GoZips

BIRD, check out the site I posted below.I think I had my wires crossed. I see a Princess Inn listed. I was running off myfoggy, rusty, snow blind memory banks, two of which only work in Hawai'i.Hotel Accommodations

Dr. Z, sadly I have to disagree about Adam Schein. While he may know more aboutfootball than Peter King (that does not take much), Schein's analysis of the Brownsis way off base.Crennel IS on the hot seat along with gutless Phil Savage. Basically, they are in thisfor the paychecks while they update their resumes. Nothing short of a winning recordcan save their jobs.Lerner calls the shots and he knows less about football than SGM, GP1 and Peter King.Old coot owners wanting a Super Bowl ring before they croak are the worst possibleowners. To them, its win now. Now is all they ever have.I stated this once before; Crennel could not rein in two rambunctious kids. What makesanyone believe that Romeo can handle a rich thug like Eric Wright? Wright will NOT getthrough the season without a major fracas with John Law. Wright is bum. He willprove this to one and all. Remind me at the end of the season if I am wrong. I wont be. He is a bum.The new talent both from free agency and the draft will help some. I think the Brownswill not finish last in their division. But, they wont be in the playoffs or have a winningrecord. Perhaps I should say, I hope the Browns do not finish last in their division.Most of it rests on solidifying the offensive line. The O-line has to get better. It mustget better or it will be a repeat of last season.The running game depends on a line that can open holes. Jamal Lewis still has a bit oflife in his legs. Then to, so did Droughns. And where is Reuben? Like Frye he was blamed for not producing yardage and scores.Its the line, stupid. Its the line. It all begins and ends with the line.No matter how much anyone likes, loves and/or slobbers over Brady Quinn, he is simply not a factor in this year's team. Personally, I want Lerner to demand they play Quinn from day one. That will shut up a lot of stupid people in a hurry. He's not ready.The Browns management lacks an intelligent plan to improve the team. Actually,I think Phil Savage had an intelligent plan. But, as I stated, he is gutless. WhenLerner phoned in to go after Quinn after they elected to pass on him. Savage failed tostand up to old man Lerner and say "NO". The Browns do not need Quinn. They needed an older veteran QB to tutor Frye. Theproblem is not at QB. Its the O-line, stupid. They invested two years in Frye. TheBrowns saw continual improvement in Charley on the field. He proved his mettlein the last game of the season where he executed well and played smart. He hasearned his job. Unknowledgeable sports writers and lame sports talk show hostsjust love to stir up controversy when ever they can.If the O-line produces the team keeps possession, scores, reduces the time the defense is on the field, etc.Schein bought into the dribble about Derek Anderson. That tells me that he does not have a real grasp on the situation in Cleveland. Anderson will only start at QB if Fryeis injured or traded. And since the Browns wont trade Frye that means the stupid people's other darling, DA, will chart for Frye.Frye is your quarterback, like it or not. And for all you jackasses that think Charleycan not play and never did play you best get your heads out of your biased azzes.

BIRDZIP, inside information puts a hugh probability on the Paradise Inn.But, that is speculation based on info UA-F has supplied the Zips.Paradise Inn sounds like a place that just might lure Z.I.P. from his lofty perch in trueparadise ... Honolulu.

Scampered around town (Wadsworth) trying to find a place with ESPN-U.My long time friend that owns Spunkmeyers Bar & Restaurant was willing to openearly so I could catch the game. Spunks opens at 4 PM Wednesdays.Finally discovered that the Galaxy Bar & Restaurant has lots of satellite feeds.Sean Leatherman, owner, graciously tuned two large screens to the ESPN-U channel.Helps to have rich friends.After throughly enjoying the football broadcast I was dismayed that the MAC men'sbasketball championship game was up next. Sorry, had to bail out on that one.And, yes Dennis Kennedy not only scored the winning touchdwn, he did it again onthe replay even to the satisfaction of the two broadcasters.

Zips at Winthrop December 4th. Winthrop comes to Akron for the 2008-09 season.No rumor about it. Temple will be at the JAR.As for YSU and UIC, yep, both coming to the JAR, along with the Wyoming Cowboys.Other big away game for the Zips is Dayton with the Flyers in Akron in 2008-09.Not rumors. Just facts.

