Zipsrifle

Honestly, how many NFL rookies understand the time value of money? Frye might, but 90% of the others don't seem to. I love the "What every happened to:" shows on TV when I hear former millionaires whine about how they were cheated out of their money.

Here's a link if anyone is curious what at "Zip Coaster" is: Zip Coaster

I'm back at my folks house today and while driving into Sandusky I notice a billboard outside of the new mega indoor waterpark advertizing the "Zip Coaster!" Knowing that this place is going to be PACKED year round with guests, seems like UA could throw some money at this and get some good advertizing in a tourist hot spot. They need to do something around here! I met someone today from Willard and I said "Oh, that's where Charlie Frye is from!" All I got back was a blank stare.

I think soccer is bigger than baseball. Though I like baseball, it's on the way out from a youth perspective. Soccer is only going to grow in popularity, where do you think all the "soccer moms" are driving the kids to?

After a reasonably successful season, Baseball coach Tim Berenyi resigns. I would have thought the finish in the MAC was a good indication of a coach gradually improving the program. It says it was his own decision. I wonder how much pressure MT brought? Baseball Coach Resigns

The Formula SAE race happened about two weeks ago. The Zips who place 7th last season didn’t do so hot this year. Pretty much the worst finish ever, 58th out of 122 teams. Something must have blown up because they didn’t get a score in the endurance event. Anybody have any idea what happened? The Zips are usually one of the top teams. Well, I’m sure they’ll learn from the experience and come back contending again next year 2005 SAE Results

Maybe the should! Nice Job Joe!

So, it looks like they will do more drug testing, but the penalties are still TBD by the coaching staff. Does OSU have to make the results of those drug tests public? If not, this is just a waste of money. Notice how the Stinkin' Urinal makes JT look so steadfast: "But Tressel will not succumb to the public's suggestion of a one-and-done policy and increase his penalties for off-the-field infractions. That usually means first-time offenders enter the in-house program, second-timers receive two-week sanctions and third-time offenders are suspended for one year. Tressel said coaches have the freedom to do whatever they think the situation calls for beyond that." He won't succumb huh. Well, is that a good thing? Apparently he stands for what's right, according to the ABJ. How often do they do drug testing? If it's twice a year, and you need to be busted 3 times for a one year suspension, then it'll take you two years to get a suspension. I don't know the details, but before I go and applaud OSU for their more strict policies, I need to be assured they aren't just blowing smoke. Still seems to me that there are pleanty of ways around this.

Zips lost first game of the double elimination tournament to Miami 2-0. Need to take down BG tomorrow so we don't get sent home. Zips lose to Miami, play BG tomorrow Oh, yea....

OK, typically I wait till the fall, but it's slow around here. I'm not as optimistic as some of you guys. at Purdue, L 16-52 at Middle Tennessee State, L, 20-31 Northern Illinois, L, 13-41 Central Michigan, W, 28-24 at Buffalo, W, 28-27 at Miami, L, 24-38 Army, W, 30-20 at Bowling Green, L, 16-45 at Ball State, L, 24-27 Ohio, W, 27-17 Can't State, W, 28-27 Purdue, just too much. MTSU, it's away, experience hurts us. NIU, top tier MAC team, they run all over us. Central, we're home. Buffalo, we're away and frankly, they give us all we can handle. Miami, we get screwed by the officials. Army, big crowd, team is pumped, no problem. BG, no contest. BSU, sorry folks, I can't remember a year when we didn't lose a game we should have won. This is the game. OU, it's close till the end. Can't, dogfight, as ususal. Like I've said before, I'll be very happy with a winning season. Prove me wrong Zips!

Looks like disorderly conduct. Third Buckeye arrested in 2 weeks. Keep it up OSU. You're just making everyone else look better!

