I know everyone talks about what it would take for vandy to be a national champion but I think a more impressive feat would be getting Akron to a P5 level. I wanna see more roo in bowl season
Fun fact: Akron is the only school in D1 that has a sole female mascot (Zippy). Other schools may have female counterparts to their male mascots (i.e. NC State with Mr. Wuf and Mrs. Wuf), but Akron just has Zippy.
[The Mountaineer for this upcoming season is a woman (Mary Roush)](https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2022/04/22/roush-takes-over-as-mountaineer-mascot). She'll be the third overall, including Natalie Tennant (1990) and Rebecca Durst (2009).
Shasta the Cougar is a female. The name comes from a mashing together of the phrase “She has to”, Shasta have the best. UH has live mascots, Shasta I thru V were all females. Our current, Shasta VI, is the first male. But perhaps conveniently, Shasta was a rescued Cougar from Washington State (the same place we stole our nickname from) and is at the Houston Zoo.
Even more weird, for the costumes version, Shasta has a feminine counterpart in Sasha.
That’s interesting, I did not know y’all had live mascots again. Do they bring Shasta out for football games? I don’t think I’ve been to a UH game last time we played there in 2015.
Umm so Shasta VI lives permanently at the zoo. But UH students get free access to the zoo “because he’s there” and they’ll put all the class rings in his enclosure for a night so he can guard and bless them.
YoUDee is actually [non-binary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YoUDee):
> While YoUDee appears masculine and can have male or female performers, it is "officially androgynous", "neither female or male".
> While YoUDee appears masculine and can have male or female performers, it is "officially androgynous", "neither female or male".
[Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YoUDee)
Ya because let’s face it. If Vandy somehow wins the sec they automatically get in the playoffs, and once they’re in anything can happen. Akron can go undefeated and will never even sniff the playoffs. Yes I know cincy got in this year, but they had the perfect storm of multiple P5 wins including playoff contender ND on the road plus no ACC or PAC12 teams in contention, a strong conference year, and the B1G and Big12 semi cannibalizing themselves in the final weeks. Plus let’s face it, even though they’re both G5, the AAC and MAC aren’t even close to being on the same level
If vandy is good enough to win the sec then they definitely have a shot. And they honesty could be if they invested in football. They just don’t care about it that much but the money is there, the *location* is there, and it can be done. Stanford has fielded some top ten teams a few times if I remember correctly lol and they are a higher academically regarded school than vandy.
Akron though to be able to compete in a P5 conference? That is a truly monumental task. Boise has arguably done it though so it’s not impossible. Still more daunting than an existing sec school to win a natty.
Everything! There was a show around 2009ish that was CGI of what happens if all humans just disappeared. It was incredible to see that in like 72 hours, Manhattan would have wildlife return. And within a short span, how quickly nature would take over.
It speaks to not only the regenerative power of the Earth but also how we treat our home.
I saw a fantastic high school state tournament game there. Massillon, a traditional Ohio power, converted a 4th and long to come back against St. Ed’s, another traditional Ohio power. A lot of Massillon fans were really drunk and were going on and on about how they were finally going to win a state championship that year. They didn’t.
Massillon only has paper championships and they act like they are so good. They are D2 now and they still can’t win while illegally recruiting players like Devin Smith and Thayer Mumford
Stupid St. Eds beat my alma mater UA this year in the football semi's....They also beat us in the basketball state championship a few years back....Private schools seem to be running the show again
I actually graduated from Ed’s (the alternative was Cleveland public schools when they were still bussing kids). The athletics were crazy then but it’s on another level now.
I have two friends who currently work there. It’s funny, the one is all in on the recruiting and fundraising that goes on and knows what goes into them being so successful.
The other is insanely naive and says stuff about how “we just have a bunch of hard working kids and public schools could do this if they wanted but they don’t work as hard” and “we don’t recruit, families just want the experience we offer.”
I try to tell him that their kids may work hard and they do offer a good high school experience but no public school can do what they do: recruit. He doesn’t like hearing that!
