Zip Watcher

Gotta scroll down By my quick count, they've got him as the 11th QB in the nation, behind the guys at Toledo, UConn and Oklahoma, among others. Interesting .. maybe because he's learning a new system?? I've gotta believe he's a bit higher among QB's.

Z.I.P., I agree .. the right coaches for the time they were brought in .. no longer the right guys for the job. I do think we've moved upstream with both JD & KD. Hopefully MT sticks around to see it through.

Guest ... welcome aboard. First, why don't you register and become a contributor here. We always need more opinions. Second - Read my post again .. read ALL of it. Then look at my signature. Nowhere am I saying it wasn't time to move on or that I'm even remotely against the decision. It was the right call .. and probably would have been last year as well. My point is this: He left us with more than we had when he got here. He didn't embarass the U ... but he couldn't do better than third place, so it was appropriate that we move on. We're moving onward and upward. These are the facts. Where exactly do I say I'm happy with the nine years? Respecting someone's professional efforts on our team's behalf has nothing to do with wanting to be an also ran. It has to do with common sense and decency. My type!!? At no time am I happy being an also ran. How you read that, I don't understand. I also don't know any Zips fans who want to be also rans. We're all starving for a return to the traditional successes that are the history of the program. Here I couldn't agree more with you. We should be a top 25 team. Every year. We should be in post season games (after the MAC). Every Year Read the comments carefully before you come in here anonymously and in the ZipsNation! People that don't read posts and then make inaccurate generalizations piss me off.

I know I'm late to the party with these .. but hey, work has been busy & w/ everything else going on .. this is what happens. At any rate, some of this was posted already ... I know some of this won't go over well .. but these are my thoughts. First and foremost: Dan did some serious heavy lifting during his tenure at the JAR. I don't care if you were a Hip fan or not .. I think we all generally agree that he left the program in a much better place than it was when he inherited it. I hope this isn't lost on us during these changing times. I know this season it was hard for me to be mindful of that at times. Certainly we had some academic casualties in the past couple of seasons. But think back to the CC era, and there's no comparison. I don't recall ever thinking that a DHip player embarassed the university with off campus idiocy or legal troubles. I don't think giving at risk kids a chance at a world class education at UA was a bad choice, though I would have liked to see it work out more often. By and large, he was a good steward of UA's reputation and image. We're all trying to improve things around us, whether it be in our jobs or lives in general. I think at the end of the day, Dan did that at UA. And I for one am aware and appreciative of that. The ultimate measure of the state of the program is to compare the cupboards that DHip and now KD inherited upon getting the head job. No question KD has some tools with which to win right now. General Musings: - I like his systems when they worked it. Early on (years 1-6) he was almost exclusively a man-to-man D guy with good motion offense. I thought it was fun to watch during through Ball / Bosley / Shindy / Falknor years. Last 2 years, that broke down due to personnel .. but I didn't dislike his general game framework. - There were some games where he gave other coaches fits with his strategy. A couple of nights come to mind now: Just about every time he coached against Coles & Dakich. Those were fun to watch. Great adjustments from both benches led to some entertaining hoops. Sometimes it went against us, but I think of a couple of wins against Miami & one particular game against BGSU Falknor's senior year that I'll remember. This season's Can't & Miami games were the most recent examples. The other coaches in the conference hold him in high regard as a sideline tactician. - There were also some games where it seemed like he just gave up trying to get what he wanted out of the kids. I think of a game a few years ago (the quitters' senior year) @ Can't State and this year @ EMU .. and I shudder. - His eldest son had the most potential of any player I've ever seen at Akron. The day he got hurt at WKU will always rank among my worst days as a Zips hoops fan. - He did have some seniors quit on him, but he also had some seniors really go after it in their last several games. Scott Gooden, Jawanza Moore, Nate Schindewolf & Dave Falknor come to mind. Andy played with a lot of heart all the time. - Many have said that no players improved over their time at UA playing for DHip. I don't have a long list of counter-arguments though there are some exceptions. I do find it pretty funny that the most improved player over his tenure was the one who tried to punch him during a game. Think back to Ryan Andrick as a freshman, and then think of his play as a junior and (first half of season) a senior .. and his game improved a hundred fold. Perhaps as fortunate a knee injury if there ever was such a thing. Andrick in my mind was a player that improved a great deal while he was here. Falknor another. - DHip kept local kids coming through the program. I hope that continues, providing the players are at the level needed to play in the new era at the JAR - He was nothing if not entertaining to watch on the sidelines. Anyone remember the time he spiked the clipboard during a game, and the pen flew onto the floor, prompting the requisite "please don't throw objects on the floor" announcement to the fans? Or how many times his gum fell out of his mouth, only to be handed back to him by an assistant coach?!! Final Thoughts: The MAC Tourney program, in it's discussion of DHip on the Akron page, labeled him a "rebuilder of programs." Maybe that's the right way to look at it. He came here to virtually nothing and guided the program through it's first 9 MAC seasons, and when he left it was a competitive MAC team. Perhaps he can build it to 80/90 % and can't get over the top? We'll debate that forever I guess .. but he did a solid job. I do think it was time for a change .. the Zips have been sort of stuck in neutral for a couple of seasons, and new blood was needed. This program is in great position to move forward now .. but a change was appropriate now. Utlimately, I trust MT's judgement in these things. As for DHip, I can only assume & hope that he lands on his feet near a bench in the very near future. He should always be welcome around these parts for his efforts and I will always respect his heart, determination & knowledge of the game. My guess is he'll find either a new head gig this spring or will be a top assistant at a big school (a la Larry Hunter) very soon (maybe TX Tech?). It won't be a long time before he's got a new DI head job & if he learns from his experiences here .. some school will get a pretty good coach. I won't be surprised at all to see him back in the MAC down the road. At any rate thanks for your time here & good luck Dan. You left it better than you found it & you're always welcome at the JAR.

