Dave in Green

I'm trying to avoid what's going on. But Hilltopper just called me on his cell phone and said he can't get to a computer until later tonight, and he wants me to post this for him right now: All Zips fans should pity the poor WMU cheerleaders. Each time the Broncos score, their cheerleaders do as many pushups as they have points on the board. In the first 8 minutes of the 2nd half, the WMU cheerleaders had to do 177 pushups.

@GoZips, if you're right, then let's out all the bad sources that posters here have been quoting as reliable and strike them from ZN.o's list of trusted sources for future inside information on Zips football.

Rasor addressed it here.

@Big Zip, some really good thinking there about the potential for Tressel to attract additional funding into UA from Ohio donors. Tressel is really pretty unique among potential football coaches in his ability to do something like that for UA. Even those who are not Tressel fans should not be in denial about the funding factor. And if he were to raise the profile of UA on a sustainable basis for the future, he truly would become a legendary figure in Akron history.This is all speculative, and the odds are against it happening. But Zips football fans deserve to be able to dream big after all the suffering they've been through. Let's enjoy the dreaming while we can before reality sets in.

It depends on how important money is to him at this stage in his life. He's around 60 years old and has already earned many millions. If he's hungry for more millions, he'll go with the highest-paying job he can find. If he's comfortable with the millions he's already earned, he may put other considerations ahead of earning the biggest possible paycheck.

I guess I now see at least a small chance of Tressel coming to UA. It really comes down to two key points: What penalty does the NCAA have in mind for him if he would even want to return to college coaching, and what does he really want to do with the remaining years of his professional career? If he's banned from college coaching for a few years, that ends it right there. We'll know more after the NCAA announces all its tOSU sanctions. There's certainly at least a possibility that he might find fulfillment in turning around a smaller college football program in his home state of Ohio to help mend his tarnished reputation. I could go for that if I could be sure he would be building a sustainable winning football program at UA for the longterm, and that he would do it in the right way with no hint of scandals. Tressel may not be the greatest college football coach in America. But he is without question the best proven college football coach who would even have the slightest chance of considering coming to Akron for what UA can afford to pay.

Ha, I don't remember either, so it obviously wasn't life-altering.

ITZ, I appreciate seeing your informed posts once again on ZN.o. You and I had a few disagreements back when you were regularly posting here before. But I think ZN.o is a better place with your regular contributions, and hope you stay active here.

I agree that it makes no sense for any sane man to want to be married to a Kardashian.

Humpty has always had a lot of heart. He was always entertaining to watch at UA, and I'll bet he's looking more polished in his senior season at JMU. That 10 assists in one game must be his best ever. He averaged 2.0 assists per game for JMU last season, and 2.5 per game in his two seasons at UA. Ironically, Humpty currently has a career assist per game average of 2.3, identical to the career average of the player he shared PG duties with at UA, Steve McNees. Humpty's career stats can be tracked on statsheet.com here.

Well said, xu9697. I join you in wishing only the best for Coach Ianello and his family in this difficult time following the loss of a beloved family member.

We'll see in a couple of days if this rumor is true. If it is, we'll see how the financial situation works out. In the meantime, out of respect for Ianello's loss of his mother, I'm going to take a little break from the speculation.

Read the contract. He's required to make "reasonable and diligent efforts to obtain a coaching or other comparable employment position as soon as practicable following such termination." Under terms of the contract, he does not have the option to hold out for a head coaching position. Ianello has a fine assistant coaching resume to land a good assistant position.

There's a pretty big range depending on the school, the exact position, the experience and perceived value of the person, etc. For example, in the Big 12/Big 10, the range is from $92,555 to $900,000. Big 12, Big Ten assistant football coaching salaries

Do you have access to inside info, or are you just guessing like everyone else? As is now evident from examining Ianello's contract, UA would not likely incur a heavy penalty by releasing him early because it's likely that Ianello would land a well-paid assistant position in a major program that would offset most or all of what UA would owe him over the remaining 3 years of his contract. Based on the Zips' record over the last 2 years, including the most recent team performances, UA would have to have really deep and abiding faith that Ianello is on the verge of a major turnaround next season to keep him in place. I'd be just fine with Ianello as UA's head coach if it were true that a major turnaround is just around the corner. But, like others on this forum, I've seen no evidence to give me deep and abiding faith in that scenario.

