zipboy

KD mentioned possibly Bradley or Wichita State.

Biggest win of Kennedy's career. I am looking forward to the Can't game next weekend.

Personally I would rather Akron pass on Raines and Williams. JD knows if we get either one and they screw up, it blows up in his face. I also know that given what JD has done over the past year, he has earned my trust that he will do what is right for the program. Sometimes you don't deserve second chances and sometimes you do. From the limited amount I read about both cases, Raines and Williams deserve second chances somewhere. And I may have the facts wrong, but I worry more about Williams than Raines. I think Raines served 1 year in JD, 2 years in boot camp, and 2 yrs at JC. If he has been clean for 5 years, he is a good risk to take.

Per Joe Dunn Butler is a walk on. I can't see him getting a scholarship at least for the next 2 years. If he does, we aren't recruiting well. Hard to say about Goddard, but I think he has a chance to play his way into a scholarship for his last 2 years or possibly a partial one.

I was in absolute awe for about a 12 minute stretch in the 1st half. I don't know how you play better than that. Top 10 thoughts on the game 1. At the 1st timeout, KD lights into the team for their defense, switches to a half court trapping zone, and we go on a 25-1 run. It seemed like CMU got trapped in the same spot about 6 times in a row. Collins and Cedric also came in and increased our defensive pressure. 2. Nice to see Dru get some looks and drain them. I agree that I like him better than Jimmal. Rashon Brown is still my favorite but Dru is a better floor general. 3. Travis is quickly becoming a good interior passer. It is nice to see different guys step up each night. Romeo did not get score much but played D and had 5 assists. 4. Best overall game of the year for Bubba. How comfortable did he look in the open court? 5. After the falling away 25 footer by Goddard, KD just put his head down and started grinning. This kid could step up bigtime down the road. Anyone notice Doug Penno hit for 21 a few days ago for Miami? 6. Nice to see Futch play with some emotion, but the yelling after the block came about 2 seconds later. If he had done that to Andrick, he would have been walking around with sore knee caps the next day. 7. Just a bunch of hard working tough nosed guys. How can Akron not fall in love with this bunch? 8. Who was the guy in street clothes hanging out with J Wood, a possible transfer? 9. Another steady game by DP. 10. Chapman may be out which can only help us. Can't afford to stumble at home. After beating BG by 14 and WMU. Ball looks to be a challenger.

My thoughts on the game. 1. It was good to see J Wood in warm ups and being a part of the team. He seems to be in good spirits, and I look for a strong recovery next year. 2. I went with a good friend from EMU. He sounded like me the last few years, can't stop anyone, always give up a wide open 3 when it counts, players regress while in the program. It's nice to be on the other side. 3. I liked DP's comment in the paper on how bad he felt. He also looked it after the alley oop. He knows that he screwed up and cares about winning. I don't think he was pulled for that one, it was the other 2 turnovers and that one in the last 2 minutes. He still is one of my favorites and he will rebound. 4. Nice game by Preston/Futch. They seem to have found their niche. 5. Romeo gets more and more confident. You could just see his eyes light up when #42 or #52 was on him 1 on 1. He is playing smart ball. 6. Did McFadden get about 10 offensive rebounds? 7. Our D is suffocating at times. Good D and decent 3 point shooting should put us over 500 in MAC play. Given the parity this year, I really would like a home game. 8. It's tough for me to get down for all the games, but from what I have seen, I am sold for buying a season ticket next year. In 3 years, it will be hard to get a ticket at the JAR. 9. How about more TV time for Rachel Rush? Yeow! 10. Darryl Garret, all MAC freshman team 11. Best chance for a road win is Wednesday. Gotta get it done. Go Zips!

One other question, why did Stacy Little quit? Was it lack of playing time, frustration with losing, etc? Tommy G said that she was at the OU game, not sure whether to watch Simone Redd or cheer her former team on. But I would think that if I had a bad falling out with the coach, I would not show myself around the team for a while. Just curious, thanks.

