Dave in Green

The mystery continues in code:

@GP1, no question that Zeke is a special talent in blocking shots, and no one is likely to touch his MAC blocked shots records for a long, long time. At the same time I wouldn't sell Pat Forsythe short on his shot-blocking ability. Comparing the high school senior seasons of Zeke, Pat and Big Dog, they averaged 8.0, 6.1 and 2.7 blocks per game respectively. So Pat was closer to Zeke than Big Dog was to Pat. Early last season Pat seemed to go after blocked shots with an intensity rivaling Zeke, though his game trailed off over the season as Zeke played more minutes and Pat fewer. If Pat starts and plays long minutes this season, I expect him to be a stronger defensive presence than some might expect. Big Dog, on the other hand, is much less effective at blocking shots but is strong on rebounding, passing and scoring. I think with Pat starting and Big Dog subbing, they could give the Zips the strongest overall center performance in the MAC.

Zeke's "Momager" tweets that she's had success finding a new job for her client doing something somewhere:

From what I've seen, Chisholm looks as if he doesn't have enough speed to break off long ones without getting pulled down from behind by speedy defenders. He's kind of a tweener back, not quick and fast enough for a breakaway tailback and not big and strong enough for a bruising fullback. Maybe throwing to him more out of the backfield would produce better results.

@GP1, good thoughts on quitting vs. being overwhelmed. The Zips are also likely to be overwhelmed by NIU's much deeeper talent, have a record of 1-6 after next weekend and be teetering on the brink of the Bottom 10. It's how the team rebounds from this killer stretch of games that will determine whether or not they have quit trying. If they don't give up, they can win some winnable games and start building more hope for next season.

Now I'm really depressed.

And tomorrow you'll be back on here asking everyone to take you seriously.

@taxpayer, keep in mind when considering the number of season tickets sold that the premium, lower-level reserved seats are essentially sold out, as there are only a few odd seats still available there. I've sat in the lower section and was not impressed with the view due to the shallow seating angle causing people sitting in front of you to obstruct your view. I actually prefer the sight lines from the less expensive upper level reserved seats, even though they're further from the court. Ideally you want your premium seats to not only be closest to the court but also have the best, unobstructed views. I'd be a candidate to upgrade to premium seating in a new arena where the lower level seating has better sight lines, and I suspect others would, as well. As long as the Zips keep improving and winning more, there's no doubt in my mind that a better arena with more quality seats would attract more season ticket holders as well as higher overall attendance. The only question is how big the increase would be.

Might as well use the official JAR capacity, which is listed at 5,500. Here's what GoZips.com just said about the number of season tickets sold: They say they're almost sold out of lower level reserved seats but don't say anything about what percentage of upper level reserved seats have been sold. My guess is that at least 25% of the seats (1,375) are reserved and available for season tickets..

Actually, the Indians' brief encounter with the MLB playoffs was excruciatingly comparable to the NCAA basketball tournament playoffs -- one loss and you're out.

@Spin, I appreciate that you try to make reasonable points and are open to changing your position when presented with reasonable counterpoints. I also enjoy those types of discussions.

I've said before that I thought Pat Forsythe looked better in some ways earlier last season than later, and Coach Dambrot's remarks about him in this article suggest that Pat might show much better this season with more playing time:

When we post on forums, we should expect others to challenge our assumptions. Forums are places for people to exchange differing opinions. Sometimes discussions get heated and we think others are hammering us. Maybe others also believe we're hammering them.

It's official that Oregon State will be without their leading rebounder from last season when they play the Zips in the Diamond Head Classic.

Good Hirschman news:

If you want great seats to the Mythbusters show, they're available right now on pre-sale at Ticketmaster through the E. J. Thomas e-mail link. I snagged seats on the main floor near the center of row F. But they're not cheap -- $72.50 each. Cheapest balcony seats are $42.50.

