GoZips

My prayers go out for Darryl and the entire family. He will be sorely missed. God bless all of you.

Read what I wrote. Giving up eighteen points in eight minutes bothers me. It was a collapse of the defense. If the Zips had made just one more stop (if they had any at all), they win in regulation. Akron supposedly is a defense first oriented team.

In the first half WMU scored seventeen points in 20 minutes. In the eight minute stretch mentioned above, WMU scored 18 points while Akron scored zilch. Fix the defense. The offense will take care of itself. With a seventeen point lead you do not lose because you could not score. You lose because WMU scored repeatedly. The Zips got out of sync and gave up way too many points. No defense.

Watched the replay on TV last night. A two hour long show of TRACK and little field. The network was gushing over the runners, men and women. Only a couple even came close to matching existing college records. The altitude of Albequerque, New Mexio given as the resaon. After drudging through an hour and forty-five minutes of bilge they finally got to the men's pole vault. I tell you, it was worth the wait. While the talking heads were gushing over a man name Sam Whocares a red headed kid from the unheard of school of the University of Akron vaults FIVE inches higher on his first try than Sam Whocares did. The wonks were stunned and at a loss for words. It was sweet. Thank you Shawn.

I am glad that people are having a lot of fun thinking about future conferece affiliation. Truth is, the Univserity of Akron has to make progress. That pretty much requires that Akron move to a "power" conference, Aproximately half the schools in the Mid American conference have little to zero interest in elevating their sports programs. Thus, it would be nearly impossible to upgrade the MAC. Akron and maybe one or two other schools need to work together to find a more suitable venue. There are one or two power conferences that would take the Zips in. Whoopee! That is great. Only you have to be able to afford being in that conference. The SEC and ACC are just too expensive for Akron's sports budge. Maybe all of them are. Comments about filling an arena are way off the mark. Arenas and football stadiums are not build to be operated at full capacity all the time, i.e. every game. When that occurs the school has to expand its venue. Example, Infocision is designed to be expanded if and when the need arises. Already the Big Dialer is larger than normal MAC needs. It was not built with the MAC in mind. It is important to think big. Have a vision, a goal. Way too many people supporting the Zips think small or have no vision at all.Not so many years ago the nay sayers were complaining about leaving the now division three Ohio Athletic Conference. Then they wailed about moving up to division two. Then came division 1-AA and the Ohio Valley Conference. The jump to division 1-A was even more frightening. Cries of calamity rang out. Each time the school grew they wrung their hands and wailed. Wail on.

How little you know.

There was no official review rule set in 2007. While unofficially the restart could have been reviewed (it actually was). The end result was to leave it as it played out. Miami won. Rule that Akron, like Miami, had an opportunity to react to the missed free throw.That they did not was Akron's down fall. I was there. The Zips were transfixed and did not react quickly. The two circumstances, while similar, were not the same. Iowa State, an Zips opponent, gets the benifit. Say la vie. (spelling). Start a conspiracy that it was the same officaiting crew both times.

Riding home from the Ladies at Purdue NCAA first round game on the ever rocking, cramped bus, boredom sets in. Brought on by the loss, the sorry (for the most part) selection of movies (always played at a volume you would never tolerate in your living room), the day morphing into dusk, stops at such delightful dining experiences such as Burger King (one of my all time favories) and the loathsome Mickey D's, I began reflecting on Mackey Arena. Mackey was reportedly built in1962 and has had a number of facelifts. The latest being an outer courtyard of fake terrazo complete with fake gold glitter. The new outer courtyard adds some spaciousness to the ambeance. A nice touch, really. Inside, a number of chairbacks were removed, in favor of all things, fake wooden benches. A sad reflection on industrial design in Indiana. Mackey itself is a charming oval bowl with excellent sight lines and a closeness to the game floor that belies its 14,000 seat capacity. All in all, the type of arena that Akron needs if Akron is to persue their dreams of going "Big Six". Which I am completely in favor of. The women's game examplified why getting to bigger conference is important long term. You see, the deck is stacked. As I watched the game it was all too appearant that the NCAA has perpetuated the glass ceiling in sports. The Lady Zips were getting their brains beat out and their spirits crushed by the well thought out seperation of the haves and th have nots. Purdue had three players that were so large that I quietly named them "moose". "cow" and "giraffe". They were so much physically larger that Akron players were having sunlight deprevation. More so, these three were so gifted that they almost never committed a foul (choke, gag, barf). And, quite obviously, the Purdue players were in fact better basketball players. Of course, it stands to reason; Purdue is in the Big (as in over grown) Ten. A conference that draws the better players to itself. It showed as they humbled the proud, hard fighting Lady Zips to a point of utter embarrassment. The deck was totally stacked in Purdue's favor; no shame in that. .How so? You ask. In women's tournament seeding the top four seeds in each region get a home game. This insures that most of the time the home team will clear the first weekend with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. That is, the elite of the women's field. Rarified air that is almost always occupied by high majors. When a mid- major sneeks in, that event is viewed as "awe, parity" (gag, choke, barf). There is an additional benifit for mid-majors getting into the field of sixty-four; their hard working and now successful coach gets noticed. And, shmoosed at the Final Four. In case you did not know, most college coaches attend the Final Four games. A great opportunity to further one's career. You didn't realize that Coach Kest is on a lot of high major teams radar? Well, she is. How do you keep a valuable coach? Make your environment very, very, very comfortable. This includes wonderous perks such as a high salary, moving your school to Florida, Texas or best of all, southern California, great facilities, well respected conference affiliation, etc. By now you get the picture. If you want your school to enjoy the annual high life, join a "Big Six" conference, have wonderful facilities, national exposure, and be a school kids want to attend. If you are content with the pinnacle of your school's success being making it to the NCAA you should be quite happy and wallowing in slop. If your heart longs for more, do the work, build the impressive, large arena, join a high major conference, pay your coaches and staff well. Oh, and hire an atheletic director worth their salt.