Quoting a good friend who never posts on Zipsnation. He read the thread. His response"YOU LIKE TO STIR THE STUPID PEOPLE UP DON'T YOU FRITZ?? THATS O.K, THERE SURE ARE A BUNCH OF EM OUT THERE. YOU MAKE SOME GOOD POINTS, I DON'T THINK YOU NEED A SUPER QB TO WIN IN THIS LEAGUE, ITS ALL ABOUT THE LINE IN FRONT OF HIM THAT MAKES YOU LOOK GOOD."BTW, He is a dyed in the wool Steelers fan.

TIM .... AMEN.

SGM ... you are a plant from Cant Cut It State .. right?Responding to your whines ..1) "darling, sissy boy" ... we all saw BQ on Draft Day. He looked for all the world to beauditioning for the lead role in Little Lord Faunteroy. He looked so cute with crocodiletears. He had his own private room away from prying cameras. He looked so cute thefreaking Clowns made him cut his freaking hair. Oh, yeah, he looks like he's ready fora beer commercial. If its pink.2) If picking up two players, one a kid fresh out of college, is addressing the totaloffensive line problems then I'll be vilified. Until that happens, and it wont, I standby my assessment. As for Sir Le Charles, what makes you think he is going to studup when professional analysts and doctors are saying he probably will never playagain?3) Where in my posts do I use the phrase "desperate to win?". Those are your words.Nor do I contradict myself other than blatant chides.Where have I ever likened Charley Frye to a great quarterback? Certainly not in theserecent posts. In fact, nothing I stated raises Charley to any level other than serviceable.It takes several years to develop an NFL quarterback. I think Charley has earned theopportunity to continue developing.4) What an asinine remark. Charley Frye is definitely not a bad quarterback. Yourbias, much like your slip, is showing.5) In your skewed (as in not factual) statistics (proven by others in other posts that alot of your numbers are fabricated) you BLAME Charley for all the sacks he endured.The reasonable understanding is that sacks are caused by ineffective offensive lines.But, then, when have you been reasonable?A wise old granny use to say, God rest her soul, "wish in one hand and shit in the other,then see which one fills up first". For the Clowns to become the Browns again willrequire an enormous amount of hard work.

BIG ZIP ... just how many players constitute an offensive line?A normal line up is seven. A center with a guard, a tackle and a tight end on eitherside of him. Often in the NFL one tight end is replaced by a wide receiver positionedthree to five steps outside the offensive line. Right?Do you recall the Clowns going to a two tight end set to slow down the carnage?It helped a little. But, not a lot as K2 is not a blocking TE. He'd rather catch the ball.What TE did the Browns get to help the blocking? For that matter, which of the five interior linemen from 2006 would you want blocking for you when you are under center?Answer ... none of them. Two plugs in that leaky dike do not fix the hemorrhage.Best we can hope for is that Thomas gives Charley another second to throw.Personally, I hope Jamal Lewis is still a premier running back. Lewis, far more thanthat pathetic, undermanned O-line, is Charlie's best hope. If the defenders have tocover the run, then Charley will have some time to throw the damned ball.I think its the damned ball. All those muscle dudes say that ... "give me the damned ball."

BOBBY, you got it exactly. Frye is the Clowns QB until he proves otherwise. And thatwont happen any time soon.Inane remarks by posters who actually know almost nothing about football aside, theClowns have an offense problem. That problem neither begins with or ends with thequarterback position. Terry Pluto never was and is not currently a football mind. Hemostly knows a sport played with a Guatemala made spheroid.The objective was to build around the quarterback. Remember? Only truly STUPIDmanagement does what the Clowns did. "Fix" a position that did not need fixing.Intelligent football minds develop a plan. Then they stick to it with small, not major,corrections. Obviously, the Clowns have no plan. Its a kin to stabbing a flying chickenin a dark room with a table fork.It is too bad that the Clowns wont play their darling, sissy boy right out of the gate.I'd love to watch the rants that fill the air of Northeast Ohio if they made that blunder.The fun part is that Crennel and Savage must win now or they both are out of a job.Once again, a mindless, senile old coot with way too much money screws up his petsports team by meddling.To win now the Clowns needed to repair the porous offensive line and shore up a coupleof weak spots on defense. They did neither. Expect the same results as last year, orworse. Of course, blame Charley. Remember, SGM blames Charley for getting sacked 45 times last season. Best hope for Charley Frye is getting traded to the Chicago Bears. He'll get HIS SuperBowl ring quickly in that organization.I said it before and I'll say it again. Charley Frye will be wearing a Super Bowl ring heearned before the Clowns get to the Super Bowl.

