GoZips

I work in Troy, MI.Ann Arbor is a 45 minute drive away. Thus, last Tuesday I attended the UofM vsUtah State NIT men's game.There were 3100 souls at the game. The smallest paid attendance at Crisler Arenain its entire history.I paid ten dollars for a floor seat next to the Utah State bench.If the NCAA is looking to make money, scratch Michigan off the party list.

I would accept a pre-season NIT bid.Problem is, it would likely be a one 'n done.Notice that thus far, all the home teams (higher seed) have won the games. Thistrend will continue.But, it is a chance to make some noise. There is a reasonable chance that we willget a pre-season bid. ESPN would surely be for it as we usually give them excellentratings.Did anyone watch the NIT game between Michigan and Utah State? I sat by the Utahbench wearing a "THIS IS MY ZIPS SHIRT". Just wondering if anyone caught that.Lots of people at Crisler Arena noticed the shirt and commented to me that we gotscrewed. Most folks up here in Michigan firmly believe that the Zips would destroythe Wolverines.Not getting an NIT bid probably got us far more press than most of the schools thatgot in will garner. Any one hear national talking heads blabbering about Toledo?

Perfect.I will forward this to Coach Dambrot's e-mail. I suggest that all of you do likewise.KD's e-mail address is: lcasey@uakron.edu Don't worry, he'll see them.I would like to add my comments. I am concerned when I hear KD complain that heis frustrated. If he puts his personal feelings about this program he will NEVER havethe love and respect like Greg Campe (head coach at Oakland University). CoachCampe is a long time friend of Coach Dambrot. Greg Campe has never sold hissoul for a fistful of dollars like Bob Huggins and so many other have.No one needs millions of dollars for coaching a sport. Its ego. When a coach makes a million dollars and donates half of it back to the university, well that's a beginning.College head coaches already make larger salaries than most of us ever will.Coach, its about integrity. Its about not getting DUI's and bad press. Its aboutlove of the kids and love of the game. We love our kids. We love our coaches and we are darn proud of our teams.

Next year Dambrot will still be coaching basketball for a team that wears blue and gold.Ooops ... that's maize and blue. Tommy Amaker is history. UM fans already knowabout KD. He is a frequent topic on Detroit sports talk shows. I work in Detroit.Try tuning in 1130, 1270 or a host of smaller stations. I hear them every day. I love KD and sure as heck want him here in Akron. Alas, no one can fault him onleaving. and, its not Mack Rhoades fault. Its the system.

Mack Rhoades has almost nothing to do with scheduling men's basketball. That is handled by the coaching staff. But, it would be nice if he could put some leverageon schools he has influence with.As for football, that he is involved with, and pretty much a blind sucker at that. Thathe is willing to let Indiana shift their away game to 2009 shows how naive he is. Wewill never see Indiana in our house. They will play us twice at their place and thenbuy out the last year. Its so common a practice that better mid-major programs willnot schedule their home game as the last year of a contract. Rhoades wont even be the AD when that screwing takes place.

What a crock ... !!!

Zips4Life you make excellent points. I agree.What sticks in my craw and in a whole lot of other folks is the poor free throw shooting.Our guys were just "chucking" (an NBA term) the ball up instead of concentrating.I wonder if any one of them actually understood the value of a single point in a game.Just one made free throw and the worst case would have been a tie at the end ofregulation.All of these players have learned a lesson for life. If you do something half-assed itwill eventually come back to haunt you. It did.With this lesson burned into their brains and hearts, the Zips just might be one of thetoughest teams to face in the NIT. Its a second chance and we need to make themost of it.Last point, some one mentioned that there should have been a technical foulassessed at the end of the game for storming the floor. I agree. That thought crossed my mind as I drove down I-77 with my own broken heart.What's done is done.

w00t, well said. I concure.I can only one observation worth noting.Remember all the wailing about shooting free throws?The coaches harped, cajoled, pleaded, taught, worked on, had the kids shoot many,many free throws. The lessons never sank in. It has now.This was a team loss. The new team leadership has all summer to make the Zips thebest free throw shooting team in the conference. If they succeed, they dance next year.

