Zip Watcher

All, Many of you may have noticed that the Nation has been intermittently down a few times in recent weeks. The hosting company at which the Nation is located has been encountering some difficulties with our current server. As a result there have been more outages than we would have liked to have. Please note the following: There will be a significant upgrade & maintenance period early on Thursday 3 February, 2005. There should not be any prolonged downtime in the server. However, as data is copied over, there is the potential that some new messages might be posted to the forums right as the transfer is taking place, and may not cleanly make the move. I will do everything that I can to update this thread with current status, but I'm hoping that the transfer will occur largely in the early AM hours on Thursday. The Moderators, Zippy and yes, even your local postal carrier / Can't State graduate appreciate your patience with the recent server problems and now with this planned maintenance. By mid-day Thursday, I believe that all should be back to normal in the ZipsNation. Again: This ought to be seamless, but please keep copies of any posting you do between Midnight on Thursday morning and mid-day Thursday. Some new items may not be transferred correctly. Saving any specifically insightful comments might be worthwhile. This means you ZIPMAN! In the event of prolonged difficulties w/ ZipsNation, I will post updates at macBBS in the UA forum there. Thanks for your attention. ZW

Anyone here ever been to Conte Forum @ BC? It occured to me that maybe costs could be spread around by combining the facilities (FBall & Hoops). NOT in a Bobinski type dome or something .. more from a structural and physical plant perspective. Conte Forum @ BC is sort of like that. The Forum is the Basketball / Hockey arena on BC's campus. Nothing too spectacular about the arena itself, but it is a nice facility. What makes it unique is that it sits behind one of the sidelines of the House that Flutie Built. On top of the Forum is an upper deck to the football stadium that was built well after the stadium opened. The kicker is that there is a row of suites / lux boxes that look into both the football and basketball venues. They look in along the baseline (above one of the student section ends) of the Arena, and are centered at the 50 yardline of the Football stadium. I'm not sure how the access works .. clearly there must be a hallway or something .. But it's an interesting thought when you think about space limitations on campus and the desire to keep the facilities centrally located with respect to the rest of the athletic sites. Some concessions / facilities could be shared .. sell a few boxes to the big companies / booster groups (makes for a cool Tommy Evans / Varsity A combination). I'm thinking something in the neighborhood of 8-10k seats max for hoops, sort of configured in an Anderson Arena "band box" setup .. only modernized. I've got tons of thoughts about JAR upgrades also .. very interested to see what transpires on the facilities side once we start running out of room in the rafters.

My first reaction to that is that it sucks. My second is that it's fine for this team. It forces people to come out to see them and maybe makes this team a little more hungry for respect. There is also the idea of remaining below the radar for a bit longer. Still would like to get a good team here that we can dust with the Defense and get some RPI points from.

I think I must have listened to a different game than you because: 1. There were no technical fouls. Not on RT .. not on any Zips .. not on any RedHawks. I don't recall any from listening to the game, and there aren't in any box score. 2. The Zips couldn't throw it in the ocean for 20 minutes, yet found themselves within 4 points with ~2 minutes left int the game. 3. The Zips showed heart defensively late to go on an 18-1 run in 4 minutes late in the half. 4. The last 3 weeks won't be a waste no matter what happens on Thursday. The fact is that nobody in the East has more than 2 road wins (Buffalo). Miami has SIX remaining ROAD games among their last nine. The Zips are only 1 game back in the win column right now. Only WMU and Miami have more wins than UA in-conference at the moment. I'm not even close to losing any hope in this young team at the moment. Here's what I heard during the game on Sunday: The Zips rolled over a little bit yesterday. Came in fighting the flu (Futch & Joyce didn't play much .. and didn't play well). The past few games they've been playing well for 30 minutes and ok for 10. It was the reverse yesterday. In the first half, they played good D and got stops, but couldn't throw it in the ocean to build any kind of a lead. Then Miami got on track and built a 9 point lead at the half and stretched it out to 20 with about 6 minutes left in the game and things looked bleak. Then the Zips yet again went on the big run .. this time on the road. The Defense KD has them playing is working. Probably the worst rebounding performance by the Zips since before Wood went down. Really a game they could have had with some better D to start the 2nd half. Miami shot a blistering 73.9% in the 2nd half. This was the first game since the Western road loss that they really needed to have Wood. Usually either Futch or Travis is active enough on the glass to cover up for not having JW. Yesterday Futch is sick and Travis wasn't really active .. so they got killed on the glass and Horace had an easy time of things in the post. Not a great performance by our young team .. but nothing to cause anyone of us to go out and start trading our 'roo gear for Can't State rags. It looks like Miami is way up on the division at first glance, but take a look at the schedules down the stretch and consider the fact that they've got 6 of 9 on the road to finish up. The East hasn't heard the last of UA in this title hunt.

