InTheZone

I could see with a few good seasons with big crowds and big revenues the stadium getting a nice upgrade. I think this is the right way to do it now.... build realistic for our current situation, but built with future expansion consideration with the EXPECTATION that the program will be taken to new heights. That's what Akron really needs folks, and something I've never seen our fans have.... HUGE EXPECTATIONS for the programs 5-10 year future.And remember... if the stadium is being built with the capability of becoming a dome.... then it's gotta be built with the capability to become a bowl too . I think we should all withhold judgement until we see the final product.

I hope you're right CK, I really do, but I can't agree with you here. The '07 Zips are going to be too green, and are going to be BAD where it counts the most... the offensive and defensive lines. Great running backs don't make a difference when they're getting hit two yards in the backfield. Young quarterbacks can't develop when they don't have time to throw (see the Cleveland Browns). Great linebackers can't make tackles when a running back has holes five yards wide, and even a great secondary can't cover for the ten seconds opposing QB's are going to have to throw the ball (do Cecchetti, Lively, or Pendleton really scream pass rush to anybody???). I also don't think Carlton Jackson, despite all the talent in the world, has the leadership qualities of a great quarterback that carries his team when times get rough.... and inevitably times are going to get rough. I had a great feeling going into '05 and predicted a MAC title before the season. This year, I don't have a good feeling. In fact, I have a very bad feeling. I've been around and on great football teams, and looking at this team I just don't see greatness. JD's recruiting gambles, especially up front, have not paid off and I really think it's going to bite us in the ass. Thank God JD got rid of many of the discipline problems in the offseason, because that is one thing that would completely sink this ship. As is, call me a pessimist, but I say we'll be lucky to win 4 games. I dearly hope that I'm wrong.

This week's sign that the apocalypse is upon us:MAC Championship: Can't State over Ball State

Cherry did know how to throw a helluva party back in his days at UA.

Yeah whatever, that's what we said about Nate Robinson, the #1 DL in the nation coming out of high school, and he can't even start over a walk-on. My experience with transfers is this: there's always a reason they are transferring, and if they can't play at a BCS school, then they aren't going to be a star in the MAC. I'll get excited when he actually gets on the field and does something.

Not huge news, but '06 signee DE Blake Smith, who went through preseason camp last year but was declared ineligible, has made the grades and regained his eligibility. Smith wasn't that heavily recruited if I remember correctly, but with our depth at DL so thin every scholarship player we can get on the roster is a postive step.

You should probably say the legs of Hakes now... my friend who works with the team told me Hakes had a faster 40 time this spring. I was pretty shocked! you have to take into consideration that jackson was coming off an off season injury to hit foot that required him to wear the protective boot for over a month. Im sure that when he gets his legs back under him an back to his old form, he will be back to running the 4.5's again. Jackson ran a 4.8 in the Spring of '06 coming off a year of redshirt workouts and no injuries. Jackson is quick and athletic, but he doesn't have blazing straight line speed. You have to take high school 40 times with a grain of salt. Some are legit, especially for more highly touted prospects, but for a guy like Jackson who wasn't that heavily recruited many times that "4.4" or "4.5" is in reality a 4.7 or 4.8. 40 times are overrated in my opinion anyways though. I played with guys who ran 4.8's that played with more "game speed" than workout freaks running 4.3's.

Not if the kid has gotten a release. I say we go get him. A lot of people on this board want to get excited about what we've got at QB, but the bottom line is we don't have a GREAT QB. What we do have is 3 decent QB's who are capable of starting, which is more than most MAC teams, but we don't have a guy who's going to go into a game and win it with his arm. If there's a 4 star QB that wants on our roster I say we find a way to get him here.

Jermaine Lindsey passed 12 hours last summer in order to become eligible for '06. It's amazing what kind of academic...."miracles"..... can occur in summer courses in order to get guys eligible. I don't share your opinion on Lindsey Cap.... from what I've heard and seen if Lindsey would get his head on straight he could be a much more complete WR than Harvey. Regardless, these are our top two targets in terms of talent and JD will find a way to get one, if not both eligible IMO.

I see this comment more and more often on the board and I find it just silly. We won all the games that needed to be won to get into the MACC. How is that backing in?The fact is, once in the MACC, we won the game on the field against a really good NIU team. Coaching and the play of Getsy had a lot to do with winning the MACC.Enough with the backing in already. I still find it ironic that JD was promoted to the Jesus Christ of Akron football for the same record (7-5, 5-3) that Lee Owens was fired for. Yes, he won the games that he needed to obviously, but a lot of teams also lost games when he needed them to, ALOT. If you remember the scenario for how we got into the MACC after the loss to Ball St, it took a lot of luck. If LO had had that same luck, would he have deserved another year? I'm obviously biased because I played for Lee O, and I don't think he was the greatest coach to ever walk the sidelines, but JD hasn't showed that he's any better yet in my opinion. I hope he does, but look at what he's done.... he hasn't. You can point to recruiting, but how many of those 3-stars that made his recruiting classes ranked so high ever found their way onto campus? I've said it before, but he's also recruiting with a shiny new on campus practice facility that LO never had, and say what you will, but I know that has a huge effect on kids coming here. I'm still in JD's corner, but he's got to show me a lot more this season to keep me there.