I'm not a player expert like some others here, but here is the way I view things: 1) LO is gone. 2) We need to put the best players we have on the field. JD will determine who the "Best" players are. I don't care who recruited them, as long as they are the best we've got! I'm not worried about the players coming over to this site and being insulted. I sure wouldn't worry about what a bunch of guys punching keys on their computer night in and night out think of my performance. My personal take on where we stand going into this year when compared to last year is this. I feel we are in worse shape this year starting the season. If we are, as it appears, a young team, we will not have the size or experience of the schools we will be playing against early on. We'll make mistakes and get pushed around till people get accustomed to this level of play. Two areas, IMO, that will make a huge impact on how we come out of the gate are player dedication over the summer and coaching. Seemed to me that Charlie and company were always practicing over the summer honing their skills on their own. This group needs to be doing the same thing. Early on this next season, JD will not be able to hide behind the fact that he installed an entirely new system. Though I was very impressed with what happened after the middle of last season, the beginning of the year was a big disappointment. A great coach will have these kids a step or two above similar competition and that should make us at least competitive early on. I put a lot on momentum so at least one win in the first 3 games is key in my book.

Someone mentioned this in another tread, but I think this really deserves it's own post. Especially since the Zips haven't been here since 1996! I really haven't followed the baseball team at all but looks like we'll be a long shot to win it. Can't and OU both had better overall records in the East, but worse MAC records. Obviously the quality of teams played could be a reason for this. Nice job Zips! One especially satifying twist to this whole thing is that despite Can't having won 10 more games overall than the Zips, their loss puts us in the tourney. In addition, this is the first time in the 14 year history of the MAC Baseball tourney that Can't won't be participating. Zips to MAC Tourney MAC Baseball Page

Let me predict the discipline that Tressel will dish out: Skeete: Suspension from the team for one year. He will still be allowed to practice though. Justification to the press: Skeete has the worse of the two offences so he will really get hammered to show how tough OSU is on these types of offences. What the real justification is: He was 2nd string so he was just going to practice for another year anyway. Haw: One game suspension. Justification to the press: Though it was an drug infraction, it wasn’t as bad as skeete’s so we will punish him, but not as bad. What the real justification is: Thank GOD we play Miami (Oh) first. Our second game is against Texas and we’ll need all the help we can get. A one game suspension will have to do. I can’t wait to see how close my prediction is.

Well, IMO Thomas has done a pretty good job so far when it comes to replacing coaches. He wasn’t cutting it so lets get someone new in there.

Compared to the others, I don't like Yeager, Peden, or Colorado. I like Louisville and SMU. I think you can get a look at most of the stadiums through this site: click here for stadium pictures

I don't remember exactly what Swiger said after the Marshall game but it was something to the effect of "God, please don't make me have to kick the game winning fieldgoal!" near the end of the game. That isn't the mindset we need in that position.

Looks like OSU will get a slap on the wrist. I didn't follow this too much, just heard bits and pieces so I don't know how bad things actually were. Any insight? OSU and NCAA Violations

