Zipsrifle

Interesting. They talk of eliminating redundant programs, but CSU gets to add a physicians program to get a foot into NEOCOM. Seems to me that this was a lot of talk and not a lot of action. This blurb should bode well for Akron: I think we have the best Engineering programs in NE Ohio, excluding Case (Is that a private school?). I see Akron as a Science and Technology leader. In general, I don't know that the article really said all that much. Again, I think some serious cost could be taken out of the state college system, but someone needs to make the hard call and start yanking programs out of schools, and that includes OSU! Proenza seemed frustrated. He's the man, and I have a feeling he has more up his sleeve to push Akron to the top.

So, who's good with Photoshop? We need a picture of Zippy, with a Jar, Chasing our next home opponent, a Bobcat.

Well, I think it's safe to say after hitting the last 2 home games, I'll be frequenting the JAR more for BB games. I don't know anything about KD, but he was really fired up last night. Seems like a VERY intense guy! I think I read here on the board, or heard on the post game show that he is pretty hard on the kids. If this is the case, it seems to me that he knows his coaching style and needs a certain personality that can cope with this. Someone with a good character isn't going to run when things get hard. That's my $0.02.

Here's a great quote I found lurking: Another good round on McNeese: He was never a good shooter in high school. In fact he was a terrible shooter. Figures. well he was first team all state after averaging 28.4 points, 8.0 assists and 6.9 rebounds a gameAnd the best quote from the dignified and refined Miami fans:Penno4thewin said: I was so glad to see us pound them into the ground tonight! Great, Great game!

The Wife and I will sit in GA in section 8 for those of you who would like to join us. We'll have our oldies stuff on, but we don't look that "Oldie".

So people don't break into the houses to do their illicit buisness or burn them down.

Seems to me that the issue with Oldies sitting together is that some of the rich ones have season tickets in the reserved section, whereas us poor (or maybe we're just cheap) Oldies sit in general admission. It would be nice to sit in a designated spot, but those who are season ticket holders shouldn't have to give up good seats. I'm not a big BB fan, but I'll be there this Saturday against Miami and for the Can't State game(s). I would not mind sitting near the rowdies, since I like to cheer and make noise, but I'm past the stage where I jump around and make an @$$ out of myself. Any chance we can get on the floor by the rowdies? If not, I vote that we sit in Upper GA behind the opponents bench (Section 8).Oh, I don't know if I can make it to BW3 before the game...I'm pretty busy with family, school, work and all, so Akron events get put on the back burner quite often.

I hate to say this, but Miami owns us in BB and FB when it counts. Sure we get the occasional win here and there, but think about all the times they have been the school that has kept us from having a great season. Big Ben's Hail Mary, 2004 MAC East Championship, Last season in BB, ......... We hate Miami, but they know they've got our #. Seems to me that when they are supposed to be good, they are and when they aren't supposed to be good, they still end up with a championship, or at least close to one. They are the cocky, athletic, good looking, rich, smart, kid in high school. I think the JAR MUST be rocking if we are going to beat Miami. The team will need the JAR to be a hostile environment.

This has everything to do with MONEY. Akron does not travel. Most people think Akron is not even in DI-A. Nobody, outside of a few diehard fans, follow the Zips. We don't even get respect from the hometown paper this is surrounded by campus. Schools that have well known names and travel better will ALWAYS get the nod over those who are unheard of, regardless of how good the team is. We all know that the NCAA is and unbiased organization working for equality among student athletes of Major Schools. What Akron needs to do is to pull off a few upsets. This year that means winning the MAC and going deep into the tourney. Follow up with a similar run in 2009, and THEN we'll be packing the JAR and getting some respect. Until that happens, we won't be on anybody's radar.

Oh, one more thing....what's with the rebounding????? they had 4 guys under the basket EVERY SHOT. Need to work on THAT!

