Quickzips

I thought the athletic department had to pay the band to be there at games. Yes, folks, this is true. So now you want to pay the individual students, and pay the band?As far as the fight song - does anybody except the band even know the words? What good does it do to play it a million times if nobody even knows it - heck the cheerleaders sing something in the middle that nobody even can understand. It's a joke. And I agree, ditch the eat em up stuff. Our band often looks like a bunch of geeks who are in denial that they are geeks. They look embarrassed to ham it up. Like they know they're supposed to be nutty college kids, but they're just so darn self-conscious that they can't let loose. The best bands know they are geeks and really ham it up. Or they're like the bands at HBCs (historically black colleges) who aren't geeks but know how to entertain and enliven crowds. My suggestion: Send one or two band members to several different schools within a five or six hour drive. Ask questions. Watch them do what they do best: have fun. Bring back a bunch of ideas and have a weekend band summit where everything is tossed out as a possibility. And work with the cheerleaders better. Talk about a disconnect. It's getting slightly better, but it's still really sloppy.I don't know the band director, but if he's wound too tight, which would be my assumption, then maybe we need some wild student assistance now and then. I just don't think our band gets athletic events, I really don't. Ok, well let me go over for you what exactley it is that they pay us. $200 for the entire semester. Never mind that that is less than half of what it costs for tuition for the one credit hour class and about $100 of that goes towards paying for you three shirts (polo, white and blue t-shirt) as well as shoes, gloves, etc. Lets break this down as if you were being paid for an actual job.Semester is 15 weeks with three rehersals a week for 2:30 hours per rehersal give or take a bit. That is 112 hours and 30 minutes of rehersals over the entire semester. But wait, it doesn't stop there. Gameday Saturdays (please do not take this as a rant on not wanting to go to the games, you all know I loves me some Zips football) is a complete wash. Average game day we put in at least 8-10 hours of rehersals and game performances. For arguements sake we will say it is 8 hours for 5 home games (thats about what we've gotten the last few years on our schedule). So bump that 112:30 up another 40 hours to 152:30. But it doesn't stop there my friend. No, there is also band camp. 5 days of 9-9 plus the first Sunday of noon-9 so right there is another 69 hours. So now we are up to 221:30 worth of time invested into a one credit hour class. That $200 comes out to less than a dollar an hour for the entire semester. The football team is all on full scholarships (again, let me clarify myself, I am not trying to say that marching band members have to go through as much as football players like some of my delusional and jaded former fellow bandmates would like to believe) why not give a handful of dedicated bandsmen and women the opportunity at at least some kind of meaningful scholarship money instead of an insulting and idiotic $200 at the end of the semester? I shall remove myself from the soapbox.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2424711From what I understand the MAC is locked in to the International Bowl in Toronto and has some tie-in as a reserve for the Birmingham Bowl??? Hopefully this takes care of that unfortunate little situation that popped up last season when NIU was the MAC West rep at the MACC but Toledo got the bid to the GMAC Bowl. Third Bowl for the MAC can't hurt regardless of where you stand on the issue of there being too many bowl games.

Everything that has been out there so far seems to indicate that the Browns aren't really targeting Young but are checking him out should the scenario arise. Savage was quoted when asked about the teams interest in Young as saying something like "You don't want to be caught with your pants down come draft day." Speculation is that if Young is there at 12 we will likely look for a trade partner (Minnesota keeps coming up) and try to keep him away from Baltimore.As far as Frye goes, anyone who believes that Trent Dilfer has a legit shot to be the starter next year is crazy. Romeo Crennel can spend all the time he wants to saying that we have a QB battle going into camp but its just not happening. Think about it, if Dilfer had a legit shot at being the starter in Cleveland why is it that the cornerstones to be of the franchise (Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow) have spent all offseason with Frye and various sporting events (Zips bball, Zips spring game, Cavs games) and in the film room together. If Dilfer had a shot at it those two would not be spending all of their time with Charlie, they would be spending more time with both of them.