I wonder how much having a baby set the team back this year. I go to 1 or 2 games a year, and it now seems like I listen to a game or two per week since they are on 1350 now. I am interested to hear what you more serious fans think but my take is year 1 was about getting her program in. They won 1 or 2 games. Year 2 Zips won 6-7 games, and from what I remember, they were fairly competitive at the end of the year generally within 8-12 points most nights. I saw the game against Can't last year, and Akron played well for about 34 minutes. They clearly were outclassed but played hard, kept it close until the end, and looked solid. The final was not indicative of the game. This year took 2 steps back. But they are playing better now than at the beginning. Kennedy made a good point in the article, this is the first year that they actually got some local kids who others wanted. I look for next year for Akron to jump back to 7-8 wins and the real test will be in year 5, can we show steady improvement to a 500 type season.

The reality is that Akron is not going to buy Kennedy out of her contract. Heck they did it a year too late for Owens and Hipsher. Dan is still on the payroll. What does Kennedy make about 80K per year? She would have 2 years left on her contract? She plays her contract out regardless.

He is a legit 4.4 guy.

This is what like 4 or 5 in a row. It's not even a rivalvry now. This is quickly becoming akin to Akron vs Can't in football. Way to go rifle!!!

Butchie got a cup of coffee in theCFL and Charlie looks to be a 1st round pick. The QB position over the last 7 years has been a strongsuit for Akron. And our QB play ranks in the top 5 of the league over that time. Watching some of these other teams reminded me of the days with Greg Gromek and Mike Junko. I feel good about Getsy or Arthur stepping in, and Akron will be more balanced in all areas which should translate to more wins, less stats but more wins. It would be nice to be known as QB U.

Some general thoughts. 1. I finally watched the tape of the Marshall game this week while on vacation. Greatest game that I ever saw. A few comments from ESPN stick out. They mentioned that JD has all the assistants take a sales training course. And JD is working with a Boston company to create an aptitude test for recruits similar to what the NFL does. This continues to show me that JD is an out of the box thinker who understands the bigger picture and will take us to the next level. Also, they mentioned that this year's offense had about 100 pass routes vs 20 in the past. We always talk about a more complex offense. And complex isn't always good, but this helped quanitify it for me. 2. The loss of Scooter and Gradowski was too much to overcome. We really need Miami and NIU to win this week. A legit crowd of 52K for the Motor City Bowl though speaks volumes. 3. On the other side, thanks for showing up Marshall. And a whopping 13K for the game. Nice comment earlier from one of the Marshall players that they were going to a much bigger bowl than what the MAC offers. 4. My last rant on Marshall - Check my old posts, I always have said favorable things about Marshall. They took the MAC to the next level. But the last 2 years, a lot of teams have caught up and some have passed them. Right now they are an upper level MAC team, win at home, split on the road. It's not like they got worse, everyone else just got better. From a support standpoint, they are still tops, but the gap is closing. When they joined the league, they averaged (my guess) in the mid 20's. Now they average in the high 20's. In that time, NIU has probably gone from 10K to 25K, BG has gone from 15K to 25K, Akron has gone from 9K to 15K, the league continues to grow. I wish them well, but it's comments like in #3 above that just tick me off. 5. Shocking, Hawaii won their bowl game in Hawaii. Wonder if the ratings were above a 0.2 share? 6. Nice win by BG last week. I would love to see Omar Jacobs and crew at the Rubber Bowl next year.

Good summary Captain. A few other things that caught my eye 1. Travis and Wood look so much better at the FT line. The no dribble for Romeo seems to be working. Wood has some arch now. We need those guys at the end. 2. Wood, Travis, and Peterson are going to get the bulk of the minutes down low. Right now there is a noticeable drop off when Preston/Myers/Futch comes in. Of those 3, Preston is the best bet to do something. 3. Between Goddard, Bubba, and Cedric, someone should have a good night. Goddard is more athletic than I thought. He won't be in there every night, but I can see him playing a role in MAC play 4. It looks like the sum of the parts are getting to be better than any individual. In the past if a big guy went down or had a bad game, we were in trouble. I like that we don't rely on 1 guy. 5. Looking forward to MAC play. Go Zips!

