GoZips

Aaron Jackson's Gahanna Lincoln plays Columbus Northland this Saturday. The winner wins the Regional and is one of four finalists for the state championship. Thursday evening Lincoln defeated Pickerington Central 53-50 to gain the regional finals. Aaron had a great game that included a monster (over used word) rejection of Ohio State bound JaySean Tate's bunny lay up.

An investigation turned up nothing. The rest of the players are NOT involved. and, let's Go Zips ... !!!!

Most of us are familiar with the inspirational movie about Daniel "Rudy" Rudlinger the famous Notre Dame football walk on. "Rudy" all five foot nothing, one hundred and nothing without a speck of talent hung on as a member of the Notre Dame football team's scout team for two years. Rudy is a real person; as is Akron's "Rudy", Luke Avsec, a walk on for the men's basketball team. Like the movie's Rudy, Luke works his tail off doing every job asked of him. Luke is usually one of the first on the floor before practice, and usually one of the last to leave. Luke works on his game almost daily. Like Rudy, Luke is never going to rise above the scout team. Rudy, er, Luke wears the same grungy red scout team practice jerseys every day. Akron's scout team quickly learns and executes opponents offense and defense plays so the Blue team and White team can beat on them and learn the opponents strengths and weaknesses. Being on the scout team is a thankless job. At best, a scout player can expect to get a sort of "nuggie" to his head as a sign of appreciation by the Blues & Whites. The job is difficult and it takes a strong spirit to bust one's butt when wearing a red jersey. Most walk ons, Luke included, hope for the Blues and Whites to totally kick ass early in a game so they can get some hard earned "garbage" minutes. Walk ons like Luke really appreciate the fans acknowledging their on the floor presence. Next time you meet up one of Akron's unheralded scout players, let them know you appreciate their efforts to make the Zips the best mid-major in the country. and ... Go Zips ...!!!!

Excuse me .. what do you mean by "but on a smaller scale"? Chicago State's arena seats 7,000. The Jar can uncomfortably seat 6,000. Akron needs about an 8,000 seat arena. The JAR lacks amenities that make an arena a nice place to watch games. Insufficient restrooms, lack of vending and close by parking and the foyer is totally obsolete and that is just scratching the surface. Tommy Evans has been out grown to the point that starting next season it will take a $2,000 or more in donations to gain pre-game and halftime access. I stopped going when the juice went from $500 to $1,000. The main lobby is woefully undersized. Handicapped drive up access is pathetic. Handicap access to the tier is one small elevator. I am told by my handicapped female companion that the women's restrooms are not well equipped for a wheelchair confined person. She only attends really important games because of this. The JAR can not be "upgraded" for a reasonable cost. The four pillars in the corners hold up the roof. They can not be moved. Thus, the corners are nearly useless. This entire new "study" was merely a delaying tactic. Fact, not baloney: the University needs to make a serious commitment to upgrading its conference affiliation. Just heard during a basketball game that Belmont is already applying for admission to the Missouri Valley Conference. The Board of Trustees, the Athletic Director and the President should be vocal in stating their goals and intentions. Pussy footing around has already cost the University several opportunities. Grow some nads mice, er, men. I WANT AKRON OUT OF THE MAC

Correct. Academically they are juniors. For purposes of playing four years in five allowed they are sophomores. They gain the fourth year of athletic eligibility if they complete four years of academics. Wierd isn't it? Got to love the NCAA. In reality, this is actually a system to protect both the school and the player. It works.

The team leaves for Cleveland Thursday right after practice. That would be around noon from in front of the JAR. Getting as many tickets sold for the Friday game just might be the best show of solidarity.

I, also, like the idea of running the point through Reggie McAdams. Thirty games into the season Reggie is no longer a freshman. He has some experience and delivers. While KD appears to be reluctant to run the point with a tall player, I am not. I also think that cramping up three times in 27 minutes of action is more a reflection on poor conditioning than lack of ability. The trainers need to monitor Betancourt's fluid intake for a couple of hours before the game. Also make sure he drinks at each time out. Carmelo did not prepare himself adequately for the role he has been thrust into. He is getting a quick lesson in basketball. I think that by next Friday he will have a much better appreciation for his opportunity. I WANT AKRON OUT OF THE MAC

If you caught Coach Dambrot's comments on the post game show you got another example of just how classy your coach is. KD stated that the Zips will stand by Alex Abreu through his ordeal. That the school, the fans and most of all his team mates will not abandon him. When you consider and read all the selfish, childish comments Alex has made it reflects well on the Zips nation that we will not abandon Alex. I personally concur with Coach Dambrot. May only the best come to Alex. May he soon learn that a selfish attitude is not in his best interest. He he soon realize that we will not turn our backs on him. God bless. I WANT AKRON OUT OF THE MAC

This is one heck of bump in the road. So sad. So foolish. So selfish. Carmelo needs to step up now. No more slacking off and not putting in the effort. Can DeJi get it done? Time to give Reggie McAdams a chance on the point. He played point for his HS team his senior year. KD is enamored with mini-sized point guards. McAdams at 6'-7" is a huge adjustment for Dambrot. My heart goes out to the team, coaches, families, friends. An incredibly selfish, short sighted act. Alex is gone. Permanently.

Not an official announcement by the Athletics Department, but, Zips fans are encouraged to wear as much black as they can. The Zips will wear their new all black uniforms for the Cant game. Fans in black is supportive of the team. Cant will wear their traditional buttercup yellow togs.

DiG, modernize, give up on running Windows 3.1 already.

