zipboy

This morning I did a run on the Towpath. Several Zip fans were out with Fear the Roo shirts. "Go Zips" was the common acknowledgement. Later in the day I was buying shoes. I had my Zips shirt on. It will be Zips shirts all week at work. The girl waiting on me said she was going to school at Akron. Unfortunately after I mentioned the game, she had no idea what I was talking about. But seeing my excitement in talking about the game, I knew she had a sense for the magnitude of the win Later I was at Target. The checkout cashier saw my shirt and said she was a student at Akron. I mentioned the game and she said, "Yes, it was 20-17, right!" ZipsNation is rising!!!

I was planning to hit Johnny Malloys but got a late start. Fortunately, Paninis in Sagamore had the game. I had the whole bar (6 or so other people) pulling for us at the end.Thoughts on the game1. THANK YOU AKRON! I almost cried after this one. After years of hearing comments like "Mt Union could beat Akron", and "What division are you guys?" and "Come on, whatt team do you really like?" we finally got our signature win. The 2nd biggest win in Zips history after MACC last year.2. David Harvey is our lone deep play threat. We do a great job controlling the time and tempo of the game. It would be nice to get some quick play strikes. Great game by Harvey.3. Who else do you want with the ball at the end other that Getsy? We are so fortunate to have him. I worry about the drop off next year, but am not worrying for 3 more months.4. We simply were more athletic and better coached than NC State. Seeing Nate Robinson hop skip and jump in their endzone after about the 10th 3 and out in a row for NCSU was priceless. For the first 3 quarters our D was suffocating. We just have better players. Our D seriously has got to be a top 30 D in the nation.5. Nice unsung game by Mark Groza. He had 8 tackles and really gave some valuable minutes. 6. Another nice game by Andre Jones and the whole secondary. Grant, Stokes, everyone stepped up.7. Kicking game is our achilles heal. I don't have a lot of faith in the kicking game now. I think Stec will turn the corner soon. He made a couple bigtime punts when it counted. I worry more about our placekicker.8. Kennedy was a man today. Great effort. Line blocked better. Not many plays for negative yardage.9. Is Kasparek double covered or what? And when will Jabari have a breakout game?10. I like Harvey returning punts instead of Jones. 11. FEAR US!

I bought the paper for the first time in almost a year today. Nice job ABJ. Also, nice interview with Terry Pluto in the pregame. He actually sounded like a knowledgeable Zips fan. Need a back up to Kennedy, I like the young receivers, JD has done a remarkable job etc. Wish he would write about stuff like that and not about the little team that tries so hard against all odds.

Akron 27-21. We hold them on downs to win. NC State has a good D. We need some quick srtrikes.

Yes, that is what I did.

Go to wbnx.com. They have a link to viewer feedback. Click on that and you can send an email to them. So far, no response from them.Channel 43 and 19 are owned by the same company.

My thoughts after the first week. Overall the league does not look as strong as hoped. Good news is that it is there for the taking. Bad news is that the league needs to get stronger.The top tier1. Toledo - The closest a MAC team came to winning a quality OOC game. I had my doubts about Toledo given their QB situation, but Amstustz had them ready. Oct 28th may be the preview for the MAC title game.2. Akron - Quality showing in Happy Valley. We have a chance to be really good this year. 3. NIU - Outclassed by that other school in Ohio. I did not watch the game as my tv was on the Zips. From what I read, not enought firepower or speed. Wolfe could not carry them alone.4. CMU - Would'a, could'a, should'a - too bad they had the brain lock at the end. Interesting matchup vs Michigan this week. They will be a tough game on the 16th, but if we (the fans) are moaning about playing them, we should not be MAC champs. Middle of the pack5. BG - Better showing than I expected. They have no passing game, their best runner is their back up QB, special teams still blows. But who else below looked better?6. Miami - certainly not them. Too bad Murphy did not play. They may have at least scored a TD with him. We better beat those mothers this year.7. Ball - Beat the crappy teams, can they beat the upper echelon in the league?8. WMU - lost their QB again. Very disappointing loss to the team we slap around next year in the home opener.The bottom rung9. Buffalo - showing some love for Turner Gill. 10. Ohio - beat a bad 1AA team.11. EMU - are they regressing in year 3 of the Jeff Genyk era?12. Can't -

I just emailed wbnx channel 55 about picking up the game next week. They showed bg vs wisconsin. It would be nice to show the home town team. Not sure if this is even an option as bg was espn+ I think. I am sure it depends on the ratings from the bg game, but getting 10 emails may at least have them think about it.