Considering that the Zips' poll rankings are much better than their RPI ranking, this seems to fit the general trend in all sports of teams that have been consistent national powers over a period of years getting favorable consideration from pollsters even in years when their RPI is down. It's a residual effect that works both ways, as rising powers in sports tend to have poll rankings that lag their RPI ranking. In the case of Zips soccer, I guess we can't complain about it the way we might in football or basketball. When playing Monopoly, it's always better to live on Boardwalk than on Mediterranean Ave.

@Roo, you cherry-picked the most negative comments about Zeke from a well-balanced profile which I had linked to when it was first published. Here's the link for anyone who wants to read the whole thing. No one, including me, is arguing that Zeke is likely to become an offensive star in the NBA. What many acknowledge is that Zeke is capable of developing into a defensive role player in the NBA with enough offense to get by -- certainly better than "zero." While Zeke improved greatly in his senior season, he would have to continue a steep development curve to make it in the NBA.

If Coach Bowden can't turn the Zips into a winner, where does he go from here? And if he can't get it done, at some point does UA becomes the college football world's symbol of "no coach can turn it into a winning program?" And if that should ever occur, will some brilliant young coach take up the challenge and succeed? These are the kinds of questions that long-suffering fans ask themselves. And the biggest question of all is how many of us will still be alive to witness the final triumph if and when it occurs?

@Zipmeister, don't give up on the Diamond Head Classic just because President Obama might show up. I understand that a conservative theater owner in Honolulu is planning to counter the possible appearance of the current POTUS by scheduling the most extensive Ronald Reagan film festival ever, featuring every movie in which the ex-POTUS ever appeared: Love Is on the Air, Sergeant Murphy, Swing Your Lady, Accidents Will Happen, Cowboy from Brooklyn, The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, Boy Meets Girl, Girls on Probation, Brother Rat, Going Places, Secret Service of the Air, Dark Victory, Code of the Secret Service, Naughty but Nice, Hell's Kitchen, The Angels Wash Their Faces, Smashing the Money Ring, Sword Fishing, Brother Rat and a Baby, An Angel from Texas, Murder in the Air, Knute Rockne All American, Tugboat Annie Sails Again, Alice in Movieland, Santa Fe Trail, The Bad Man Gilbert, Million Dollar Baby, International Squadron, Nine Lives Are Not Enough, Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter, Kings Row, Juke Girl, Mister Gardenia Jones, Desperate Journey, Beyond the Line of Duty, Cadet Classification, The Rear Gunner, For God and Country, This Is the Army, Target Tokyo, The Fight for the Sky, The Stilwell Road, Wings for This Man, Stallion Road, That Hagen Girl, The Voice of the Turtle, John Loves Mary, Night Unto Night, The Girl from Jones Beach, The Hasty Heart, It's a Great Feeling, Louisa, The Big Truth, Storm Warning, The Last Outpost, Bedtime for Bonzo, Hong Kong, The Winning Team, She's Working Her Way Through College, Tropic Zone, Law and Order, Prisoner of War, Cattle Queen of Montana, Tennessee's Partner, Hellcats of the Navy, The Young Doctors, Heritage of Splendor, and The Killers.

The Wolstein Center can't compete against the Q for major events, and smaller events won't pay the bills.

Love the description of the game from WVU Soccer on Twitter: If the Zips can't score a lot this season, they're going to need brilliant performance from the GK to be successful.

Never mind. Just did a quick internet search and found the Zips won 1-0.

Just now checking in. What happened in the match?

@GP1, I really like a lot of your football analysis. But I think you need to do a better analysis on Bickley. It's true that he's a way-undersized true freshman receiver. At most schools he gets redshirted and given time to grow and learn the college game. But the rest of the reality is that Coach Bowden saw something in him that was missing in the bigger receivers; something the Zips need right now. Whether or not Bickley fully lives up to Coach Bowden's expectations this season is something that's hard to predict. But it's a gamble that Coach Bowden believed he needed to make in the absence of anyone else who's shown that they can deliver what Bickley has the potential to deliver. I suggest you not write off Bickley just because you think that big receivers are better than small receivers. Big receivers are better than small receivers only when everything else is equal. It often isn't.