Big Zip

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Domonkos transferred here from Wisconsin -- as in the Badgers. He can't be that bad can he.....there has to be something else, thus migh comment about need for special teams coach. I googled him again and found a 2003 article about the Badgers where he was going to push the kicker as a Freshman.

I think we had this discussion last year, but isn't JD the special teams coach too? A field goal and extra point and this game is 25-24 or at least tied at 24. Is Domonkos 1-3 now? I was really excited when he the 46 yarder in the rain at Penn State and now this? How has he missed two extra points? Did someone say Igor is hurt?

I think Joe said it at the end of the game.....the city of Akron was pretty excited about the Zips after their win last week and now this loss. How many people would have come today with a win that will sit at home next week. I'm not talking about die hard fans...I'm talking about the fair weather fans. Couple this loss with a Can't win against Miami and it was a bad Saturday for Akron.

I agree the sacks may be a function of waiting too long to make something happen. Not to mention the fact that we've played to BCS schools. The answer may be clearer this weekend. The penalties and lack of discipline from a veteran line is very concerning. The beginning of the PSU game when they stopped a drive was terrible.

Does this mean Igor gets a chance next week? At the golf outing this summer one of the coaches talked about how he was kicking them from 65.

Game is on the deuce!

Kind of makes you feel like Charlie's got your back. Ah if we only had a national forum like his - it's nearly the same thing everyone else on this board would have said. Thanks Charlie!On a side note my wife used my tickets for last week's game and came home with a Frye jersey for my 11-month old. The wife's real into this with Charlie in the orange and brown -- she wants the Christmas card to be of all of us in Frye jerseys. Man does that make my weekends a lot easier. Looking forward to the home opener -- first one for the little one.

Haven't posted in awhile, but I checked gozips.com and it lists parking passes at $25. I'm wondering if this is a typo.....the 4 has the $ and is obviously right next to the 5. Not to mention depending on how it looked on the screen or the preview copy that 5 could have looked a lot like a $. The company/organization that designed the letter/flyer may have also missed the correction if someone made it for them. For the life of me I can't imagine 525 is correct for parking....especially when I can buy (according to the website) 100 tickets for $500.

