Zipsrifle

I was really Glad to see the Zips on the FRONT page and the articles in the ABJ. I was thouroughly annoyed though when I started reading Elbert Stark's front page article. He was trying to get the point across that this was a BIG game. This is admirable, but the way he did it is an insult. According to him, the reason this was a big game was because an OSU fan brought his RV to the game to tailgate. Apparently big games can't happen without OSU fans around. To further the insult he mentions the fact that the guy was a UA grad. All I can say is that I hope this guy comes to more Zips games and soon his RV sports a Kangaroo on the side. Of course then, they wouldn't be big games any more. I wonder why he talked to this guy instead of the multiple Zips tailgaters? Oh, wait, probably because he had a big O on the side and that was the only logo he recognized.

WOW! That was, with out a doubt the best game I have ever seen! Unbelievable! Even this morning I couldn't believe we won. I can't believe it now! I know I'm going to take heat for what I'm going to start out with, but I've got to give Marshall praise. IMHO, the MAC would not be nearly as good as it is today without Marshall coming in and kicking everyone around. They have consistently been the Top MAC team since joining the league. They are why the Deuce was at the Rubber Bowl last night, don't kid yourself. Though they are generally hated in the MAC, that was because they are on top. I was really amazed at the mobile homes with scenes of a "Thundering Herd" airbrushed on the side that rolled into the lower lot last night. They've built a consistently winning program and that cannot be denied. I was amazed with how quickly we scored on Marshall at the beginning of the game. After that, their D and our receivers shut us down. Dom was the ONLY guy who was consistently catching balls during the game. Glad Jason found his hands at the end of the game, no way they were going to let Hixon touch the ball in the endzone! I think Jabari is probably still injured. I'll bet he was hearing footsteps all night, even if they weren't any. In general, our receivers were so extremely frustrating last night. Balls bouncing off chests and going through hands. Still some jogging after running their routes. Frye was giving directions to them, on the run, and most of the time it was "go deep". Burned us once. We really need to keep working on this area. I think the O line is 1/2 fixed from earlier this season. They were giving Frye more time in the pocket last night, though he got rocked a few times, in general he had good time to throw. The half that isn't fixed is the blocking. Frye was our leading rusher with 37 yards. Biggs had 27 on 18 carries....Ouch. Need to fix this area. As for the D, we shut down their running game well. What I can't figure out is why are we giving their receivers a 10 yard cushion. Actually, I know why, so we don't get burned deep. But, they just made 5 yard passes all night. I don't know what to do here, but that has got to stop. That has been a weekness all year. Tackling still wasn't ideal, but it was much better than at the beginning of the year. I wasn't worried about every play being busted for a TD even though there were 5 Zips around the ball. Overall I would not rank us as a "Top" MAC team right now. Officiating was terrible. I saw about 5 BAD missed holding calls and at least 2 blatant missed pass interference calls. Hell, one time the one the the Zips was busting through the line after Hill and his head was sideways 'cause a Marshall Lineman has holding onto his facemask! What was the deal with the intentional grounding call?????? Frye was WAY outside of the pocket...almost to the numbers! Finally, the one Marshall run down the sidelines for a TD, he was definately out of bounds. The Zips in the area let up and he ran right past them. Next time, we need to deck him....though I have no doubt that would have resulted in a personal foul last night. As we all know on this board, the Zips have, in remarkably reliable fashion, been on the other end of these games in the past. Can't, UConn last season, Marshall '00 and being the reason why Big Ben got his nickname . Everyone here has been saying since I stumbled onto the dreamwater board that we need to be "one of those teams". Another Michigan that just seems to find a way to keep winning. This year, we started with the critical goal line stand against Can't. Survived a run by UCF, and managed to come up with an interception at the end of the Ball State game to ice it. Frye-day night has convinced me that JD is indeed the "Messiah" the Zips have been looking for. It might not be his coaching, but the aura that he has started to create in the program. We weren't the best team on the field last night....we just got the bounce, the the fumble, the bobbled snap that turned the game. There were many times for Marshall, a team that has done it to us so many times in the past, to drive the final nail in the coffin. Instead they missed and the hammer smashed their thumb. I'm going to end up with the fact that this game was one for the die hard fans. I am truely disgusted with the way everyone bailed out when we were down in the third. I will guarantee that 90% of those frenzied "Fans" with painted chests, shirts, and signs pictured on GoZips.com and in the newspapers, weren't there when we rushed the field and high fived the team on the 50! In the end, there were about 7,000 die hard fans, the same ones that showed up for the Buffalo game and sat through the rain of the Ball State game, that can truely say about last night, I was there in the end.