Can't imagine how this happened .. we'll have to look into it No others as of yet .. ideas?

Gee David .. did you cover any road games that weren't @ Can't State?

Wasn't that also accomplished by adding additional chairback seats upstairs? Was that upper side always chair backs? I thought maybe they added the chair backs a few seasons later to limit the capacity that way also. I'll never forget how hot the JAR was against MTSU in the OVC tourney final. I need to get a press guide or something to take a look at that box score to see announced numbers .. had to have been one of the largest crowd in the building's history. I've scoured the web a few times, but haven't been able to find a box score .. anyone have it?

Knocking on wood here, but it would appear the Zips may win out on Jackson. UA is far upstream of Tennessee State, is it not? Is TSU in the OVC (1AA?)?

Not that I really have one, but my vote would be for an agressive renovation job on the JAR. We don't need to neccesarily build a 10k arena from scratch. Let's get rid of the track upstairs and build a new permanent upper level that comes up right behind the lower bowl. Making a new concourse behind & under the upper deck, with concessions / restrooms and tunnels to get in. It will tighten up the arena, and with a creative solution to eliminate the corner poles, we could add another 1500 to 2000 seats upstairs. 8k would be a real nice size and if you move the upper seats closer, it would be a louder, more intimate setting. The end seating, I'd like to see them re configured something like the Beeghly Center @ YSU. Just make it one straight shot of seats all the way up without a break (requires a modification of Porky's and the concessions underneath).. I'm interested to what they have to show us .. but I think it would be cool to upgrade the JAR now that it's not needed as a multipurpose facility due to the new center across the street. I'd rather have a jammed 8k seat gym than building something like CSU or OU and only fill it 2 or 3 times a season.

Surely, someone on campus who lurks the Nation went to this lunch yesterday and can comment on what transpired. I'm sure the Beacon was too cheap to spend the 10.25 on an intern sitting in on the lunch. What say ye!? MU Redhawks

GP, I respectfully disagree with your sentiment here, and we'll have to agree to disagree. My wanting the U to have good stewards of the Akron community image involved doesn't mean I'm for mediocrity or poor talent. It simply means that I think we should always remember we are talking about: The UNIVERSITY of Akron. This isn't the old Akron Pro's of professional football. These are student athletes. Now that simply pisses me off. Branding as racists or xenophobes those on this board that are wary of bringing on someone with a past that includes questionable choices is just ridiculous. Wanting good citizens has nothing to do with where the players come from or what they look like. That comment is a direct insult to the dozens of hard working, hard studying student athletes at UA who happen to come from an urban setting. I think you guys are reading WAY too much in to peoples reservations and posts here. We ALL want the Zips to be successful. We ALL understand the concept of redemption & personal growth. We ALL understand the concept of risk vs. reward. Many of us remember some of the "risks" taken by Crawford and Faust, and we also remember the "rewards." Simply expressing hesitation about the level of risk involved in certain situations doesn't make people bigots or lovers of mediocrity.

Per GoZips.com .. there's a lunch today open to the public at which KD will be speaking. I think it's at the Martin Center. Click Here for the Low-down Any slugs going to this & able to report back?

Heard through the grapevine that the ticket office wasn't open after the game ended last night. Some people who were interested in snapping up some Can't State reserved seats tried to get over there only to see a dark window. After a performance like that, I wonder if there might have been some good walk up traffic. Is there a standard time during games that the windows close? Anyone know? Info on gozips.com just mentions when it opens.

Good for them. UA means something more to a lot of us. And for me, it means doing it the right way. Winning can be accomplished cleanly or the Columbus State way. UA can and should do it right. I can be patient. It's tough to say the others are on the same level as marshall .. but either way, let JD get this thing done correctly, so there's no question it's clean. It's a GOOD thing if the team is an example in the community .. not just an unexpected bonus.