I stand corrected. It is the Walsh University Cavaliers. And, they couldn't help our RPImuch either. Thus, if the Zips do play them, it will be an exhibition game.

Cant State proudly, and perhaps unwisely, has agreed to broadcast their sports eventson WNIR for the next five years.This opens the possibility of the Zips moving to the far more powerful WHLO. One can only hope.Link To Good News

Walsh? Now that is a real possibility. As a preseason game Walsh would do nicely.Walsh is a local area school, that keeps costs down and interest up.Here's a clue .... the Zips OOC schedule is pretty much set, and the Warriors are noton it. Fourteen teams are on it ranging from the good to the bad and the ugly.Some of the opponents will please you. Some will have you scratching your head.A couple will be great home games next season as we go to their house this year.One, Wyoming, will be the springboard for a trip to Seattle next season; not this year.We play the Cowboys in the JAR this year. The Zips head to Laramie next year.

CAP'N ... I believe your opinion is totally correct. Personally, I would love to see Charlie in a Bears uniform. Keeps him out of the AFC. Makes the Bears perennial Super BowlChamps for at least a decade. And, best of all, it would prove my point about theknuckleheads that are anti-Frye.

ZIPMEISTER, I hope you are not correct about going to Dayton without a return visit. Asof today Dayton is tentatively scheduled as an away game. Since Dayton is a mid-majorthe same as the Zips I find it highly improbable that Dambrot would agree to thatscenario.The plan has been all along to go home-n-home with any opponent save those we bringin as cupcake OOC games. Purportedly the Zips will not be traveling next season toeither North Carolina Central or North Carolina A&T.The best news of the day as far as I am concerned is that Lamar has been moved topotential/tenative and replaced by an away game at Winthrop. Winthrop better be ahome-n-home or we are one effete program.I was told today that the OOC schedule is still in a state of flux and definitely not finalized. Was hinted to me that we will play at Gonzaga next season (2008-09) inthe Battle of Seattle with the Zags coming to the "Q" the following season.There is more. But, I'll save it, Enjoy the holiday. Thank God for veterans. Semper Fi.

Z.I.P. I talked to the ooglik and she said I should tell everyone who reads these boardswhy all the wahines call you "wiki wiki".Mahalo and look for a a semi-frozen troll dropping into paradise during the doldrums.

Z.I.P. I hear a different scenario nearly every day. Certain well placed souls say "no way" and tomorrow they change to "it might happen". Talking about the Battle in Seattlehere, Folks. Seems that the only way we get to play Gonzaga this season is if we arewilling to participate in the Battle in Seattle. At least, this is the current understanding.I think that both coach Mark Few and coach Keith Dambrot want to play a game or seriesof games. The question is: what's the venue? As of now I am taking a wait and seeattitude. The recent mood in Zipstown is that the probability of playing is quite low.Z.I.P., the Top Of The World Classic opens the Zips season. That, too, is an evolvingtime frame. I received the Zips flight schedule today. I will publish it as soon as wehave a hotel confirmation or in a week if that is not forth coming.Looks like the Zips fly in on the fourteenth and depart on the nineteenth. The threegames Akron plays are on the 16th, 17th, and 18th. Or, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.For those who asked about why some teams play on Thursday and others not until Fridaythat is because the East coast teams have much further to travel. All the teams willarrive on the fourteenth. The eastern teams get a chance to sync up their body clocks.

