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?

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.

Miscellaneous

After a ground-breaking 2006, the university athletics almost universally let its fans down.

Still, there were plenty of exciting moments. And, as you all know, 2007 promises greater prospects…

1. NIT appearance — In its first postseason game in 17 years, Akron ended the John Cheney era at Temple, downing the Owls 80-73 and delivering the program's first-ever Division I postseason win. It was a coming-of-age game for Quade Milum, who showed what he had in store for next season by dropping 13 points and five rebounds over a taller front line. Akron then traveled to Nebraska to play Creighton, who outshot the Zips to win, 71-60.

2. NC State victory — Dennis Kennedy barely crossed the goalline before time expired, giving Akron its first win over an ACC school. J.D. Brookhart could have kicked a field goal for the tie, but he made the right call. Unfortunately, Akron forfeited all its momentum the next week when turnovers and poor kicking prevented Akron from winning at the eventual MAC Champion Central Michigan Chippewas.

3. NCAA Track championships — Akron sent six athletes to the national championships and four left as All-Americans. As a team, the men finished 49th and women came in 70th. Coach Dennis Mitchell lost three of those All-Americans, but three other NCAA qualifiers, Auston Papay, Randall Hafner and Natalie Sako, will return.

4. Kest's torrid streak — When Jodi Kest arrived at Akron, who could have expected Akron to run off six straight wins and be 7-5 at this point in the season? Her rebuilding Zips have made progress each game this season. Two questions remain: Will they play this well during the MAC season? And will anyone show up at Rhodes Arena?

5. Resigning coaches – Mack Rhoades achieved his main goal in the first year of his term as Akron's athletic director when Brookhart and Keith Dambrot signed similar extensions keeping them in the Rubber City until the next decade. Brookhart has excelled in recruiting. Dambrot has proven to be a defensive expert. Both certainly earned their raises.

Honorable mentions –

• Akron finally signed an elite big man in Steve Swiech — the 29th best center in the nation from Elizabeth, Pa.
• Zips receiver Domenik Hixon heard his name called in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. As soon as his ailing foot heals, he will catch passes from Denver's Jay Cutler.
• The women's soccer team started its season with seven straight wins. Catherine Byrne's Zips could not keep that momentum as they went 4-7 in MAC play.
• Akron avoided punishment from the NCAA by surpassing the 15,000 average attendance at home games. That was actual attendance and paid attendance. Talking to members of the athletic department, meeting the goal was a significant accomplishment that had some people worrying.

Miscellaneous

The Buchtelite's sports editor Adam Ferrise started a Zips blog on The Sporting News' Web site.

Bookmark this site.

Ferrise knows 10 times more than me when it comes to college athletics. It's almost sick how he can rattle off starting lineups for Missouri Valley Conference teams.

I'm not sure how often he plans to post on the blog, but his insight and analysis is definitely valuable.

Miscellaneous

Sorry I haven't been able to keep up with the blog lately.

I've been at a journalism convention at St. Louis. It's been a lot of fun, seeing the Detroit Tigers who are lodging in our hotel.

There's an outside shot I'll have Game 5 tickets. Cross your fingers for me.

I'll try to have some stuff previewing the Akron-Toledo game.

Miscellaneous

I'm sitting in the Buchtelite office slaving over a three-page paper on the history of science, and it's awful.

But at least the band just marched by, which mysteriously always brightens my day.

Miscellaneous

Have you ever wondered about the coaches salaries?

When I was editor of the student-run magazine, we compiled the list, which you can access here.

Miscellaneous

Some readers have expressed interest in the Buchtelite's 24-page Welcome Back issue.

The paper hits the racks Monday morning, but I'll give you an early sniff.

Here is the PDF of the sports page.

Download B1_8_28_06_bucht.pdf

Track

I could start this note with a reference to Rocky IV or the Red Scare, but I won't.

