GoZips

So was I. A really nice turn out with rain forecast.Thankfully the hard rain held off until just after the Rowdies did their "I believe"chant. The constant mist through out the game was more annoying for reducedvisibility than actual moisture.The Zips played well against a pretty sound BUGS squad.

LOL, "hyperfan" ( a euphemism for some one who cares about the Zips) sticksto his guns. This is going to be a really, really good Akron team.I see a lot of smoke. While Deji Ibitayo is a sweet player with huge potential he waslooking at a red shirt before his injury last Monday, Yes, he injured himself on Monday.There are just way too many bodies capable of playing point for Deji to be in the mix.Think. Alex Abreu is our point guard. Alex will play at least twenty-five minutes a game.Twenty-eight to thirty is more likely. Brian Walsh can easily play the remaining minutesas could Quincey Diggs. Both men are talented and skilled players.What is going to happen is Deji is more than ever headed to red shirt as he will miss themost critical practice time between now and the first few games of the season. This alonewill set him back on the learning curve. Not good for him or the Zips.Dambrot wants to have as many options as possible. The loss of Deji takes away avaluable option.May be its just me, but I never saw any indication that Deji was being groomed to bethe back up point guard. On the other hand, I saw a lot of effort invested in BrianWalsh working the point.

Found this article.Quade Article

I think Caleb Porter should be involved in the selection committeeIs this a bait post? Love Porter and the soccer program, but he should have very little (if any) input on personnel decisions in other sports.the man knows how to win. He might be able to find someone that understands how to win in football.Caleb Porter would be an excellent choice for being a member of a search committee.Porter understands what it takes to win and do it the right way. Now explain how this would not translate on to football.

There is an element of truth to your comments.A long time McKinley and Akron supporter recently told a group of us that Akronhas not been recruiting McKinley. There are several potential Zips on that team.But, no one is courting them. Probably the same at Massillon and other Stark schools. Several folks have told the Akron staff, including Ianello of the Minzinsky (spelling)kid up at Mentor. Ianello's response to me was"his younger brother is better".Really? Since when has the younger brother been starting on the varsity?We need a quality QB now. And with Braxton-Miller a true freshman, OSU doesnot need this kid. We do. OSU had him in for a visit. We have not. Lame.

It won't happen but it'd be incredible. Akron would be a Top 25 team within 3 years.Then on probation in 4 years and worse off than we are now in years 5, 6 and 7.......-1It's impossible to be any worse off than we are now. What would happen? We're already winless against the FBS. Even with a reduction of 30 scholarships like USC has, we would still see better players commit based on Tressel's name alone, enough to make a 50-scholarship team better than we are now. We would have higher attendance even if we're winless. We would see nightly reports on every Cleveland TV news station with everyone in the region rooting for us to get better because they want to see Tressel make a comeback.The benefits far outweigh any possible sanctions that might get thrown at us.+1I like the idea of having the Vest as our HC. He could easily recruit three and fourstar recruits giving the program an instant shot in the arm. Plus, his presencemeans an instant ticket sales increase.Overall, it would be a major coup and plus for this morbid program.

Is that all?Let's assume that with attrition, there are 4.5 years worth of players on a team. That's 19 people per class year with 85 scholarships. We play a four man front so we use 9 linemen counting the 5 offensive linemen. That's 41% of the starting 22 players on offense and defense. Only recruiting six is between 1 and 2 fewer than we need to recruit just to keep the numbers even. TW might want to rethink that answer.I forgot to insert the term "JUCO" before the word "linemen".Basically they plan to invest in six JUCO linemen as part of their recruiting next year.This is to shore up the thinness of the lines. Of course they will continue torecruit HS players and other JUCOs. Frankly, a lot of SEC schools rely heavily on JUCO players. We could do the same.

The most positive thing I can say about the current situation with Akron footballis that the AD is standing firmly behind the embattled football coach. The AD,with his hand solidly in the back of his coach is continuing to give the coach highpraise.This is a time honored tradition among ADs right up to where they shove the coach under a bus.