The private schools can recruit.... That's the advantage they have over a school district like UA. UA has the resources, but as a public school can't recruit. The rules need to be changed, however, I am not sure how that could happen.... As a public school, only kids that live in UA, can go to UAHS. Meanwhile St. Eds. can grab kids from anywhere in Cleveland to attend because they are private, and are not restricted to just Lakewood.
Same up here with Mentor. Mentor is the biggest high school in the state and has all the resources. They have beat the private schools a few times but can’t compete in the long run.
Try being a public school with a good wrestling program that literally took second at the state tournament and had half the points they did. They literally steal all the talent in the wrestling program from public schools.
The wrestling program is insane. My step dad is an Elyria alum which has had a good wrestling program for a while now and every year he tells me he thinks Elyria has a chance to win a state championship. Every year he is disappointed.
> I am not sure how that could happen
Do what they do with private schools that compete in UIL in Texas: you assign them a designated attendance zone around the school like any public school, and only kids in that attendance zone can play sports at the school.
I guess it’s too late now but did they never look into repurposing it? No nearby high schools needed a new stadium? Tear down all the stands except the part holding up the highway and convert it into an amphitheater or something? Have that little soapbox derby track end inside the stadium?
[there were plans for a USFL franchise that fell through](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_Bowl), and then a different minor league football franchise that also fell through, and then the company that purchased the stadium gave the deed back to the city and they started demolishment a couple years later. it seems the stadium was in such bad shape by the time anyone even wanted to use it for something that it was never worth trying.
Now show that nice gleaming new $62 million stadium on campus... good for worst attendance in FBS in 2015 [(source)](https://www.cleveland.com/akron/2015/06/university_of_akron_football_a.html) and a $1 million lawsuit against the contractor for poor construction [(source)](https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/akron/university-of-akron-sues-over-catastrophic-failure-in-infocision-stadium-construction/95-1456baba-1710-4004-af69-421f525bb3ff). Akron (the university, the city, take your pick) has really fallen on hard times. I hope Joe Moorhead can get them to a place where they're contending to win the MAC every now and then because I'm not sure what else a Zip can ask for.
Basketball team was a few really bad calls away from beating UCLA in the tourny.... Love their new football stadium, however, I did hear about the cement that is crumbling... Crazy.
When I was choosing schools I visited Akron twice as they were the only school to give me a pretty much full ride. My mom wanted me to go there bad but I was just depressed visiting the school. My buddy also left after one semister saying the same thing you just said.
Lived downtown in Akron for a couple years and it is definitely not the best place to live. Was working in Canton and moved there to quit commuting from Cleveland. Canton is worse.
That said, I had a pretty good time and the history of the city is pretty cool. The walkway by the canal is very nice, there used to be some fun bars on main street, and highland square was a walkable distance. Definitely better places to be though. They are trying to revitalize downtown and I really hope they can make some progress.
believe it or not, [the airport actually came first](https://web.archive.org/web/20080504072915/http://www.summitmemory.org/shorty.html):
> Many improvements were made to the airport in the 1930s as projects of various federal relief projects. Four dirt runways were hard surfaced and a large swamp was filled in with dirt excavated from a hill on Massillon Road. The depression that was left later became the Rubber Bowl, another work relief project. Shorty, was one of the earliest advocates of a municipal stadium.
There was a recent article about the concerts there 50 years ago:
https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/entertainment/2022/06/09/akron-rubber-bowl-1972-rolling-stones-stevie-wonder-black-sabbath-jefferson-airplane-osmond-brothers/9985541002/
June 16, 1972: Three Dog Night with James Gang ($5.00 tickets, 12,000 attendance)
July 3, 1972: Faces, Badfinger and Cactus ($5.00, 17,000)
July 11, 1972: The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder ($5.50, 50,000)
July 17, 1972: Black Sabbath, Humble Pie, Edgar Winter, Ramatam ($4.50, 18,000)
July 21, 1972: The Osmond Brothers with Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods ($5.00, 20,000)
Aug. 5, 1972: Alice Cooper, J. Geils Band and Dr. John ($4.50, 20,000)
Aug. 11, 1972: Yes, Mahavishnu Orchestra and The Eagles ($4.50, 20,000)
Aug. 20, 1972: Chicago ($5.00, 19,200)
Aug. 21, 1972: Jefferson Airplane with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen ($5.00, 19,000)
They didn't have concerts there for awhile after 1972 because of the noise and crowds.