I would definitley go back to Marching Band (I was a member) if something like that were done. Unfortunatley what they have now (I think it is like $200 at the end of the semester) is utterly worthless. For one when you buy all of your mandatory equipment (shirts, hats, gloves, shoes, etc.) you pay almost all of that back out. Second off when you consider the time investment that you have to put into it that $200 comes out to only a couple cents per hour for the whole semester. Putting a substantial award (large scale scholarships) on the line would not only boost attendance but it would keep people motivated to actually try during rehersals and put on a good performance instead of just screwing around like usual.A few other things. Some of which have already been mentioned. Song selection can often be a joke. Cut the classical bs and play stuff that BELONGS at a football game. I know a few of the wonderfully out of touch music majors will moan and complain about not being able to play w/ the Cleveland Orchestra Trombone Section <yawn> or something like that again but come on. Is that really going to keep fans attention?If you guys are going to continue doing horn moves and whatnot in the stands either EVERYONE DOES THEM OR NOONE DOES THEM. From watching this year for the first time I can't even begin to tell you how halfassed it looks when a couple of people are doing horn moves in the stands while the rest of the band sits there looking like they have no desire to be there, let along put an effort into it.Lose Eat 'em up, keep Lets go Zips. Eat 'em up comes out too muddled during the cheer at the end and never comes out sounding right. Always sounds more like "Ed m p, ed m p go zits go." or something like that. Lets go Zips on the other hand is very clear and is pretty good if not overused. If you watch other games on the TV you will notice a lot of bands using it.Instead of having a huge repertoire of stand tunes, 50% or so of which will never be used or will sound horrible if it is used, cut it down to maybe 10-12 songs at most. Make sure those 10-12 songs (Blue and Gold, Lets Go Zips, Imperial March, Another one Bites the Dust, etc., etc.) are solid and crisp and are given even attention every game. And for the love of god please stop playing Zipadeedoda. I don't care if there is some big wig donor who likes the song it sucks and just reaks of mediocrity.Just to throw a halftime show theme idea out there how about a Queen Show (Bohemian Rhapsody, Another one Bites the Dust, Fat Bottomed Girls, etc., etc.) You can't go wrong with stadium rock

I'll second that. Now if he can figure out who we are. Mwahahahahaha.

With the recent news of the stress fracture in his foot (even though it is considered non-serious) his stock might slip a little. Its too bad because he was really climbing the boards. I had seen him in some mocks all the way into the fifth round.

I'm still pretty green as far as a zips fan goes but I've got to say that Marshall '04 and MACC '05 probably rank up there pretty high for a lot of fans.

Probably the biggest thing working against him is his effinity for the crotch rockets. After the Kellen Winslow deal a lot of people are going to shy away from that. I still am borderline seeing him getting drafted. Most of the latest mocks I see though have have him being selected, usually in the late 6th round or 7th round but occasionally as early as the 5th.

www.nfldraftcountdown.com which I consider to be one of the best free online draft reports and scouting sites in the process of updating their position rankings has finally noticed Hixon. In fact they have noticed him so much he is on their front page. Check it out if you get a chance. Just a few quotes Check out the front page to the site as well as Domeniks scouting report at http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingr...menikhixon.htmlHe is currently listed as their #25 WR prospect.

http://gozips.cstv.com/trads/akoh-trads-pros.html#fbNot only football but also Mens Soccer, Mens Golf, Mens Baseball and Womens Softball.

I'd like to think it is possible but I remember thinking the same thing in '04. Granted we had a new coaching staff and new scheme but Penn St. certainly didn't look past us. I'm sorry if I'm not quite so optimistic.

Can't still has the will to play football? Could have fooled me.I agree the schedule sucks but it is what it is. All the pissin and moanin in the world isn't gonna change it. Lets just go out there and take care of business.

