Zip Watcher

Good question. I'll look into it shortly. Not sure what the deal with that is.

Luke had a good season last year. The team under his direction won a championship .. that speaks for itself. And he absolutely destroyed NIU and Memphis with his arm.I think Luke could have a great year this season if he does one main thing better than last season: look for, and hit the outlet guy in the flat, be it a flanker or the back out of the backfield. Several times last season drives imploded on 3rd & medium and 3rd & long when the protection was adequate and he held the ball looking downfield. All the while a guy was lingering to his right in the flat with an open shot at the first down. This almost doomed them against BG.He does that .. and it could be a great year for him & the zips.

Extremely well put, GP. You giving any seminars on cutting through the BS anytime soon? There's lots of folks that could use it. I'm guessing you're not an HR guy or ISO compliance officer.GP & Balki are skyrocketing on my ZN.O most eloquent posters rankings.

Why not just wait ten minutes before a game, find a scalper who has poor inventory control with about 25 tickets in his hand, offer him $25 each for a ticket and buy one? If you are willing to sit in a piss poor seat, you can get into any OSU game or any other game for a cheap price.In lieu of an OSU game, why not just buy season tickets to Akron (or whatever MAC school you are from), sit on the 50 yard line near the field and enjoy a good football game? Which reminds me, season ticket notices came in the mail today. Buy early, buy often...... I second GP's sentiments. What he said.Free public service translation from my post above: "suckeye game" = (is the same as) "OSU game"Regarding tickets .. and yes, even Columbus St. tickets .. I've tried to get them, and always get them .. at my price .. for big games also. The hard part is NEVER getting in the building .. it's holding down my lunch and beverages as 100k sheep practice spelling the 4 letter state name. Almost as entertaining as the identity crisis cheers at Penn St.

I've never had the experience of not being able to get a ticket to an event I wanted to attend. Rarely, if ever, have I even paid more than face value for a ticket, anywhere (suckeye games included). And I don't have serious ties with anyone but my wife and kid. I guess I'm just planning my usual tactics on this one. It'll work out ... always does.Go Rockets (in this game).

BGSU hosts Wisconsin there on September 2nd THIS year.I'm in the camp that says this is an OSU home game, no matter the structure of the payouts. There's just too many suckeye sheep in these parts for the UT fans to make a dent in the crowd.I'll probably do my part and don fear the roo gear and go root against the suckeyes for that game. I don't care whose game it is .. just hope the Rockets hand the Sucks their second MAC loss in 2 seasons when that game comes around.

Strange thing is that he doesn't show up @ either Rivals or Scout. I wonder if he already decommitted or was released when Smith quit?

In a world of unlimited flexibility and budgets, it would be very cool to assemble a ZipsNation Army of sorts to hit a game of all signees .. but maybe more important .. critical recruits that are still deciding.I'm thinking if I was wavering between being a 6th/7th man at a BS .. er BCS .. level school or joining the Roo, I'd be impressed if a vocal contingent of the Roo showed up in force. Maybe we should try and convice Z-P to crack open that safe he carries around in the back seat of the Pinto .. heck we could all just pile into the Pinto & go. What say you Padre? EDIT: Come to think of it, if this isn't a job for the Rowdies, I don't know what is. Road trip to PA!

At least 2 or 3 other guys pissed away chances at that title. Maybe the most bizzare finish I've seen in a major:- Monty would have won outright with a par, force a playoff with a bogey & he doubles.- Furyk would have forced a playoff with a par & he bogey's- Harrington hits all the fairways, but bogeys 16, 17 and 18 .. 2 pars put him in a playoffIncredible stuff. I can't comprehend how tough that course must have been for these guys to be playing at 2 over and giving up strokes coming home like that.

That post makes my week. I'll not be making it either of the next 2 Sundays, but early July, I'll be down for a visit .. must say I'll be watching the first time down .. but this is definitely in my future.Do the Celtic Guard have a wee ones program? How young can we start them?

Thank you for a good post & a nice read. ... in the middle of a hell week, that was a welcome distraction.Great post.P.S. I gotta love the mini-jets for the speed of unloading & loading, with the same flight time as the big boys, but you gotta be on a CO ERJ in seat A to be sure to be Toole-proof.