I guess I'm not quite as optimistic as you guys. Though it would be great to win 7 or 8 games, I don't think it is in the cards. I'll be VERY happy with 6 wins this year. I was amazed at what JD was able to accomplish last year though and if he is the coach we all hope, I think we might get 7 or 8 wins. This season will be a good measuring stick of his coaching abilities. I guess here is my rundown of what I think will happen. I think JD starts a lot of underclassman, who are very athletic, but inexperienced and just not as physically mature as upperclassman. Purdue -L- I think we'll get pushed all over the field on this one. This is where the inexperience and size will hurt us. Lots of first game mistakes. I haven't done much research on Purdue but their spring depth chart looks like they will have mostly Juniors and Seinors playing. Keeping this from being a blowout will make an excellent start IMO. MTSU -L- I've been nosing around a little bit more on this board but still don't have a real good idea about them. They weren't hit as bad by graduation as we were, lost 5 starters total, and will be playing us in Tenn. They beat us at home last season so I'm going to say a W in Murfreesboro will be a upset for the Zips. NIU -L- If we get out of Tenn. with a W then we have a shot in this one. I understand the NIU has dropped some games against middle to lower rung MAC schools, but I only give us a shot in this one if we have momentum. I hear they have 2 stellar running backs again this year and an All-American on the line. They'll be a contender in the West. CMU -W- MUST WIN AT HOME, no excuses! Buffalo -W- They scared me 2 years ago when we played them in Buffalo. If we go in at 0-4, I think we're in trouble. As ususal, we should win this game, but I just think they have to improve at some point. Miami -L- I wasn't at the game 2 years ago, but the previous two games in Oxford I was at and we seemed to play them well. They are probably going to have the better team and should win, but if we've got 3 wins at this point I think we win. During my last two trips to Oxford to watch the Zips I was treated to the Touchdown Travis "Overlooked" block in the back for his record setting TD and the naming of "Big Ben" with his last second miracle. I figure I'm due for a Zips win. Army -W- We should win this one, no excuses! BG -L- Sorry folks, I don't see a W in this one either. Give us a few more years. Ball State -W- They gave us a hard time last year. I think we'll be a better team, but we play away. If we have a crappy record, we might lose, if we have a decent record, we win. OU -W- Got to beat these guys at home. For some reason they just annoy me! Especially after listenening to the postgame show leaving Athens last year. Too much talk about how OU was the better team and Akron just got lucky, bla, bla, bla. Can't State -W- Blowout at home on National TV. As you can tell I tend to put a lot on momentum. It was amazing what happened after the Can't game last year. Sure it's 4 months till the start of the season, but I see 6 wins as reasonable. No stumbles backwards like we would see at least once every season with whoever was the coach prior to JD .

PD says it's a done deal. Temple to MAC

Their program is struggling and they are doing what they have to in order to put W's on the schedule and get to a bowl game. As we know, the fans of those schools will not put up with multiple losing seasons and sitting at home over the holidays. If they contiune to lose, Beaver Stadium will look like the RB on a July afternoon. I look for them to contiune scheduling much weaker schools till things turn around. In the meantime, they are using their name to keep the revenue coming in, put up a good show for the recruits, and start out strong. They have 7 home games this year. Their early season schedule is a cakewalk compared to Akron's. Their first 3 games are against S. Florida, Cincy, and CMU at home and the have an excellent shot at staring out 4-0. Again this year the headlines say the Paterno's job is on the line but it seems to me that he will be able to stay as long as he wants. I think that a W for the Zips next year in Happy Valley would be a devistating blow to their program, especially if they have another dismal year. Though I would love to see a W against PSU, I just want to get through this season with more wins than losses.

Answer this for me. Why is MTSU an outside shot? Location? Hell we took UCF. I know nothing about their (MTSU) BB team. But if Temple is going to join as football only, wouldn’t you want an all sports member with a better football team? Temple as all sports or not at all. Though it would help us out as far as our football record, I don’t think the MAC needs more crappy teams.

Marshall #1 was my favorite till Marshall #2 came along. I still loved the poll on ESPN after Marshall #1. "Was Akron's Defense Too Rough?" I think we were rated as one of the worst D's in the country before the game and after the game we were apparently mowing over the Marshall line and being too rough on a QB that burned us 2 years earlier late in a game that kept us out of the MAC Championship game. But #2 was WAY better than #1. Nobody rushed the field in #1, it was a done deal, no HUGE come from behind thriller.

I think we're going to be pretty dangerous in '08. Lock them in now.

I can’t speak about any of the other predictions for the teams mentioned. I only know about the Zips and in my book, 6 wins will be a success. Maybe they are pulling it out of their A$$, or maybe the predictions have some basis to them, but I wouldn’t classify their analysis as crap just because they have a similar analysis for multiple teams. If you haven’t noticed, there are a few good MAC teams and a bunch of crappy ones. That would mean the crappy ones get similar reports.