MU fan, that makes 2 of us traveling from Michigan. Just find the Zip Truck (you'll know it when you see it) and follow me to the Rubber Bowl! Oh yea PLEASE don't put the game on a Friday. Mrs. Rifle can't get out of work early and didn't get to the game last night till 1/2 way through the 2nd Quarter...She Wasn't Happy.

HOLY $#!T. DID ANYONE EVER NOTICE THIS Thanks GoMU, nobody here ever bothered to look at the local paper that is about 1 block from campus! We never noticed that Akron and Can't get AP articles about their games while the local paper, 1 block from campus, sends reporters to the OSU games. We've never noticed that the Akron beat reporter can't even figure out how many games in a row the Zips have won. We didn't even notice that 4 months after LO was fired how they kept talking about how great a guy he was. Finally, we never noticed when the local paper, 1 block from campus, gets scooped by the Cleveland media that fails to recognize that other DI-A football teams even exist in the state other than OSU. Nice research! I think there is a job for you at the Stinkin' Urinal! IDIOT

Well put. I think it will be an extremely tough game, but, with that said, the outcome of this game is entirely up to the Zips. No excuses. We've been given every advantage that we could have possibly hoped for. 2 weeks to prepare, game is at home, Nationally televised, much larger crowd than normal. Is Marshall looking past us a bit? Next week Marshall is at BG...Generally considered a much more formidable opponent than Akron. If we don't take this one we can only blame ourselves. Is this the where JD takes the Zips to a new level? This is quite possably the biggest game since Marshall in 2000! We are going to need everyone to step up. Signing off till after the Game, making the trip South @ 8:00 AM tomorrow Morning. Lets give Marshall a proper send off from the MAC East! GO ZIPS!

From my conversation earlier today with the ticket office, they close the ticket window at the JAR at 3:00 and open at the Stadium at 5:00 or 5:30, can't remember which. If I remember correctly from the article, they will accept the vouchers at the stadium.

Yea Jr. the same thing happened to me today. Said I had to stop by a Subway to get the vouchers. Not too worried about a sellout right now,they said they had 14,000 tickets left. That means they've sold 17,000 tickets so far...I think we'll top 22,000 no problem. I'll swing by Subway tomorrow, pick up the vouchers, hit the ticket office, and be good to go.

Found this through the Stinkin' Urinal: Akron football Zips prepare to battle Marshall Akron trying for fourth consecutive win in home game broadcast on ESPN2 By David Lee Morgan Jr. Beacon Journal staff writer In three days, the Akron Zips (4-4 overall, 4-1 in the Mid-American Conference) will play host to the Marshall Thundering Herd (5-3, 5-0) in a game that will be broadcast live on ESPN2. It's the first time since 1986 that the Zips will have a home game televised nationally. ``The road to the championship goes through Marshall,'' said Akron senior quarterback Charlie Frye. ``They've had some great teams in the past and coach (Bob) Pruett does a great job recruiting. Except for last year with Miami, Marshall has been the team to beat.'' Frye has played in important games for Akron, but this one is extra special. ``This game has the most meaning for me,'' said Frye, the Zips' all-time career passing leader and holder of 50 school records. ``Usually, late in the season, we're trying to fight to get back up to .500. We're at .500 right now and sitting at 4-1 in the MAC so this is a great opportunity. We haven't been in this situation in quite a while.'' The last time the Zips contended for a conference title was in 2001, when they shared the East Division championship with Marshall. Both teams were 5-1 and Frye was a redshirt freshman that year. After losing its first three games of the season, Akron registered its first win of the season against Can't State (24-19) on the road. The Zips have won four of their past five games. ``I think you can point to the Can't State game and say that it gave us confidence,'' Akron coach J.D. Brookhart said. ``It sent a message to all of us and showed us what we were capable of doing.'' Brookhart, meanwhile, tried to downplay the significance of the Marshall game. ``If we go out, play well and have a chance to pull it off in the end, it makes you take a big step forward, in recruiting, in confidence, in a lot of different areas,'' he said. ``It would be a huge win and most importantly it would put us on top of the standings. We know what's at stake but I don't think you can approach it any different than you have the past few weeks.'' Frye added: ``This is an exciting time. It's a great opportunity for us. We're facing a really good football team, and I expect a big showing Friday night.'' Notebook • To accommodate ESPN2's broadcast, the university will remove stadium lights inside the Rubber Bowl and Musco Lighting of Iowa will set up temporary lights. The three fixtures on the press-box side of the stadium would hinder camera views, so the lights will be removed via helicopter. The lights will be reinstalled next week. The cost to the university for the work is $75,000. • Akron had an open date Saturday so Brookhart decided to give his team a few days off. The players practiced at 5:30 a.m. Friday so they could go home for the weekend. ``The guys didn't have to come back until Sunday at 5 p.m., and they needed the rest,'' Brookhart said. ``Some of the guys went home to their old high school football games. If you watched practice (Sunday), you would see that they were a fresh group. The rest for 48 hours helped.''

