Zipsrifle

Wow, what a novel idea out of the Buchtelite! I am impressed. Though it would really be interesting if this happened, I don't think it will....the pink thing will never fly. Zipper is right, we'd be laughingstocks. I do think that something along those lines should be done though.

You would think that with Charlie Coming from Huron County (I grew up there, just short drive and boat ride to the Beer Barrel), there would be quite a buzz in the area. But every time I go back the local paper has next to nothing on the Zips. WTF!!! For an area that has very few high school players go to DI-A football, you'd think they'd be all over this. Zipman, is the press in the area as little as it seems? From my experience, everyone in that area would go to BG. There was a remote Campus just South of Cedar Point and a large portion of the college bound students in the area go there. Hell, I didn't even know Akron existed until a representative came to school my senior year. So yea, Zipman is right, the allegiance in the area to colleges is mainly West and South (OSU).

Yea, OSU players getting arrested is out of control. I'm sure Tressel has pointed this out since day one of his tenure. I don't think there is anything more he can do other than assign a chaperone to each player. Sure the kid should know better, but they are 18 year old kids in a college town, they are going to do dumb things. Besides, I'm sure that he was one of the few players on the team, that instead of making the best use of there scholarship dollar by having their nose in a book when not in class or at practice, (like they always do, especially at Colorado), are out living it up. We've all seen the movies where the college football players are studying all the time.

I am not a Buckeye fan but I don't think a college kid getting busted for under age drinking is news.

Thanks for the find Z.I.P. Wow, a National Letter of Intent, I never signed one of those. Score looks to be average for an incoming freshman. She'll have a good year of experience and practice but not much chance of making the starting squad next year.....they are STACKED!

Yup, they won't see us coming. Just like Wisconsin didn't see us coming. I remember one Wisconsin fan posted on the ESPN board that we "should get ready for a beating". He quickly wrote back after the game that Frye was amazing and that they were happy to come out on the winning end. I'm hoping that PSU will come out having spent at least 1/2 of the game week working on the following weeks game against Boston College....who they lost to 27-14 last year. If I were them I wouldn't be making predictons about beating us 70-24 when THEY went 3-9 last year. Don't get me wrong....I don't think we'll roll over them. First game with a whole new system, lots of opportunities to mess up. Improved conditioning will help, especially if we keep it close till late. What are the Odds that Joe Pa won't know about JD and watch endless hours of tape preparing for LO? Yea, you're right,...Zero.

Nice Article. This is one area that really bugs me. Why in the world do we have an attendence problem!?! Look at the demographic of the area...It's Northeast OHIO!!! Last time I checked, people eat, sleep, and breath the sport!!!! How many people live within 1/2hr of the Rubber Bowl? How many within an Hour? HOW IN THE WORLD DID CMU HAVE A HIGHER ATTENDENCE..... IT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!! Yea, NE Ohio is fixated on OSU. I don't know how we're going to change that....It's a task for UAM. Especially since ABJ doesn't even know we exist. I know I drag as many people to each game as I can. I think that the shakeup with the coaching staff and the Fryesman campaign will pack them in this year. Creative scheduling of the games will work too. I was the first one to whine about the Can't State game last year when it was on a Trs. Boy, was I wrong about that one! The ESPN game will count for 2+ games worth of attendence... it'll sellout, 35,202 baby. I should have no problem in getting 15-20 people for that one....up from the 5-8 that usually come. Ahhh, the allure of being on National Television. Miami travels well too. Might be able to get my brother to bring his frat to that game (yea, I should disown him for being a Redhawk.) Hopefully the Can't State game will be packed again this year, heat the rivalry up!

I think it starts when you start college. I could be wrong, but if you didn't go to college, then I guess you're screwed. What ever it is...I know I've burned mine.