Overall, I was pleased with the effort and performance. We were sloppy at times. PSU is about 2 TDs better and that is how the game ended up. If we had played a flawless game, we would have won. In the past if we had played flawless, we still would have lost by 5 TDs. Other thoughts1. Glad to hear JD so disappointed in the post game. He was going for the win. I thought we had a shot to win until they put their last TD on the board.2. Good performances by the new guys, Jones, Kennedy, and Harvey3. Special teams was good and bad. Kick returns were pretty good. We consistently got it to the 25-30. Coverage was good with a few breakdowns. Stec and MD had good moments and bad moments.4. Running game opened up a little bit in the 2nd half. LIne will be fine.5. Getsy looked pretty poised. I feel good with him leading us.6. In the past at PSU if we forced a punt or 2 it was a good day for the D. Defense played very good. Next will tell how good the D really is. But based off yesterday, we will have the #1 or 2 D in the MAC.7. For the first time ever, we looked as fast as PSU. The cool weather helped not wearing down on depth. They were a little bigger but we looked like we belonged on the field with them. Akron would go 500 in the big 10 this year. 8. Clean up the mistakes. Most frustrating part of the day was the penalties.9. Good week 1 effort, opportunity is there next week. We need a win not just a close game. With the best chance ever to beat a major OOC opponent, will the beacon sack up and send a reporter to the game?

I did a covert operation in Can't on Thursday. Defense was horrid. I can see why we liked Jarvis. He was their best player on the field. The new QB is very mobile and is an upgrade from last year. They should be better than last year and may win a couple games. Only 20K for the game. And Minnesota from the vaunted big 10 brought about 500 fans, about the same amount we took to BG last year.

I did a covert operation in Can't on Thursday. Defense was horrid. I can see why we liked Jarvis. He was their best player on the field. The new QB is very mobile and is an upgrade from last year. They should be better than last year and may win a couple games. Only 20K for the game. And Minnesota from the vaunted big 10 brought about 500 fans, about the same amount we took to BG last year.

A MAC title and bowl game does wonders. As JD said, a 3 hour commercial.

Biggest surprise to me was the FR kicker not getting the nod. I was hoping that he would come in and dominate. Robinson will stay play a lot. We need 6 guys rotating in and out on the line. I am excited to see Jones get the safety job and have Henry back. Our secondary is 2 deep strong everywhere.

What is a better use of your dollar - a chance to win 5K betting on Can't to win the MAC or buying the Saturday ABJ to read their preview of the Penn State and NCSU games?

I was at PSU 2 years ago. I was so cocky before the game and numb during and after with the whipping that we took. So what do I know? If Penn State is a legitimate top 15-25 team in the country and Akron is as good as I think, MAC contender, this game should be within 2 TDs either way. NO way, should we get blown out. CK gave a great analysis of what needs to be done. Special teams is my worry and where I see the difference. We can't have a 12 play 75 yard drive end in a missed FG or blocked FG. We can't continually always start on our 20 and they on their 35. 1st team is good enough to play with them. Youngsters need to step up. Beating Penn State means so much for Akron and the program. Beat Penn State, how long before the stadium announcement comes soon after? How long before they announce they JD contract extension? How long before we are in the top 25? Beat Penn State, and the Beacon will have to move their AP wire story of the game to page 3 from page 5. My dream on Sunday sees a front page headline of How about the MAC? Akron and NIU shock Big 10 giants.This is the first time ever where our DLine should be able to go toe to toe with them. We need Jermaine back. We need Nate to play the game of his life. We need a lead in the 4th quarter and with the new rules, just milk the clock. If PSU plays lights out, we will lose. If we play lights out and PSU plays fair, we will win. My head says we lose by 10 with PSU pulling away. My heart says Zips win by a TD. As always, I am going with my heart, Akron 31-21.

Shouldn't we try to find a paper that someone actually reads?

Hallejulah if this happens!

