zipboy

Tougher schedule but hey, nothing could be easy as last year. Both PSU and Virginia, are top 25 teams, but not top 5 teams. The Zips have shown they can play with teams in the 15-25 list. A coveted game with Marshall on ESPN, what an opportunity for the city, university, and team to shine. The last time we made ESPN was Faust's early years. Home games with the big dogs Marshall and Miami will help as well. I love the open date before Marshall. Even going in there with 1 MAC loss puts us fighting for a title. MTSU had Missouri beat last year. They are definitely no pushover. They always play Tennesee tough as well. Overall, I am excite for football. I don't expect 10-1, but I don't see 1 team on the schedule that the Zips can't beat and that they can't play with. Having Can't in week 4 also gives the team a chance to get their feet wet. But a Saturday game in VA coming back on Thursday will be rough. Who does Can't play the 18th? Hopefully they are traveling as well.

CK: I kinda feel "cheated" that we got a coach so fast? No speculation...no big names bandied-about...no non-finalists "removing their names from consideration"...nuthin'. Makes for a dull Zipsnation board in the early-offseason! ZB: I don't know how to make the stuff above highlighted, so I will revert to the old way and put initials in front. Dull is good. With the lightening speed that MT made his decision, it is a great show of confidence in Dambrot. CK: Is Corey Jones from St V Division 1 material? Does he have any interest in walking on at Akron, in light of the coaching change? ZB: I don't see him as a Div 1 player. How about the Johnson kid in 2 more years? CK: A few weeks ago someone "in-the-know" told me a few hoops transfers were already on-campus . This was before the reassignment. Wonder if any names will surface (I'm sure we'll see something in the Beacon)? ZB: Do these kids take scholarship spots for 05? We should have 3 openings, Mc Fadden, Collins, and Myers. KD also mentioned that he might take a JUCO now and then but the kid would have to make an immediate impact.

I don't like giving up a home game, but the Rubber Bowl is terrible for TV. The light poles block the cameras. This game could generate some excitement. A crowd of 20-25K would have to be considered a success.

Go WMU! Based off their seeding, I don't think they get in if they lost. Nice to see Washington with an RPI of 57 get a 8 or 9 seed and mid majors with 30 or below RPI like Nevada get a 10-11 seed. As usual, they screw the mid majors over. Thoughts on the MAC tourney 1. The league is in transition. There are a lot of good young players. Just look at the FR PG, Joyce, Ingram, and Stovall should have some great battles over the next 3 years. Haynes is only a SO. I give Haynes credit, he always comes to play come tourney time. 2. On the verge of being fired to chants of Reggie, Reggie, Reggie. Here is hoping Buffalo has turned the corner. With NIU emerging in football and Buffalo in B-ball, it makes the league that much stronger. Strong markets in Chicago and Buffalo as well can only help the league. 3. Is the bald ref the worst ref in the league? That guy constantly plays into outcomes of games. 4. I missed the OU dance team. 5. Had our first brawl of the tourney. Around 10 PM on Thursday night after a day of drinking and fun, a white haired Can't fan is walking down the aisle. Next to my group are about 10 OU guys, middle age. OU fan yells Can't State Sucks! Can't fan turns around and yells Your Mom sucks c--k. Fists started flying, beers were thrown, popcorn was spilled. Guy next to me says, that's a surprise, I would have figured a BG fan would have been involved. 6. I am tired of seeing Can't State in the finals 7. It was great to see Marshall get bounced. Have fun in CUSA. The league should do what Hawkins did when he put the starters in with 5 minutes left. Just bury them. 8. Zipsnation.org the only web site to be a proud sponser of the MAC tourney! 9. What was up with the article in the PD about possiblly not renewing the MAC tourney at Gund? This was the best thing to happen to the league. Guaranteed 30K for the weekend. Do they want to move it back to seagate? 3 of the 5 winners have been from out of state. It is a centralized location. Don't screw with success.

Good radio show on Wednesday with MT and KD. I am so excited for both football and basketball next year. A few thoughts on the Dambrot interview. It sounds like he said similar stuff at the press confererence. When asked about the freshman and what they need to do, KD replied Joyce - handled the Offense well, was erratic with his shooting. Needs to work on strength and improving his first step to get by people. Wood - had a good first half but not so good second half. He needs to step up conditioning to get to the next level. Travis - needs to work on maturity level, has some amazing physical skills. I thought that was a good summary. I like that he was upfront and honest about all of the questions. I see Dambrot as what columbus state sees in Tressel. This guy's dream job is Akron. He has the opportunity to build us into a national power and that is what he wants to do. He will recruit well. A couple of other things I liked - if you don't play defense for me, you don't play. We will play hard, we will play defense, and we will outwork everyone. I think these kids will go through a brick wall for him. How does the 3 new kids fit into KD's style? He mentioned that he needs to recruit kids to fit his style and that will take time. Milum seems like an athletic swingman type ala Travis. Bubba will be a spot shooter off the bench? I am not sure about Hansen. And do we get a 4th scholarship? What is the interpretation? Go Zips!

Sorry, I have not logged on for the past 2 days. Zipsnation.org was proudly displayed throughout the weekend! Nice job ZW.

Ray McCallum just got reassigned at Houston. I always liked him and he won at Ball State. I would gage his interest. A second name from Fred Mowery tonight on the Joe Dunn show is Larry Eustachy formerly of Iowa State. Interesting?

