Dave in Green

Hilltopper just informed me that Coach Dambrot said at today's press conference that Massive Mastiff didn't balloon up from 285 to 305, but had reduced his weight from 325 to 305! That 325 is a magic number, because that was Shaquille O'Neal's official NBA playing weight, and Shaq is Massive Mastiff's favorite athlete and most-like-to-meet person.

Changed mastodon to mastiff.

EA describes Big Dog as 6-10 and 305 pounds, which is a full 20 pounds more than he's listed on the roster. That would make him one of the heaviest players in college basketball. If he can game at 300+ pounds, Big Dog may be an understatement for a nickname. Massive Mastiff might be more apt.

@LZip, the following is quoted directly from their website:

The College Insider voting panel scores high on the DiG preseason college basketball prediction IQ test.

As a graduate of Louisiana Tech University, located just a couple of miles from Grambling, I'm well aware of the economic challenges that over the years have faced historically black colleges and universities such as Grambling. In addition to all the usual challenges that these schools have faced, Louisiana has thrown an additional burden into the mix with massive education budget reductions. Over the last five years, Louisiana's budget for higher education has been drastically slashed by 80% -- from $1.4 billion to less than $300 million. That's the lowest level since 1961, and traditionally underfunded schools such as Grambling are at the bottom of the heap and sinking. The current situation with Grambling's football team is just the tip of the iceberg of Louisiana's economic crisis in higher education.

@Quickzips, Q's ranking in any of the preseason MAC top player lists is a good basketball IQ test for those doing the rankings. Anyone who doesn't recognize what Q is likely to accomplish this season will earn a low ranking on my preseason basketball analyst list.

Zips will have to play better than they did toward the end of the game today to beat anyone even slightly better than Miami. They can't relax a bit, but must continually work on improving.

Zips finally out of the MAC cellar, but not by much.

Stein redeems himself? Nope, Chisholm got the first down.

Just recover one onside kick for the win.

Zips could still lose if they play like losers.

Time to put it out of reach.

Another three and out for the sweaters. Zips need to continue taking advantage of a tiring Miami defense. This is what winners do to losers.

Should be 24-7. College FG kickers are expected to hit from 39 yards. Zips have to develop confidence from being able to consistently drive the ball into the red zone against a poor defense and learn to finish off those drives. There's still no good reason why the Zips can't take control of this game.

Three straight drives into the red zone = two Bickley fumbles + one missed Stein FG. Ya gotta score to win.

Who is the most negative fan in the MAC?

Depends on what everyone means by retread. A coach who worked his way through smaller college football programs into bigger programs and then moved back into a smaller one is in fact retreading ground he once covered. If the implication is that he's like an old tire carcass patched up with a new tread, that kind of retread would be less flattering. Simply calling a coach experienced or veteran would be a more neutral alternative for retread.

@Zipmeister, Greece is in Europe.

That really was hard to watch. How much of it was the Zips not playing up to expectations and how much was Buffalo overachieving? The Bulls seemed to be positioned just right all night to disrupt the Zips' game. The Zips couldn't get any continuity going at all.

Wow!

Bulls playing a very aggressive, disruptive style. Zips having a really hard time trying to maintain control.

Looks weird in an empty football stadium.

China Times reports that Zeke is in Taiwan apparently getting ready to appear in a pro tournament, though the English translation through Google is a little shaky for figuring out all the details.

@GoZips, yes, you missed something. You missed that most of the sports prognosticators who've posted 2013-14 season previews do not rank the Zips #1 in the MAC. That means the Zips are back where they belong as underdogs, regardless of whether or not Big Dog is leading the pack. So all the players should keep those big old familiar chips on their shoulders. It's understood that the Zips are perpetually ranked #1 in the annual GoZips MAC season preview.