As coach of the U.S. Track and Field Team, Akron coach Dennis Mitchell's American team took second place at the Norwich Union International Match. The Russians won.

The men, whom Mitchell coached, actually beat the Russians, 177-146. They won 11 of 16 events. However, once the men's and women's scores were combined, the Americans fell just short, 349-312.5.

"Unfortunately, the day before the competition they decided to combine the score," Mitchell said. "I think this was for television purposes. The loaded and well-rested Russian womenÕs team was too much for our women."

Regardless, the Zips coach said he enjoyed the experience.

"This was one of the most exciting coaching experiences of my life," he said. "It felt like a conference championship trying to rally and coach the team to try to beat Russia."

Let me put this in perspective for some of you who don't care about college track: Akron matters, and the Zips coach is a big name in the track world. Mitchell's honor should be a huge boost to recruiting, which already is outstanding.

Football

The Battle/Massacre for the Wagon Wheel will be on television.

It is one of Fox Sports Net's MAC Games of the Week. The network has not yet decided the other games.

• Time to move home: The Zips broke preseason camp today. They will begin a normal weekly practice schedule starting Saturday.
• Is the football world overlooking Akron? Joe Paterno isn't. Here is a Patriot-News story that shouts: "Akron can make this a game." The most interesting nugget from this story is that coach J.D. Brookhart says Luke Getsy is a more polished quarterback than Charlie Frye was in his senior year. This is mainly due to Getsy's familiarity with Brookhart's offense, but still…
• Morelli vs. Getsy: Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli will make his first career start on Sept. 4 against the Zips. He and Getsy are from the same area of Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review discusses Getsy's career.

Miscellaneous

As the football and men's soccer teams assemble their rosters, one position now falls into question: beat writer.

The Akron Beacon Journal will lay off 40 of its 160 newsroom employees in the coming weeks. Cuts might include Zips football reporter David Lee Morgan and men's soccer writer Tom Reed.

The hope for many reporters, photographers and copy editors falls solely on other employees voluntarily resigning.

The cuts, made according to seniority, also took my job. As many of you know, however, I do not blog through the ABJ. This is an advertising partnership between the newspaper and the university. The university pays me, so I will continue for the foreseeable future.

• In other media news, UA hired Bill Morgan to replace Tommy Gelehrter as the host of pregame shows and play-by-play commentator for women's basketball. He comes from WJER/101.7 Dover-New Philadelphia where he is the morning drive host.

Miscellaneous

If I read a piece of mail that said parking at Zips games would cost an extra $525, I would be astounded, and probably not pay it.

Heck, I'd rather walk from my on-campus apartment than pay that much to tailgate.

But then again, I am a college student. I don't have a real job with real income.

I hate telling people how to spend their money, so I won't. My opinion, though, is you have to pay for quality. In sports, you can always find a Kent State vs. Buffalo game where entry is free with a canned good or a pulse. As a fan, I don't want that. And I'm willing to pay more for a better product.

A lot of people talk about being willing to pay once the new stadium is up. That's great. But a stadium doesn't just pop up out of nowhere. The university must approve it. And whether the alumni will pay a higher price this season for various things probably will weigh on the board of trustees when they decide whether it is appropriate to spend tens of millions of dollars on Proenza Stadium.

Sure, the athletic department would love any additional revenue from this year, but I think the bigger issue is whether the fanbase is willing to provide it in the future.

Akron is no Ohio State and never will be (at least during my lifetime). However, if you looked at what Buckeye alumni pay to see football games, you would gag. Zips games don't need to cost anything near that, but when the product improves, I expect the price to follow it.

THAT BEING SAID, a $500 increase is obscene and insulting to the people who have been the team's most loyal supporters throughout the years. If I am, say Captain Kangaroo, I write a kind letter to Mack Rhoades explaining that such a dramatic price increase is a poor decision. If it's $200, OK. If it's $525, there's no chance people will pay it.

This seems to be a contentious issue, as many of you have contacted me about it. Feel free to comment below.