Urban legends are created out of statements like this.Not only will Ianello's performance be evaluated on an annual basis, so will Wistrcill's. The performance of every employee of every state institution will be evaluated on an annual basis. If this isn't being done, I want a refund on my tax payment for every Ohio state institution that is not performing best business practices, which include annual employee evaluations.Do I need to call someone at UA to make sure this is being done?Let's be fair here. Sniping is not the answer.Of course Ianello and Wistrcill get annual evaluations from their superiors.When I mentioned that there will be no evaluation of Ianello for four years it wasin the context that Ianello has four years to prove himself and not be hiper graded onevery game as we fans tend to do. That was the jist of what AD Wistrcill was saying.As in, we are going to give the man a chance to prove himself without having amonkey on his back. This is precisely what the AD should do.Do I like it? Heck no. Like the rest of you I am fed up with many years of truly bad football. Like the rest of you I want a coach that lusts to win; just short of cheating.In all fairness to coach Ianello and the AD, Tom Wistrcill also told me that they planto shore up both the offensive and defensive lines by recruiting three JUCO linemen foreach side of the ball. The football staff has recognized the weakness of the lines.As have the fans. Quality depth is the answer. Can not argue with facts.For a lot of us, curing Rob Iaenllo's abrasive and arrogant personality would goalong way in helping suave our wounds. This they can cure. They could sendhim to a charm school such as Dale Carnegie during the off season.

I mentioned in a previous post that Tom Wistrcill told me face-to-face that NOevaluation of Rob Ianello's performance would be done until he completes fouryears as head coach.Now this is either utter loyalty or utter stupidity. I suspect the latter.Perhaps both men need to given their walking papers ASAP.Rob Ianello is killing Zips football.For the record, I want a bright, up and coming current head coach from aslightly lower level program. A couple of them were mentioned in this thread.Let us go get one ... NOW.And, GP1's, ancient mariner is not one of them. Cripe the dude isseveral years older than me and I'm retired.BTW, excellent thread.

Three observations you made are very interesting. 1)Chisholm wants to run 'East--West' more than 'North-South'. The coaches must be talking to him. There were times when he at least tried to cut it up. But he doesn't get his paids squared often enough to avoid losses. Reminds me a little of the way Dennis Knnedy ran when he first got here. But boy did he figure it out. 2) The defense just gave up tons of yards when OU ran right at them. There was nobody on the line or at linebacker plugging holes at the line. The OU O-line was getting on the linebackers and smothering them. 3) There was little pressure on the QB. Part of that is because Tettleton knows when to get rid of the ball and how to move behind the line. Akron was and has been trying to blitz. But, its hard for bitzters to get pressure when the DB's are playing 5-7 yards off the receivers. The QB has plenty of room to dump the ball. Heard an ex-coach talking about that. He said you have to play press coverage and make the QB hold the ball a little longer. Problem is when your secondary is getting toasted its tough to do.Find it interesting as Gaffney points out that in the middle of the second season the coach hase decided to start changing up his offensive scheme.Two excellent evaluations, back to back.These assessments are good enough for the coaching staff to ponder.Well written, both of you.

Overall that is a fair evaluation.I think that Nick Harney is far to valuable and skilled to keep in reserve.Most likely Nick will be the starting small forward just a few games intothe season. Quincy Diggs has been in a funk the past few practices.Q you need to shake that. You are another valuable player we need onthe court. Fight for your position.At this point Josh Egner is Zeke Marshall's back up. But, Josh is actuallya forward, so look for a double power forward combination when Zekesits. This has worked well in the past. Treadwell factors in here as well.Speaking of "Tree", he has come on strong of late. It is exciting to watchthis young freshman who plays like an upper classman. Get tough, Tree.Zip Watcher previously mentioned he sees Chauncey Gilliam asthe back up small forward. I disagree. Chauncey is a shooting guard in Akron's scheme. Now, I do like how Chauney plays defense at the lowpost on weak side help. He should get a lot of points on "stick backs". For I Speak the Truth, C J Oldham treated himself to a "buzz" cutalong with Matt Futch. So he no longer looks like Q or Harney. Me,no way would I cut my hair that short with winter coming on.The more I think about how deep Akron is in quality BIG guardsthe more I envision a lot of three guard line ups. I think Alex has excellent ball handling skills and sees the floor best ofany of them. Alex needs to take command of this group and make themHIS team. Brian Walsh continues to improve his skill set and can runthe point effectively.Speaking of C J Oldham, this kid is pretty darn good, a hard working playerwho will see a decent amount of floor time thru the season.