Falcons pin hopes on rookie kickersD. Orlando Ledbetter - StaffSunday, June 4, 2006The Falcons' defense has been retooled. The offense has added highly respected quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave. In the flurry of offseason moves, little attention has been paid to one of the most important positions --- place-kicker. "When you have as much money committed as we have offensively and defensively, you're not going to be able to sign everybody that you want," Falcons special teams coach Joe DeCamillis said. "[Former New England kicker] Adam Vinatieri got a $2 million signing bonus. I think [former Indianapolis kicker Mike] Vanderjagt got $1.8 [million] or something like that. Yeah, you feel comfortable with those guys, but as I remember Vanderjagt's last kick, he missed." The master plan In games decided by three points or fewer, the Falcons were 1-3 on their way to an 8-8 mark last season. During their march to the NFC championship game in 2004 and a 12-6 record, they were 5-1 in those type of games. After deciding not to re-sign Todd Peterson, the Falcons are planning to enter the season with an untested kicker. They released kickers Seth Marler and Ryan Rossner on May 19, setting up a training camp battle between Zac Derr and Tony Yelk. "We'll let those two compete, fight it out, and if we feel like we need to sign a veteran going into training camp or after training camp, we will," DeCamillis said. "But we want a young kicker to be able to make it just like we had with [punter] Michael Koenen last year." Peterson's average made field goal last season was 31.6 yards. The Falcons used Koenen on some longer field goal attempts. The hope is that either Derr or Yelk can handle all of the field goal chores, with Koenen doing the punting and kickoffs. The guru One Falcons move that went nearly unnoticed was the addition of assistant special teams coach Steve Hoffman, a noted punter/kicking guru. After going to Dallas with Jimmy Johnson from the University of Miami, Hoffman developed kickers from 1989-2004. He's likely one the reasons the Falcons are comfortable with trying to go with an untested kicker. At Dallas, Hoffman had seven rookie or first-year free-agent kickers, five of which kicked 18 field goals in their first season. "He's a guy that I followed," DeCamillis said. "When I first came in the league I was with the Giants, and Coach Hoffman was there with Dallas. Every couple of years they kept bringing in young guys, and they always got the same kind of production." Hoffman spent last season working as a consultant. He tutored Koenen and Green Bay punter B.J. Sanders. Hoffman punted in the USFL for the Washington Federals and failed to catch on in the NFL with Washington, Seattle and New Orleans. "It just kind of evolved from being around it as a punter myself, just from instructing at youth camps and seeing all of the things that the good ones do and all of the things the bad ones do," Hoffman said of his move into coaching. Veteran fall-back If Derr or Yelk falter, there are a few veterans --- including Peterson --- ready to come to the rescue. "If you just bail out, it would be easy to say, 'Aw let's go get a guy who's done it a while,' " Hoffman said. "Some of the guys that have done it for a little while haven't done it really great." Paul Edinger, who has played six seasons with Chicago and Minnesota, is the top unsigned veteran kicker. "We're getting calls from other guys, too," Hoffman said. "Heck, Morten Andersen still wants a shot." Andersen, a former Falcons kicker, turns 46 in August and last kicked in 2004 for Minnesota. In addition to the veterans, the Falcons will keep an eye on the waiver wires for possible kickers. Dallas figures to cut Shaun Suisham after signing Vanderjagt as a free agent. "By the end of August there is going to be somebody out there that's kicking pretty good," Hoffman said. "Hopefully, it's one of these two kickers for us." THE CANDIDATES Patience will be key for the Falcons in selecting a new kicker. "The thing is, if you want a young kicker you have to see it through to the end," Steve Hoffman said. Both kickers appear to have lively legs. Both were stroking 50-yarders with ease on Tuesday and Wednesday at the team's organized training activities. "Right now these two look like they have very similar range to what Michael [Koenen] had last year," DeCamillis said. ZAC DERR > College: Akron > Height, weight: 5-7, 155 > Age: 27 > Pro experience: None. Signed by Falcons on April 10. Spent some time in camp with the Dallas Cowboys. > The skinny: "Zac Derr has some tremendous potential in the way he hits the ball," Hoffman said. "He gets the ball up better than anybody that I've ever had as far as height and trajectory. He gets the ball up quick. He has more power than you would ever expect out of a guy his size. Now he just has to get more consistent." TONY YELK > College: Iowa State > Height, weight: 6-1, 205 > Age: 24 > Pro experience: None. Signed as rookie free agent on May 1. > The skinny: Booted a 51-yarder last season for the Cyclones. "Tony has impressed us with just the way that he handles it all," Hoffman said. "He's got that innate calmness. He just hits the ball straight. He doesn't worry about how far it goes. He doesn't worry about how far Zac's ball goes on the kick before him. For his age, he's way ahead of guys that I've ever had."

Some how I get dragged into this....interesting. I rarely post here because of Jonny come latelys like you -- congratulations on your one year anniversary as a member of the board. Your statement that an asst job at a big ten school is better than an asst job here is true if it is money you are after -- if it is experience and the ability to work on more things I would say this might be the better choice. Nonetheless.....didn't she leave here where she was head coach for an asst job in the Big Ten. Then I'm not understanding your point....they seem to conflict. If for someone reason you put me on my this list is because of the disappointment I've expressed in Akron athletics over the years....that's fine. If you aren't disappointed -- your expecations aren't high enough for this University or it's athletic departments.

christi smith won the heptathalon in 2000 already and little recognition from the community -- not to be mean, but it's track and it's not a big spectator sport unless it is the national championship -- good luck to those going to nationals.

I remember sitting next to him in Algebra class right after he transferred from Washington....he told me he played football for Akron and I asked which position. He told me kicker and I laughed. Dude was the biggest kicker (not sebastian Janowkowski big) I'd ever seen...

