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Fox Sports Ohio has reportedly reached a multi-year deal to become the regional carrier for the Columbus Crew. If you're a cord cutter who has ESPN+, you should also be able to watch matches there as long as you live outside of the Columbus media market. https://theathletic.com/817155/2019/02/13/fox-sports-ohio-becomes-new-television-home-for-the-columbus-crew/

https://goo.gl/images/9v7WpY

I actually feel pretty much all of Ivey's minutes at the 3 will be filled by Utomi. Utomi may get a few minutes at the 4, but I expect that's where Williams will play most of his minutes. Riak has been the anchor of a top 30 defense. He'll continue to get his 25-30 minutes a night. We also have Reece coming in who will officially be a junior. I can't imagine Groce took a flier on a junior unless he expected him to be able to step in and be in the rotation immediately. I expect him to get most of the minutes at the 4 that Williams doesn't play.

If Arth is serious about centering his recruiting around NE Ohio, the Youngstown area is important. Though not what it was in through the early 90's, it remains a very good football town. If the Zips stomp YSU, it would inform potential recruits who think they're better than FCS-level that there's a viable FBS football alternative 50 minutes up I-76. If we lose...scrap that idea. I think playing YSU is a great. I'm guessing they'll bring a few thousand fans and it will be a fun environment. You can't say InfoCision has been "a fun environment" very often. At least without your nose growing.

Here are a couple of the latest high school games involving Ali Ali (East Noble #12) for anyone with the time and patience. I was curious to see how he is progressing. My assessment is that he flashes the skill and athleticism we desire from a small forward, but by no means does he take over games. He doesn't shoot much at all from the outside in these 2 games, but I know he has the range. I did see a very solid handle for a kid his size, 6'-8". He is quick when he wants to be and makes the difficult pass. And he has no problem dunking in the open court and he hits his free throws. I think it's possible he is a red-shirt candidate. Either way he needs another 15-20 pounds of muscle so he can hold his ground and battle inside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlkV7zFLRAk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmDnZlt3Qok

I'm old at heart, which is what matters. Get off my lawn.

I saw the ladies swimming and diving team is ranked 23rd in the country. That is an outstanding achievement to the coaches and athletes. What amazed me was when I scanned the list of the top 25 teams no one other than Akron was outside the P5 schools. For us to compete with those deep pocketed schools is quite a feather in the cap of our university and athletics dept. Well done everyone! Let's see the other sports joining the success of MSoc, M & W Track and now WSwim & Dive

I agree with everyones comments, but I am all out of "likes" AGAIN. I vote for more "likes". I would just add, don't forget about Mikal Dawson. He is likely to only get garbage minutes at the start of next year, but unlike Ali Ali, Dawson has the strength to compete in the MAC on day one. So he will not be red-shirted, guards seldomly are. He will also be creating competition in practice and pushing the guards in the way Captain Kangaroo desires. It's possible by MAC play he could earn some real playing time.

I could see a starting 5 of LCJ, Cheese, Utomi, Williams and Riak, with Banks and Reece playing major minutes. Throw Roscoe, Sayles and Toles into the mix and they have a nice rotation. However, in today's day and age, they'll lose one or two of those guys.

The Ivy League is non-scholarship FCS so beating them wouldn't count towards bowl eligibility.

ABJ news release: UA coach Chris Sabo to be guest speaker for Greater Akron Baseball HOF The Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame is hosting an evening with the new University of Akron baseball coach and former Cincinnati Reds star Chris Sabo on Feb. 23 at the Duck Club at Canal Park in downtown Akron. The program begins at 6 p.m. with appetizers and a cash bar. Sabo will begin speaking at 7 p.m. Tickets are free, but you must register online at eventbrite.com and seats are limited. A $5 donation is requested at the door with a portion of the proceeds going to the UA baseball team.

Hope to pound them by 50+

Our next two games are @Ball State & @BGSU. I can live with losing the BGSU game as we're currently 3 back from them with only 7 games left. The game we really need is Ball State. With a loss they would slide 1 game behind us and own the tie-breaker. The season hasn't gone the way Ball State expected, but they still have some talent and are more than capable of going on a run given their weak remaining MAC schedule. It's just best for us to bury them that way we don't have to worry about them for seeding.

I saw some really good things last night. In the first half, Jackson used his quickness to create space and then took a 12 foot jump shot and scored. I have not seen that all year. I also saw some successful pick and rolls using Riak. Of course, he dropped a pass that wen through his hands but at least they were trying to execute a basic play. Ivey did a great job on Masinburgh. The bad is that we still have problems on our offense and we went through long periods when we could not put the ball in the basket. Also, way to many turnovers for this team to win. No bench points. Whenever Rosco comes in the other team seems to get offensive rebounds. He missed his only shot. Groce stated that he did not like the teamism and that guys were getting on each other. I did not see that. Instead, guys could not make open shots in key situations. Jackson made a 3 and then triggers an early 3. He was also asleep on the last offensive rebound. However, he led us back into the game. The refs were no help tonight. I play B Ball with a high school ref and he indicated that a good ref does not need to give out technical fouls unless a coach verbally attacks a ref. He expects coaches to complain about calls and will not T them unless they call him names or use profanity. I doubt very much if Groce said anything to deserve a T. I think that was his first T of the season. Did anyone hear what he said? I saw the the illegal screen and it looked like the player ran into the Akron screen and fell down. Not a foul. WE cannot blame the refs for the loss but they certainly had their moments.

Not that this is saying much but I actually thought this was Riak's best offensive game of MAC play. He went 4/5 from the field with 8 points. I'll take that from my center. What I'm surprised to see noone mention is that I, from my seat in the bleachers, scored as many points as our entire bench tonight. I did that while taking 4 fewer shots. Banks looked like a really good 3 and D guy early on in the season. With Roscoe and Pokie not being big offensive factors, he needs to be a spark off the bench. With our thin bench we're going to be exposed in Cleveland where you have to win 3 games in 3 days. I think we're a year away.

I agree I overstated it, but it is my point that it happens all the time and is called infrequently in relation to the times it actually occurs.