OK, I don't go to many BB games, but I go to at least one a season and tonight was the night. Unlike the past few years, at least this game has some excitement in it because it was close. Here are my non-basketball fan thoughts. I hope this was a bad night, because IMO, we didn't look very good. We did not seem as disciplined as in the past. A lot of bad/forced shots and less D than what I remember. I would have liked to see a better presence underneath. Seems to me that Wood could really dominate, but didn't quite show it, outside of a few minutes in the 2nd. Don't get me wrong, he was a great tonight, definately the leader on the floor, letting others know when they screwed up, but I just think he could REALLY dominate games. Quade needs to hit the gym, he had two bad attempts at a strong shot underneath and I think he tried a 3???. Great dunker though! Nate is IMO, the best player on the floor. Great shot, good head, and great actor (I think he got 2 charges called tonight). Last year's game, he seemed pretty timid (I think he was banged up from the previous game), but tonight, he was aggressive in his play. It took Nick quite a while to get going, but had a prayer go in late, and carried the team to victory. Cedric, oddly, was not a big factor tonight. Seems to me he was always good for quite a few points and some excitement. I was very impressed with McNees tonight. The guy can shoot and plays a little out of control, he's a great addition that with time, will mature. As a team, seemed that we did not take smart shots and that almost always resulted in a turnover. We do not have a good transition game. IMO, this would have been an easier win if we would have pulled up and set up a few plays instead of trying to take it quick to the hole. Even though we were in the lead, we seemed way to eagar to quickly answer when UIC started a run. Since we typically didn't take a good shot, this only gave momentum to their run. Also, seemed to me that we forced a lot of shots. I would have liked to see more feeds underneath to Wood and more passes for open shots....maybe that isn't this teams style. Also, where was the D? Late in the game it came out, but I seem to remember a suffocating D the entire game? We were kinda lax early on. Anyway, entertaining game and I'm definately going to make the Can't game and maybe Miami later this week. Everyone complains about attendance, well, I've got to do my part to help increase those numbers.

I would buy a paper, if I didn't have to drive so far to get one. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe we can still put $$ in the ABJ pocket by simply clicking on some of the ads that are located in the Akron Zips area. I know there aren't many, but I believe that these are tracked and each time someone clicks one, the ABJ gets some cash. Lets face it, the day of the physical newspaper is coming to an end and we are all online already. Now....we just need to get some real advertisements on the Akron Zips pages.

Want a job in Akron? My guess is that it doesn't pay much, but you could probably skim some off the top and nobody would notice.

I see buy one get one free offers at Discount Drug Mart in Elyria for Cleveland State BB and billboards for BGSU everywhere. If UA want's to be the premier school in NE Ohio, then we better start advertising to the masses (that don't know we exist) like all of our competition.

I know Football is supposed to make money, but I think a new soccer stadum would be just as high on the list. I'm not a big soccer fan, but we've got a hell of a tradition and a team and with all the kids playing soccer these days, it could be HUGE in the future. I just wish we could make it deep into the tourney!

flip, Why don't you just stock all metric fasteners? Join the movement!

I've always believe that if engineers controlled the United States, and Dilbert became President, the immediate adoption of the metric system would be the tool to unleash a Totalitarian state upon the remainder of the population.Damn right!

I'm hoping for the metric system for 2 reasons 1) (WARNING...I'm an Engineer!!!) English units are the standard in what, 2 countries on the globe? They have stupid conversions and no good basis for their units. They do nothing but cause problems when the US tries to work with other countries. Change over all the speed limit signs, and car dashboards starting in 2009! It will be a cash cow for local law enforcement for a few years for those who resist!!.....they will learn eventually. We need to go cold turkey in the schools! All metric in all text books. 2) Money talks, BULL $#!+ walks, and the only way the NCAA will change the way it does buisness to determine the National Championship is by an act of Congress. Since all the Congressmen are elected by the zombies of the MAJOR schools, it will never happen.

Man, JD is in a sweet spot right now. Some of the fans want to can him, others are worried about him leaving. In my book, that means he's going nowhere.