Please excuse my post above....I didn't read the article first and thought she was from Texas.

How much will not being from the area hurt her recruiting efforts?

I don't think Young will last until their pick. I don't think the Browns have any intention of picking him either. This one puzzles me. Maybe it is simply a psyche out on the Ravens. The Ravens would love to get there hands on this guy.

Don't be surprised to see Coach Waters swoop in from CSU and make a big pitch to him. Waters got in late on the recruiting front and this would allow him to make a big splash early. He's got strong ties in Michigan and he could sell the kid on building the new program around him. I've got no inside information, but this is the kind of thing I would expect from Waters. He just made it tougher to recruit locally when he returned.

If he came to Akron could he be a wide body this year under the hoop for KD? Play with Romeo and Dru for their senior season.

Are you really asking that question?Money makes money. You don't touch the principle you just use the earning and actually you don't use all the earnings. You peg the earnings at something like 5% a year so as to continue to grow the endowment. So $8.6 million is spent annually from this area. Endownments are earmarked for specific things like scholarships -- so a percentage of the $8.6 million goes to endowments -- some might good to buildings, others to pay teachers etc. There are general endowments for colleges to spend accordingly as well as the general fund on campus. A separate campaign woud have to be put in place to raise money for a stadium. It wouldn't be an endowment although you may want an endowment for the upkeep. The campaign woudl strictly be hard dollars for construction. The donation would be identified as such when it is made.My WebpageYou can click the link above for further information and clarification. Or you could probably request the Foundation Annual Report for The University of Akron.

I think the problem stems from exactly what has been said here...but root for Ohio State when they are seven like it's the only team in the state of Ohio when in fact there are plenty of schools to root for. I have trouble getting other Akron grads to go to games with me and their excuse is that it's an inferior game of football. Thus I long for a day when a MAC school knocks off Ohio State just to prove it is quality football as well. A few years back when Akron was playing high scoring fun to watch football OSU was playing boring 10-6 game football yet people still chose to stay home and watch it as opposed to venturing to the bowl. The 7 year old who roots for OSU turns into the 20, 30 and 40 year old that roots for OSU instead of Akron more often then not - even if they chose to go to Akron instead of OSU that's the probelm with rooting for OSU. I root for them to lose any chance I can.

From what I've read here it appears the kid got railroaded, but to blame the University for him taking his life is crazy! At some point you have to be responsible for your actions. If I'm reading those of you right who blame the University for the kids death -- I'm assuming if the same thing happened to you -- you would have killed yourself too. C'mon, you can't be that liberal. You know you might want to blame this on Bush too.

The local paper (I think the Nordonia Heights Gazette or something) had a piece on him this week and he's been offered by several big ten schools. His coach expects other offers to be coming in soon. If he makes it to Akron it will definitely be a hard fought battle, but a battle we're all glad to see JD is fighting. His first game could be at OSU if he signed with the Zips.

There was a rumor in the PD today about Christian to Rhode Island. By the way Heath and Hipsher are in the big dance -- how come nobody here is congratulating them?

I'll give you that Temple plays in a bigger arena 10,200, but if you remove the Maryland, Duke and Villanova games from their attendance they only averaged 4,324. The Maryland game looks like the only sell out -- I'd be we could sell out the "Q" if we played Duke -- they played Duke at Wachovia Center.My guess is this game gets somewhere near the season average excluding those three -- Akron would have sold this game out.

NIT Selections to be Announced on ESPNU Network will carry the selections live March 9, 2006Indianapolis, IN - The 2006 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) will release its bracket live simultaneously on ESPNU, ESPNNews, www.nit.org and www.ncaasports.com at approximately 9 p.m. on Sunday, March 12, 2006. The bracket is attached. The NIT, which for the first time will be selected by an at-large committee, will be comprised of a 40-team field from across the country. The selection principles and procedures can be found here. This year also marks the first time in the 69-year history of the NIT that the bracket release will be televised live.It would be nice to see a home game in the NIT.

I'm in....got invited to a loge -- hopefully i'll have replay too.