Zipsrifle

I think the reason for the success wasn’t just the coaches, or just the players, it was the team. The coaches are the leaders of the team, if they don’t have it together, then the team won’t win. In addition, you can have a great coaching staff,but if the players don’t care, then you won’t win either. IMO, both facets of the team continued to believe in the system set out by the coaches and because of this, the season was a success. Is JD truly a great head coach? Time will answer that question. The seniors no doubt gave their all and should have nothing but fond memories of the Bowl being packed for big games this season. In the 10 years I have followed Zips football, this past season was without a doubt the most exciting for me. I don’t have the inside track, don’t personally know anyone on the team, and am no expert on football, but I don’t see how this past season could have happened if everyone wasn’t on the same page. JD was able to find something extra in the Zips this season, something that LO couldn’t find. For that reason, I believe JD is what Akron has been looking for.

Nice Find UA Fan! This guy seemed very knowledgeable on Frye, kinda like he watched a few games....I imagine it was all on film. I think the one comment I didn't agree with was when he said Charlie has "Ball Security Issues". I thought that was probably his biggest assest, considering all the pressure he was under, he took very good care of the ball! I also noticed that one of his worst games in 2003 was UCONN. If I remember correctly, he was hobbling the entire game, I thought he made a heroic effort. If he is simply rating the performance independent of injury, that could be why. Though I am a bit critical, I think this guy pretty much expressed what we knew all along.

While we're on the topic, has the band put out a CD or something in the past few years? I haven't seen anything.

Didn't he write an article about how somewhere some local refs fixed a college Football game so that the home team would be ensured of a bowl game in their own stadium? The result of which was one team that sat home over bowl season while a team they defeated and finished ahead of in their own division played in a bowl? Oh, wait, he convienently overlooked that part. I'm sure if the refs called a fair game that evening he would have written an article about how crappy the MAC was and didn't deserve all those teams playing in bowl games.

Thanks for the info. I'll be sure to tune in! I can guarantee that I won't be there though, my drive to Akron would be considerably longer drive than normal next week, 12 hours.

Well, I admit, I am one of the persons least interested in Zips BB on this board. But the BB team's success has me craving to see one game this season. Are any of the MAC Tourney games televised nationally? If I can, I'll catch the Zips if they are televised. Let me know the scoop!

Sorry, BB is just not worth the 4-1/2 drive like football is. I hope they win but won't wait up for the score. If/When I move back to Ohio, I'll hit some games.

OUTSTANDING!

Idiot!