CK has pretty much hit on most of my thoughts. Some others that occur to me while I waste another day lurking the MAC forums here and there: - It's nice to be under the radar a little I think. Due to relative quite @ macbbs by the slugs, not much noise conference wide? I like that. Teams are definitely not gearing up to play against UA. If you read the BSU papers / forums .. they were much more concerned about their guy or the concept of a let-down prior to the game. Not much discussion of the Zips. Again these are the fans .. and media quotes of coaches. But a small indicator? - Miami fans are a bit more aware of things. Check out miamihawktalk.com. Nice site, but you'll find some whispers there that the Zips might be the biggest challenge in the east. Same among WMU fans .. a few of them recognized the Zips for what they could be when they were in Kalamazoozoozoo ... - Shot of the night: Quade goes up TOO STRONG. Nice! I'm liking the athleticism and fearless play that we see from QM when he's out there. Eat some cheeseburgers Quade. Might be a player in time. - The big area that will help the ZIps is half court sets to generate open looks. That's the way to sit on / stretch a lead while burning clock. I know it's silly, but I catch myself looking at the score and thinking "damn, they cut it to 13 again!" a lot. I think with experience, the team will get better at getting good looks late in the shot clock. That will be a necessity to steal a win down in Oxford. - This matchup should be an interesting one. Can the Zips turn the Redhawks over & get some quick baskets? That killed BSU, and they are certainly a team that prefers low scoring affairs to run and gun. - Anyone notice that Peterson has more career points than Horace (on the MAC site there's a story about 1000 pt scorers). DP in his 3rd year of action .. DH in his 4th. Horace more highly regarded as freshman, nice work by DP. - This team defense and effort is awesome. Brings back very good memories of the mid-late 80's. Add some pure scoring and bump the talent a little, and this thing could get scary. Can't say I really buy into this thinking entirely. Pretty much any team in the MAC and several in more upstream conferences (Syracuse for example) were after Andy out of Hoban. Pre-Back injury, he'd have been an asset to any system, and his quickness & size would have helped this team tons. Put a healthy Andy on this club in exchange for McFadden & tell me we wouldn't be even stronger. Regardless of how things ended up at the end of his 5 years, for me, the game @ WKU (Dec. 16th, 2000 I believe) will remain among the darkest days in Zips Basketball history. Crushing blow to a really talented, basketball smart player. Go Zips! Keep up the defense .. let's get one at Miami.

What exactly is subscriber only now? I looked quickly at box scores & quotes and they remain the same .. free for all. The archived audio has always been a subscriber (to college sports network @ Real networks) function since they started offering the streaming audio. It's really not expensive, but they do need to recoup the costs. My quick appraisal of the website today is that all the stories and rosters ... etc are all free to view. Please clarify your comment.

Not to be critical of the kid's ability or of Evansville in general, but isn't this guy moving way up in the hoops food chain to come from Evansville to UA? Did UA have any interest when he was coming out of high school? I'm thinking he's a walk-on ... hope he gets his $#%& together and grabs a good degree @ UA. Perhaps he'll help us out in the long run, but hopefully he'll help the team in practices now ..

Still under the radar after a 40 point win? See link above for some brief comments by BSU fans. There's a link in one of the posts to a local paper article. Not much attention is being paid by Cardinal fans & media to the opponent they have for tonights game. Still very happy (as they should be) about the last 2 wins against BG & @WMU. I have to believe that Buckley will come prepared, but it's good to see that the Zips are still being largely discounted as one of those games that BSU "should" win .. and that a loss at the JAR would be a big letdown. Let's go Zips .. statement game!

I don't know .. maybe because a guy DIED?! Theft .. B&E, etc. are pretty different from Manslaughter in my book.

He would have to be a walk-on, right? Seems like there's not a scholi available for him at the moment: Myers Collins McFadden Preston Futch Peterson Travis Wood Joyce Milum Walther Middleton Subtract Myers, Collins & McFadden .. leaves 9 scholi players next season. 3 Signees and Nick Dials get the Zips back to 13. If the kid's paying his own way and proves to be a good citizen, I'm all for the redemption opportunity. Zero tolerance has to be the name of the game. Evansville isn't exactly high D1 these days .. perhaps he's just a role player down the road. From what people say about Conyers .. there's going to be some talent at the 2 in the next few years.

