. And crybabies, if you don't WANT your free ticket (you know, so UA can balance its athletic budget…something YOU certainly need to be worrying about—NOT!), just say, "thanks, keep it" or "give it to someone less fortunate than rich ol' me."
Wow, the Zips must be doing something right. 63 comments on Rasor's blog. All-time record. Go Zips! Are they having a good year or something?
Hey Joe Desjardins…I think you have a few things out of whack yourself. Please note the comments below within your statement.
joe desjardins October 12, 2009 at 11:24 am
Hello — congratulations on a well considered, thoughful analysis of the situation. Fact is, the economics of the football program is all out of whack, which is going to screw up other sports. The $61 million is nice, no question, but I seriously doubt its value to the overall well-being of the university . Case in point: Did anyone notice how few of those premium, tower-level seats were occupied(TRUE THE STADIUM IS EXPENSIVE, BUT IT DOES HAVE VALUE TO THE CAMPUS…NEXT YEAR IT WILL HOUSE THE SPORTS SCIENCE & WELLNESS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT WITH STATE OF THE ART FACILITIES. THAT ENTIRE PROGRAM IS TAKING A QUANTUM LEAP FORWARD BEING ABLE TO MOVE OUT OF AGING MEMORIAL HALL AND INTO INFOCISION. IT WILL PUT US AT THE TOP OF THE MID AMERICAN CONFERENCE SCHOOLS FOR THIS ACADEMIC PROGRAM.) Saturday night? less than 10%. (REALLY, ARE YOU WORKING ATTENDANCE IN THE PREMIUM SEATING? ALSO, WHILE YOU MAY BE RIGHT THAT THEY WERE NOT FULL, THEY ARE ALL AND I MEAN ALL, BOUGHT AND PAID FOR FOR THIS SEASON AND THE FOLLOWING TWO AFTER THAT!) meanwhile, that tower represents about $30 to $35 million of the total cost of the stadium( AGAIN, REALLY? GLAD TO KNOW THAT IN ADDITION TO YOUR JOB WORKING ATTENDANCE FOR PREMIUM SEATING, YOU ALSO WORK FOR WELTY CONSTRUCTION AND ARE IN TUNE WITH THE EXACT CONSTRUCTION COSTS OF THE STADIUM…ALSO PART OF THAT TOWER IS AGAIN FOR ACADEMIC USE THAT IS GOING TO THOROUGHLY UPGRADE A PROGRAM). Akron could have built a beautiful $40 million stadium and still have a crown jewel.
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