Completely different set of expectations. The 1986 team was just happy to be there; as were the fans. The 2013 team has goals well beyond securing the NIT ticket. They remember the disappointment of last year. We ain't won nothing, yet, baby. Last season the kids set a goal for themselves to get to the Sweet Sixteen. Instead, Ohio enjoyed that ride. The bar is set even higher this year. The kids know what it is. That is their expectation. So far, these talented and experienced Zips are still playing way below their abilities. They have two choices, fall back and relax, take the NIT bid and piss away all their hard work. Or, they can work even harder and make a run for the gold ring. This team has the size, the talent and the skills to go deep, deep into the tournament. The loss at Buffalo crimped them a lot. It was painful. They know that they did not reach down and play their guts out. No one is happy. Some one, preferably a senior, needs to take command and provide the leadership. Has not happened thus far. A lot of college coaches are really wary of this edition of the Zips. And, they damned well better be. They have been challenged by the coaches to make a new winning streak seven games long. I want an eight game win streak. It all begins Friday night. Time to blow out Cant State. Go into the MAC Tourney primed and ready. Win that and move on to the NCAA Tourney. I WANT AKRON OUT OF THE MAC.

At the half: Akron 45 Buffalo 24 Toledo 35 Ball Sat. 14 Cent MI 30 East MI 28

According to Steve French, Zeke has played in more wins than any other Zips player.

By all accounts it was an excellent evening. The food was filling, tasty and plentiful. The orange water that passed for orange drink was, well, blah. However, that was the only down side I encountered. Coach Bowden, all fifty-two less pounds of him did an excellent job. He stuck to topic. A summary of his relationship with the Lord, his career, and most importantly to Zips fan, his plans for rebuild the Zips into a powerful competitor. Terry Bowden carries the Bowden genes. That is to say, he has an incredibly strong will to win. I got to meet Blue & Gold. He is like many of us an avid Zips fan, and an associate pastor at the Chapel. The Chapel is a large, well done organization with a big interest among its men in athletics. B&G and I talked for an hour at the end of festivities about Zips sports. This was my second visit to The Chapel. The first time was to support a benefit for Trevor Weigand, Coach Weigand's son. Yesterday I learned that Trevor is doing so well that he elevated to a better team as he was playing so well.

Blue, I plan to be there.

I'll be mucho happy if we win just the next eight games.

This was a painful and devastating loss. By tomorrow the kids (the players) will be over the pain. Fans, please do like wise. Suck it up and move on. There is still a lot of great basketball left in this team. Hugs to GameChngr44 ...!!!! See you Tuesday. I cast my vote for Javon McCrea (don't care if I spelled his name correctly) for Thug of the Year. These referees were piss poor if they could not see the kidney punch he put on Jake Kretzer. No way on God's green Earth does McCrea deserve consideration for Player of the Year. He disqualified himself. I WANT OUT OF THE MAC.

We could cover the 275k by selling out the Que at only twenty dollars a ticket. And make a profit on the concessions. Wait this has been done before when the Zips hosted top five ranked Pittsburgh at the old Richfield Coliseum. That game drew over fifteen thousand clear back in the Bob Huggins era. I, for one, would love to see the Zips play one or two out of conference games each season at the Que. Obviously that would require scheduling only the top name Big Six + Gonzaga teams.

Better to think about the "leftovers". What are the teams left over from the old Big East that will NOT be part of the new Big East? They need conference affiliation. Some will join existing conferences. Some are looking to start a new conference. Quiet talk is that Akron is talking to this group of teams. Stay tuned.

What?, I have done that with women all my life. sigh

First off .... HS Stripes, great job of researching these interesting, informative articles. Kudos ... !!!! Kwan should benefit from a red shirt year and the great training that Akron's trainer Tim Campbell provides. He is joining a program that will be top shelve for the foreseeable future.

The PD article reads like Livingston is hedging his bets. If you stand in the middle of the road ... splat .... hit by a truck. Livingston quite obviously did not attend the game down along the Hocking River. That was every bit as tough a venue as any tOSU has seen all season. I am not sure just why Livingston thinks (is that a word?) that the Buckeyes would win. He presented a lot of evidence to the contrary. As for the reader poll ... stuffing the ballot box only proves that Zips fans know how to clear their browser cache AND are good, loyal fans.

Since it cost upwards of $50,000 to get Ark.-Pine Bluff, Coppin St. Texas Southern. etc. to play for pay and over $200,000 for any high major, just how do you expect to PAY for these games? And you are incorrect when you say any team will come. A high major team says, we will play you for $200k and the next day high major team B calls them and says, we will play you for $200k. Now who do you think high major team A is going to contract? This season's OOC schedule took a lot of work to compose. BracketBuster games helped a lot. Coaches friendly to Dambrot and his assistants helped. It was not easy. Add in the factor that coaches like their jobs and losing games does not improve their longevity and you have a real (sic) donnybrook. Factor in that scheduling a few "cupcakes" is necessary to tune up your team. If you look up the schedules of these low majors you will find that they play quite a number of high majors. The play for play helps fund their program AND it gets them ready for their conference games. Check Texas Southern out, They are currently 15-2 in their conference. A couple of years ago I heard Tom Izzo boasting on the Jim Rome radio show that he would play "anybody, any time, any where". I was returning from Detroit at the time. I called Coach Dambrot on my cell phone immediately. He turned on the radio show. He called Izzo right away. Izzo's response, "not Akron, coach, sorry." If you do not believe me, ask Coach Dambrot in person. Scheduling is tough. Just as the OU poster lamented about the difficulty for OU to schedule after last season, Akron is already discovering that this season's success is actually making potential opponents say, NYET...!!!!

Hilltopper, you are far too intelligent and wise to be posting on ZipsNation. A cease and desist order is in the mail.