LOCKS (7)--------------------F-Jeremiah Wood ---- Rock solid, proven starterF-Quade Milum ---- Quality bench playerF-Nate Linhart ---- A some what disappointing, up and down contributorF-Chris McKnight ---- The next Rome-eo in the makingG-Nick Dials ---- Like Wood, a rock solid, proven starterG-Cedrick Middleton ---- The man of all heart, probably coming off the benchG-Jimmy Conyers ---- extremely disappointing given the hypeHOLDOVERS (5)--------------------G-Nick Goddard ---- quality walk-onF-John Rybak ---- thee most disappointing playerG-Jeremy Sallee ---- okay walk-on that has provided good minutesG-Zach Sowers ---- nice walk-on who plays his heart outF-Tim Carroll ---- freshman walk-on, has contributed and will be backNEWCOMERS (5)--------------------C-Mike Bardo ---- you can't teach size, reports are that he has made great stridesG-Steve McNees ---- an enigma, suppose to be a quality player, has a lot to proveF-Steve Swiech ---- having a fine senior year in HS, broke his foot, scared off the big boys. Will contribute immediatelyF-Brett McKnight ---- the next Antonio Gates, might be better than his brotherG-Ronnie Steward ---- a true point guard that has a shot at MAC frosh of the year as does B-macThe guard rotation should prove to be interesting. Dials is a lock at the SG. The PGposition depends on how quickly Ronnie Steward can learn the system. Yes, I knowthat Ced will be a senior and has earned the starting role. Initially he will start.But, Ced gives the Zips such a punch coming off the bench. If his ego can handleit, having Ced come in off the bench is worth tons. Steve McNees may and betterdevelop into a serviceable back up guard right away.The post and PF positions are well covered with Wood, Milum, McKnight. Add in Swiech and Bardo and you have depth, youth and TALL. Tall is an important ingredient inwinning at the level the Zips aspire to.That leaves the SF position. A weak link on this year's team. As I watch the gamesI grow more disenchanted with Linhart. Its often like he is in a cloud and unawareof the game around him. This is quite disturbing because early in his freshmanyear he looked so promising. Conyers is to say it kindly, a bust. He plays like a scaredrabbit. He is suppose to be a tough guy. Play like one.That brings me to man of hope. The player most of you have not seen play. I havewatched him play. If he brings his game to Akron next year as a freshman he willdelight you all. He is of course, Brett McKnight, C-mac's little brother. Brett will curethe SF problem. Granted, he is developing into a PF type player. But, having a truepost player, two power forwards and two quick guards seems like a potent team to me.Early season starting line up: C, Wood; PF, Milum; SF, Linhart; SG- Dials; PG, MiddletonMid-season starting line up: C, Swiech; PF, J. Wood; SF, B. McKnight; SG - Dials PG, Middleton or StewardOverall, I am more impressed with the DEPTH of th team than concerning myself withwho starts. These players are capabable of giving 20-25 minutes of intense. wellplayed basketball. Frankly, this will be a better team than the 2006-07 team.

The Zips need a home opponent the week before the Ohio State game.Preferablly a I-AA team that wont threaten. Kind of like Tressel getting YSU the week before the Akron game to improve the Buckeyes chances against the Zips.Tressel may have had a bad night out in Arizona, that does not make him stupid. Heknows what Zips did down in Raleigh. Chuck Amato is looking for a job.The only time the Zips should ever play YSU is at home as a tune up game such asYSU is giving the Buckeyes in 2007. YSU is not a viable opponent over the long course.

number ten: Ted Ginn twisted his ankle.number nine: They believed their media hype.number eight: They are overrated.number seven: Troy Smith was visiting the "hood" instead of playing quarterback.number six: Jim Tressel was a deer in headlights.number five: They were not prepared; parties are more fun.number four: They were out coached.number three: They were out played.number two: They lost to a better team.and the number one reason the Buckies lost:They were saving themselves for the NFL.