I think that's what she meant by those attempting to "pull the rug out from under" our troops. Every troop that I have spoken to who's been to Iraq and joined the military for the right reasons does not want to quit the fight now. God bless those serving who, unless a select few in Washington choose to cut 'n run now, will have accomplished something in their lifetime that is truely monumental.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/p.../704260343/1006Column: Why, oh Frye, would Browns select a QB?By Jon Spencer News Journal If I were to make a federal case for why the Browns should stick with Charlie Frye as their quarterback and turn their draft attention elsewhere, the first person I would call to the stand is his college coach, Lee Owens.Actually, Owens is the only person I would summon for the defense.I can't call on any of Frye's running backs in Cleveland for support. They're all impostors.I can't call on the Browns' offensive linemen. Even if I could grant them immunity for their testimony, I'd have to find them first. Anybody seen one in, oh, the last few years, other than LeCharles Bentley on the ground writhing in pain? I can't even call on Braylon Edwards, one of Frye's favorite targets. He's got his own issues. Too flighty, too unreliable, unstable even. The jurors would quickly dismiss him as a credible witness.So I call upon Owens, Frye's coach at Akron for three years, to give Charlie's side of the story -- to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me Jim Brown."He's already played for three offensive coordinators, which makes continuity difficult," said Owens, a Mansfield native. "Charlie studies so hard and has a great knack for the game, but you'd like to have some continuity. He was at his best after two or three years in our system (at Akron), making calls and checks at the line of scrimmage."In 2002, Frye threw for 2,824 yards and completed 65.8 percent of his passes for the Zips. In 2003, the former Willard Crimson flushes star threw for 3,549 yards and completed 64.8. In 2004, when J.D. Brookhart replaced Owens and overhauled the offense, Frye still threw for 2,623 yards and completed 63.6 percent.In 20 NFL games, he's thrown for 3,456 yards and completed 62.8 percent. His record as a starter is 6-12. Yes, he's racked up turnovers at an alarming pace by trying to do too much. Can you blame him? It's not like he's had time to scan the field for options. He's been sacked more than the weekly specials at Kroger.Where's the help? Last year, the Browns were the second worst team running the ball and gave up the third most sacks. Peyton Manning would look like Eli Manning, given the same props.So the solution is to let Frye absorb yet more punishment, this time from his bosses and the court of public opinion, sack the two-year investment GM Phil Savage has made in the young quarterback and bring another youngster like LSU's JeMarcus Russell or Notre Dame's Brady Quinn into the mess, er ... mix?Seriously?Owens, in his fourth year as head coach at Ashland University, is too busy trying to get his own house in order this spring to tell the Browns their business. But he knows what he wouldn't do with Saturday's first pick in the NFL draft -- pick a quarterback."Forget drafting anything but offensive linemen for the first two or three rounds, or they'll never get any better," he said. "To think any rookie quarterback is going to come in and handle a new system -especially since Charlie has handled two or three already -- better be big and strong and durable like Charlie."Frye's detractors bemoan his lack of arm strength, even though some pretty fair Cleveland quarterbacks in my lifetime -- Brian Sipe, Bernie Kosar and Bill Nelsen -- seemed to do OK without bazookas attached to their right shoulders. The critics claim Frye locks on to one receiver, but what were his options -- Dennis Northcutt? Travis Wilson? -- when the braintrust inexplicably had Kellen Winslow II on the sidelines on third down and took half the season to remember free agent signee Joe Jurevicius?At least no one disputes Frye's toughness. He hadn't completely healed from a bruised right wrist when he started against Houston in last year's finale."How many guys, when the season is already decided, would fight back to get on the field like he did?" Owens said. "He could barely grip the football. That speaks volumes about him, that he would jeopardize his career in a game of no significance."He plays every game like it's the Super Bowl. I can't tell you how many times I had to take his helmet away from him in games that were already decided. I've seen him play beat up, with concussions. That's what inspires guys around him to play hard. In the three years he started for me, he was the toughest guy on the team."The only Charlie doing much talking these days is Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis. He has thrown his considerable weight behind Quinn in a predraft campaign, lobbying for the Browns to take his protégé with the third pick.Weis' filibusters come off as fili-bluster. He says a Browns-Quinn marriage "makes too much sense" and calls it "a match made in heaven" and a "slam dunk."Knowing first-hand from covering the 2006 Fiesta Bowl that Weis can be mighty persuasive when he starts flushing his four Super Bowl rings, I decided the other Charlie was deserving of equal time.That's why I called Owens to the stand. He doesn't have to convince any prosecutors, just Frye's persecutors."A couple of weeks ago, I went to Charlie's house to watch some video," Owens said. "I wasn't giving him advice; it turned into a lesson from him on how to read coverages and exploit blitzes."I can't wait until he's in a position where there's some continuity and a little bit of a running game and linemen to protect him on his drops."Until then, Frye is quietly going about his off-season work while draft hyperbole swirls around him. Don't hold your breath waiting for him to testify on his own behalf."Charlie is not afraid of competition," Owens said. "He said to me, 'Coach, I'm going to prepare as if I'm the quarterback. He's not naive; he realizes things change in the NFL every day. But he doesn't let it bother him."He's ready to compete ... he just hopes it's here."jspencer@nncogannett.com 419-521-7239