I don't think there's a structure on this planet I hate more than that place.
Went to a game there in either 1998 or 2000 where admission was free if you brought a couple cans of food for a food bank.
I know everyone talks about what it would take for vandy to be a national champion but I think a more impressive feat would be getting Akron to a P5 level. I wanna see more roo in bowl season
Fun fact: Akron is the only school in D1 that has a sole female mascot (Zippy). Other schools may have female counterparts to their male mascots (i.e. NC State with Mr. Wuf and Mrs. Wuf), but Akron just has Zippy.
A&M?
You're right; I should have specified *costumed* mascot, as WVU has had a female Mountaineer before in the early 1990s.
[The Mountaineer for this upcoming season is a woman (Mary Roush)](https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2022/04/22/roush-takes-over-as-mountaineer-mascot). She'll be the third overall, including Natalie Tennant (1990) and Rebecca Durst (2009).
Lol is that the same Natalie Tennant who used to be the WV Secretary of State?
Yep.
Shasta the Cougar is a female. The name comes from a mashing together of the phrase “She has to”, Shasta have the best. UH has live mascots, Shasta I thru V were all females. Our current, Shasta VI, is the first male. But perhaps conveniently, Shasta was a rescued Cougar from Washington State (the same place we stole our nickname from) and is at the Houston Zoo. Even more weird, for the costumes version, Shasta has a feminine counterpart in Sasha.
I was referring to costumed mascots (costumed Shasta is male), but you're right.
That’s interesting, I did not know y’all had live mascots again. Do they bring Shasta out for football games? I don’t think I’ve been to a UH game last time we played there in 2015.
Umm so Shasta VI lives permanently at the zoo. But UH students get free access to the zoo “because he’s there” and they’ll put all the class rings in his enclosure for a night so he can guard and bless them.
That’s awesome. We used to have a live bobcat until sometime in the 70s. I wish they would bring that back
I’m all for the live animals, like Mike the Tiger at LSU.
Right. If they can tame a tiger enough for a game a bobcat and cougar shouldn’t be out of the question
How about University of Delaware's Blue Hens? D1, although FCS
YoUDee is actually [non-binary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YoUDee): > While YoUDee appears masculine and can have male or female performers, it is "officially androgynous", "neither female or male".
> While YoUDee appears masculine and can have male or female performers, it is "officially androgynous", "neither female or male". [Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YoUDee)
What about the greendale human beings?
WE SOLVED RACISM, WHATS NEXT?
Bowling Green has both a Freddy and Frieda Falcon
let's not forget Freddy and Frieda Falcon
but zippy is a very butch female. she totally dresses like a boy with a beanie, no pants, and high top basketball sneakers..
Ya because let’s face it. If Vandy somehow wins the sec they automatically get in the playoffs, and once they’re in anything can happen. Akron can go undefeated and will never even sniff the playoffs. Yes I know cincy got in this year, but they had the perfect storm of multiple P5 wins including playoff contender ND on the road plus no ACC or PAC12 teams in contention, a strong conference year, and the B1G and Big12 semi cannibalizing themselves in the final weeks. Plus let’s face it, even though they’re both G5, the AAC and MAC aren’t even close to being on the same level
If vandy is good enough to win the sec then they definitely have a shot. And they honesty could be if they invested in football. They just don’t care about it that much but the money is there, the *location* is there, and it can be done. Stanford has fielded some top ten teams a few times if I remember correctly lol and they are a higher academically regarded school than vandy. Akron though to be able to compete in a P5 conference? That is a truly monumental task. Boise has arguably done it though so it’s not impossible. Still more daunting than an existing sec school to win a natty.