Good luck to the kid either way, but the chances of Akron going to a bowl and being a top 25 team over the next 4 years is greater than KY.

Listened to some of the Joe Dunn show Monday night. He had on Bill Green from Ohio High magazine. A few tidbits 1. Javon Ringer committed to MSU. I know I was the only guy who thought we had a chance to land him. I stand corrected. 2. Joe Dunn said JD is not looking and he sees JD here for the next 4-6 years. If JD really wants to step up, the best way to do that is take Akron up a few levels. Given the committment from administration, I agree that he is in a good situation here. 3. Joe and Fred Mowery (Joe's sidekick) were almost giddy in talking about how good Akron's class is looking. While Joe is always enthusiastic, Fred is a more even keel guy. I take it as a good sign that Fred was pretty pumped. They said Akron is recruiting pretty much against Big East teams for everyone right now. 4. Ted Ginn and JD are still pretty tight. Ted will hopefully be on the show next month. The RB from Glenville that went to EMU was 3rd or 4th on the Zips list. I don't see the pipeline in trouble at all. 5. They did not mention any names on the show but mentioned the heavy recruiting in West PA that we all know about.

Pre season is almost over, the board is a little slow, here are my thoughts so far. MAC East 1. Can't - Grudingly, I have to admit these guys are the flagship program for MAC basketball. Christian has turned out to be an upper level coach in the league. Good OOC wins, the sum of the parts is always better than the individual. They have to be considered the East favorite heading into conference play. 2. Miami - They always play D so you know that they are going to compete. Looks like they have a little more firepower this year. I was never a big fan of Juby. They are better off running their offense through Horace. Should get a 3 or 4 seed. 3. Buffalo - Started out a little shaky, but a nice win over Penn State a few days ago. Turner Battle is my favorite player to watch in the league right now. Nice guy down low, the big challenge will be if they can handle the lofty expectations. In glancing through box scores, they have been getting some nice crowds. Good to see enthusiasim is still high in Buffalo. 4. Akron - And I think we are a darn good 4th place team. Zips have been a pleasant surprise. I like how KD matches up differently vs who we are playing. As KD said, we are the most inconsistent team in the league. Given the quality of the league this year, 9-9 with a 7 seed would be just fine and let's roll the dice at tourney time. We still need a couple more scorers. 5. Ohio - A darn good 5th place team. A young team that will defend home court well but struggle on the road. O'Shea had to show something this year. It looks like he brought in some players. 6. Marshall - Worst team in the league? Always known for long on talent, short on wins. I wonder about their talent this year. Best thing for them will be the move to a watered down CUSA. They should become competitive again in an easier conference. West 1. WMU - Definitely more consistent than Toledo. Ben Reed is my 2nd favorite player to watch. A nice win over Va Tech last night. I don't think they have enough firepower to win the tourney, but they will be strong. 2. Toledo - The biggest disappointment so far but won a nice won over Auburn last night and blew out Delaware 2 nights ago. If they put it together, and I think they will, they are the most talented in the league. Their 1-2-3 punch is the best in the league. It would be nice to see Joplin win if Akron can't. Maybe my pick to win the the tourney. 3. BG - Flying under everyone's radar, they are tough. I see them as a notch below the big dogs, but the separation isn't much. Is it just me, or does it seem like Reimold just received a waiver for his 7th year of eligibility? 4. Ball - Is Buckley in trouble? Still a decent team, but they have fallen back to mediocrity. I see another 16-12 season with a 2nd round tourney exit. Boy, wouldn't that be great when we can be disappointed with losing in the 2nd round? 5. NIU - A toss up between them and Ball. Judson is a better coach but Ball has more talent. A poor man Miami team. 6. EMU - Hard to tell, they haven't played anyone yet. I think this is their best team in 5 years, and I am surprised they are ranked 6th. Although 6th and 3rd will probably be separated by 2 games. 7. CMU - No last to first to last first to last to first for them this year. A decent team but the league just looks stacked this year. Even the last place team will probably win 5-6 conference games this year.