Waiting for Tuesday night is going to kill my productivity. I'm really looking forward to seeing BSU. "The Fiercest Mid-sized Birds" are coming off wins at WMU and vs. BGSU. This is a good measure of where the Zips are at the midpoint of conference schedule. Nice crowd. Weather killed the overall turnout .. might have been much better. I think this was Futch's best game of the year. Immediately before he got called for that hard foul, the guy he was guarding clubbed him in the jaw with a strong elbow. Can't say I was pleased to see that activity when you're up by 30, but I can't blame Matt for bringing the hammer down. The difference between last year and this was that he waited until the guy was going up with the shot to do it. The improvement I see in Futch is this: He spent a lot more time on the block working with his back to the basket against CMU. Maybe more time in this game than the whole rest of the season. He's a load, and he's getting better at using his size and strength to get himself close in shots by the rim .. now keep at it big fella and you'll get them to drop. A few times he got in TOO deep and had nowhere to go. I like the effort and the progress away from always choosing the 20 footer (1 shot not withstanding). I'm liking our Frosh A LOT! Agree wtih what's been said about Bubba. Middleton can flat out play. He's going to be our key stopper in the backcourt. Maybe a Shaw who can score? And does Quade have wings? I swear he was flying in the second half a few times. Generally, I have to like the team atmosphere in the JAR. They've really bought into the system on both ends of the court, and that will help them overcome bad shooting nights. If DP has an off night, they're ready and able to look elsewhere. Finding the open shooter has been a strength. There are moments in games where they begin to get less agressive on offense, and it stagnates, but they're getting shorter and less frequent. I do think they should be careful to not try and embarass a team too often. I know it's hard to tell a walkon not to shoot, but dropping 3 bombs less than 10 seconds into the shot clock when you're up 30 is sort of harsh. I say save that for Can't State .. especially in the MACC. In those games, there is no such thing as too much. Looking at the schedule, the next 5 are going to be big indicators of this team. I'm looking for a win on Tuesday and then at least a split of the next 4 after that. Winning 3 of 5 starts to solidify the home game on 7 March. 4 or 5 gets me thinking MAC East. Go Zips!

FYI Panther, the 3 pointers made are also included in the FG Made, so his line from last night was: 5-7 FG 3-5 3FG 5-5 FT So 5 FG made is 10, add 3 additional points for 3 3PT FG's and 5 from the line and that gets him to 18. He had a great game last night and is showing some off the dribble skills now. Could end up being a good MAC player!! Go Zips!

Indeed they do .. misread my schedule this morning. See you at the JAR.

Just got back from a meeting on Waterloo in Akron, drove north to the turnpike. It's pretty nasty out .. sky seems to be clearing up, but the roads are a mess. If the snow comes down much more through the afternoon .. I gotta wonder if this game might be postponed .. both teams off until at least Wednesday .. I'm sure the Chips aren't leaving .. maybe turns into a Sunday?? I hope it goes off tonight ... I might have to leave now on Nordic skis to get there in time. On to the game: - Don't know much about CMU. 7-8 (2-5). Wins against Marshall on the road and NIU at home. Lost to OU at home to break OU's dismal road streak. - The Zips beat them 2 times last year. Not tight scores. - If Romeo can stay on the floor, KD should be able to use the depth to pull away from teams, rather than using the depth to make up for foul trouble. - Is McFadden due? Seems like he's on again off again ... down game at Marshall. Big game tonight. - Is it Zach Sowers' turn to record a career high tonight? - Hope to see a big crowd (weather and all). It's been a long time since we've seen a JAR filled with Zips fans .. it's been filled, but usually with about 1000 opposing fans (some with a serious hygene problem ... if you know what I mean). This will be a Zips building .. hopefully FULL and should be fun. - Looking forward to the next 2 at home .. getting to 6-3 in conference before heading to BG & Miami would be big. Then the confidence will be there to attempt a split or better and really put themselves in the driver seat in the east. Defense wins championships and there's a MAC East Division Title looking for a team that wants it. Might as well be the Zips, right? Let's go ZIps!! Ooohh Ahhhh ... Gotta beat the chippewas .. ooohh ahhh .. gotta beat the chippewas .. OOHH AAAHH....

I'd love to find the box score from the OVC final game against MTSU in '86. I'm sure there were more than 6500 in there, with all of the students being let in w/ ID. To this day I still remember how hot and humid it was in there. I always thought the initial capacity was higher than that.