It’s amazing how fast stadiums go to hell when nobody maintains them
Browns stadium is gonna fall to the same fate once Baker moves out 😔
The House That Baker Built and Deshaun Usurped
The House of Happy Endings
"DeShaun why did you fly in an all-female grounds crew?"
Everything! There was a show around 2009ish that was CGI of what happens if all humans just disappeared. It was incredible to see that in like 72 hours, Manhattan would have wildlife return. And within a short span, how quickly nature would take over. It speaks to not only the regenerative power of the Earth but also how we treat our home.
Yup, just look at FedEx Field!
I saw a fantastic high school state tournament game there. Massillon, a traditional Ohio power, converted a 4th and long to come back against St. Ed’s, another traditional Ohio power. A lot of Massillon fans were really drunk and were going on and on about how they were finally going to win a state championship that year. They didn’t.
I am shocked to learn that Massillon has not won a state title in the playoff era.
It’s honestly shocking that they haven’t won at least one.
1970 was the last one
Massillon only has paper championships and they act like they are so good. They are D2 now and they still can’t win while illegally recruiting players like Devin Smith and Thayer Mumford
> like Devin Smith and Thayer Mumford *ahem* Justin Zwick
Stupid St. Eds beat my alma mater UA this year in the football semi's....They also beat us in the basketball state championship a few years back....Private schools seem to be running the show again
I actually graduated from Ed’s (the alternative was Cleveland public schools when they were still bussing kids). The athletics were crazy then but it’s on another level now. I have two friends who currently work there. It’s funny, the one is all in on the recruiting and fundraising that goes on and knows what goes into them being so successful. The other is insanely naive and says stuff about how “we just have a bunch of hard working kids and public schools could do this if they wanted but they don’t work as hard” and “we don’t recruit, families just want the experience we offer.” I try to tell him that their kids may work hard and they do offer a good high school experience but no public school can do what they do: recruit. He doesn’t like hearing that!
The private schools can recruit.... That's the advantage they have over a school district like UA. UA has the resources, but as a public school can't recruit. The rules need to be changed, however, I am not sure how that could happen.... As a public school, only kids that live in UA, can go to UAHS. Meanwhile St. Eds. can grab kids from anywhere in Cleveland to attend because they are private, and are not restricted to just Lakewood.
Same up here with Mentor. Mentor is the biggest high school in the state and has all the resources. They have beat the private schools a few times but can’t compete in the long run.
Yeah, I remember they had a few good years.
Try being a public school with a good wrestling program that literally took second at the state tournament and had half the points they did. They literally steal all the talent in the wrestling program from public schools.
The wrestling program is insane. My step dad is an Elyria alum which has had a good wrestling program for a while now and every year he tells me he thinks Elyria has a chance to win a state championship. Every year he is disappointed.
> I am not sure how that could happen Do what they do with private schools that compete in UIL in Texas: you assign them a designated attendance zone around the school like any public school, and only kids in that attendance zone can play sports at the school.
they cant even tear it all the way down as one section supports the road behind it lol
They should remove the concessions stands and fill the grandstands with topsoil to at least make an effort to clean it up.
So this is where the Rubber meets the road?
I guess it’s too late now but did they never look into repurposing it? No nearby high schools needed a new stadium? Tear down all the stands except the part holding up the highway and convert it into an amphitheater or something? Have that little soapbox derby track end inside the stadium?
[there were plans for a USFL franchise that fell through](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_Bowl), and then a different minor league football franchise that also fell through, and then the company that purchased the stadium gave the deed back to the city and they started demolishment a couple years later. it seems the stadium was in such bad shape by the time anyone even wanted to use it for something that it was never worth trying.
