Zipsrifle

Trying to screw us!

Mine is locked and loaded....neighbors will have no idea why...

Yea, of course my Internet Provider doesn't support ESPN3 so I'm screwed. That's OK, I enjoy listening to Steve French.

Got out of that somehow....

It might be more reliable to go through StubHub than the UA ticket office. Screwed up my seats for the 2nd time in the past 4 years....

Yea, he looks way better! Good for him! Your health is the most important thing of all!

Zips keep it close but we're not there yet. Zips 34 UCF 38.

Woah! 4 Days....guess I was looking forward to JM. Anybody get their season tickets yet? I haven't seen mine....

I thought they did quite a bit of drug testing which, I assumed, covered PEDs? I agree that this rule is an improvement and it could make some games very interesting if key players get ejected. Knowing the MAC refs....we could have a LOT to talk about this year!

Nice article. I have to say, even though we have a tough schedule, I am finally looking forward to Zips football this year. The last few years have been brutal! I like the comparison to WF and I think it is appropriate. Those guys last year were fighting in every game, unlike the previous two season. I'm hoping we can steal one or two games this year! Oh, and I expect us to be giving away tickets for a while. It will take some sustained winning in Akron to get people in the area to take notice.

I was telling everyone how the Zips were gong to make a run. How embarrassing was that blowout?! Though I was mad after the game, I wasn't mad at anyone but more at the negative press we were bound to receive. I too was wondering why VCU just kept pouring it on? This morning it occurred to me that even at halftime of the game, I was 100% convinced that the Zips would make this a game. This season Akron ALWAYS came back and almost always won! Shaka was well aware of this and frankly, I think he was going to pour it on as long as he could until he was absolutely sure Akron couldn't come back. How many of our opponents this season thought it was in the bag only to lose? Boy did that hurt but hopefully KD learns from this and we are better prepared in the future.

Terry played today NOT to lose instead of playing to win. What happened to that offense that could put points on anybody? We move the ball 65 yards from the 1 inch line in the fourth and punt when we are down by 8? Pathetic!

My experience indicates this is common at all schools. You are a pretty good player if you get a D1 scholarship out of HS. Given a young mans confidence in the future, especially when everyone tells them how great he is, it's not surprising a few kids feel this way.

Seems like BG just figured out our achilles heel and went for it. In the first half seems they tried to mix the pass and the run and defended for both equally. In the second, they just ran it down our throat and we could do nothing to stop it. Man, Pettigrew is a runner, just kept on churning it OUT! Is it me or did DW seem a little shell shocked in the second? Usually we are pretty quick to get rid of the ball but he was hanging onto it. Was he looking for a long ball or did BG really defend our receivers that well? We tired a screen pass a few times but BG was totally ready for those. I give BG a lot of credit, I can't remember the last time I saw 1/2 time adjustments make such a huge difference in the game. I fear the cat is out of the bag on how to stop the Zips O. I thought for sure we would catch a few teams off guard this season and get rolling...I think I was wrong. Today was a reality check. It'll be more fun than the last two years, but it is still gonna be frustrating as HELL!

YES! Yacking on the sidelines. Stands up, puts his helmet on, goes out and wins the MACC! The stuff of legends!

I too have high hopes for this team. Think we are gonna hit our stride at some point this season and put together a bit of a winning streak. I really thought it was last week, lets hope it is this week.

Many of these players have been in a losing culture for their whole careers. TB gave them a breath of new life, but I fear if we don't win another game here against an FBS opponent soon, we will fall back to where we were. The sooner we reach win #2, the better!

I realize we need "Pay Day" games for the program, but part of me actually thinks we should avoid these types of games for two reasons. 1) I'm not convinced of the benefit of these games to the program outside of the cash. Do recruits come to Akron just because they will play a game or two at a Major BCS School? Do the players and coaches learn a lot during these games? Overall, does it put the program in a positive light? Do we have a higher chance of injury during these games? 2) These types of games continue to bias the "Winning Tradition" at "Major" programs. I never understood why it is "OK" for a "Major" program to have say 8 home games a year while a "Mid-Major" may have as low as 4. It is difficult to build a fan base or a program when you are on the road all the time. Everyone should have 6 home and 6 away games. A "Major" school scheduling a low MAC school is the same as Akron scheduling a low FCS School. The "Major" school is allowed to do this because we are FBS, and they basically get 3-4 practice sessions before starting their season. The MAC school is thrown to the wolves right away. It helps the "Major" program rankings and their fanbase, MAC Schools are not so lucky. As much as I want to make it "Big Time", I also realize who we are. Right now, I would rather forego the "Pay Day" games and play against low level B10, CUSA, B-East schools where we have a reasonable shot at being competitive. I've felt for a year or two that the MAC should actively walk away from payday games (Though that looks dumb now) and force the "Major" schools to schedule comparable opponents early in the season. Many schools who think they are in the running for a National Championship every year at this time because they have played a bunch of cupcakes would have their seasons blown up in week 1 or week2. On one front it would help remove the bias that MAC schools are continually fighting in the Mid-West.

I was in Columbus last night on business and stumbled across the show. In a town that is 100% OSU all the time, boy was it a treat to see a show on the Zips. Watched the whole thing, well done. I could get used to this.

Well, from my standpoint there is a lot we need to work on. I think we just had more talent than they did. First, this year we can actually catch a football, our guys go up and GET IT AND catch with their hands! Last year we didn't catch anything! (Interestingly enough, isn't Ianello the Receivers Coach at Kansas??? Genius!). Second, DW has had success with some deep passes, but it's not like he is hitting our guys in stride, they usually have to stop. My fear is that once we get a team with a decent backfield he's going to be throwing a few picks on the deep ball. With the short passes, I think he is pretty darn accurate. I did see our DB's get beat a few times and either the ball was too long or the guy just dropped it. Don't get me wrong, we weren't horrible, but we're not awesome either, we'll get burned a few times this season. Still, I think we're better than last season. I can think of at least one instance where our DB swatted down a pass that I was sure was going to be a TD for them. I have no illusions that we're going to contend in the conference this season, but I see some momentum being built. Give this thing a few years and then we can start talking about contending.

Glad to see you adding useful thoughts to the discussion....

Man, that felt good! I too am looking forward to MAC play. I expect a bit of shock in our fellow MAC opponents when they see what I have seen so far, a complete overhaul of this team. Not saying we're gonna roll through the conference, just that we're gonna be like the Zips I fell in love with back in the day. You may beat us, but you're gonna have to put up 56 points to do it!

Wow, this is all over the news and does not put UA in a good light. NPR seemed to go out of their way to make a point of how much UA benefits from Infocision. It made me frustrated that we "benefited" from such a thing, but with most things I see in the media, I wondered what spin was being put on this to make a good story. Here is a scenario I though of: Nowhere in this piece does it mention how much money it COSTS InfoCision to make the calls on behalf of the charities. Lets speculate that Infocision pays $8/hr for someone in Akron to call for a charity. On average, the person contacts 20 people an hour and has a 5% success rate on actually getting donations. The average donation for everyone who does donate is $15. When you factor in the additional costs for that one person in Akron, I can see where it would cost InfoCision $12 just to get one $15 donation every hour. That's 80% of the DONATION!! GASP!!!! Now, this is PURELY hypothetical, I have NO idea what it costs to do this type of thing and I would hope that InfoCision cuts charities a break in some way. Maybe instead of a 10% profit from working with them they get a 5% profit or something.....

So what's the deal with Playing Can't State twice right before the tournament? Is that a typo?

Yep! Wouldn't be the first time the NCAA screws an up and coming Akron Team. Put me in the "I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't get it" camp.