AO / ElusiveQB is long since gone .. surely lurking in Ashland these days. Our best wishes to him! AkronZipsFan34_1_5 = DareYouToMove = Akronballa34 ... etc. This is the user of concern here. I'm hoping she'll respect the wishes of the community and become a productive member w/ one chosen name. After all, if she is a Zips fan, she'll want to remain around here. We'll see how it goes.

As of this morning, she's been advised by a moderator / administrator that she is welcome here (with ONE account name) under the circumstances that she has something of substance to add, rather than her recent performance in this thread. This initial warning WILL be the only one given.

Hello all, I saw Zipboy and spoke with him on Thursday & missed connecting w/ CK during the afternoon. Wondering if anyone's up to getting together between the games tonight @ the Gund to trade opinions on the state of the nation. There's an open area in the main concourse by the 108/109 tunnel. There's a bunch of bar tables set up there across from the concessions. What say you to meeting there between games? Certainly all members of the nation are welcome. Go Miami! P.S. Anybody see our advertising at the Gund yesterday??!

Pretty much the whole team was there. I was in the SRO by the door, so I couldn't see everyone in the room, but the only players I didn't see were Meyers, Preston & the Hipshers .. the rest were there.

I didn't see any other slugs there, but if I missed someone, my apologies. I got there about when the Q&A was starting, so I haven't been able yet to hear his opening (or MT's) remarks. I'm really cooked from the red-eye flight I took to get to the PC (only partly kidding), so I'll post more in detail later. Some quick hits: 1. No Terry Pluto or Elton Alexander to be found. 2. Most of the team was there .. and in quite good spirits 3. He's got a presence at the mic .. definately engaging. 4. He understands that this is a change for a reason .. not a status quo thing (more on this later). 5. The room really liked him .. Tommy Evans was SRO when I got there .. For now, I'll just add my favorite comment of the Q&A: KD "When we win ... we'll outgrow the JAR, and that's one of my goals here .. to outgrow the JAR" More to come...