Thanks for your patience with the outage on Wednesday the 24th. We have moved to a completely new hosting company that will hopefully prove more reliable than previously. This message resides on the new server only, so if you see this, you're in good shape!ZW

Killing time while on hold, here's my depth chart:PG: Middleton, Joyce, RussellSG: Conyers, Dials, McNeesSF: Linhart, RybackPF: Travis, McKnightC: Wood, Milum, BardoThe backup to SF might be rolling into a 3 guard set a lot, so I'm thinking Ryback as a spot shooter is OK for SOME minutes at that spot. He is a big boy, but with the matchup 113 zone, they can handle it defensively against most 3's. Might need to go smaller if there's a quicker 3 on the other team when you spell Linhart.So the size of the team as starters:PG: 6-1SG: 6-5SF: 6-7PF: 6-7C: 6-7That's pretty good for a MAC squad. Lots of depth at the 1 and 2 should enable KD to really pressure the perimeter and take the 3's away, forcing the opponent inside, where generally, the Zips stack up pretty well against the conference.

Is this the same guy as "Scooter Taylor" from Walsh?

Just checking in to see if anyone is going to make the post-season banquet on Tuesday. I went last year & it was a nice event. Unfortunately work has me travelling Tuesday night, so I'll miss it this year.Who from the Nation is going & will report back?

The reference to the Big East thing has to do with joining the 8 football schools after the hoops vs. football split happens. Eventually, you'd have to believe the Louisville and Cincy are going to get tired of the NIT and the revenue battle will lead to the 8 football schools splitting with the rest.Then those 8 will invariably go hunting for 4 new friends so they can get championship game revenue that doesn't exist until you have 12.That's my understanding of how & why a MAC school might be posturing or hoping for interest in the BE. It has nothing to do with the 16 team monster the league is now, it has to do with these 8 teams:CincyUConnPittSyracuseWVULouisvilleSouth FloridaRutgersWhen they decide they need 4 more friends, there are only so many places they can look.I can't say it's a likely thing for any MAC school, but I do like the motivation and effort to elevate the program(s) to a level where such a conference would consider the Zips. If UA is even in the discussion 5 years from now or if / when this all goes down, then it means that Rhoades kept the momentum, the teams were successful .. and the Zips are competing at the top level.IMHO, this is long range thinking (and I like that). But the men's soccer team would have won the BE this year, and UA is the only school outside the BE that has hosted a BE championship this year. That could be worth something down the road.The teams just need to keep improving .. that should be the goal. Whatever the motivation is in the dept., I'm not sure I care.

Can't say I have a strong opinion either way on this one .. I'm with GP1 in the fact that those photos make me laugh. I especially like the last one. I will however cast my vote for being shocked at the use of that phrase around these parts!Not nearly as noteworthy as "fellating goats" .. but the poetry!!

GP1,A clarification on my post. I don't disagree entirely with your first paragraph of your first reply to this post. I agree that the passion & energy on the board was nice that weekend. What disappointed me was the movement by some posters to move into the "this coach isn't going to get it done" area .. and the "our players suck and aren't good enough for me" rants. I stand by my position that these are not productive energies here. Be angry the Zips laid an egg .. fine, that's part of being a fan. But to start the drumbeat of "I want a new coach" after seasons of 19 and 23 wins in years 1 and 2 is ridiculous.I will continue to disagree with the "slow" criticism of Linhart. From day 1 I have been in the "Middleton can really play" camp (go back to early last year), and I stand by that now. I will also stand by my opinion that Nate will become one of our best players. Not because we don't have better talent .. or because we stock up on suburban LO type players. No. It will be because he has some uncoachable attributes. It will be because he has size, hoops sense, anticipation .. and quickness. The guy is a DI talent athletically. He belongs .. and I think he'll continue to prove it. I don't think he's too far from what Andy was (pre-back injury) .. and I venture to guess that most of us would love to have that type of player be here and reach his potential in this system.My big issue in a nutshell:I don't think it's fair for us to burden these players and this coach with the failures of past regimes. I refuse to do it. - This is YEAR 2 of the KD era. That means more to me than year 17 post Huggins ... 8 years of MAC futility .. etc. The rest is irrelevant to this team here and now. They weren't here for those years .. and they're not here to undo those years. They're here to be successful NOW, and they're on the way.- The 2008-09 season will be the earliest year that I can consider the whole roster "KD's Guys." I know he was Hip's top recruiter for the 2 years before he got the top chair. But in those years, he was recruiting for an entirely different system than he's implementing here. Cedric is his first recruit. I think until he gets 2 more classes in here, I'll be slow to criticize him for the talent levels. These guys are talented .. sure, but they might just be better suited to the motion / triangle half court offense side of things, rather than the run, gun & defend system of KD.- Year 1: 19 wins, MAC Quarters, no postseason.- Year 2: 23 wins, MAC Semi's, NIT bid, 1 NIT winThat's a pretty damn good start in my mind. And that's what it is. A START of things .. this isn't a continuation of anything, good or bad. It's a new start.At least that's how I see things.Finally Now THAT is extremely well said / typed!!Go Zips!