Not much else to talk about until tomorrow night. My week will be so much better if the zips can win on Monday. I have to wonder if Buckley is in danger of losing his job. Men's bball is the signature sport at Ball State. There has been a noticeable drop since McCallum left. Anyway, I digress, here are my picks for all MAC team. I think they come out at the tourney. Mike Williams (WMU) - MVP of the MAC in a year where there were no MVPs. He probably had his worst game against us. Gotta give it to the champs Ben Reed (WMU) - After he hurt his knee, he was mediocre for a few weeks but recovered nicely. I love the passion that he plays with. Derrick Tarver (Akron) - Leading scorer in the league. Has he helped or hurt the Zips more this year? I do know that without him, we average about 50 points per game. The game that I will remember is the Can't State one. He played with a fire. We need that tomorrow night. Turner Battle (Buffalo) - I always loved this kid. He is the best PG in the league right now. On a side note, it was good to see Buffalo bring some fans and be excited. The league needs Buffalo to be a strong member. I hope they bring some fans to the Gund. Keith Triplett (Toledo) - Solid numbers, the 1 game I saw vs Can't he was held to 5 points. But they went 12-6 this year and he was their leader. Coach of the year - either Witherspoon or Hawkins from WMU. If I had to pick going into this year, I would have said that WMU had a much better chance to win the league than Buffalo did to finish 11-7 so I give the nod to Reggie. One name that will be on the All MAC team is Juby. He is the most overrated player in the league. What does he shoot, about 35% from the field. I never understood why everyone loved him so much. Mason is more of a key for them to win anyway.

To follow up, I meant 25 minutes, near his average for the season.

With the loss of Hollingsworth, Tarver can't play 40 minutes per night. Compared to 2 years ago, B Hip is way better than where he was. He has limited scoring but he does play defense and can pass the ball around. 5 minutes a night from him and 10 from Collins is realistic. The minutes that Andy has gotten this year is another story. I think if the kid hadn't pulled himself yesterday, he would have been left in for 2 minutes. I felt sick just looking at him try to move. He was as pale as a ghost. We need 30+ minutes from McFadden for a chance to win. I just wish Rick was a better in bounds passer.

But I think we win on Monday. I sure hope EMU comes back. Have we ever won at BG? Similar to the Can't game, I think that the Zips have one great effort left in them. Hey if they hit free throws the last 2 games, they end up winning. Every 5th game or so we shoot well at the line. I think that we do on Monday. Either way, Hipsher is gone. It would be nice to see my team at the Gund on Thursday. It would be nice for the dance team to show off their new outfits on Thursday, it would be nice to have our band director going ballistic at the refs on Thursday (That guy is awesome). Look out for CMU. Can they pull the upset again? Go Zips, please win a game!!!

Great post ZP. I love MT. Next year will be better my friend.

Great win on Sunday, congrats to the Zips. They played with the fire and emotion that we saw a few years ago in football after the Marshall win. Tarver makes 1st team all MAC based on that performance alone. The win did as much for the Zips mental health as much as anything. They laid it all on the line and a loss would have been devasting. If we win out, still a chance to finish as high as 6th. It is at the point now where playing at home, playing on the road, playing whoever does not matter. There is no way to predict how a Hipsher coached team does in the tourny. Every year we go in hot (except for the CMU debacle), we lose. The one year we look dead, the Zips bury WMU. If the Zips hit 75% of their free throws, play D like Sunday, and Tarver is near flawless, we have a shot. Glad we are not the 5 seed. Now that Smallwood is back, NIU is looking like everyone thought they would be. If we don't get the home game, I would not mind playing at Buffalo. Hot or not, I think that is a good draw. What I don't want is to play at BG. Have we ever won up there? Congrats again Zips, it is nice to have hope again.

I hope that Waddell does not see this. U of A not AU.

They kicked columbus state a$$ again. Akron rifle owns them! Good showings by swimming and women's indoor track as well.

God Bless Hollingsworth. I hope he gets it back together and wish him well. Hipsher had no choice. You have to follow some basic rules. It is a big loss but only when he played like capable. And he has been the most inconsistent performer all year. Joyce is steady at the point. This should open up some more minutes for McFadden. Looking to Sunday, Joyce, Tarver, McFadden, Hipsher, and Wood/Travis, ball movement should be better. If Tarver rests, McFadden goes to the 2, we get a lot bigger. I still think give Nick Myers a chance. He can hit the 15 footer and pull Edwards out. With Joyce and McFadden out there, we have 2 good 3 point shooters. This should help spacing. If the Zips win out, they have a good chance at the #8 spot. A win on Sunday also helps deny Can't the title and #1 seed. There is a lot to play for, Can't has played larger than life. A knock to their confidence could be a big blow for them. John Whorton had a great comment after Can't beat us in the tourney about 7 years ago. He said that Akron was the bully and the best way to beat a bully is to slap them down. And they slapped Akron down that day and made them go home crying. That was the start of their 6 year run. It is now time to return the favor. A win creates some self doubt for Can't heading into the tourney and sets the stage for the future. Go Zips, the JAR will be rocking!!!

I agree, the team may start slowly, but I like our chances this year. ZipDude, you mention 2 tackles. I thought 4 OL were coming back?

I heard Ball State at home and NIU on the road. But that may change. If we drop MTSU and get Pitt, they have to come to the Bowl. Otherwise we don't have 5 home games. And how is it going to work when BG and Wisconsin play at Cleveland stadium? Does neither team consider it a home game? That would eliminate the chance of many neutral site games. Same thing with the military academy vs the MAC that they are supposed to start.

I admit that I don't know much about rifling, but anyone that beats ohio state deserves our backing. I am kind of curious, how does the post season work, etc?

Possibly the best 5 to have on the floor down the stretch, Joyce at the point, JH at the 2, McFadden at #3, Wood and Travis down low? Joyce ran the team like Hollingsworth did last year. Other thoughts, how glad is BT that he did not come back this year? Does Akron invite him back for the Buffalo game? He graduated, he deserves a chance to be recognized.

I can't believe that I got the first rifle post in! 2 straight years beating columbus state.

This looks great!