I'm going to vote for JL tonight because I definately want him to be part of the process. He should be interviewed. I trust the Boss's instincts & if a top assistant from the ACC or BE is available & interested .. then I'm interested. My vote for Loyer today is for a few reasons: 1. If you google it .. his past doesn't appear as dubious as Bobby H would like people to believe. He was cleared by NCAA of infractions & yet UC still made him the scapegoat. I think he's every bit worth the look (if not more) than Dambrot. 2. He's a winner .. he's been a successful recruiter. He's played in the NCAA tournament, coached in the Final Four, coached a successful JUCO program, and now is in the NBA. He's been at every level. 3. HE'S A MEMBER OF THE ZIPS NATION. He's a Zip(s)! The banners in the JAR mean something .. there's tradition here. 21-10 all time in NCAA games isn't insignificant. And JL was a part of that. I'd like to see him come home for an interview. Ultimately, I trust MT's judgement.

I think he made the same sort of veiled guarantee last year .. "we'll get one .. things are coming together .. " We all know how that turned out .. we'll see this week. I have to agree that I don't think this is a bad draw. I'd certainly rather be going to Muncie (or Huntington) than BG. We'll see how it goes .. I'd just like to see the Zips at the Gund.

Great post Z-P. Nice to have your thoughts and inputs from the front row. Those of us slobs a few rows back don't always see the same things. Thanks for sharing. BTW, I've been very aware of the coaching from the stands for 2 years now, especially w/ DT. His brother sits about 6 rows behind and to your left, Z-P. That's probably the source. Sucks to have another season at the JAR over .. I'm already looking forward to next season. On to the MAC tourney and a chance to watch some competitive hoops.

Is that the Men's or Women's? Kraft is the ladies tourney sponsor now .. are they still giving away men's stuff? Anyone remember when they gave easy MAC away at the end of the tourney the first year? We must have taken home about a case of the stuff. It was horrible. One of my buddies fed it to his dogs.

Cap'n: I'm in the same boat as you. This will be my 6th consecutive MAC tourney appearance (that's more than some people we know!). It's my favorite sports week of the year .. and our team won't be there. We shoudl be sure to get together over the weekend. I'll be the guy with the brand new Buffalo Bulls hat with the tag still hanging off the side. L8er. P.S. All should attend & view the signage that might appear at the Gund

Many people have posted thoughts in the past about our radio team .. specifically the color guy & his blinding love for our Zippers. I'm in the camp that sort of longs for the days where Frenchie flew solo .. whatever, bad basketball doesn't deserve great coverage. However .. I didn't realize how good we have it. Moments after the end of the UA / Marshall game, I flipped the dial over to WNIR to catch the end of the Can't State choke job against Miami. All I can say is that I look forward to reading an article in the paper about how the game ended, because I have absolutely no idea what happened on the court at the end of the game. Needle is ridiculous! I can't believe that's their radio coverage .. aren't you supposed to understand what's going on on the court when you listen to games??? This guy is unbelievable. Can't State fans must be in hell when the flushes are on the road. My heartfelt apologies to Joe Dunn for any past criticisms of his work. Keep up the great job Joe!

CK & GZ have pretty much summed up my thoughts. Not much motivation for new discussions .. check out dreamwater before it disappears to see that this horse has been bludgeoned to death already. Tonight, the Zips lost an opportunity to lock up a home game. With all other results in from today's games .. I believe a win by UA would have given them nearly all the tiebreakers against Marshall. The head to head being the strongest. Nice use of timeouts during a frenzied 12-0 run. I also thought it was a genious coaching move to leave RT on Black, whom he clearly couldn't check all night. As Joe Dunn tells us .. "Black's having a great game against us .. seems like that always happens to the Zips" .. BS!! The Zips made their own bed tonight. Sucks for us & them .. but that's that. If the Zips sack up and beat UB on Saturday (I don't expect it .. but I won't be at all surprised) .. they will have closed the season by beating the top 3 teams in the division and losing to the bottom 2. What a fricking waste ... we deserve better than this. And to think I was having a pretty damn good week.