Been on the road & away from PC for a few days & didn't have time to post earlier. Writing this on a plane early in the week after the MAC tourney. Some of this has been posted, but I'll download some thoughts anyway just to go on the record. Most of this written prior to the NIT beginnig & having only the MAC tourney on my mind:- The Zips laid an egg in the last 25 minutes of the UT game. That's clear. The first 15 minutes of the game might have been the best execution I've seen from a Zips hoop team in a LONG time. Total and utter domination. I believe the wheels started to come off in the last 5 of the first half. I recall at least 2 or 3 fast breaks that yielded silly turnovers and no good shots. Should have been up 12 or 15 at the half.- The ZipsNation laid a similar egg in the subsequent 48 hours or so. I won't comment on much of what was posted because I think a lot of it was garbage and doesn't merit further discussion. Seems like everyone calmed down mid-day on Sunday. I've always felt that this, like the Dreamwater blue boards before it, was a haven for objective, clear headed discussion of Zips sports without going off the deep end of player/coach attacks .. a la Bobcatattack.Com or MACbbs. I think we now know that ZN.O has a strong foothold in the Zips Nation .. lots of emotional posts .. lots of passion. I guess I'll take the bad with the good on that front, but I think there was a ton of crap posted around here for a few days. Nice activity level though.- Zips fans started circling the punch bowl on Friday and Saturday for the first time similar to the OU pattern whenever Tim O'Shea loses a game. TOS wins one in a row and he's the savior of Athens. TOS loses one and he's the biggest waste of a coach they've ever had & should be fired. Go back to last season at the MACbbs & you'll see the same regarding Jimmy Christian. I hope we don't degenerate into that. Coaching changes are spurred by long periods of under performing or under representing the UA community. IMHO, one bad night doesn't merit slitting one's wrists over a coach who's won 40 games in 2 years. I certainly agree that the bad night came at a HORRIBLE time .. but it was just that .. one bad night.- The MAC isn't a very good hoops conference right now. It just isn't. Most teams don't have a healthy balance of inside & outside scoring. Few have any inside punch at all. There were also some dubious coaching decisions at the Q all weekend.- I thought the attendance was nice. To have the Friday crowd outnumber the Saturday is a clear indicator to me that the Nation was out in force on Friday and ready to fill the place up on Saturday. It was a missed opportunity for the Zips to not make the final. I don't feel like this will hurt the growth of fan support for next year. A good NIT performance will erase Friday, provided it's covered in the paper and people know about it.- OU consistently brings the best Band / Cheerleader / Dance Team package to the Q. It's not even close. I thought the UA groups were solid & in the top half of the 8 we saw, but OU puts the rest of the conference to shame. Their dance team does lots more situps than any of the others .. maybe combined.- Even one of our top posters had a tough game on Friday, I think it was during the Can't game. Opportunity to display the Roo flag during the Can't State game gone awry. I guess we were all off of our game that night.- Glad they renewed with the Q for 5 more years. This is my favorite week of the year. Thursday is an annual company holiday for me and my guys and I enjoy it immensely. It's even better when the Zips are there.Team related notes from the tourney:- Zips are a good team .. pretty solid .. but not spectacular. When I consider the roster evolution that will happen this offseason, I think they're going to be a whole lot better in 2 or 3 years than even this team was. Do yourself a favor and jot down your 2 deep rotation for next year. You can consider Wood or not .. but after the season is really over & the dust settles, I think we'll have a lively discussion on next year's rotation. I'm pretty pumped for it already.- I'm thrilled to see a 2nd senior class in a row finish strong. These guys played hard and ramped it up as the season began to close. There wasn't any quit in them, and they were complete sold on the team concept. I'll miss all three. I thought that Futch especially was a factor late in the year. DP clearly brought it late season, and demonstrated once again the concept of the "Jawanza Moore Effect" (more on that next week or so).- Cedric continues to improve and impress. He needs to be on the floor with the freedom to attack the basket. He's one of our best creators and a guy that won't get out quicked very often, and probably never in conference.- My opinion here --> If you think Nate Linhart is just a slow white player that isn't worthy of minutes on a good team, then you're nuts & you're not watching the same guy I see. Nate had a tough second half after he hit the freshman wall. But NO ONE goes to the MAC tourney and pulls down 14 boards in a single game without quickness, anticipation and good basketball sense. I'm thrilled this guy is only a Freshman & that we have him. With some strength, and a little quicker release on his jumper, I think he has the potential for 2 All MAC selections in the next 3 years. He could be that good. You can't teach what he's got in court awareness & anticipation. And he's NOT slow. There's 2 guys on this team that are able to put the ball on the floor and consistently get to the rack. Cedric's the first`and Nate's the 2nd. Lay off the kid and be glad he's here.- I think if Rome improves his shooting from inside 10' by using the glass all summer, he could dominate this league inside. There's just not any guy that can check him one on one. And if he can start using the glass and get his percentage on the bunnies up (I know he shot well all year), he'll demand the double team all the time, and the mid-range shooters & outside shots will be open all game. - I do think they played a bit dumb in the second half .. and then they panicked. Not sure if that's inexperience or what, but they just weren't able to right the ship. Toledo was just good enough to take advantage of it. The small gap that still existed this year between Can't State and UA was evident in how the flushes handled a very similar situation on Saturday .. they pulled it together just enough to hold of UT and take the game. Friday night will prove valuable down the road, though it sure stings now. There was evidence of difficulty putting teams away back in January & it certainly bit the Zips on Friday.- The NIT's a nice opportunity for this team. It isn't the NCAA, but a great chance for some more court time and experience with playing in tough win or go home situations. Look at the bracket .. it's a bunch of good teams. I'd take 6 games against any of these teams as our non-conference schedule & feel like we have a nice schedule. To say the NIT is not worth going to .. or just for losers .. is missing the opportunity entirely and is a misinformed opinion, IMHO.That's it for the MAC Tourney for me. I'm turning the page & looking forward to more Zips hoops. A bitter finish, but the NIT will dull that for me. I love the direction this is headed, with these players & this coach. This is the brightest the future has looked in 20 years, and it won't take much for KD this group to far eclipse the achievments of Huggins et al. in the 80's.Go Zips!