I don't think any are.

Well.... the team that won the only MAC championship in school history did include a vast majority of his recruits. I've said it once and I'll say it again.... I honestly believe had Lee Owens been given another year with the team we had in 2004 compared to the rest of the MAC we would've won a championship a year earlier. That talented team had a pretty rough transition to JD and his staff that year, and JD almost lost control of the team after that 1-4 start which included three absolute drubbings by a bad Penn State team, Virginia, and NIU, and lost to an awful MTSU team. Lee Owens had nothing in the way of facilities to work with, but he still managed somehow to get some pretty good talent into Akron...AND.... he actually recruited players that ended up on the field. It's impossible to say what might have been had Lee O been given a few more years and had the opportunity to recruit and develop players in the current facilities, but whats done is done.... Lee has a job he loves in Ashland and I THINK.... though I really don't think he's shown it yet.... that we have a great coach in JD.Also....big props to CK for giving Lee O a little love. Never thought I'd see the day! I know many of you were thrilled to see Owens go, and I guess that's understandable in some ways, but its important not to forget what he did give the U.

I love going back and looking at the threads prior to '05. I said I thought we'd win the MAC and people thought I was crazy .For this season, I'm saying Jacquemain will be the starting QB, and people think I'm even nuttier. I'm going to withhold any predictions for the season until I know who exactly is going to still be on this team come fall camp and who takes the summer as seriously as they should.

And.... it could keep that Taylor money flowing into UA. Some people would say that's not a reason to offer a guy, I say the HELL it isn't. Even if the guy never even produces on the field, Jason's made a shitload in football, and is going to make a ton on endorsements and probably TV and movies when he gets out. Little bro on the roster will certainly provide incentive to send a healthier chunk of that change to the ole alma mater.

If you'd really like to watch it and don't have connections with the team, just go buy lunch at the student union and sit out on the outdoor balcony and watch it. It's a fine view from up there, and you can enjoy a nice day outdoors and some good grub. Students now a days have it made with all these fancy new buildings .

I certainly wouldn't call May 4, 1970 MURDER.... more like a bunch of hippies engaged in civil disobedience and rioting who crossed the line a little too far and paid a dear price...completely unlike the innocent victims of Virginia Tech. Those honorable National Guardsmen certainly were not murderers. I will however, even though I draw no comparison, out of respect for those VT students, take it down.

But back to the topic of this thread, I wouldn't worry about Harvey being back.... he will be, but what I'm most concerned about is the fact that he missed a crucial spring in his development. His route running, blocking, and fundamentals overall were putrid last year, and next season teams are going to adjust coverages to make sure he doesn't get deep. He really needed the practice time to become a more complete player but hopefully he can somewhat make up for it with some work over the summer.

I didn't really talk to 30 year old undergrads back when I played either.... but hey, maybe that was just me. I do hear Ted Ginn and Greg Oden are accepting blow jobs from such people however....

And sgm doesn't think Ohio St. is scared to play Akron. I'm sure he cuddles with his stuffed Brutus Suckeye every night.

From everything I know....No. I want Jackson to develop into the guy, but I just don't see it happening. It seems like I'm all by myself here in thinking that we'll see Jacquemain emerge from all of this.

Well Aeris, thank you for that glowing review of yourself. I would agree that you have some talent, maybe the most in the Zips backfield, but it's hard for me to declare the most talented Zips back if you aren't even on the team. Get your head out of your ass, realize the road to D1 BUSTdom is littered with talented running backs just like yourself, and focus on your school work and being the kind teammate guys want to play with. That's all for now.

Maybe you can weigh in on this Cap, but one position battle that I've heard very little about this spring is tight end. It was my understanding that after Kasparek's rather underwelming season last year he was in danger of being passed up by Poindexter. Anybody take note of this position during the Spring game? Any idea who the starter will be come September?

Everyone should remember that Spring practice isn't over for the Zips, so there's still a few practices for guys to pick some things up. I'm not sure why JD chose to do it this way this year, but the Zips still have another week of practice left.