Though I'm not a huge BB fan, I think KD's approach is quite interesting. If we take the conventional approach (the approach every other Mid-Major is taking), then we hope to knock off a few good schools, to get quality recruits to elevate our program. Odds are that you are NOT going to be able to knock off enough of the big boys to get an at large, and you will have to win your confrence to get to the dance. If you play a stupid hard schedule and get killed, you ONLY chance of getting to the big dance is to win the MAC. Your record looks crappy and that probably hurts recruiting. As we saw last year, if we have a cake schedule, your record looks great, but you get snubbed (for more than one reason) and your only chance of getting to the big dance is to win the MAC. The up side, IMO, of this approach (KD's approach), is that you have an outstanding record that MAY bring in higher quality recruits. Eventually, this may elevate your talent to where you win your confrence consistently and then, you have a chance to take down the big boys. In the end, it all boils down to winning the confrence for us. I like KD's approach and I'd like to see where it takes us. Everyone else is taking the same old approach, KD is thinking outside of the box.

OK, I've got to gripe somewhere about this. Did anyone watch ESPN this morning for highlights....there weren't any....more on why later.First off, I have to say Kalamazoo is the most confusing town I have EVER been in. I've been to Paris, and that is a damn confusing town, but not as much as Kalamazoo. We got TOTALLY lost several times and WTF with the one way streets.....they all go the same direction!!! Take a side road to get where you want to go, and it dead ends. No signs anywhere about how to get where. We got lost AFTER the game because the bus to the parking lot picks people up at a completely different spot than where they drop you off! I think we, and some other lost Akron fans got on the last bus of the night!Ok, so why no highlights. Well, IMO, the local TV station just left thinking it was a win. I know the instant replay cameras were there, but I watched the local Kalamazoo news after the game, and they had highlights up to about 1/2 way through the 4th, then...nothing........ The announcer tried to describe the ending but botched it up. The game was so late, and everyone else in the country was so confused that it didn't make any of the national shows. I saw the ESPN Top 10 for yesterday this morning at the hotel...no Akron. In fact, we weren't even MENTIONED in the broadcast. By FAR the most bizzare turn of events in college football yesterday....but typical MAC coverage. Boy am I glad I went to the game!

My wife and I were sitting all by our lonesome's in the North Endzone....far from the other Akron fans. This is my assessment:First, WMU fans are great. We didn't have any real problems with them during the game and that stadium was a near sellout. Great facility, very helpful fans before and after the game (Kalamazoo is the most confusing town I have EVER been in!!!) I wouldn't say there were any plays last night that weren't seen before, kinda the same thing, but I think we are seeing the experience start to kick in and what we can do in MAC play. First, we had a decent time running the ball for a few reasons. 1) OL is opening holes. We're in MAC play guys and I could see THROUGH the line to the other endzone! On one play, there was enough room for CJ11 (who blew the block) and Alex to run through the hole at the same time!2) Alex Allen is a beast. That guy just keeps fighting for yards and taking hits. 3) Nice job at Concealing the handoff. 4) Stable of Backs. We could give the guys a breather without much of a dropoff.Next, Jabrai is a Man among Boys out there. He had a GREAT game and came back from an injury late in the game to make a few clutch catches. As I mentioned in another post, we got screwed on a TD call in the 4th. Though it was 100 yards away from where I was sitting, their Jumbotron showed the catch and it was a TD, no doubt in my mind. We had a few other guys step up in the WR dept. in Brandon Williams and Alphonso Owen which was nice. They are nowhere near 12, but it's a start. On the defensive side of the ball, I thought we did a decent job of stopping the run. We had our lapses, but did a good job of shutting down Bonds and West who are GREAT backs. Bonds has some GREAT moves! WMU is a well disciplined team and I thought we did a good job of making adjustments to their run game after they started moving the ball. The passing game is a completely different story. Sorry folks, but we really didn't have an answer to their passing game. They ran GREAT routes and had GREAT receivers. They were BIG and had GREAT hands. On at least 2 TD's, even though the Zip defender had good position, they just took the ball from them. If they had a better QB, we would have been crushed last night. I can't tell you how many times their guys were WIDE open and there weren't any Zips to be found. Special teams look good. Nothing like the Jabari pass in the Can't game. That final play was NOT a planned thing, it was pure luck! Owen completely botched on receiving the kick. He dropped it and it rolled about 10 yards to maybe the 12 yard line. He chased it down and picked it up and there were a TON of Bronco's waiting for him as he ran it up the left side, made a few good moves in traffic and dumped it to Jones as soon he was wrapped up and going down. From there, I don't know how Jones got out of traffic....he ran to the right and emerged with about 4 Zips blocking in front of him. He charged down the field and then high stepped it into the endzone (what an IDIOT!). I saw him slow down for his high step and I thought "JUST GET IN THE DAMN ENDZONE!!!!!!!!". Overall, WMU was the better team. We showed a LOT of grit, and our Offense had a slight advantage over the D. I don't know why they didn't pass the ball at the end of the game and I don't know WHY they took the safety. I understand the concept, but wouldn't you rather go into OT on the fluke punt return than lose the game on the fluke kickoff return???? I put this win up there with the MACC win.