The Wolfpack pick up a great win to establish that they, not the Zags are the bestmid-major in the west. Odd, the Wolfpack squeaked out a two point win at Akron and the Zips get no love.

Honolulu Z.I.P. you are right on the money.Those were WAC officials. And, to an extent they did favor Nevada. A couple ofobservations if you please. One, Nick Fazekus most certainly had a major advantagedue to all the "no calls" he benefited from. Fazekus repeatedly muscled, shoved, andeven tripped J Wood, Fazekus had one foul called on him for the game. Wood hadfour. Two, I noticed that Nevada players have been coached to finish off a "pick" bydelivering a body chuck to their opponent. While fans often complained the WACofficials merely smiled.During Akron's second half run that put them in the lead Romeo Travis was viciouslyblindside fouled from behind with a powerful shove to his back. The WAC officials, toa man, all quickly signaled the intentional foul. However, due to the nature andviciousness of the blindside hit, the rules call for an immediate ejection from thegame. The player was allowed to remain in the game. At one point toward the end of half time a Zip fan (not me) got rather loudly verbalwith one of the officials. Rather than merely walking out of earshot, the officialwent to the court side police and complained about the fan. I suspect that theyconsidered removing the fan from the stands.I admit that I joined the fan at this point and also verballed the official. Loudly Iinformed Mack Rhoades that removing the fan for his comments was a potentiallaw suit as no abuse (unless the truth is abusive) was committed. No name calling,no gestures, no swearing, merely pointing out the obvious.For some reason, the university and Akron police merely stood and stared down thefan. Later he received many kudos from people around him, me included.All this said and done, if the Zips shoot their free throws, they win the game.

I thought the morons were only on the radio. Now I learn that at least one newspaperwriter and a number of so called (sic) Zips fans fall into that group.For all you morons who take your que from WKNR (850 AM) Greg Brenda (it should beBrenda Greg) and Kenny Roda (it should be Kennie Understand) and the likes ofToni (its a girl's name) Grossi, you get what you deserve.Not one of these clucks knows squat about football at any level. Nor do you.The girls, Brenda, Toni and Kennie, have an agenda. Their agenda is to underminethe fans confidence in Charlie Frye for the purpose of promoting their darling.Who is their darling? Why its super quarterback. Its super hyped (puke) Heismanor is it mayonnaise candidate Troy "I didn't know it was illegal to steal money" Smith.The most over rated, over hyped college football player this region has seen in years.The above mentioned morons want Charlie out so they can get their boy (operativeword) in. Charlie isn't local enough for these morons. Smith is a true Clevelander.Plus, he grew up in the ghetto. Why Frye is merely a hayseed hick farmboy from thecountry side.Let me perfectly clear on my point ... Troy Smith is a fine athlete. He will play in theNFL next year. He is very much in the same mold as Joshua Cribbs. He is NOT a future NFL quarterback. If I have to detail out why I say this then you just provedthat like the morons previously mentioned, you just do not know squat about football.Charlie's supporters include several former Browns PLAYERS, current Browns PLAYERS,Bill Cowher (an NFL coach with "da ring"), Bob Pruett, a former college coach with TWOof his former quarterbacks currently playing in the NFL. Me, a former college linebacker, several other friends of mine ALL of whom played at least college football.But, you go right ahead and diss Charlie. Put yourself in that clump of morons. Afterall is said and done the two people that know the most about football are people whonever played the game and radio sports talk idiots

The mighty sixteenth ranked Marquette Warriors rallied in the second half to defeatHillsdale College. Oh, yeah, THAT Hillsdale college. Down by four, 36-32, at the break,the Warriors used their superior size to overcome Hillsdale's Princeton style offensethat had controlled the first half.Marquette even admits in their post game write up that Hillsdale had lost to anotherdivision one school a week earlier. Hillsdale lost to Akron 83-67.Unfortunately, Akron did not have to mount a brilliant come back to secure their victory.