OK folks, I have been deliquent in my postings. There have been 2 matches since the last post and gozips.com beat me to this last one. I'll try to play some catchup here. OK, the Zips beat Norwich University at home last weekend (2/24). I've been preaching at how deep this team is and during this match, the top Air Rifle team was actually the Zips 2nd team. The Zips won by a narrow margin, but it wouldn't have even been close if the top 4 Zips were on the Air Rifle team. Way to bounce back from the sectionals. UA vs Norwich Now as for the WIRC, the Zips were crowned champions....even though the didn't win the match. This is a bit confusing to me too but the "Champions" are crowned on the season avg so the Zips took top honors. It looks like the top 4 SB shooters have risen to the top, Coach as picked the correct team for 2 weeks in a row. Air Rifle is still up in the air and as you can see, the score would have been about 20 points higher if the actual top 4 shooters were used. Good job folks, lets add one more championship to the tally this weekend at VMI. Zips WIRC Champs Press Release as follows: Kuntz and Engle Lead Zips Rifle to Conference Title The Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference (WIRC) held it’s conference championships this weekend at Purdue University. Even though the Zips finished a close second behind the University of Missouri Kansas City at this match, the conference championship was still bestowed upon the Zips for earning the high team season averages in both smallbore rifle and air rifle. The top four (out of 10) conference teams finished listed: WIRC Smallbore Rifle Averages #1 The University of Akron 2289 #2 The University of Missouri Kansas City 2263 #3 The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 2242 #4 The Ohio State University 2238 WIRC Air Rifle Averages #1 The University of Akron 1524 #2 The Ohio State University 1499 #3 The University of Missouri Kansas City 1498 #4 The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 1477 Leading the charge for the Zips in the smallbore division was Sophomore Laura Kuntz who fired a 578. With the addition of strong performances by Milano, (571), Elmore (568), and Kramer (565), Akron earned enough points to keep the team average high enough to clinch first place. At the WIRC awards banquet the “All Conference†smallbore teams were announced. The first all conference 5 person team included Zips sharpshooters Sarah Kramer, Joe Milano, and Laura Kuntz. The second all conference team included Stephanie Elmore, Angie Engle, and Christine Fortunato. All totaled the Zips captured 6 of the 10 all conference positions. Laura Kuntz was recognized for finishing in third place at the championship match as well as earning the high kneeling average. And finally the Zips team was presented with the Dr. Emmet Swanson trophy as the WIRC smallbore rifle champions for the second consecutive year. In the air rifle division, the UA freshmen were on fire. Freshman April Engle managed to pull ahead of her big sister (Angie Engle) at this match in grand fashion. April not only lead the Zips squad with her 385 out of a possible 400, but was also honored as the championship match winner. Senior Sarah Kramer assisted with a 383 and freshmen Ashley Pawlak and Shannon Kohatsu-Jelsma each set new personal best scores in the 380’s. When the “All Conference†air rifle teams were announced at the conference awards banquet, the Zips again dominated the program. Sarah Kramer, Joe Milano, and Angie Engle made the first all conference team and then Martha Carpenter, Christine Fortunato, and Stephanie Elmore made the second all conference team. A repeat of the smallbore awards, Akron again took 6 of the 10 top spots in air rifle. Wrapping up the awards banquet, the Akron Zips took possession of the William J. Ranta trophy as the WIRC air rifle champions for the second consecutive year. Coach Newt Engle states, “Sure it would have been nice to win the final match, but to see the future of the this team explode on to the scoreboards like they did today made winning these championship titles that much sweeter.†The final match of the season will take place on March 5th when the Zips travels to the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington Virginia to compete in the Mid Atlantic Rifle Conference championships. The match will start at 7:30 am. Smallbore Rifle Scores: *team 578* Laura Kuntz 571* Joe Milano 568* Stephanie Elmore 565* Sarah Kramer 559 Martha Carpenter 559 Christine Fortunato 552 Angie Engle 552 April Engle 551 Ben Soehnlen 550 Cristina Ciarula 548 Tom Colston 539 Ashley Pawlak 534 Shannon Kohatsu-Jelsma 2282 Akron Smallbore Team Total ============================================================== Air Rifle Individual Scores: *team, 385 April Engle New Personal Best 383* Sarah Kramer 382 Ashley Pawlak New Personal Best 381 Shannon Kohatsu-Jelsma New Personal Best 379 Christine Fortunato 378 Stephanie Elmore 377* Angie Engle 377* Joe Milano 374* Martha Carpenter 373 Laura Kuntz 371 Tom Colston 369 Cristina Ciarula 352 Ben Soehnlen 1511 Akron Air Rifle Team Total

How did we ever land that guy???? Is he playing this thing smart or what!

I can see where someone would get confused as to what exacly is on the side of the helmet. It looks like a dog to me but hey, if you've ever seen a kangaroo, it's head looks like a dog too. If they change it again, they should put the entire kangaroo on the side or the "Z". This leads me to an area that I have put quite a bit of thought into. Now you would figure that being from "tire town" we would be the "radials" or the "blimps" or something. As we all know, that isn't the case, but at least the name is derived from something rubber related. What gets me is what were these people thinking when they picked the mascot? I don't have a globe handy (and apparently they didn't have them in 1953 either), but I think we are about as far from Austrailia as you can get. Yea, yea, I understand that you can get your A$$ kicked by a kangaroo, but it just doesn't make sense. Don't get me wrong, I don't think we should ditch Zippy or anything. He's been around too long and is one of those quirks that is now linked with UA. We've got to keep him, but it doesn't make sense. Now here is where I'm going to get blasted, I am not that fond of the fight song. I guess the part that I have issue with is the part about being "all for you" and the "ZZZIIIIPP go the Zips". The "all for you" part is just cheesy and doesn't inspire me much. Sounds like we're a bunch of servents or something. I mean Wolverines are "Valient" and "Conquering Hero's" and the Zips are "all for you" . Now the "ZZZIIIIPP" part, it just isn't there. "ZZZZ" isn't exactly one of those sounds that projects that well across a stadium and it doesn't have much punch....kinda lingers. What are we Zipping anyway? Are we Zipping up or Zipping along? Zipping period has never put me in a fighting mood. I guess in the end the fight song is just generally uninspiring to me. A "Fight" song is meant to get the troops fired up and ready for battle, the Blue and Gold doesn't quite do it. I have no control over it anyway, but I just had to throw it out there. Now, I will sit back and take my beating , I won't be suprised if I get turned away at the gate to the RB next year but I still bleed Blue and Gold.