Thanks GoZips. I can't hide my dissapointment here. I know that no one wants to come here, and I know that we the funding is not there to buy a game, but if we lose morre than 2 of these games I will be disappointed. NV is the only marque game to point to as a solid win.

Some thoughts after seeing the depth chart and hearing JD comments1. JD tells it like it is. For him to be happy with the first few days of practice has me excited.2. Too bad about Chris Brown. I liked him and thought that we dropped a notch in the bowl game when Yamari replaced him. Yamari is a fast kid but seemed out of position a lot. Not that Brown is not replaceable, but tough to see his career end like that and it does create a hole.3. Biggest surprise on depth chart - no Dionte Henry on the 2 deep. I never liked him at CB but liked him at safety. A big guy who could hit just not quick enough to cover. Per the roster he is still listed. 4. Talk about the difference a year makes. Last year at this time, I was pretty nervous thinking about the Oline depth and productivity. I thought that we might have 2 FR starters in Anderson and Bates. This year it looks like we have 8 guys that can play.5. Johnny Long looks to be the 3rd receiver backing up Jabari. Does Lindsey get the other slot? Is David Harvey as good as advertised?6. My bet (hope) is that the 2 FR win the kicking and puting duties.7. I am excited about Getsy. But I do hope that a strong #2 develops in case he goes down.8. Kevin Grant at MLB gives us more speed. Stokes, Grant, and maybe a Doug Williams, 3 big kids who can fly to the ball.9. 2nd biggest surprise, no Al Teriq Balaam on the 2 deep. He looked good in the spring.10. I hope Robinson shows up. I do not want to watch a Dwayne Lefall rerun this year. If he can't give the effort, put someone else in there.Go Zips!

A graduate of Can't State

Out of all the new hires, I am most excited about womens bball and tennis. Both coaches had div 1 turnaround success stories in short times. Swimming hired a top assistant from a power school, typically what we have done in the past. Those hire hae large upside but large downside. Softball and golf were safe hires. Both showed they could win at csu but neither clearly dominated at csu. There will be a better budget and better facilities but also tougher competition. Both have local ties. If we end up winning the MAC every 5th year and are competitive in the other years in those sports, everyone will probably be happy.

That is good to hear that the team is excited about his hiring. Good luck on the season.

Initial thoughts are that this guy looks pretty good on paper. He had a winning record at a Div 1 school and took over schools that were not very good. Given his education background, is he doing this job full time?

I have not seen the mailing yet Seems that I always get dropped off the mailing list each year and have to call to get back on.I must say that I was a little shell shocked when I read this topic and the cost of the increase. The first 2 things that jumped in my head were 1. $525 What are they thinking?- if I pay that, I definitely drop my annual donation to the University Foundation (which is about half of this parking fee). 2. GP1's comment in my head of don't be cheap if you want to build a program. Football ticket prices will be the lowest in Div 1A this year. Many times I go alone but I still buy 3 season tickets to support the program. If I am going to shell out $50 to park per game, it would be nice to have a special meet and greet with the coaching staff, etc to feel like I got something. Or at least be able to make this a write off for taxes. Clearly they are targeting a group of loyal boosters here. They could have passed this cost on to ticket prices but want to keep prices low to attract more people. Isn't Toledo's tickets around $30 per game? People here would go ballistic if they saw that. In Toledo, they just draw 25K every year. Granted the quality of the stadium vs Toledo leads a lot to be desired but the quality of what you are watching on the field is the same.My guess is 10% of these long time boosters of which many of us are included pay it and don't think twice. Another 25% grumble and complain but pay it. And the rest of us say no way. It is a steep price increase. If I had kids and was thinking about college, I could not justify giving that much away for a parking spot regardless of my love for Akron. But it is just as easy to walk an extra half mile, pay the cheap price and still be jazzed for the season. And if this means getting money to pay JD, then I applaud the effort. I agree with the bball comment as well. We already have some form of PSLs. A small segment of people are willing to pay that. As long as you keep a good portion of tickets available for all at cheap prices, you can markup a certain percentage. By increasing a few hundred parking spots $500 in football does nothing to hurt the common person who may try coming to a game this year but still allow the university to make money.

Amazing that they get an extension done at UC and we are still waiting for JD and KD to get theirs. Must be our infamous legal dept holding it up again.