Hawai'ian Z.I.P. .... what the ESPN-U cameras probably failed to capture in the third quarter was the dollar beer night being held just outside the open end of the Rubbercrock pot. Hundreds of fans occasionally looked through the iron gates at a gamealready in blow out status at 24-10.To further reduce the fans in the stands, at the other open end gate were hundreds ofloyal Zips supporters (i.e. that had contributed money to the cause) were having a FREEbeer night. Like the kids at the other side, they too, were occasionally watching thegame.Add in the hundreds milling around shopping for food, drink and exceptionally low costZips gear. One old geezer even finally picked up his two Fear the Roo blankets whilehis charming old lady date was scrounging used Fear the Roo beer cups. Have toadmit that they are nice enough that I took two home (the ones I swilled in the VarsityA club room).Twenty-four to ten might not sound like a blow out, but, given the Bulls inability to movethe ball the two touchdown gap was huge. So they picked up a TD at the end of the game against the younger kids. Big deal.How about Carlton Jackson's seventy yard strike? What a throw. The future looksbright. Yeah, yeah, we only got fifteen yards out of the play because the Bulls playerdid a fine job of pass interference.Check out the Friday sports section of our favorite newspaper. One of the best photosever to grace an aBJ (small letter "a" deliberate) sports section. Three Zips riding piggyback on the Bulls often sacked QB. A picture worthy of framing.Hey, what's this note in Pluto's game article about Mack Rhoades trying to change the 2007 football schedule? We have three confirmed games (@ the Suckeyes, INDIANA,and @Army) that I'd like to keep. That leaves one OOC game. Get us a home datethe week before the over confidents. Get darn near anyone. Get a Div II-A if nothingelse. Set the kids up with a game under their belt prior to the Columbus game.Hey, Brudda, I may be coming out for a month next Spring. Got a long term gig inDetroit. Yep, coming out of retirement. Never had a six figure salary before. Got todo it. Wanna free kat?p.s. ... Did ya catch the UAB-UTEP game on ESPN-2 last night? All 800 fans basking in the warm kleegle lights. Now, that's embarrassment on national TV.

Well, the gals won their exhibition game ... barely.Against a Slippery Rock division two team that seemed to have a better understanding ofthe game the Lady Zips still prevailed. The LZs out muscled and out defensed thewell organized Slippery Rock team.In the first half "the Rock" used a nice zone defense to frustrate the cold shooting LZs.It was, in a word, ugly. The Rock led by eight at the break. Thoughts of another embarrassing loss rolled through my concerned noggin.But, Coach Kest lit a bonfire under her charges at half time. The LZs turned up thedefensive pressure and the Rock slowly unraveled. The LZs turned the eight pointdeficit into a seven point lead. When the Rock finally responded with a nice run oftheir own the LZs took back the lead.At the end the LZs found out what they are made of. They closed out the victory bymaking timely shots and free throws while denying the Rock open looks and the LZsgot solid defensive rebounds. The LZs took the victory.Observations:Kest's influence is showing up nicely. The LZs are still awful. They have a hugemountain to climb. But, Kest's influence and coaching is paying off. There are improvements to go along with the atrocious ball handling and poor shot selection.Kest has installed a motion type offense that the LZs ran until either they werestripped of the ball or the shot clock got them. That is to say, the LZs do not fullygrasp the nuances of getting open looks and recognizing when to shoot. They willlearn in a short time.I hope the team gets to watch the game film. Over and over Coach Kest has stressedgetting hands up on defense. Slippery Rock does this. The LZs do not.I thoroughly enjoyed watching the two freshman guards, Danyelle and Sarah learninghow to be a point guard. The really nice touch to this is that either lady can and didsurprise the Rock players with timely shots that scored. The Rock players were notexpecting a point guard to pull up and shoot. Nice touch.The core of experienced veterans led the second half charge. They made the difference.This team is not likely to win many games against division one opponents at thisjuncture. As Coach Kest has stated, by season's end they will be competitive. Ifully agree. Overall, I like what I see.