Possibly? I would think you'd know for certain if you were in attendance.Unfortunately ZN.o fans do not have a flashing blue light on their heads.Thus, if I do not know them personally I have no way of knowing them.Suffice it to say that I do recognize most of the HS and college coachesas I have spoken to many of them in the past.Most of the people in attendance were coaches and a few of their players.If any one from ZN.o drops in on a practice look me up. I am usuallysitting near the impromptu scorer's table. I am old with a wooly bear mustache(and just about as cheesy). I'm the old dude not wearing glasses.

Wow. Two of the top 3 ranked teams in the country couldn't draw more than that in the hot-for-soccer ACC? Not good.I think the timing of this game was the problem. I watched the 2nd half on ESPNU because I didn't realize it started so early, at 5 pm I think. I thought it would be a 7 pm start. Ben Speas had a number of shots (name mentioned a lot by the announcers), but did not score.Ben Speas and McKalley Tulloch are not Zips because they would not conform to coach Porter's style. He mentioned this at his interview today.Where/when is said interview available?Did he talk about his new gig at all? Any more details from this conference would be appreciated. I have little doubt that it was the most exciting thing that happened in Zips athletics today. I wish I could have gone but I'm in Cincitucky visiting my friend this weekend.The interview was with those fans that showed up to Cub Cadet Field at 2 PM Saturday.It was not recorded. Coach Porter sat in a director's chair and spoke for several minutes and then fielded questions.Yes, he mentioned a slew of names of potential invitees. Since I am not a huge soccerfan I did not recognize any of them, though a few people did. No Zip or former Zipname was mentioned.

You saw it at K.e.n.t. last year: 30 seconds to go until halftime, in the red zone, with THREE time outs remaining...and he centered the ball for a field goal. The guy doesn't know what it takes to win a football game.Here, here. Uncle Tom assured me just yesterday that there would be noevaluation of icoach until he completes his fourth year.Dare I say that Zip football will be dead and buried by then?

Wow. Two of the top 3 ranked teams in the country couldn't draw more than that in the hot-for-soccer ACC? Not good.I think the timing of this game was the problem. I watched the 2nd half on ESPNU because I didn't realize it started so early, at 5 pm I think. I thought it would be a 7 pm start. Ben Speas had a number of shots (name mentioned a lot by the announcers), but did not score.Ben Speas and McKalley Tulloch are not Zips because they would not conform to coach Porter's style. He mentioned this at his interview today.

No. He loves Meves, but not enough to invite him to try out for U-23.

Which is something that always boggled my mind...as an athlete I was not positioned with the option (I played NAIA basketball) but given the choice, I would much rather go to a little bit of a smaller school, mid major, get a chance to play sooner and have a chance at success than go to a school like Indiana, who is never going to be competitive in the Big Ten, wait to play and then endure five losing seasons.I get you get more gear, maybe a bigger fan base, and it's a "name" school....but I will never get why borderline players choose that route. And we have lost a bunch of kids to Indiana over the last couple of years in our foot print. That HAS to change.I hate it when a kid just can't work up the nerve to admit he changed his mind because he has decided he doesn't like a teams uniforms.If that is your way at taking a dig at me....I guess it would be a tad late to say grow up?Not sure I see any intentional insult.Thought that came to my mind was that Alabama probably offered the kid more moneynow that they see him having an outstanding senior season. Just a thought.

While several folks showed up to watch today's (Saturday) practice no onefrom ZipsNation was there except possibly me.According to KD this was the first practice where the players were "looking sharp".It was a long, hard practice of over four hours. A lot of drills went well. "Tree"is picking up his game nicely. That is a huge blessing. A fun drill is watching ball reversal that ends in a dunk. Most of the Zips can dunk the ball easily. Any one with basketball savvy (visiting HS and college coaches) speak wellof what they are witnessing. For the rest of us, this is going to be a fun year.Sunday practice at 9 AM. The coaches will push those tired legs ,,, HARD.

What kind of fool offensive coordinator calls a deep route where the receiver is lookingback and up at a ball coming out of the sun? Grade school kids do not make that mistake.