I second GZ's comments above .. as I listen to the wheels fall off with a chance to lock up the home game tonight. I don't know how much I can take of this .. listening to the Zips on the radio is downright painful, for a number of reasons.

Best post to date on the new board. Nice find!

ZFF - do you remember the license plate website? I can't remember where it was posted originally .. just did a brief search on the Dreamwater ... but I couldn't find the original link.

Reek'n Urinal article: Futbol & Football go together! How many acres does the U control south of Exchange? CK & JP, you can split the $100million, right? Rt8, 77, 76 .. that's pretty good access. If Cleveland isn't willing to foot the bill, MT LP & co. should start stumping to get this built with Wolstein on campus. It's funny to me that he says Richfield didn't work last time .. yet he appears willing to do it all over again? Curious ..

Great game to watch .. back and forth .. emotional and energetic. It's good to get a win against these guys. My thoughts on the game: 1. I thought DT came out with pretty good intensity. Certainly had a great shooting afternoon to help propell the Zips over Can't State. That type of intensity the whole game and season .. and we're talking about different things the next few weeks. 2. I'm happy for Seibart. Great start to the game this afternoon. He should be proud to have converted on the opportunity that he had this afternoon. Several guys have had good nights on senior nights over the years and in their last games (Jawanza Moore comes to mind especially .. even Scott Gooden). Nice he was able to put a shot in over Edwards & contribute. 3. Joyce impressed me again today .. it won't show in the box score, but I really felt he played a steady, steady game and kept things going. We're in good shape with him at the point. Not happy about losing JH .. but I didn't think about him during the game. Joyce & Collins got it done. 4. Wood / Travis / Futch .. nice upside & hustle today. Rebounded well in the second half. My dream is that thes guys learn to post up the way Andrick did. Great fastbreak conversion by Wood late in the game. He had several shots that I couldn't believe didn't drop today. 5. If we can beat a healthy 20-4 MAC East Champion team with the reduced troops we had today .. why are we 13-12 on the season .. inquiring minds want to know. 6. Hugely disappointed in the small size of today's crowd & the large percentage that was Can't State fans. It's a tribute to their recent success that their fans travel over here that well .. and a sign of our lack of the same success that that many seats are available to them. Makes me sick ... Finally .. Anyone happen to tape the game today? I'd pay money to see a replay of Tarver's move on Haynes in the second half. He simply abused Haynes .. made him look silly .. the guy friggin FELL DOWN he got juked so bad. That's a highlite I would love to have in avi or mpg format and post here on the site. I think I'd play it everytime I visited the site. Anyone have a tape of the game???? Maybe we can start "highlight" reels in a forum or something .. there haven't been many this season, but that was certainly one! These are the things I remember about todays game. Doesn't make the season a good one or make the frustration go away .. but it is nice to beat the teams we're supposed to.

Gotta go to class .. they are student athletes after all. Can't say I'm happy about not having him out there .. but I do think the program has to enforce some basic rules. This takes some balls by a coach on the brink. The classroom matters at Akron .. and it should for the team as well. The Joyce era began a few games ago .. it's now officially in full swing. Go {to class} Zips!

I know it's always a well attended game. I'm thinking it's going to be a packed house this weekend. And while recently that has meant a lot of Can't State people .. I think Sunday will be different. You have to figure the concert after the game is going to draw a pretty large number of people, and they've probably set aside large numbers of GA seats for church groups .. etc. And I'd guess that the fans attracted by the post game show are local Summit county Akron folks. If so .. very shrewd move by UAM & staff, IMHO. Go Zips .. tear 'em up!

Nice story in the Reek'n Urinal this morning about Brenda Norris at the MAC Championships. Only a Junior .. owns school record(s)!

This late in the game .. you have to figure that they'll look inward for continuity's sake, wouldn't you? I'm hoping they pick one of their co-ordinators. That wouldn't be too threatening to the Zippers. I just love Tammy piling on the whole "Winters is the greatest coach who isn't already a head coach" fire set by Morgan and Alexander ..