Though I hope that the Zips throw down on Marshall, I am in no way looking at the Zips as having an advantage here. I got burned early on and am wary of getting to high at this point. Remember folks, our wins are against basically the worst of the worst. We are all aware of the growing pains that have happened this year and I do believe that we are a much better team than the one that took the field during the first game this season. IMO, we have been making steady improvements week to week, whether this adds up to a team that is now competitive to Marshall.....well, I hope so

GP1, all you've got to do is get to the top, where all that weight will do the most damage

As if the Marshall game weren't enough! The Guys and Gals in Gold an Blue really came up big this weekend! You know you're going to have a good day when almost everyone shoots their personal best. The Gold team just out and out smoked EVERYONE! This is the year! Date: October 30, 2004 Location: Purdue University, Lafayette Indiana Event: The Boilermaker Invitational Sharpshooters Capture Boilermaker Victory Two School Records Broken The moon was full with the trick and treaters out in force, but the Zips Rifle Team earned the ultimate treat by winning the Boilermaker Invitational Rifle Tournament this weekend. Purdue University hosts the annual event which was attended by 9 Universities from the Midwest. The Akron Gold squad not only took first place in the tournament, but set two school records, had 16 personal best scores established, and the Zips Blue team finished in #3 position only 4 points away from #2. In the air rifle division, Senior Sarah Kramer lead the Zips with her 385 out of a possible 400. With strong support from teammates Angie Engle (380), Laura Kuntz (380), and Christine Fortunato (379). The air rifle team led the pack and shot a season high score of 1524. Being the strongest team in Akron’s history, the Zips had a total of 11 athletes firing scores in the 370’s or higher. “It wasn’t that long ago we trained hard to get a four person team who could fire in the 370’s.†states head coach Newt Engle, “Now we will soon have the whole gold team in the 380’s with a wealth of talent steadily moving up.†Smallbore rifle ended up being all Akron. Junior Angie Engle lead the team with her new personal best score of 1160 out of a possible 1200. And close behind was Joe Milano (1158), Laura Kuntz (1145), and newcomer freshman Stephanie Elmore (1139), all who shattered their old personal best scores at this match. The new team record of 4602 topped the old record of 4565 by an unbelievable 37 points! And the aggregate score (air + smallbore) of 6126 broke the old record by 40 points. “Usually team records are broken by slim margins of a point or twoâ€, states coach Engle, “But this team knows no boundaries and appears to be ready to re-write the record book in grand fashion.†On November 13th the Zips will travel to Philadelphia for the first time where they will face an up and coming team from The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. NewtNote: A special thanks to a true blue (and gold) zips fan Barb Hlivko who drove all the way to Purdue to show support to the rifle team. Her presence was very much appreciated. Thanks Barbara! Smallbore Rifle Scores: *Gold team, ** Blue team 1160* Angie Engle --New Personal Best Score-- 1158* Joe Milano --New Personal Best Score-- 1145* Laura Kuntz --New Personal Best Score-- 1139* Stephanie Elmore --New Personal Best Score-- 1125** Sarah Kramer 1123** Christine Fortunato --New Personal Best Score-- 1120** Martha Carpenter --New Personal Best Score-- 1117** Tom Colston 1114 April Engle --New Personal Best Score-- 1099 Ben Soehnlen --New Personal Best Score-- 1064 Ashley Pawlak --New Personal Best Score-- 4602 Akron “Gold†Smallbore Team Total New School Record! 4485 Akron “Blue†Smallbore Team Total ================================================================================ ====================== Air Rifle Individual Scores: *Gold team, ** Blue team 385* Sarah Kramer 380* Angie Engle 380* Laura Kuntz 379* Christine Fortunato --New Personal Best Score-- 378** Tom Colston 378** Martha Carpenter --New Personal Best Score-- 377** Joe Milano 377** Ashley Pawlak --New Personal Best Score-- 376 Shannon Kohatsu --New Personal Best Score-- 374 Stephanie Elmore --New Personal Best Score-- 374 April Engle --New Personal Best Score-- 359 Ben Soehnlen --New Personal Best Score-- 1524 Akron “Gold†Air Rifle Team Total 1510 Akron “Blue†Air Rifle Team Total ================================================================================ ===================== Team Results: 6126 is a New UA School Record! TEAM - TOTAL UA Gold - 6126 University of Missouri Kansas City - 5999 UA Blue - 5995 University of Wisconsin Oshkosh - 5971 OSU - 5963 Rose Hulman Institute - 5914 Purdue - 5601 Grand Valley State University - 4305 Western Michigan University - 3644