Thank you for the nice, detailed report.I went to coach Porter's interview, pop quiz session this afternoon at Cub Cadet.Coach was dressed like a well heeled business man. He spoke well of the teamincluding several remarks that sounded very much like what you just described.He seems really pleased with the team. He thinks they have found their chemistryand are ready for the challenges to come. He is pleased with the "killer instinct".Coach Porter fielded several questions including several from the same dolt. Oh, thatwas me. He stated that I asked tough questions which he fielded well. Bottom line:the team is poised for a run at the College Cup and the opportunity to bring homethe National Championship.Anyone notice that even the Ohio U fans gave our men's soccer team and coachesa standing ovation along with the Zips fans at halftime at today's football game.Don't you just hate it when an upstart mid-major has its grip on the National Championship?

jj, team practice starts about 12:30 PM on Saturday.So, tailgate, watch basketball practice and watch the football game.

Thank you. The Diggs family seems quite defensive of Quincy. I had a run inwith his sister during one of the play off games. I was hollering for them to take him out because he was playing out of control. His sister went off on me as you once did implying something racist. Which is absurd. I love Akronbasketball and I don't give a damn what color a kid's skin is.If I seem to get on Quincy it would be because he was not playing up to hispotential which is huge. Losing your cool out there is like taking a man off the floorand your opponents seize the opportunity to get you completely screwed up.Kindly show me where I said anything negative about Quincy. An honestevaluation of what I see is never based on the kid's personality or anythingother than using his skills.You, sir, need to get an update on modern basketball game planning. Thisis no longer the era of five iron men. You play a rotation. Most coachesuse a six man rotation dividing up about twenty-five minutes per the top six.That gives you 150 of the 200 minutes. The rest of the minutes go to theseventh and eighth man and to any players in the top six who are havingan exceptional night. Being the sixth man is not a put down. It is an honor. Usually thesixth man is the fourth or fifth best man in the six man rotation. This isbecause you never want a let down when you sub in. These days teams and conferences give awards to the best sixth man. Quincy has the skillsto play well three positions. That is an attribute which makes him a greatcandidate to play the sixth man.Last season Quincy was the most athletic player on the team. Today he isthird or more likely fourth most athletic. That is not a knock on him. It is an awareness that the incoming players have great athleticism. Probablythe most athletic player on the team will be red shirted (Deji Ibitayo).He is an in coming freshman.As an example, please explain to me how moving Q to the shooting guard when Harney subs in helps the team. We have two excellent shootingguards in McClanahan and Gilliam. When Q comes out of the game it is to give him a rest. We can do it your way and only play Quincy at the smallforward; or we can play him at all three positions for more minutes anda much tougher to defend player. Its your call.Now early on, Q should start at the three because he is currently themost experienced player at that spot. As Nick Harney comes up to speedhe will probably take the small forward away from Quincy. Nick istaller and more athletic and a slightly better shooter. Q has experienceon his side.Conversely, I love the idea of Q playing the point in a three guard line up.This gives you Quincy at the point; Gilliam as a shooting guard and BrianWalsh or McClanahan as the swing guard. All are over 6'-4". Sweet.And, I agree with you about C J Oldham and Nick Harney. They are like book ends and hard to tell apart.Thank you for clarifying who you are.

You are making a miscalculation. Is this because Quincy is your brother?While Diggs is continuing to improve as a player (his shooting stroke is vastly improved over last year, his work ethic is outstanding, and he sees and reacts to the floormuch better than before), he still has two other factors that affect his playing time. First, Chauncey Gilliam and Brett McClanahan anchor the shooting guard slot nicely.Second, Q is still showing signs of getting frustrated with himself and losing his cool.While it is only my opinion, I still would love to see Quincy take on the sixth man role.He would get more minutes at the six than he will at the three. You are underevaluating just how good Nick Harney is. I watch these kids practice. Do you?Playing Q on the point would allow a sweet and tall three guard line up. Whichis another excellent option. Personally, I do not want to see Diggs relegated to a reserve role backing up the three spot.He needs and deserves to be a twenty-five minute man. That means playing him where he contributes the most. Quincy and Keith Dambrot will decide that.Why not answer the question without a personal attack? it makes everything else you say seem pointless. The quality of conversation on this forum has really gone down the hill the last two years...it's either I know more than you and I am right or I am more of a fan than you. Quite old....You know, Roo, you are quite right. I should never ascertain the relationshipof a poster to a player. And you should refrain from attacking me or any other poster.I asked a question based on previous comments made by Ispeak who seems to have someclose ties to Quincy Diggs. Knowing Ispeak's relationship to Diggs would help me.BTW, my post is not diminished by my statements. If you do not like what I write, pleasefeel free to ignore my posts.

Painful loss.