Well said. No doubt Gradkowski is talented. I agree that 5 will have to make himself noticed. Personally, I would rather be a bit of the underdog in these circumstances. Hopefully we can settle this on in the MAC Championship Game. Here is my take on what really happened: Dooloo..Dooloo..Dooloo SI Editor: Luke, good article, but remeber, the MAC has had some outstanding QB's in the last few years. You should probably have one of those guys in there somewhere. Luke: Yea, good point, let me work on this one. Back at his desk--- Luke Thinks: MAC Schools, Marshall, BG, Miami, Toledo ......yup that's about it. How can I make this quick....the Bachelor is on tonight and I need to get home....Completion Percentage....that'll do it! Lets see here.... 1) Gradkowski - Toledo 2) Hill - Marshall 3) Roethlisberger - Miami Alright, Roethlisberger is gone so that leaves Hill and Gradkowski....I'll flip a coin.....and Gradkowski it is. The next day -- Luke - Here you go boss. SI Editor - Nice work Luke, who the hell is Gradkowski?!? Luke - I don't know but he plays for Toledo. SI Editor - Yup, Toledo is in the MAC with BG, Miami and Marshall. How good is this guy? SI Editor Thinks - Boy, the MAC is a small confrence. Luke - He's awesome... a Junior just like Roethlisberger. SI Editor - Has anyone here been to Indiana to see him play? Luke - No SI Editor - Good work! You know, I might let you go to Florida the next time Miami and Toledo play so that you can see a MAC battle first hand! Luke - Thanks boss! You know, there are 2 MAC teams in Florida. SI Editor - Yea, I guess you're right. SI Editor Thinks - Who is the second team? Fade to black. Again, none of these guys have probably ever been to a MAC game and probably have only watched 10 minutes of the ones on ESPN. Allright Zips.....the disrespect continues...lets use this as motivation.

Speaking of Olds....the last one was built today.

No predictions yet. I think I'm going to wait and see how much these guys want it. They can either bust their Ars over summer or sit back and take it easy. JD had dumped a lot of stuff on these guys and if they aren't going to put the time in, it's going to be rough early on. I'm sure that JD had done his best, time to punt to the player.

Thanks for the update! Sounds like Coach Fleming has been able to turn the D up a few notches. It seems like last year the offence just Dominated the Defence at every scrimmage. Sounds like a pretty dramatic change! How many games did we blow at the end last year 'cause our D couldn't stop anything...2-3? I'll be looking for the D to hold Penn State for the Win in September! As for the offense, they've got the entire summer to clean things up. Sounds like the OL still needs some work. I'd hate to see Frye on his back as much this year. Sounds like Ringer didn't get many carries today. It'll be tough to replace 42 back there....hopefully we won't have too much of a drop off. From what little I saw of Ringer last year, I was impressed. As for the receivers, I read somewhere that JD considers Frye just like having an additional coach. According to the Stink'n Urinal, Charile will be out there all summer working with the guys to clean things up. From the sounds of it, he's been putting in tons of time to learn the offense and I really hope the team is out there practicing on their own all summer. Man, if the O can be as potent as they were last year, with a better D...November will be an exciting Month in Akron!! I'm so PUMPED!!!!

Z-P, Zipper, I am not opposed to this type of political discussion happening on the board..I find it interesting, but maybe it should have been posted under the "General Discussion" category? That forum is rarely used and I usually take a look at all areas to see what is new. On the flip side of this is that despite the disadvantage of any punk being able to crash the dreamwater board, an advange was the lack of censorship. I understand that I don't necessarily add the most stimulating comments on this board, but I am a daily reader and you guys have increased my knowledge of what is going on by a hundred fold! I worry that this site will become limited to the few who are knowledgeable and the others will be forced to watch from the sidelines. IMO, this "Infraction" should have been met with the reply to move this discussion elsewhere without a warning. Any following infractions, then hit 'em.

Wow, kudos to UAM to kicking off a Fryeisman campaign!!! Everyone here has talked about it, I didn't think it would happen, but here it is! I do have a few thoughts on this topic though. First, I'm convinced that Charlie is one of the best players in College football. I really hope that he can put up the same or better numbers than last year. I'm still concerned about the receiving corps. These worries are dimishing somewhat though with what sounds like a boost in athleticism in the group with the addition of Jabari and Hixon. IMHO, to even be considered on the same level as Roethlisberger, Leftwich by the media, he will have to be the leading QB in the MAC this year, Break Leftwich's MAC record, and at least have the Zips contending late in the season for the MAC East. I already seem to see doubts as to who's the top QB in the MAC this year with Gradkowski having a higher completion percentage as a Sophomore. That is why I'm hoping we don't have too many dropped passes and missed routes. We all know that 98% of the media has no idea what is going on in Akron and the statistics will be the only thing that jump out at them. One of the things that bugs the heck out of me is when 25 schools at the beginning of the year are running Heisman campaigns....only to see 15 of those players prove to be only above average. This is what I thought with Ben at the beginning of last year, but he proved me wrong by the end of the season. I applaud UAM for the effort, it is the right move, and I pray that it works out well. To play devils advocate, do you think that this campaign may have been something that was worked out when Charlie was looking at the NFL to keep him in Akron? We all know about this years attendence requirements, I think that is what pushed MT to can LO. We need to put butts in the seats, firing a coach with a winning season got Zips football in the local media early. Having a Heisman caliber QB is going to get a LOT of attention also. If he left, this may have been just another MAC coaching change, something that seems to happen 2-3 times every year.