Watched Big Ben on TV tonight. I think we all knew he was the real deal at the end of last season while the rest of the country (outside of the MAC) had some questions. With Ben, Chad, and Byron having success at the pro ranks, the MAC is sure to get more focus for QB's. We all know that Charlie has not had a Heisman year. There are many reasons for this but I think that, but if/when he goes pro, I think he will owe a lot to the success that Chad, Byron, and Ben are having. If Frye didn't have the recent success of these guys, I say he would have a MUCH tougher time getting his foot in the door. Let me finish off with this, without Frye this year, we would be screwed. Though he hasn't put up huge numbers, he is still the man and almost ALWAYS makes the right decisions. Can't wait to see the guy on Sunday next year. Looking for the old Charlie this Friday! Any injury updates? Jabari?

I was going to tear down the goal post after the Ball State win! I think I could have made it through the 3 cops, but my engineering background led me to believe that even if everyone seated near the endzone followed me, (about 15 people) it wasn't going to come down. I do have to say, those cops were keeping a close eye on me! :blink:

You might need to have real player installed (you can get a free download). If you are too cheap to have anything but dial-up (Like I am) the video sucks, buy you can get the idea. I'll check it out tomorrow when I get to work.

OK, here is what I love about the game 2 years ago. Coming into that game Akron was 1-6 and as ususal, our D sucked. Byron gets hurt, gets all the press hopping down the field and suddenly Akron's D was big, bad, and rough. I think I even saw where ESPN posed a question on-line about our D being too rough. What a joke! If our D was that big and bad we wouldn't have given up an avg. of nearly 45 points per game in our previous 7 contests. Akron's first win over a top 25 opponent and we get blasted for it. Oh well, all I can say is that was the best night I've ever had at the Rubber Bowl! Hopefully Friday will trump that.

Well, it looks like Hixon will need to run a little farther on his way to the endzone during punt returns. Boy, it takes some balls to go to the opponents message board and ask them to support for the opposing team. Wasn't my support last week enough? Will Mastodon be on hand to see the Hunkering Terd lose again the The Rubber Bowl?

