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Lets get everyone going to the men's game Saturday to come out early for the women's game versus Ohio at 5 o'clock

Juice refuses to pass the ball, not even once. Zips 71 Rockets 0

With the number of legal problems the team has had in the past few years, please be very careful about getting the exact right word.

Some good news, learned that Deji did practice yesterday

There's a lot of truth to that. VCU was a mid-major like us when we began playing them. Now they've ascended to being a Top 25 team. We aspired to be "The Gonzaga of the East." Gonzaga is no longer a mid-major...they are a Top 10 team. Northern Iowa isTop 25, and stomping their in-state P5 competition (Iowa and Iowa State). Butler is Top 25 even after losing Brad Stevens. Wichita State is Top 25. Creighton used to be like the Zips...now they're in the Big East (which is still a really good basketball conference). When we play OOC, against someone you'd think we should wax, like Valparaiso, Oral Roberts, North Dakota State, IUPFW, etc...if we're lucky, we split. We've shown no ability to separate from the mid-major pack. Some would say we're spoiled. But that's untrue. We're in a rut. Our schedule and recruiting will allow us to maintain the 20-win streak for the next decade. That's great. But it equates to 3,800 fans watching MAC opponents, Arkansas Cream-Puff and Coppin State. We're not doing much to catch the casual fan's imagination. I enjoy the Zips bb games, and love this year's team. Unlike the last couple seasons, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. But if they play in Round #1 in Oregon this year, I'll save the $2,000 and watch it on TV. Been there, done that.

ZTZ Said: What exactly have we won? Yes, we beat the occasional power conference team, but those are always away from the JAR. We beat up on cupcakes at home, and then we beat MAC teams which doesn't mean much because most MAC teams have been awful for decades. We beat more MAC teams in the conference tournament, and then we lose in the post-season. (Sorry, Quote function doesn't work on my work computer.) I've been thinking about this a lot. I've been a season ticket holder for a while now, driving an hour each way to any home game I come to. A few years ago, I wouldn't miss a game. This year, I find myself less than enamored with the drive and find myself staying at home, trying to watch a poor internet feed instead. Why am I less excited this year? I think it comes down to complacency. Once you've seen something several times, it's not as attractive any more. Even if it's really good stuff, it's natural to view it as "been there, done that". Seeing Mount Rushmore the first time is amazing. Seeing it a second time, still cool. But do you want to see it a third time? There are some things, like the Grand Canyon, that awe you regardless of how many times you see it. Duke, Kentucky, Kansas: They're the Grand Canyon. Gonzaga has become Niagara Falls. The Zips in their current form--they're Mount Rushmore, if they're lucky. Is going to the Big Dance three times in the past 6 years a great accomplishment? Compared to what Akron did before that, of course. But we're kind of in an eternal DO-loop here. Not only with losing in the first round of the Tournament, but in everything else as well. The opponents are still the same as they were 5 years ago--literally. The game day experience is actually worse. KD still talks about the MACC being the only thing that matters. It's all well and good to say "yes, but look at the recruits we're getting now". The problem is, we said the same thing 5 years ago. At some point, even if something is really good, it goes stale and loses its luster if it stays the same too long. if you're not moving forward, you're being left behind.

Ken Babby and the RubberDucks knock it out of the park again: http://www.milb.com/promotions/index.jsp?sid=t402

I found a short, but interesting interview with Adam Najem that I don't think anyone else has posted on here. Here is the link: http://collegesoccerexposed.blogspot.com/2015/02/collegesoccerexposed-sits-down-with.html He talks about different aspects of college soccer and his time spent playing in Germany.

Skip, I'm not pooh-poohing the idea at all, but I know it's difficult to get a groundswell of support for a lot of community-growing ideas. It is certainly more difficult that just posting a poll or sending out an invite. We have been trying to promote www.facebook.com/AkronZipsTailgaters (not as an alternative to ZN.o in any way but mostly just as a place for anyone to post pictures) for 3 years and we have 79 likes to show for it. I know it's tough. I also realize I am guilty of looking at Zips athletics through a football lens. I certainly enjoy watching Zips basketball on TV and in person but I would probably not travel from Ashland to Akron to watch a game on TV broadcast from BG. I would be more apt to jump in the car meet a buddy in Avery and travel to BG. Unfortunately, a lot of Zips fans do not live in Summit county which makes it a little more difficult. I do think that the key for community-building is knowing people in real life, by given name and actually make flesh & blood friends. Meeting people from ZN.o is a great place to start, but I would say half of the people I call Zips buddies could care less about this board, which is unfortunate because I think they could add a lot with their commentary. Regardless, my point here is that if I was going to arrange a Zips get together, I would probably not use the board as my medium, I might contact some ZN.o members through the board's personal message function, but I would contact most of the people through the information stored in my phone and by networking with other Zips fans for the contacts I don't have. I think the best way to get to know a lot of Zips fans is through tailgating and also by bar-hopping at the MAC tournament. Also, Zips fans need to be friendly toward other Zips fans. There are so many times that an Akron fan calls out to another at a chance meeting on a roady or maybe just tries to make a little conversation to the guy at the supermarket checkout wearing a Zips hat, only to be looked at with astonished bewilderment or blown off altogether. If I bust off an Eat 'Em Up!, Go Zips! or a "Z-I", I expect a positive response, dammit. This type of weird, non-social kookiness from Zips fans hasn't done the community any favors. It makes some Zips backers gun-shy to say anything to others wearing the brand. Lastly, it bothers me that the University does not acknowledge the fact that the social aspect of sports is huge. If they only realized that, they would not separate tailgaters and make it much easier for me to get to socialize with some of the fine folks who are over in Lot 10 BY ACTUALLY PUTTING ALL TAILGATERS IN THE SAME LOT. I walk over to the Roo Walk and talk to a handful of people in Lot 10 for a hot second before I have to hi-tail it back to Lot 9 to get my grub grillin'. It is extremely frustrating for me. There goes my rambling, disjointed football first mentality again. . .

Slow down Weatherspoon inside and force Juice to take 20 shots. Hopefully he doesn't pull a Willie Alvarez, but that'd be my game plan. Hope Pat and Big Dog are up for it.

I think he's trying to win. I doubt "stabilizing the roster" in high on his priority list.

So I fully understand the finances of a greyshirt ................. the student athlete has to foot the bill for the first semester correct ?