Solich is not Gerry Faust. OU definitely improved themselves with the hire and it is great for the MAC. OU shelled out $240K base salary for Solich. Akron upped their ante last year for JD. It shows that the league is serious about competing. CK made a good point earlier, play OU in week 1 and save Can't for later. A Thursday night opener in Frank Solich's first game back would at least draw a Fox Sports game and would be a nice draw. Interesting that Solich said they would not do as much option as at Nebraska.

Maybe Ty Willingham? He is the biggest name out there. Whoever they get impacts us. JD has been getting some serious kids from Western PA.

The most impressive win of the season so far. Wright State may end up winning the Horizon League. They would be an upper divison MAC team. Thoughts on the game and season in general 1. Halfcourt D is way better than last year. We actually can stop people when it counts. Fullcourt pressure D is still suspect. We are not good a pressure team right now. I like when KD drops back to the 3 qtr press or halfcourt trap. 2. When Zips shoot 40% from 3 line, they will win 9 out of 10 times. This will burn us at times, but shoooting half our shots as 3s is the best way to win right now. 3. Bubba played much more in control last night. He does other things to help you win. I like Cedric as well. Between the 2 of them, one usually steps up and plays well. 4. FT shooting was unbelievable. Best stroke that I have ever seen from JWood at the end of the game. 5. Guys seem to be finding their roles and doing the little things. You can almost feel Travis take pride in his offensive rebounds and focus on that. 6. Another solid game from McFadden. If he keeps having 2 out of 3 good games, we will be in good shape. I think a lot of guys are going to fall in that pattern, 2 out of 3 solid games. Just need to find who is hot that night. 7. DP seems to be taking over as the go to guy. He is one of the few guys that needs to give offensive production every night. So far I have been pleasantly surprised. The league is much tougher this year. When OU, Akron, and NIU are picked for last, you know the league has some quality depth. No one should go 5-23 this year. A 500 season in the MAC or better is certainly attainable. Make some key FTs down the stretch and play good D, and Akron may play themselves into a top 4 or 5 seed.

I have to disagree somewhat with you RatFink. No way this team goes 6-5 with the old regime. Week in and week out, the staff put together some good game plans. In the past, I doubt we would have beaten OU, I doubt we would have beaten FUC, and I don't know if we would have beaten Can't. As for as the spirit and belief that the ship is righted, I fully agree with you. But I also see a serious improvement in game day coaching and making adjustments along the way. As far as JD staying, I don't know what happens. I doubt that he moves anywhere after a 6-5 season in his first year of coaching. Heck for how hot Urban Myers was, he was at BG for 2 years, beat 5 BCS schools, and won 8 and 9 games if I remember correctly. Hopefully Akron keeps putting money in the program, the community embraces the team, and he thinks twice about leaving. But I still think he needs 2 more very good years before he steps up.

If the game is Oct 22, does the Can't game move up to week 1? That date still looks open. It would be nice for the new QB to have a few games under his belt before Can't.

Good luck if he leaves. It seems that JD has a knack for picking good assistants. Kevin Verdugo forever known as the guy who brought Brett Biggs to Akron. Not a bad way to be remembered.

MAC needs to do well in the bowl games. For a down year, 3-2 or 4-1 would be great. Too bad McDougal is out for Toledo. Any word if Larking will be able to play? I don't know how severe the stabbing was.

Looks and sounds like a Dan Basch with 2 good knees.