Sources?

Charlie Creme, an ESPN pronasticator, has the #13 Lady Zips playing #4 Penn State at University Park (Penn State campus?). http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology A home game for Penn State? The NCAA would prove once again that they are the master cheaters. I was hoping they meant University Park, Maryland where the University of Maryland is. Toledo would be a far more palatable site for the Lady Zips.

Are you a Zips fan? I wonder. You were not at the game and lamely comment against two fans who saw the game. This morning I read George Thomas' report on the game and he writes two paragraphs concerning the officiating. George rarely writes about the officials. The calls were sufficiently bad that he wrote about them this time.

Consider this: tonight's officating crew consisting of Wymer, Boroski, and Mayborg for the Indiana @ Michigan is the very same crew that did the Ken+ @ Akron game last night. Oh, and Beilien hates them as much as we do.

Quite the tournament atmosphere game. By far the largest crowd this season for the Ladies. BUGS gets the win 77-76 in a game that was close through out. Neither team ever had a double didgit lead. Akron played without star Rachel Tecca. Rachel reportedly has leg issues. Still the girls took it to the BUGS. You had to be proud of the way the Lady Zips played today. It should be a most interesting time in Cleveland. In a topic close to my heart: BUGS was the benifiary of several questionable calls and "no calls". Check the stat sheet for some excellent proof. BUGS star Alexis Rogers, a six-one forward had SEVEN steals and just two fouls. Alexis was given kid glove treatment the entire game. While she is an excellent player, oversized forwards do not normaly pick the pockets of mite sized guards. Well with this officating crew they did. Late in the game with 20.6 seconds to play and Akron up by one, the Zips rebounded a shot under the BUGS basket. The Zips player was promptly bear hugged and a held ball was called. Possession BUGS. The crowd went nuts. A great "no call" if you were a BUGS fan. BUGS coach roamed the court the entire game. I mean ON the court not unlike Buffalo's Coach you make me Hurley. No "Tee", a couple of warnings. She worked the officials in their faces the entire game. I suppose when you are the queens of the conference you are awarded such niceities. My bad for complaining. Great job Lady Zips. You were robbed (several times).

This is sufficient to permenantly DIS-QUALIFY Javon McCrea as player of the year. Pete Rose was a great baseball player. And, a cheat. Touche' with McCrea. What no one has yet mentioned is that Jake Kretzer had to have hospital attention after the game. Jake had a football sized black and blue bruise on his back for several days. If this had been a solitary occurence it could be regaurded as out of character. Truth is, McCrea has a history of such incidents. MAC coaches have frequently been out spoken about his behavior. Unfortunately, moronic sports writers, not college coaches, vote for POY.. Not a single MAC coach would vote for McCrea.

If not a well deserving Demetrius Treadwell .... the POY award goes to "Juice" Brown. Hey, Buffalo-is-in-Canada fans, class counts. Of which McCrea has none. Awarding thug play only leads to more and more thug play. We wish McCrea well in the Calafornia Penal League.

I sit at the far end of the "gym" away from the Rowdies. I loved their long and loud needling "Bobby's gonna cry" chant. Six thumbs up to the Rowdies.

Correct. Steve French pissed me off in the post game show when he stated that he intends to vote for Javon "I cheap shotted Jake Kretzer" McCrea for MAC player of the year. Based on what? McCrea's dominating performance tonight? Bull crap. Mc Crea got intimidated and shut down by the REAL MAC Player of the Year, Demetrius "Tree" Treadwell. Six thumbs down for your lamed ass comment you non-Zip radio announcer.

What the hell does this have to do with Zip basketball? The staff has to wet nurse former players until what age? Twenty-six? This incident has nothing to do with Zip basketball. Perhaps the well known and often in trouble fraternity needs looked into.

I think so. Probably at the tables in the main lobby. I would call Amanda in the men's basketball office and check with her. Call 330-972-7781. There may be a few tee shirts available at $10 each.

There is a STRONG possibility that Coach Peters will attend the Ohio U game Saturday evening. Please wear your purple "4 Pete's Sake" tee shirt in support of coach.

Like the fact that Tree has never blindsided an opponent and caused injury to that player; ala Jake Kretzer. Character counts.

The Zips have been on ESPN eleven times this season with more games to come. Do we really need the BracketBuster which was a money losing propisition fo most schools.

A slight correction: Nick Harney has been suspended from the team; NOT kicked off the team. huge difference. Nick attended practice this morning, but did not participate. This too, shall pass.

The Zips already have a fully functioning practice facility, the old Central-Hower high school gymnasium. It was used numerous times last summer for practice. Its only real draw back is the high school sized floor. The length of the floor is NOT easily upgraded to the standard ninty-four feet. For me, replacing the old, HARD style floor with a cushioned floor, such as in the JAR is, a priority. Prior to the upgrade to a cushioned floor in the JAR, the Zips suffered numerous leg, knee and foot injuries. Since the upgrade injuries have been greatly reduced. The lockers and showers are decent and quite usable. However, I also like the previously posted suggestion of using the JAR as the practice facility. The locker room, player lounge, weight room and thearpy equipment is already first class.

Get to the JAR early. These tee shirts are among the best "freebies" ever offered at Akron. A few have been showing up all day on campus. At least three different styles will be employed. First is the standard "tee" shirt. Then there is the long sleeve version known as a "warm up" shirt. The team will have their own warm up version for pre-game. See you there.