Mike Rasor is reporting that Lance Jeter is headed to junior college and then probablyon to Kansas State.Prediction: no one will ever hear from him as a D-1 player. Grades. Or the lack there of.Bye Bye Lance

Good question. Who will we play? And when? And Where?The OOC schedule always draws my personal interest. What I kind of know is that nothing is cast in stone. Some are highly probable opponents. As you mentioned, theroad game at Austin Peay for them coming here for the ESPN Bracket Buster. We playthe Bracket Buster at home again this coming season.Some of the away opponents from last season come to Akron this year. NotablyBinghamton, Youngstown State and UIC. Home games with new division one entry,North Carolina Central, and North Carolina A&T. Almost done deal with Wyomingthat starts with a home game is in the works.I have heard that the two North Carolina based opponents are only on a come herecontract. That means, like this year's Winston-Salem we will not go to their placenext season.The one other for sure away game is at Lamar. I would expect that Lamar will come to Akron the following season. Some tantalizing away games loom with several potentialopponents on the Zips radar. Possible away games include Dayton, Ohio State, VCUand yes, still the long shot possibility of Gonzaga.

HOOPLA ... interesting. I checked with the coaches just yesterday and they say "no way"concerning playing Gonzaga. I got the distinct impression that Gonzaga wants Akronto play them in the "Battle of Seattle." Apparently the coaches do not like the ideafor what ever reasons. I did not ask.Boise State. Where did you come up with that? I was told that they have not had anycommunication with Boise State. None. Nada. Zilch.Wyoming. Now there is a potentially nice tip. Tentatively the Cowboys are coming toZippyland just before Christmas. Note, I said "tentatively." The contract for this gameand a return trip out to Laramie is not a sealed deal. But, it is in the works. My bestguess is that it will happen.I'm still holding my breath that we will go out to Seattle and play the Bulldogs. But, onlyif they are willing to come to the JAR or the "Q" next season.

UAZips, thanks for the information. and, yes, I plan to make the trip.I just did a little research using AOL's weather and here is what I found.Sunrise will be around 9:30 AM during the Nov. 15-20 time frame.Sunset will be approximately 3:30 PM those days. That is about six hours of daylightof which an hour or so in the morning and in the afternoon will be more like twilightthan daylight.The mean temperature is four degrees Fahrenheit. Average high is ten. Average lowis minus five. All time highs on these dates hovers around forty while all of thedates having all time lows ranging from minus thirty to a brisk minus thirty-five.And, yes, the wind chills can and do hit minus seventy.Ken Beech, a great Zips fan, one of my personal heroes for his punching out the a-holeCantSucks player who crash landed on Ken's lovely wife during CantSucks thrashingparty, er, basketball game, frequently makes trips to Fairbanks. The basketballteam is relying on Ken's expertise to help them plan this foray.Coach McFadden tells me that Fairbanks has just eight sizable and nice hotels.UA-Fairbanks has not yet assigned the Zips to a particular hotel. When they do he wille-mail the information and I will post it. The Zips travel days are Wednesday thesixteenth and Monday the twenty-first.They will fly out on the 6:50 AM Northwest flight out of Cleveland.I found that it is possible to take the 8:50 AM flight on Friday and be in Fairbanks approximately ninety minutes before the Zips tip off at six PM. The arena is just acouple of miles from the arena. That makes it a short cab ride.More details to follow when available.

This destination intrigues me just like it does a number of you. I think we should bepooling information and designing travel plans. What I know so far is that airfare iscurrently about $725 R/T out of Akron-Canton. There is only about two hours of daylight in mid-November. Its going to be cold and depressingly dark there. Fairbanks is a long, long way from Akron. I once spent Memorial day weekend inAnchorage using a left over "bump" ticket on Northwest. Fortunately is was a firstclass bump ticket. Folks, Anchorage is a five hour flight out of Seattle. Fairbanksis as far from Anchorage as Chicago is from Akron. Flying up and flying back will consume an entire day each way. Thus, with the tournament beginning on November15th (a Thursday) and ending on the 18th (a Saturday) your travel days will be the14th and the 20th. That will also require five nights at a hotel. With some research we can find some things to do aside from freezing our arses offand watching basketball and more basketball.Anchorage over Memorial Day was delightful. 22 hours of daylight. It never really got dark, only twilight. Driving around at 11:30 PM and no one with their headlights one.It was still broad daylight. Anchorage was warm in the low seventies. One tourist spotthat we visited was the Great Alaskan Bush Company. Basically and old fashion houseof pleasure, you know, a whore house, turned into a modern day restaurant and bar.Generally, food is quite good in Alaska. I would expect the same of Fairbanks. Fairbanks is a city of 80,000. That makes it roughly a bit smaller than Canton. Thus,it will probably require a rental car to get around. Would be nice to check into locationsof the arena, hotels, airport, downtown, shopping malls, etc.Fairbanks Web Page