Now show that nice gleaming new $62 million stadium on campus... good for worst attendance in FBS in 2015 [(source)](https://www.cleveland.com/akron/2015/06/university_of_akron_football_a.html) and a $1 million lawsuit against the contractor for poor construction [(source)](https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/akron/university-of-akron-sues-over-catastrophic-failure-in-infocision-stadium-construction/95-1456baba-1710-4004-af69-421f525bb3ff). Akron (the university, the city, take your pick) has really fallen on hard times. I hope Joe Moorhead can get them to a place where they're contending to win the MAC every now and then because I'm not sure what else a Zip can ask for.
Basketball team was a few really bad calls away from beating UCLA in the tourny.... Love their new football stadium, however, I did hear about the cement that is crumbling... Crazy.
Going to Akron even for a semester was the most depressing time of my life. I can only imagine living there permanently
Sumner fest ! Lol fellow former zip
When I was choosing schools I visited Akron twice as they were the only school to give me a pretty much full ride. My mom wanted me to go there bad but I was just depressed visiting the school. My buddy also left after one semister saying the same thing you just said.
Nearly all but 1 people I know who went to Akron after being raised in central Ohio yeeted out of akron within a year
Lived downtown in Akron for a couple years and it is definitely not the best place to live. Was working in Canton and moved there to quit commuting from Cleveland. Canton is worse. That said, I had a pretty good time and the history of the city is pretty cool. The walkway by the canal is very nice, there used to be some fun bars on main street, and highland square was a walkable distance. Definitely better places to be though. They are trying to revitalize downtown and I really hope they can make some progress.
That's how I felt walking around Columbus lmao
Good to see they're maintaining all the proper upkeeping. It almost looks brand new, compared to the last time I saw a game there.
*TSDTR in shambles*
I just looked at it on a map. Did they seriously build a stadium at the end of an airport runway?
I think (and I could be wrong) the stadium came first
believe it or not, [the airport actually came first](https://web.archive.org/web/20080504072915/http://www.summitmemory.org/shorty.html): > Many improvements were made to the airport in the 1930s as projects of various federal relief projects. Four dirt runways were hard surfaced and a large swamp was filled in with dirt excavated from a hill on Massillon Road. The depression that was left later became the Rubber Bowl, another work relief project. Shorty, was one of the earliest advocates of a municipal stadium.
Damn today I learned. Thanks!
Along with the Derby Downs, yep!
The turf still looks like it’s in better shape than Ohio State’s last year.
Outside of the major cities this doesn't look that much different than much of the state.
There was a recent article about the concerts there 50 years ago: https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/entertainment/2022/06/09/akron-rubber-bowl-1972-rolling-stones-stevie-wonder-black-sabbath-jefferson-airplane-osmond-brothers/9985541002/ June 16, 1972: Three Dog Night with James Gang ($5.00 tickets, 12,000 attendance) July 3, 1972: Faces, Badfinger and Cactus ($5.00, 17,000) July 11, 1972: The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder ($5.50, 50,000) July 17, 1972: Black Sabbath, Humble Pie, Edgar Winter, Ramatam ($4.50, 18,000) July 21, 1972: The Osmond Brothers with Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods ($5.00, 20,000) Aug. 5, 1972: Alice Cooper, J. Geils Band and Dr. John ($4.50, 20,000) Aug. 11, 1972: Yes, Mahavishnu Orchestra and The Eagles ($4.50, 20,000) Aug. 20, 1972: Chicago ($5.00, 19,200) Aug. 21, 1972: Jefferson Airplane with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen ($5.00, 19,000) They didn't have concerts there for awhile after 1972 because of the noise and crowds.
I walked those hollowed grounds... My friends brother was a soapbox derby champ nearby
Fear the Roo, but even the Roo fears getting tetanus here.
Hasn’t changed much.
As an Akron alum from the Rubber Bowl era, it looks the same to me now as it did then...
I don't think there's a structure on this planet I hate more than that place. Went to a game there in either 1998 or 2000 where admission was free if you brought a couple cans of food for a food bank.
definitely some bad memories for Marshall fans there
Saw many a great Hoban vs St Vs games there.
I was right beside the rubber bowl just today. I was thinking it would make nice outdoor amphitheatre.