I think the flushes got a good 1st round draw. Pitt's a solid club, but some good defense & depth should give Can't a chance in this game if they shoot a reasonable percentage. They need productive games from Youngblood and Warzinski.

The semifinal games are on FSN .. but you have to check your cable listings as they're being broadcast on alternate channels due to the Cavs game on Friday. Today's games aren't on, but Fridays are (FSN) and Saturdays is (ESPN2).With SportsTimeOhio in the mix now, perhaps it will be better next season.Best way to see the games is to get there in person.

There every year .. this year with 16 total seats.Go Zips .. let's become :macc:

Hi All.Just a note to Zips fans that I may have some extra tickets for the Day session. I buy the MAC Pac tickets in December so I have my 12 center court seats. I also picked up my season tickets for the Akron session, but had some cancellations from people this afternoon. I currently have about 2 or 3 seats in the Akron section available for Zips fans that are going up to the game & want to sit amongst the Nation.If you are interested, I'm not looking to make big money off of these, but would like them to find a home with a Zips fan.If you need tickets & want to sit among the Nation, send me an email through the board or PM me through the board. I'll keep checking this evening and Thursday morning & we can connect at the Q to make the handoff.Go Zips!

That's a former basketball Zip if I remember correctly, he played on the great teams of the early 70's under Wyatt Webb.

Agreed. Though I couldn't give 2 $#its about what goes on at a MAC board.