I'm just happy to see all IA opponents. Even though it is the Sunbelt it is still embarrasing to have to schedule a IAA opponent and then have to worry about if the team is gonna take them seriously enough to sufficiently beat them. No win situation there. Who in the heck had the idea to put the Buffalo game on ESPNU??? That is pretty stupid. Even putting Ohio on there isn't all that intelligent but a little better. Lets play Toledo, Miami and BG on TV.Initial thoughts on each game.Penn St: Might be a winnable game but more than likely a loss-LN.C. St: This could be our big upset game vs. a big BCS School. They lose a good core of veterans praticularly on defense who have held the team for a few years this year (Mario Williams, Manny Lawson, John McCargo, Stephen Tulloch, Oliver Hoyte).?Central Mich.: We found out last year that you can't take them lightly. Replacing Can't Smith is a big task for them though and this is a very winnable game. WNorth Texas: Don't know much about them but seems like a game we should be able to win pretty handily. WCan't St.: Surprised to even see them on the schedule. I thought they dropped football WCinncinnati: Could we pick up two BCS wins this year? If we can get one from NC St. it looks good when we've got a bottom dweller Big East team on the schedule. WMiami: Is this the year we finally get over the hump and beat the redhawks? ?Toledo: This has all the lookings of a potential MACC matchup. They need to replace Gradkowski but they've done it before. Should be a good game. We need to get some TV for this one. ?BG: Talk about a program spiraling towards the pits. They lose Omar Jacobs and now his replacement is getting busted for drugs. We won't even get into their defense.WBuffalo: New coach. Same Bulls. WOhio: Why is it that people think they will surprise folks in the MAC this year? They still don't have the personel to run Solich's Power Option football which is an out of date scheme that has become easy to defend anyways. WWestern Mich.: This could be a big letdown game. Better hope we have our ticket to the MACC already punched by this time because Western is a dangerous team that could easily steal one from us. ?Could go anywhere from 6-6 to 10-2 really.

Wake me up when the ABJ broken record stops. Seriously I'm as tired of the paper's attitude as the rest of you but I'm growing just as tired of reading threads complaining about it. We aren't going to make any significant changes to it. Whats the point???

Just some thoughts on the East:-Zips: Returning a solid core of veterans and bringing in some exciting youngsters. With head coach JD Brookhardt at the helm this program should be fun to watch. Depending on how well some of the youngsters at WR, RB and LB step up this season easily the favorite in the East.-BG: They still don't have much in terms of a defense and their offense is losing a number of high quality weapons not the least of which is Omar Jacobs. Add on top of that that Jacobs replacement is having some legal problems and the Falcons are on shaky ground to say the least.-Miami: Losing some veterans but they always seem to re-load. Until further notice they are still one of the teams to beat. Some might say that how well their new QB plays will determine their season but the Redhawks have plenty of talent in plenty of positions to make some noise.-Ohio: Why is everyone on Ohio's balls all of a sudden? They didn't have the talent to run Solich's power option football last year and they won't have it ready this year. So they beat Pitt last year. Big deal. Plenty of MAC teams can beat up on the cellar dwellers of the Big East. -Buffalo: New coach but same old players. Buffalo will probably be a little more competitive as they have a pretty decent defensive core but they will need to learn how to put a few points on the board before anyone in the MAC really takes them seriously.-Can't: Are they still fielding football???

Why do we continue debating this topic. Look we are FINALLY getting the Zips some national attention and it is coming in these uniforms. Changing them now is absolutely idiotic. There is just no other way to put it. I don't mind the throwbacks for a game each year but leave the uniforms the same. Changing them every five years is only going to make it more likely that people will forget who we are and not watch us. Think about it. Some guy who just casually watched the MACC game for instance is flipping through the channels next fall and he sees those uniforms again. Now he generally would have no interest in the zips and would just flip right through but he associates those uniforms with that team that he watched a year ago and he enjoyed that game. It was exciting and it was good football. So he decides to watch that game. And thus a new zips fan begins to be born. You change that uniform and that same fan would just flip straight through and never give that game a second thought. KEEP THE UNIFORMS THE SAME!

Been a nice season guys. Cya next year.

Cedrick hits a 3, Creighton answers w/ one of their own.

Creighton all of a sudden making some offensive fouls but Zips can't hit a thing.

Word. Maybe Ced can give us a spark to start the second (he sat most of the first half with two fouls).It's not over yet, though. LET'S GO ZIPS!!!!! He actually has 3 fouls. Both him and Milum do. If those guys are gonna be a factor they are gonna have to be careful in doing it.

Dru misses the front end of the 1-1, Mathis takes it to the hoop and gets fouled. Misses the FT. Zips down 14 goin into the half. Not good. 40-26 Creighton.

35-26 Creighton. Romeo inside keeping us in the game with the inside shot. He just hit for 12 points on the night and 1000 on his career.

Can we give Creighton a few more offensive rebounds please???

Peterson makes the freebies and stops a 9-0 run. Creighton by 10 though.