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Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: Akron arena proposal dead
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SBH
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Posted: 7/31/2014 4:35 PM
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Summit County officials pulled the arena from the planned sales tax proposal due to a lack of support.  Not surprised...no way the voters would support building a 9k-seat arena for the Zips.  Let the school figure out a way to do it, though that's unlikely given their financial challenges.




Last Edited: 7/31/2014 4:35:58 PM by SBH
MiamiBlowsChunks
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Posted: 7/31/2014 5:53 PM
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Let's just say the plans went up in smoke. That's very fitting of Zippy ball.
Recovering Journalist
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Posted: 8/1/2014 8:30 AM
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The JAR's a dump, but the argument  for a new arena made by many Zips fans was specious. They seemed to think that the dumpy arena kept fans away, which is crap. They have a good program that wins a lot of games with plenty of population to tap yet they have never even come close to leading the league in attendance. You'd think that Zippy fans would have learned "if you build it, they will come" only works in the movies after building a beautiful and barren football stadium. The people of Summit County certainly did.
perimeterpost
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Posted: 8/1/2014 9:49 AM
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I hope they find a solution. Akron is one of the MAC teams most likely to get on TV, a good looking arena is good for the league. Ditto Kent State.
catfan28
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Posted: 8/1/2014 10:17 AM
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perimeterpost wrote:expand_more
I hope they find a solution. Akron is one of the MAC teams most likely to get on TV, a good looking arena is good for the league. Ditto Kent State.


I'm not naive...Akron's program with a new arena would spell trouble for us. It's the only thing keeping them from absolutely dominating the MAC in basketball. I for one am glad this didn't pass.
Recovering Journalist
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Posted: 8/1/2014 10:38 AM
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catfan28 wrote:expand_more
I hope they find a solution. Akron is one of the MAC teams most likely to get on TV, a good looking arena is good for the league. Ditto Kent State.


I'm not naive...Akron's program with a new arena would spell trouble for us. It's the only thing keeping them from absolutely dominating the MAC in basketball. I for one am glad this didn't pass.


I agree that new arenas are nice for the league, but they're not that important. The MACC is terrible, but looks fine on TV, especially when it's full. Likewise for the JAR. Plenty of schools do well with recruiting and results despite lousy arenas. St. Mary's comes to mind as Exhibit A, but Akron and Kent have both done it in our league.

Akron's bigger recruiting problem is the state of the university itself. It's in financial disarray and the new president has a huge task in front of him. It's difficult to find support for athletic programs that operate in the red at any mid-major, but it has to be doubly difficult at a school that's swimming in debt and facing declining enrollment. Setting aside basketball, I hope the school regains its footing for the sake of Northeast Ohio.
Athens
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Posted: 8/2/2014 4:07 PM
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It would be nice to see it for the MAC. Make the basketball conference more like the MVC.
OU_Country
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Posted: 8/4/2014 9:53 AM
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Uncle Wes wrote:expand_more
It would be nice to see it for the MAC. Make the basketball conference more like the MVC.


This got me to thinking the "what would it take" for this more like the MVC concept to occur.  The MAC has some good arenas, but currently many of them house some of the worst teams, or worst fan bases.  Examples include Worthen Arena, and EMU's Convocation Center.  Thankfully, Toledo has re-emerged, and reportedly has a wonderful facility.  Despite my criticisms, Stroh Center is a solid building - it just needs the fan turnout (and less brown paint!).  CMU's renovated arena looks decent, and I'm a fan of WMU's fieldhouse.

The teams that need better buildings are some of the best teams in the East:  Akron & Kent, as mentioned, and Buffalo.  Alumni Arena could be better if they filled in the corners, and dressed it up a bit.  Millet, if something was done to get seats closer to the floor, might be alright.  I haven't been in it in a long time.

As has been said a number of times, one of the bigger issues in a general sense is that in the MVC, hoops is king.  They're investing dollars into nicer arenas that MAC schools are splitting between football and basketball.  Or, it's mostly going to football. 
davepi2
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Posted: 8/4/2014 11:07 AM
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will zippy leave town unless the county changes it's mind?
Jeff McKinney
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Posted: 8/4/2014 12:47 PM
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Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
I hope they find a solution. Akron is one of the MAC teams most likely to get on TV, a good looking arena is good for the league. Ditto Kent State.


I'm not naive...Akron's program with a new arena would spell trouble for us. It's the only thing keeping them from absolutely dominating the MAC in basketball. I for one am glad this didn't pass.


I agree that new arenas are nice for the league, but they're not that important. The MACC is terrible, but looks fine on TV, especially when it's full. Likewise for the JAR. Plenty of schools do well with recruiting and results despite lousy arenas. St. Mary's comes to mind as Exhibit A, but Akron and Kent have both done it in our league.

Akron's bigger recruiting problem is the state of the university itself. It's in financial disarray and the new president has a huge task in front of him. It's difficult to find support for athletic programs that operate in the red at any mid-major, but it has to be doubly difficult at a school that's swimming in debt and facing declining enrollment. Setting aside basketball, I hope the school regains its footing for the sake of Northeast Ohio.

I agree with Recovering Journalist but not catfan28
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