Anything else would be a lie.

It's about time I had a short drive to a game....only 2 1/2 hours.

The Rifle team didn't fare as well as we would have liked during the sectional matches. Believe me it's tough to go in there and focus when you've been building up for this match the entire season. Unlike other sports where you can go out there and run around to burn that energy off, you have to suppress it and that is hard to do. As I've mentioned before, Rifle is more about controlling your mind than controlling your body. Few sports are as mentally challenging as Target Shooting. As I mentioned last week, a deep team with no clear cut top shooters isn’t always a good thing. Though some good scores were put up, and another personal best, the top 4 shooters weren’t all on the first team. It looks doubtful that the Zips will make the NCAA Championship match this season but there are still the conference championships and I like the Zips chances there. So, good showing, keep your heads up and finish the season off right. Oh yea, sorry it took 2 days to post this, work has been a bee-otch this week. Date: February 12, 2005 Location: The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Event: NCAA Qualifier and NRA Sectional Rifle Match Akron Rifle Stumbles at Qualifier Milano continues to lead the team. The stage was set for Akron Rifle to possibly qualify for the NCAA championships for the first time ever. The match held at The University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh turned into the “Battle of the Roo’s†as the UMKC Kangaroo’s and the Zips went head to head for high match honors. But it was not in the cards for the team who has been consistently improving throughout the season. The Zips (4520)managed to cling on to second place, finishing behind The University of Missouri at Kansas City (4596). Despite the heartbreaking smallbore performance, not all was doom and gloom for the Zips. Senior Joe Milano continues his winning ways by leading the team with an impressive 576 out of a possible 600. “My goal was 585 for this match but I just couldn’t find the groove,†States Milano. Finishing in second by a mere hand full of center shots was Freshman Stephanie Elmore (572). And out of nowhere comes Junior Cristina Ciarula who fires a 569 shattering her personal best score by 10 points. In air rifle, Milano set the bar pretty high by posting an impressive 580 out of 600. Teammates Senior Sarah Kramer and Freshman Martha Carpenter backed up their team captain with a pair of 573’s. In the process, Carpenter did manage to fire one of her 6 targets as a perfect 100. “Earning a 100 in the standing position with either rifle is a remarkable accomplishment,†states coach Newt Engle, “Martha has been getting closer and closer to doing this and I am pleased she finally earned this honor.†The zips only have 4 practices to figure out what happened at UWO before they face off against a powerful Norwich University of Vermont for the last home match of the season this Friday the 18th. Going into this match the Zips and Norwich are tied for second place in the Mid Atlantic Rifle Conference. This match will go a long way towards determining who will qualify for the conference Championships held on March 5. This rare Friday match will start at 9am in the marksmanship facility located in Schrank Hall South, room #7. Smallbore Rifle Scores: *Gold team, ** Blue team 572* Joe Milano 572** Stephanie Elmore 569 Cristina Ciarula **New Personal Best Score** 561** Tom Colston 559* Angie Engle 559* Sarah Karmer 559** Martha Carpenter 556* Laura Kuntz 556** Christine Fortunato 544 April Engle 541 Ben Soehnlen 540 Shannon Kohatsu-Jelsma 532 Ashley Pawlak 2246 Akron “Gold†Smallbore Team Total 2248 Akron “Blue†Smallbore Team Total ================================================================================ ====================== Air Rifle Individual Scores: *Gold team, ** Blue team 580* Joe Milano 573* Sarah Karmer 573** Martha Carpenter 568 Shannon Kohatsu-Jelsma 562* Angie Engle 559* Stephanie Elmore 558 Ashley Pawlak 554** Laura Kuntz 553** Christine Fortunato 552 Cristina Ciarula 550** Tom Colston 547 April Engle 539 Ben Soehnlen 2274 Akron “Gold†Air Rifle Team Total 2230 Akron “Blue†Air Rifle Team Total ================================================================================ ===================== NewtNotes: For those who did not hear, UA rifle alum and All-American Jack Jones will be inducted into The University of Akron Sports Hall of Fame this Friday after the Norwich match. If you would like to go to the banquet, you can call Ken MacDonald at 330-699-5272. Reservations were supposed to be turned in by the 11th, but Ken can work wonders at the last minute. Come cheer for Jack! Lastly, I previously asked for you to remember rifle alum Matt Jacqumain who is going to Iraq