Nice try, rookie. Er, ZIPLESS MEISTER.Kenneth "Red" Cochrane's name is spelled correctly. Check your resources beforeinserting foot in mouth.There were two footballers with the last name of Cochran. But, the famous and muchloved "Red" spelt his surname "Cochrane". Odd that Bowling Green would name oneof their sports facilities after a great University of Akron legend.By the way, Administration is not spelt "Administartion".Touche'

The sun is a bit more than warm on my back. I glance to the scoreboard. Forty-five tofourteen the Zips over new MAC member Youngstown State. Mercifully there is but 7:32remaining on the game clock. Brookhart has long since called off the dogs.YSU put up a pretty good fight the first half. After all, they trailed by a mere touchdowngoing into the locker room at half time. This being only the second year for the Penguinsin I-A football. In time they may do the MAC proud. Not today. Their vocal contingentnestled on the east side of the stadium between the south goal line and the ten didits best to be heard in a sold out crowd of thirty-five thousand.Looking to the scoreboard at the north end I enjoy the eye candy of the Big EastConference logo dominating the left side of the electronic dazzler of a scoreboard.Second year for the Zips in the Big East and already picked to win the West division.A little scary, but delightful. Senior QB Hakes is congratulating his team mates. Thiswas, after all, a lot easier game than the heart breaking seventeen to fourteen lossdown in Columbus last week. A forty-two yard field goal right down the pipes as theclock went to zero saved the day for the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes knew going in that the Zips would be a battle. Not this much of a battlefor sure. But, no opening day blow out expected or gotten. The Zips had made agame of it. The patch of red and white across from me reminded me of the sea ofred from last week.Funny, I thought, a few years ago people would have been screaming that ten dollarsa ticket was outrageous. Now, here I am stuffed in a pack of excited Zips fans whopaid forty-five bucks a ducat to sit here at the twenty-five and not a peep about the cost from any soul.I looked at the throng still drinking in the 45-14 shelling. Wonder how we fare nextweek against our third red and white opponent. The Badgers of Wisconsin make their first trip ever to Akron. Let's hope that Cochrane Stadium provides the Badgerswith a long day.Game ends. Heading for the parking lot amongst lots of cheers and some well wishestossed both ways between Zip and Penguin fans. YSU has a long trek to reach MAClevel football. Still, it was good move for them and that conference.Look, there's coach Dambrot and his family. Finally his scheduling problems have turned to selecting who we can play. Before; getting games, especially at home wasakin to pulling elephant teeth. I think this year's schedule is complete unlike yearspast where the Zips had open dates at the start of the season.Walking along get to thinking how things have changed. The Zips had recentlyannounced that they were going to play Bowling Green in the future in football. Atwo-for-one contract starting in 2013. BG wisely sandwiched their home game between two trips to Akron. How things change.Opening the car door the YSU fans parked next to me nod. The father having broughta passle of teen age boys all decked out in YSU gear. One boy, smiling, says, "itsokay, we'll beat youse guys next year." Only, there will not be a game with YSU anytime in the near future. This was a schedule filler brought on by Akron jumping to theBig East and YSU growing up to join the MAC taking Akron's place.That sun is still warm on my back. Its a grand feeling.

"The jury is still out on Heath as an X and O guy, so USF took a bit of a chance on himafter he was cut loose by Arkansas. But Heath can recruit, and he took his top assistant,master strategist Dan Hipsher, with him to Tampa." per the Blue Ribbon NotebookA tip of the hat to Z.I.P. for this gem.