Zip Watcher

It's a funny article I think.No duh that after less than 1 week in team workouts a true freshman isn't ready to start on a championship team returning ALL of it's post players. That's not surprising.I snickered as well about EA's list of the centers in the East division. Hilarious that he lists those guys .. Zeke will play significant minutes for the Zips as soon as his grasp and buy in of KD's defensive philosophy merits it. My guess is that will happen well before the conference slate starts. If the guy plays 20 minutes a night and pulls down 6-8 boards and blocks 2-3 shots a night .. any offense he adds will be gravy. The term is "game changer" .. and if he does that on the defensive side of the ball, the tempo will rise, and the Zips shooting attempts and percentages will rise.Go Zips!!! B) B)

sorry to have questioned the kid.Go Zips B) B)

I'm still waiting to hear who told you that the MAC has no automatic bid to the NCAA's in Futbol this season.

He won't get pushed by many in the MAC. The problem may arise against NC St and maybe A&M .. but the conference simply doesn't have a post player that is skilled enough that strength alone will push Zeke around. His athleticism is at such a level that Polk, Fletcher (gone??), Parks .. etc aren't going to be able to just lean on the guy .. he's got good feet.

GGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!

Seriously, how well made was that?! The INFO looked pretty good there too.

Igor is O for the season. Branko is at least 3 for 7 or something like that.

Something like that. He was actually the TOP assistant at Western last season under Hawkins, but the 2 apparently agreed that he wouldn't be back this season. I'm betting director of ops in the Big East is a lateral move for the guy. Good to see Stan taking care of DHip's kid.Go Zips!! B)

I will miss EA as the Zips beat writer in the PD. Last season he was pretty reliable .. went to a few road games and the Zips coverage was better than in years past. He called the shot midway through the year that the Zips were the best team.Last year, by itself, was better coverage from the PD than in a long time.

Right now .. 4PM Thursday.

The Clowns have only 5 guys on the roster that I think to be difficult to part with in trade, Cribbs is one of them:Rogers (would start on every team in the league)Thomas (probably on 26/30)Cribbs (field position matters .. it beat the Bills)Zastudil (maybe start on most teams .. field position matters)Pontbriand (ever see a bad snap from this guy? ever? .. see: field position is important)The way the Browns become competitive to a 4 to 6 win season is going to be by playing disciplined defense and winning the field position battle. It may not be pretty, and Grossi, Shaw, Pluto .. etc. will hate it and Mangini for it .. but with the talent disparity they're facing, not making mistakes and pinning teams back deep in their own territory are the ways to beat the really crappy teams. Like the Bills, those teams (OAK, KC & DET are on the schedule) will beat themselves if you just give them enough opportunities to do so.The punt coverage & punt return games are about all the Browns have going for them at the moment. Says a lot about the team when the punter is the best thing going for it .. but Zastudil was on fire Sunday.Go Zips!

I'm a Zips fan .. and I don't give a load about MAC football. It's not good football. Beating someone of significance is almost worthless. It is a nice notch in the belt, but winning championships is what counts.JD is steaming towards his 4th consecutive losing season. That is why there are no butts in the stands. It is as simple as that.Watch the basketball team this season. Now that they've actually won a championship, they will begin filling the JAR with regularity. Humpty made the "million dollar shot." If he missed, the Zips are back to the same old 3k attendance. Now there's NCAA expectations, Zeke, 20-wins, a cake-walk schedule to ensure a fast start...it all comes together this season.Look at the soccer team. Selling out matches?! Why? Because they are winning, and winning consistently over an extended time period. People want to be a part of it.Look at the Cleveland Indians - They sell out when things are rolling...and dodge the tumbleweeds blowing through Progressive Desert when they stink.Look at the Browns -- Sure they technically "sell out." But when you see them on TV at season's end, half the "attendees" are disguised as empty seats? And the other half are rooting for the opposing team.I'm in full agreement w/ CK here.

'37 .. this is the 4th thread of yours that has been moved in the last two days. It's not a huge problem, but it does create some work for the moderators .. please try to be aware of what forum you're in when you start threads. As you know from the soccer threads .. you're posting things people are interested in.You'll get more action if they're in the best place. This one for example goes in football .. not soccer.Go Zips!!!!

No debate here. We all would take that kind of suck right about now.

The real question here is: would it have gone down your leg or not?

Good post Georgia .. I wonder what our friend in the middle of the Pacific thinks?An objective of the Department & teams is to grow the fanbase. I know I'm fortunate in lots of ways in this world, not the least of which is having the means to have exactly the seats I want at the Info and JAR. But that aside, I don't think 3000 people showing up only when the tickets are $5 constitutes the fanbase. Zips fans were the ones who attended the Can't State game on Thanksgiving 4 years ago. There were lots of them. They're the ones who will continue to come out to the Info the next 3 games .. I predict more than 16K on average. Now growing the fanbase DOES mean to me that you need to get the kids (toddlers & grade school) to grow up knowing that in the Fall .. we go to Akron football games .. we see the Zips, and that's our team. In the winter we go to the JAR .. and watch the CAVS on TV. Zips Fest and the approachability of some of the players and coaches in dealing with small kids (see the hoops forum) help A LOT. It's not a tough sell at all for me to get everyone down to UA 2 hrs before kickoff.In some ways I'm proof of this. I didn't attend UA for any classes. But I grew up in the shadow of it .. and we went to games when we were younger. Not every game, certainly .. but Dad got us to lots of hoops games and the occasional FB game. I went away for school at two traditional MBB powers, and enjoyed those days immensely. But at the core, the Zips are my team, always have been .. and likely always will be. Especially in hoops. I've met and talked to a few other guys around my age at the Info about this same thing .. guys who went to Michigan or somewhere else .. and were away when KD & the boys got it done at the Q .. and since their parents / friends had gotten them to the JAR / Memorial / the Rubber Bowl .. etc, the Zips matter.I don't know if a 20% discount on GA's for under 10 helps grow the younger demographic or not. The lack of it now isn't a roadblock to us or anyone else I know who has kids and takes them to the games. Again, this is me and my circle of acquaintances .. however, the notion that some families can't afford to bring kids in at current prices isn't one that I'd dismiss out of hand. I feel like there's lots of kids at the Info like there were at the RB. Night games are more difficult.Things are being handled well, IMHO.