I think the MAC made a smart move here. The East was already a weaker conference than the West for the past several seasons. If the league didn't replace Marshall with a strong west team, the conference would be very unbalanced for a number of years to come. A weak East that has Miami winning every year will only make Miami's already big head grow bigger and, IMO, tempt them to leave for a "Better" conference. Besides, BG is the obvious choice. BG came from the East and I think they jumped at the chance. With one of the two recent powers of the East is gone, I'm sure BG feels it will have an easier time of getting to the MACC. I don't see the I-75 rivalry being dampened that much, hate runs deep you know. Now from the Zips standpoint, this is a setback. Obviously this is gong to make things more difficult on the field and with recruiting. But, in the long run, this is a necessary step for the league and the universities involved. Someone provided a link here that showed the MAC ranked last of all the conferences in recruiting this season. If this conference is going to shed the image of being on the bottom rung, it is going to need a high level of internal competition to improve play. Just look at what Marshall did for the conference. A lopsided league makes the West teams stronger but leaves the East teams with good division records and an overall low level of play. In the end I think this is probably the best situation for the Zips. I’m very excited with what is happening at UA, but fear that quick success by JD may lead him to move on rapidly and leave us with a high point in an overall mediocre program. I would rather he build the program over a slightly longer period, build a good foundation so to speak. I think this will keep him at UA a few seasons longer. I can't say how things will turn out in '05 but I do have a LOT of faith in JD right now. Last season I thought we would give PSU a hard time and easily handle MTSU. I was in a sate of shock by the middle of Sept. where I didn’t disagree with our ESPN bottom10 ranking. JD stuck by his guns, turned the team around and we made a run. I know that we have had a lot of losses from last season, but hey, it’s college and everyone loses a good chunk of their team every year. I think we'll have a better start this year. I think our problem at the beginning of last season was the team not being accustomed to the new system. That won’t be the case this season and though I don’t expect us to be favorites for the East crown, I don’t count us out either. So in the short term this move will hurt the Zips but will help them in the long run. I think we played BG home last time, does that me we get them at Doyt Perry this year? Short drive for me!

As everyone has seen throughout the year, this shooting team is one of the best ever at UA. But what will it take to get to the "big dance"? Again, the top 8 teams in the country get invited to compete in Air Rifle, Smallbore, or both for the National Championship. In addition, there are some open slots for individuals who shoot exceptionally well but aren't on the top teams. In the past, 8 or so years the Zips have come close several times, but have never made the cut. Is this the season? Here is what one expert (not I) thinks needs to happen to make the cut. The qualifier is this weekend. The first major hurdle is for Coach to pick the right team. As I mentioned before, the teams are chosen before the match so that doesn't necessairly mean the top 4 shooters scores count. If you browse through the previous matches, you will see that though coach has a very deep team, this isn't necessairly a good thing. All of the shooters are bunched around the scores. Without going into too much detail, this is a common problem and a topic all it's own. The result though is that it is very difficult for coach to come up consistently with the top 4 shooters. A shooter may be clearly be the top shooter in practice but stumble in matches. All I can say is good luck coach. The next hurdle is what scores do the Zips need to hit to have a realistic chance. Coach mentioned that the team had a goal of shooting for 2300's this year. That means a team score of 2300 in SB and a 2300 in air. These scores would give them an excellent chance at the big dance. If you look at the scores from the past year, the zips have actually broken this mark twice in SB and once in Air in a match. This is an adjusted figure (not all matches shoot the same number of shots) and the Zips have never eclipsed both scores in the same match. There have been many more matches where the Zips have been just a few points below 2300. So, the team is right at the mark. At this point, looking at the competiton, it appears that the bar has been raised and the Zips will have to put up numbers near 2330 in SB and 2310 in air to make the cut. Though the team will need to have another excellent day, this is not an insurmountable task. During the 4th match against Philly, the top 4 Zips shooters combine for a SB score of 2322 and 2307 in Air. This is very close to what is estimated for a berth in the NCAA Championship match. Coach appears to be excited and always tries to get the team to peak for this match. The scores have been going up as of late and it will be close. So, we'll wait to see what happens this weekend. I wish the team the best of luck and hope they have fun. If I have any advice, it is to have fun. I ended up shooting my best scores in my last match. Why.... because I was there to have fun and that all the "Pressure" was just self induced. Just like the BB team and the FB team, none of the top teams expect you to be any good....they are the ones with the pressure. Go in there and blind side 'em. Go Zips!