Key clauses are in V-E-3&4. Section E is Termination by University Other than for Cause. Item 3 essentially says that Coach is required to make reasonable and diligent efforts to find another coaching position. Item 4 states: If the Coach is employed elsewhere post-termination in a coaching or other comparable employment position, University's obligations to pay Coach as set forth in this Section V(E) shall be reduced by the Coach's total compensation from all sources related to such position. University shall pay such revised amount in monthly installments after the Coach's date of hire to the new position in monthly installments for the remaining term of the Agreement. In other words, if Ianello were to be terminated by UA other than for cause after the second year of his 5-year contract, and Ianello immediately hired on as an assistant somewhere else, UA would only owe him the difference between his current salary and his new salary. If he gets a high-paying position at a major school that matches or exceeds his UA salary, UA would owe him nothing. In other words, it's in the best interests of UA and all UA fans to praise Ianello to the heavens as an assistant coach to try to help raise his value to other programs and earn him the highest-paying job possible.

If the rumor is true, Ianello's previous credentials will almost certainly land him a good-paying assistant position with a major program, and he and his family will do just fine. Odds are against him getting another shot at a head coaching job, though.

UA is offering a bus trip for the Zips basketball game in West Virginia Monday that is open to both students and non-students.

If the following Wall Street Journal story is factual, it doesn't reflect well on Paterno, Penn State, or an attitude that's too prevalent in college football: A Discipline Problem: Paterno Fought Penn State Official Over Punishment of Players

@GP1, the reader who worked in college admissions makes some really intelligent points. Deemphasizing college sports may make more sense than total elimination. But trying to deemphasize college sports could be quite a challenge. I see it as a supply and demand situation, where we (the fans) demand college sports by virtue of our willingness to help finance them through our purchase of tickets and our donations. Colleges and universities are merely responding to the marketplace by supplying what we demand. Would college sports fans be satisfied with deemphasized sports, i.e. not high-level, quasi-professional sports, or would it lead to lower interest and less income to help support colleges? The key question for me is what would be the total effect on higher education of deemphasizing or eliminating college sports? If a major revenue source like football were to be reduced or eliminated, would this be better or worse for higher education overall? Higher education is increasingly important to competing in the modern world. America needs to keep its educational system near the top in order to compete in an increasingly global market where other countries are placing a higher priority on higher education. We need an honest and objective evaluation of what best contributes to this, including all the sacred cows such as college sports.

Wherever Brown ranks, he wasn't in the top 10 as of the beginning of this season: Rk. Blks. (Games) 1. 165 Romeo Travis, 2004-07 (122) 2. 151 Zeke Marshall, 2009- (71) 3. 109 Bruce Weinkein, 1998-2001 (100) 4. 107 George Phillips, 1996-2000 (109) 5. 86 Rob Preston, 2001-06* (100) 6. 82 Joel Price, 1978-79, ‘80-81 (53) 7. 76 David Mason, 1979-80, ‘80-81 (49) 8. 65 Quade Milum, 2005-08 (121) 9. 59 Mike Bardo, 2007- 10 (100) 10. 53 Nate Linhart, 2006-09 (134)

Speaking of magic numbers, how about 70. The Zips shot a team average of 70% from the free throw line last season, which is slightly above the DI 50th percentile of 69%. The Zips had 28 free throw attempts against Duquesne and made 14 for a 50% average. Had the Zips matched their modest 70% free throw rate from last season, they would have made 20 against Duquesne. How magic would that have been? The Zips would have made 20 free throws and beaten Duquesne by 1 point. It's great to finally have athletic players. But free throw shooting is so fundamental and basic to basketball that it really hurts not to at least meet the minimum standards.

Classy statement. Seriously.

Skip: and I know exactly what you mean. Personally, I believe that 4 is the magic number. While it's a long shot for sure, if the Zips beat all the top-ranked teams they play this season and lose only 4 games to lesser teams, I think they still get consideration for an at-large bid. Obviously, getting 2 of those 4 losses so early in the season means we're already half way toward not having a chance for an at-large bid. This may turn out to be a typical KD team that racks up a half dozen losses in the first half of the season, and winning the MAC tournament is their only path to the Big Dance. It does appear, however, to be more the type of team that could actually win games in the NCAA tournament if it can only get there. Part of our early optimism for this season's team was based on finally having the higher level of athleticism we've always envied in other teams. But that athleticism may be too raw right now to produce consistent wins. So while we may have begun the season hoping for the kind of record that could earn an at-large NCAA bid, the odds were never highly favorable, even after the MSU win and before these two losses. Whatever the odds, there's no reason to totally give up as long as a remote possibility remains. We'll know better after the next few games. Gotta keep the faith, as CK preached in one of his more optimistic moments: Wow...this time-honored line appears so soon? After game 3 (game 2, if you don't count Hiram...and you shouldn't). And a BCS win? Will it change if we beat Duquesne, Detroit, WVa and CSU? It can't...can it? To quote Ralph Wiggum - "That's unpossible." +1

A 1,000-mile round trip in a Mini? So what do you have to offer for the people you don't like? Unfortunately, I can't work this trip into my schedule.