Dug this one up. Notice the PD got the scoop and not ABJ? I think this is another good move by MT. I've only been to a handful of matches, but ususally there is a good crowd. I think that soccer is going to continue growing in it's popularity and we need to keep pumping money into one of our top MAC programs. In addition, there is some stuff at the end about Lolla and his Akron commitment. Show him the money! Soccer Stadium Upgrade

Looks like UA made a little video to try to get people to the game. I hope that UA is putting this on TV back home. I would think that is going to be the only way to get the attention needed. Click on JD on the left. FILL THE BOWL!

I've got a few of those See #5 for $5 on Nov. 5 coupons they were giving out when you walked through the gate at the MTSU game. The only problem is that you have to buy the tickets prior to Nov. 5. From what I read about the coupons, you can pick those up at the Team Akron stores like Giant Eagle. Unfortunately, most of the people I go with don't live near Akron so we're kinda screwed. I'm going to see if my one buddy in Canton can get a handfull of them to cover everyone....hopefully he's going to the game. I'm just a little bit frustrated since all of the promotions focus on the people that live in Akron, us out-of-towners get the shaft. I guess I can't blame UA marketing for that. They must figure that if you are going to drive 4-1/2 hours to a Zips game, you are going to buy a ticket regardless of the price. You gotta build your fan base at home first right?

I'm trying to get an idea of where the Zips stand right now with the rest of the MAC teams. I can confidently say that we are better than the 4 teams we've beaten, but I have no idea of how we match up against the best of the MAC. Obviously we got bown out against NIU, but I'm hoping that those were just growing pains with the new staff. We did show some glimpses of being competitive in that game before we were blown off the map. Just looking over some of the MAC scores from this week. Glad to see Can't State knock off OU. A few weeks ago when OU knocked off Kentucky and gave Marshall a run, I thought that they were probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the East. They have stumbled since then and with Can't's convincing victory today, I think OU is a team that we can beat. Unfortunately, they've got UCF next week. Though I would love to see them keep UCF winless on the season, it is to the Zips advantage if OU loses to the wost team in the country. Though UCF covered the spread in the Marshall game, I wish the score would have been closer. I thought we were just a step above UCF when we played 2 weeks ago. I was hoping to get an indication that we might possibly be in the ballpark with Marshall, but it looks like they didn't have much trouble with UCF. So, if anything, this game makes me more nervous about Marshall this Friday. Ball State took NIU into overtime. This result makes me think that we may have made some big strides in the last month. We were manhandled by NIU but basically had our way against Ball State until the last few minutes. NIU is hard to figure out, they demolish BUGS and have a hard time against UCF and BSU? As for the BUGS EMU and CMU WMU games, I really don't care. So, to sum it up, I think the UCF score is probably the most significant for this weeks game. We're going to need all the help we can get if we're going to knock off Marshall this week. I hope Charlie and Jabari are better and that the rest of the receivers have improved over the bye week. I have a feeling that the running game is going to get shut down by Marshall and we'll need to be at full force throught the air if we're going to take this one. Can't wait till Friday!