To extend the analysis .. let's say the Zips averaged 16,000 last season at the Rubber Bowl .. and the average ticket price was $10 (I think it's lower than that).2008 Gate = 5 dates x 16k fans x $10/fan = $800,000 2008 Total Ticket RevenueAnd if the Zips average 17k this season @ $20/per:2009 Projected = 6 dates x 17k x $20/fan = $2,040,000 2009 Projected Ticket Revenue[qualification] I am aware that students get in free .. and that more of them are attending now than in the past .. but adjusting for that doesn't make a dent in the additional $1.2 Million the Zips Athletic Department is pulling at the gate. I am also aware that the game day overhead for the facility is higher at the Info .. but again, not so much.[/qualification]I'll let someone else figure out how the concessions revenue compares this year to last year. I know for a fact that my group is spending probably $30-60 more per game this season over last on food and beverages. :cheers: Go Zips!! B)

Very important point, CK. That extra $240,000 PER GAME will go a long way in our Athletic Department. Over a 6 game home slate, that's an additional $1.44 Million.Seems pretty obvious. That pays a lot of rent and salaries. B) Go Zips!

For me, this is a non-issue.If you look at the numbers, the Zips are likely on their way to hit the stated objective of averaging 18K attendance for the season.Over 3 games, the average is still 21,113 / game.Certainly a big drop off from game 1 to game 2 .. that can't be a big surprise to anyone.The team had gone 1-3 to start .. endured a horrible couple of weeks on and off the field, culminating with an embarrassing on-field performance at CMU, and a bye week that gets people thinking about other stuff .. and 17K+ showed. Not a bad crowd in my mind.It appears to me that they'll hit the target of 108K fans for the season. Can't State will draw well, it always does. Even taking the IU to OU trend and running it out over the remainder of the season has them hitting the number.All this, with possibly one of the worst football seasons in recent memory? Seems ok to me. We don't need to be dropping prices.Go Zips!! B)

True story.So we're on the way to the Info last night .. my buddy, his wife .. and the boy. Now on the way in the car, the boy had been asking when we were going to go to "Zippy's Basketball House again .. because soon I will be 5 and when I am 5 .. Zeke will be playing for the Zips!!" .. the boy accompanied me to some AAU tournaments 2 years ago where we randomly happened to see a really tall player from the Pittsburgh area play some ball .. and while there, the boy had some fun running around with said player's younger sister.So my buddy and I laugh .. tell him that hoops is about a month away and that we're going to Zippy's new football house to see football. Boy's not impressed apparently, and asks another question .. " but will Zeke be at the football house?" ... I don't know son.So wouldn't you know it, we get in the stadium, head to our seats, and on the way .. we run into Daryl, Brett McKnight, Nik and Zeke. The boy is pumped .. even if a bit shy .. and I start chatting it up with the guys. They complement me on my 2009 MAC Champs lid that I had on .. and I ask how things are going. Everyone seems really pumped for the season and ready to get back at it.Meanwhile the boy has now started to give Zeke a high five .. 34 inches or so off the ground, to which the big fella says "that's a low 5." The boy tries jumping .. is having a great time getting to 40 inches or so. So then Nik comes over, lifts the kid up in the air, and tries to help, and the boy's hand is now hitting Zeke's elbow (his arms stretched out). Eventually I think Nik got him high enough to reach.Made my kids weekend. Before kickoff. Great ambassadors .. all of them really outgoing with the fans .. and fanatics .. and in giving my guy a few minutes of attention, really made his day. It's SO easy to root for these guys I can't describe it. Great to see them out and about Saturday.Getting in the car, the boy says to us: "That was really fun .. today I got to see 2 people I really love: Zippy AND Zeke!"I really can't make this stuff up ...Representing the Zips and UA in a way we can be proud of is an undervalued strength of KD and his teams, IMHO.Thanks guys! .. and good luck this week as you get back to full time action with the whole team. B) B) :champs:

Rodgers injury was the only positive on the game, he was killing us with his stupid play in the first. Fumbling on the goaline, interceptions, just stupid football.After this post .. you ought to take a week off from the Nation. What an embarrassment.Go Zips!

It must be the perception that people around WPIAL are starting to get. The Zips win .. a LOT .. and there are some WPIAL guys that contribute to that. B) B) Go Zips!

All .. please don't revisit this topic to the point that another thread gets locked. If any of us forget your last volleys on the topic we can always refer back.Go Zips!!!

I believe that yesterday, only 29 days after starting the job, the first "Our new AD has an evil agenda and is gonna ruin everything" post was generated. Haven't had time to search for the first finger pointed at Mack, but I have to believe from memory that it took him a little bit more time to raise the ire of a ZipsNation member. Of course this was posted as someone's first post, and it's likely a relative of a recently departed employee .. but none the less, it was there.Congrats, Tom .. I guess. You're officially the AD at Akron when conspiracy theories fly with you at the middle.Go Zips!! B) B)

My toaster runs on netBSDGREAT post. But can the toaster be made to function as a MythTV frontend?