I guess fans are the same everywhere. Lose a game and they are calling for your head (I'm sure there were a few calling for Pete Carroll's head last night ) and win a close one on a miracle play and you're a god. Trust me folks, that was NOT a planned play, it was pure LUCK!

CJ11 will start next week, no doubt. I was at Waldo Stadium last night and I agree with CK, that was a different CJ11 than in the past. With that said, I think there are some big advantages that CJ7 can bring to the field and I wish we would leverage this more!!!The bad:Turnovers. IMO, CJ11 isn't the safer QB when it comes to turnovers. I saw him put the ball on the turf 3 times last night....losing two. One was on a snap....took his eyes off the ball...it happens. The other two are because he doesn't protect the ball when he's scrambling. He hangs it out there when he's scrambling, need to work on this bigtime. As for the INT, he was looking directly at the receiver as soon as he got the snap so I wasn't too suprised.The other critiques I have are that CJ11 made quite a few risky passes last night and we got lucky on a few. On one of those 4 passes into the End Zone in the 4th, he just tossed one up under pressure and we were lucky it didn't get intercepted. His passing is inconsistent....at times he shows a great touch (Jabari's "No-Touchdown" in the 4th.....it was a TD folks, we got screwed!) and other times he just flat out misses high (which is OK since we never throw down the field....it just goes out of bounds).Finally, he has GOT to keep an eye on the down clock......no excuse! I think this is at LEAST the 2nd time this year in a critical situation he has screwed us with a delay of game.The good:I always like to end on a +ve note, and like CK said, this was a different CJ11 than in the past. IMO, he had a MUCH better feel of the pocket collapsing around him last night. There were several times he hung in there till the last minute, a-la Charlie Frye, and then tucked and ran. In MAC play, he is a fast QB and made several good gains and even had a few good moves. He wasn't afraid to take a hit either (just cover up the ball when you do)! As I said, he can have a great touch and can throw a bullet. Outside of his Delay of Game, I was very impressed with his composure and how he ran the offense, he was in charge out there. He also wasn't afraid to get out there and block when he handed it off (Though his blocking technique needs some work) . Finally, he is getting VERY good at consealing the handoff. I don't know how many times I wasn't following the ball carrier after the handoff. I didn't see the UCONN game, but he is MUCH better than the last time I saw him play.

Smikey1, very, very classy post. I was at the game last night and I have to say that being classy seems to be a theme among WMU Fans. Though we weren't sitting anywhere near the Akron Friends and Family section, we had no problem throughout the game and everyone was very nice to us, even after the end of the game. You guys have a great stadium and an amazing fan base.