Leaderboard

A really good reason right there to stay as positive as we can on this board.

Hudl

I was able to speak to Warren Ball for a short bit. Another super representative of UA! During my interview with Zack, a very loud, incredibly talkative Munch Bishop was interviewing Coach Bowden immediately to my right. The audio recording was a complete wreck with those two in the background, so I had to transcribe it. Things settled down when I spoke to Warren, so here's the audio. I realize I have a long way to go as an interviewer. But Warren is awesome. I think you'll like what he had to say...it's way better to hear his voice that it would be to read it in print. Note - The Wagon Wheel did make an appearance at the Hall of Fame. Audio Interview with Warren Ball

I went to the event. Here's what I learned. This was the second year UA held an alumni event like this in Columbus. By all accounts the alumni association seemed to be pleased with the turnout. About 80 people came during the two hours it was held. The location, Standard Hall, was nice. We had our own room and bar. The food was first class and the drinks were ample. In addition to the strong alumni association showing there were many faculty and staff from the Bliss Institute for Applied Politics. That stands to reason with Columbus being the center of state government. The highlight of the evening was a talk from Matt Wilson. He noted the following: freshmen attendance is up 10% over last year transfers are up 15% over last year the goal of covering a $30 M deficit has been achieved and an additional $5 has been placed in a surplus fund next year a budget deficit of $29 must be covered and the U of A will be out of the deficits for good the dorms are at full occupancy the law school will host an international on-line symposium that will be attended by people from the five major continents the university wants to get more active in state politics. To that end Willy Kollman has been named executive director of Gov't and Alumni Relations he made no mention of sports I tried to talk with Matt but he needed to spend time with the state elected officials that were there. He did comment that we had to have a stronger presence in Columbus and it appeared he was working on it. It was a surprise to me how many of the alumni who attended wanted to talk about Zip sports. I thought they would be indifferent but the opposite was true. They all wanted to talk about Zip teams winning the MAC. Most were not as informed as the average ZNO member but they were hungry for a winner. They took pride in their school. The event ended at 8:00 pm. I'm looking forward to another next year.

Nice synopsis Balsy. Well done.

Great point Balsy. Joe Thomas said essentially the same when asked about the recent CTE study the other day, that the findings don't mean much without being able to compare it to the general population.

Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinions of coaching/admin/players/etc, but I agree with @MDZip 100% on the effects it could have. Just something to consider before hitting the post button.

skip, nope actually not what I was driving at, maybe a should have explained a little more. I don't think what we do likely matters too much in terms of motivation, that's more up to the individual and coaches. I was implying more that since it appears players (from any team) probably do check the board at least occasionally (and we know so do recruits and parents of recruits) that perhaps a group of boosters that appear to support UoFA athletics might be a good front door for all of them. Your opinion certainly has some validity since Zach mentioned he did get some motivation by being called Rudy, but that's not that much of a criticism. But if I'm an athlete at UofA (or a recruit considering UofA) and I see the primary booster group bitching and moaning about how awful UofA athletics is perceived to be by the people who support it most, it might give me second thoughts about whether I'd made or was making the right choice. Certainly a time and place for well-warranted criticism but that was more my point of trying to paint a positive picture of UofA being a good supportive place (as opposed to a safe space ;-)).

Here comes another blessing! Ben Roderick, 6-5 SF. Straight Outta Olentangy! http://verbalcommits.com/players/ben-roderick

Looking at the Zips East schedule, I can't see a 4th place finish happening. I expect to win the East. East Division 1. Ohio (11), 131 - Had Jojo Natson held on to an easy TD catch the Zips beat the Bobcats, in Athens. We get them at home in 2017, and we'll be starting a QB that isn't a mid-season converted WR. OU's strength was their defense, and they graduated a lot on that side of the ball, including DE Tarell Basham (80th pick - Colts). This is a game the Zips MUST win. 2. Miami (12) 129 - Zips beat Miami handily in 2016. Martin has Miami back on track, but they're hardly a juggernaut. Definitely a winnable road game. 3. Bowling Green (1), 88 - 6 turnovers, a WR playing QB for the 2nd half (a reason for a few of those turnovers), and we still were in a position to win with 2 minutes remaining. A late INT and a fumbled punt return sealed the Zips fate, but BG is a bottom-tier MAC program that the Zips should beat in 2017. 4. Akron, 79 - While the Zips are certainly capable of beating themselves, luckily they cannot play themselves. 5. Buffalo, 41 - These guys were 2-10 last season. The Zips won’t lose to Buffalo at home. 6. Kent State, 36 - The Zips won’t lose to Kent at home.

Not bad. Only thing I don't like is that I have seen the Zips play all three teams in our half of the bracket in the not too distant past. I would have liked a little more diversity. Still can't complain about the level of competition.

I'll take it as a sign of respect that they're using erasable pencil and not permanent marker I hope we'll be the toughest of the 3 penciled in.

Freshman Dustin Burkhart sets new Zips record for WR's: This vertical mark would have been good for fourth place among the WR's at the 2017 NFL Combine

I think holding it at the Hall of Fame is brilliant. Could there be a better back-drop to launch a football season than the NFL shrine?

Nick Holley, the converted WR turned QB for KSU, is now listed as a RB. Hmm. Will we have a ZN.O media contingent at the local media day?!

I got one of my wishes, just found out. I was putting the men's soccer schedule into my calendar, and also the women's, and I find that we once again will have a men/women doubleheader, first time in like 5 years. Sunday September 24th - Men vs. UMass Lowell at noon and women vs. Western Michigan at 3. Maybe a few fans will stick around and give some support to the distaff side. I f we only had a Marketing Dept. who could put together something for this other than "first 100 students get a free something they'll throw away tomorrow." Maybe something for the faithful Men fans to stick around for....