GP1... I bet JD gives him an interview slot right after the folks from the Tokyo Times next fall. He's burning bridges he knows he's going to have to cross over. Here are some quotes reportedly heard on campus this morning: Buchtel Hall--Dr. Proenza "David Lee, what an idiot!" JAR -- Mike Thomas - "David Lee, what an idiot!" JAR -- JD - "David Lee, what an idiot!" JAR -- Frank the Janitor "David Lee, what an idiot!" ROBS -- Thelma the lunch lady "David Lee, what an idiot!" Buchtel Commons - Ed the Bum "David Lee, what an idiot!" Exchange Street driving- Doug Martin (On his lunch break) "I wish I worked here.....David Lee, what an idiot!"

You give up hope so quickly young bandman.....The Great Master JD will have the zips ready.

Though it's good to be on top.....we're on top of the bottom. MTSU had a better class than we did.

Good discussion. I really am not much of a BB fan, but I am kind of amazed that they want a new BB Arena. Unless something has drastically changed in the last say, 5 years, I thought the JAR was in great shape. Just like any other sport at UA, a new facility will help recruiting. But I would be in favor of revamping the JAR and not building an entire new facility. I think the track and the collapsible seating is no longer needed since the fieldhouse now has ample room for activities that used to take place there. IF, on the other hand, a study shows that the U may be able to make a significant profit over time due to the construction of a new facility.....go for it. I would, though, find this hard to believe. With the CSU Convocation center just 30 min up the road, in a much larger market, I don't think UA can construct something that would turn a significant profit. So IMO, I hope a rennovation is in order. Up to this point I can see a clear need for the construction of new facilities. A new BB arena would appear to be more of a want, and not as easy to justify as the other facilities. I would like to see the money spent in other areas of the University. On the topic of collaboration with the City......I dug something up some time ago about about how ambitious Dr. Proenza has been with the concept of "Polymer Valley". I believe it was a concept that was first tried back in the early 90's to help spur the development of high tech polymer jobs in the city of Akron. From the article, I think about the only success story was Advanced Elastomer Systems. Since Dr. Proenza has come into office, he has been much more aggressive in working to establish Akron as "Polymer Valley" I'll do some digging to see if I can find the article again. Right now I think UA is the greatest asset that the City has. I see UA as in the drivers seat in this relationship. Not only does it pump a lot of money into the city, it has revamped 1/2 of the core of the city. There would be nothing in the city as far as Sports or Performing Arts if it weren't for UA. (I believe they helped to get some funding for Canal Park). I wouldn't doubt that there has been significant discussion between City Hall and Buchtel Hall on the placement of the new football stadium. This is a lackluster area of the city near a major freeway. A new stadium with a winning team would help this area tremendously. I would imagine any new arena would go in the same area to help keep buisnesses booming year round. I think that UA has already gone through any options presented by the City and has the final word on what will or won't happen. OK, I could go on, but I'm sure I've put everyone to sleep

:blink: WOAH! :blink: $100.00 for a flagpole and stand! Sure, it's out of aluminum and is telescoping, but I figure I can build one for about 1/3 the price, that isn't quite as fancy, but does essentially the same thing.

Good point Z.I.P about the second chance, but I still don't want this kid. If this kid can't keep it together and punches or kickes his teamate hard enough to kill him, or have the pavement kill him, then in my book, he's got problems that UA doesn't need to deal with. The kid made the decision to do what he did, and now he must live with the consequences. He'll have lots of second chances in his life....Football is not his only second chance, remember that! As for people who argue that lots of other teams have criminals and they are winning, I don't care. You an either look at the way things are and believe that is the only way to do it, or you can believe their is another, better way. As for the ethnic comment...way off base here. I never looked at the picture of this guy and I'm sure it was that way with others. Got to throw a flag on that one.

Glad we went away from the yellow helmet, I like the gold much better. On another note, I always try to buy my UA Gear at the university. That way they not only get any royalties, they make a little more from the sale too. It is amazing how much UA stuff you can dig up that isn't available from the university. I got a Flag last seasson that was awesome! Zips Flag Now, I need to work on a flag pole.

WOW! Now, correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't it likely He'll redshirt a year, then backup a year. I say we get 2-3 years with this kid at QB. Charlie spoiled us with this 4 year stuff.