You know we'll get our fair share of CrAkron jokes. West Virginia State Residency Application Name: ________________ (last) (first) (_) Billy-Bob (_) Billy-Joe (_) Billy-Ray (_) Billy-Sue (_) Billy-Mae (_) Billy-Jack (Check appropriate box) Age: ____ Sex: ____ M _____ F _____ N/A Shoe Size: ____ Left ____ Right CB Handle: _____________________ Occupation: (_)Farmer (_)Mechanic (_)Hair Dresser (_)Un-employed (_)Coal Miner Spouse's Name: __________________________ Relationship with spouse: (_) Sister (_) Brother (_) Aunt (_) Uncle (_) Cousin (_) Mother (_) Father (_) Son (_) Daughter (_) Pet Number of children living in household: ___ Number that are yours: ___ Mother's Name: _______________________ Father's Name: _______________________ (If not sure, leave blank) Education: 1 2 3 4 (Circle highest grade completed) Do you (_)own or (_)rent your mobile home? (Check appropriate box) ___ Total number of vehicles you own ___ Number of vehicles that still crank ___ Number of vehicles in front yard ___ Number of vehicles in back yard ___ Number of vehicles on cement blocks ___ Number of refrigerators on front porch Firearms you own and where you keep them: ____ truck ____ bedroom ____ bathroom ____ kitchen ____ shed Model and year of your pickup: _____________ 194__ Number of empty beer cans on floorboard or in bed of pickup: _________ Newspapers/magazines you subscribe to: (_)The National Enquirer (_)The Globe (_)TV Guide (_)Soap Opera Digest (_)Gun World -- and NO, Rifle doesn't subscribe to Gun World! ___ Number of times you've seen a UFO ___ Number of times you've seen Elvis ___ Number of times you've seen Elvis in a UFO How often do you bathe: (_)Weekly (_)Monthly (_)Holidays (_)Not Applicable Color of teeth: (_)Yellow (_)Brownish-Yellow (_)Brown (_)Black (_)No teeth (_)N/A Brand of chewing tobacco you prefer: (_)Red-Man How far is your home from a paved road? (_)1 mile (_)2 miles (_)don't know (_)can't get there from here BUMPER STICKERS: ___ Eat more Possum ___ My other car is a piece of junk too ___ Honk if you love Jesus ___ If you ain't a cowboy, you ain't nothin' ___ Red-man Chewing Tobacco Favorite Recreation: Check all that apply: ___ Square Dancin' ___ Possum Huntin' ___ Skinny Dippin' ___ Craw Daddin' ___ Gospel Singin' ___ 4-Wheelin' ___ Drankin' ___ Spittin' Backy ___ Bill Chip Trowin' ___ Honky Tonkin' ___ Noodlin' # of Dogs: ___ Type: ___ Blue Tick ___ Beagle ___ Black & Tan ___ Bird Dawg Cap Emblem: ___ John Deere ___ McCulloch Chain Saws ___ Budweiser ___ Vo-Tech ___ Skoal ___ Coors ___ NAPA ___ Smile if you're Not Wearing Underwear

Well, I looked through the previous posts a bit, looks like I was pretty conservative in seeing what would happen. I think our record is about where I expected it. Can't remember if I made a full season prediction but I do remember thinking we would beat MTSU and considered a win against BSU, Marshall, or Miami an upset. Well BSU was much worse than I expected and we got out of the gate much slower than I thought. So record wise I think we are close to where I thought we would be. As far as team performance, I guess I got swept up in the hype of early season talk. We got smashed early on. Though it looks like we've turned the ship around, honestly, I am not comfortable with where we stand. Though we've ripped off a string of wins, the competition makes up almost 1/2 of the ESPN Bottom Ten. After getting demolished early in the season, and then winning a bunch of pillow fights, I don't know what to expect for the Marshall Game . I am really hoping that we have turned a corner, and will give Marshall all they can handle....but I was way off early season. I have seen nothing in the past month to make me believe that the Zips won't relapse when we run up against a Marshall team that is on par with an NIU team that burried us. So, as always, I will be optimistic and hope that those pillow fights were what we needed to learn to how to fight. Only time will tell.

I found this over on the UCF board, (I love seeing them lick their wounds) It's just amazing to believe that the defending MAC champions, the Cradle of Coaches is scrambling to meet the DI-A attendence requirement. Will they make it? All I know is that they bring a heafty crowd to the Rubber Bowl. It could be close, the game is on a weeknight and in addition, it is on election night. If rain is forecast, could be trouble for Miami. I hate to see the defending MAC Champion fall victim to this, but is there a better way for the NCAA to drop the rule? See how many Miami needs to meet the mark I just hope there is enough room in the Rubber Bowl for us to make the mark prior to the Miami game

I actually don't mind seeing the attendence figures. Obviously they blow for us, but it is kind of interesting to see how others faired. I think that we'll get to 25,000 on Frye-day Nov. 5. If Marshall didn't travel so well, unfortunately, it would be another story.

DAMN! I'm taking Frye-day Nov. 5th off, so that I won't be scrambling to get to the game in time. Much easier to set up camp around 1:00 at the stadium than to dodge the fuzz in a hurried tear from Michigan after work. Well, I guess there will be a few more Frye-days before 5 is outta here. Isn't there a TGI Friday's in Akron? If you would have thought of this a few years ago, maybe we could have talked someone into maybe a discount for anyone wearing Zips gear on Frye-day at Friday's.