Wow, lots of Engineers on this board... Me too. I'm up in Detroit and outside of the 2-3 engineering classmates that were fortunate enough to get jobs with the auto companies up here, I know of no other Akron Grads. My co-workers consist mainly of the well known engineering schools, Michigan, Purdue, GMI, etc. I have to say that I have had no problem holding my own. I completely agree with Zip Watcher that UA is one of the best kept secrets in the midwest. I would trade my UA degree for no other.

I like to see that we are the PSU landmine, but I don't think we won't see Can't State coming. Hell, if anything, that is our Rivalry/Revenge game! Again, someone taking a shot in the dark about a team they know nothing about. I would say that OU is probably our landmine game. Between Marshall and Miami. OU always seem to give us fits.

If things don't go well for 5 in the NFL, at least he has something to fall back on: Backup Career

Don't think it's going to be the same Penn State this year. Looks like Joe Pa and JD are on similar paths. PSU Spring Practice PSU Receivers

Better yet, get a couple of art students to make some crop Fryes (similar to crop circles) in the fields once they are done paint'n the barn.

Since I won't be at the scrimmage on Friday, I'm hoping that some of my fellow ZipsNation Citizens will keep me filled in. As expected, the trickle of information is starting to get fuzzy. One area says the offence was smoking, another says it needs some work. Gozips.com says that the D had 5 sacks yesterday. Either the D has gotten a lot better or our line is still weak. I fear the latter. Since the only place I can get reliable, straight forward answers is here, I'll be anxiously awaiting a report. JD and the staff appear to be pretty excited...hopefully they aren't blowing smoke up everyone's A**es.

Ok...would you put any weight to these guys ranking Akron at #89 when they don't even know that Hendry is gone?

OK...again, it's obvious whoever wrote the article did not see any Akron football last year. The most important position to watch is ... The right side of the offensive line. The Akron line did a tremendous job last year of keeping Frye upright and paving the way for former RB Bob Hendry, but now tackle Jed Cummins and guard Mike Piccirillo have to be replaced. WTF...I would hardly say that the O line did a tremendous job of keeping Frye upright....maybe helping him upright would be a better comment. Just another reason to turn to zipsnation for the most accurate info on the Zips.

I used to think that filling the bowl would be quite a task...but after the Can't State game last year, I don't see why it can't be done. I think that there are a lot of closet Zips fans out there. Like it has been said here before, a winning team will put butts in the seats. I think that it will take more than a PR campaign by the SID to get the bowl full this season. If 5 has a great day against PSU and we come out on top....there will Zips fans coming out of the woodwork. Close doesn't cut it. If we play PSU close, it will be blown off by everyone just like Wisconsin was last year. A win against a big Ten team will get the word out more than a PR campaign IMHO. From what I've seen in the past, the billboards that do get put up aren't necessairly where most people can see them. A page in SI and something better than the score ticker at the bottom of the screen is what is needed. The Can't State game last year was proof enough for me that a lot of people know how to get into the Rubber Bowl, now we just have to give them a reason to show up. The PR campaign can't hurt, but a winning team is the best PR Campaign. We've been on the losing end of a lot of close games over the past 9 years, if we can just come out on the other side, filling the bowl won't be a problem.

Good to hear that the O was smoking. I've been thinking lately.... there is not doubt in my mind that Superman is Heisman material, but will the receivers allow 5 to put up the numbers to prove it to everyone else? I hope so! With the adjustment to the new offence and a green receiving corps, I'm a little worried. Sounds like Charlie has been keeping his end of the bargain with lots of study. Hopefully everyone else is too. I would like nothing more than to come out of the gate this year and shock PSU. The PSU fans are probably looking at us as a game to iron things out....an easy W. With the more intense workouts and some real D1-A coaching hopefully we can come out on the other end of a close Big Ten game. Unfortunately, I think if we do beat PSU, Paterno will be shown the door. Hopefully it is the fall of one storied program and the beginning of another. Man...it's April and I'm already pumped about football!

Yea, I caught the end of that one. I don't think he did well though, didn't he come in last?