Kudos to Mike Razor for the Boals interview and game report. Well written and full ofup to date reporting.Seems to confirm a statement I made near the beginning of practice sessions that thestarting line up is most likely to be Travis, Wood, Linhart, Dials and Joyce with Middletonfirst off the bench.Strong guess on my part (I read tea leafs and between the lines) that a likely candidatefor red shirting is Steve McNees. He just isn't up to speed and likely still behindJeremy Sallee on the depth chart.Possibly Tim Carroll the walk-on from CVCA could drop down to the two if needed.Mild surprise being that Quade Milum could be in the early rotation. He is capable ofbeing that good. This is good news.

The current status of the freshmen is as follows.Chris McKnight is clearly the best incoming freshman. He has the tools and athleticability to spell Romeo Travis at the power forward. Look for Chris to get more and moreplaying time as the season progresses. His biggest obstacle is learning the system.Steve McNees is way behind on conditioning, but closing fast. Steve has been putting inextra time working on his shooting after practice. He has a bit of catching up to do.I am not sure if he qualifies as the fourth guard at this point. If not, he is gainingground and should be the fourth guard by the first road game (Arkansas-Little Rock).Mike Bardo once called a "project" is making great strides in being able to contributea lot this season. Like McNees, Bardo is working overtime honing his skills. Mike isgetting a lot of drills "in the paint" from the coaches. His size and bulk will be neededto counter several opponents who have real honest to goodness big men in the post.Tim Carroll who I mistakenly referred to as John Cannon is clearly the best of the walk-ons. At six-five and a solid athlete's body Tim could well press for time at thesmall forward. Last note: Coach Dambrot made it a point to show me that Jeremiah Wood is not "puffy".Wood was bare chested in post practice shoot around. He is solid. I admit I was wrong.

Eighteen players suited up. Needed a scorecard to determine who is who. Saw some kidout on the floor I could have sworn was Romeo Travis only, he shot right handed, andhad no tattoos. Oh, pardon me, its Chris McKnight. Dayum ... this kid is a playa.You are going to love Chris McKnight. He is such a mirror image of Romeo right down to the facial hair that its scary. Best part ... he can play right now. Did I mention thiskid can play? You better believe it.Jeremiah Wood while still rehabbing and getting into shape (he's a bit puffy) looked tobe the player he was and should be. I am pleased to see J Wood on the floor and looking good.Nicky and Dru looking awesome. They are in sync with each other. That chemistry isgreat to see at first light. Both men in fine condition and looking like the veteransthey both are.Cedric Middleton, all I can say is "wow". Ced looks fantastic. He is in great shape.sixth man without a doubt. Not a sliver of drop off when he is on the court.We still need that fourth guard. Its Steve McNees opportunity. Steve did NOT overlyimpress me. He needs to shed the Beatles rag mop page boy haircut and get seriousabout playing basketball. Weird hairdos do not define you as a playa. Jimmy Conyers was mildly impressive. He has skills and talent. A bit out of sync andseems to not have a defined role just yet. He is not going to start ahead of NateLinhart. Jimmy will have to earn that prize. Seventh man possibility is his for thetaking.Nate Linhart, John Rybak and Quade Milum all looked good. They performed like theyknow the system. All will contribute. Mike Bardo is slow. Way too slow. The college game is far quicker than he saw inhigh school. He has to adjust to the tempo. I think he will.A huge stack (pile?, clump? group?) of walk-ons. most impressive was John Cannonout of CVCA. John has size and skills. Best of all I liked his temperament. He took nocrap and gave back what he got. Look for John to see some floor time.Nick Goddard can still shoot the lights out. Amen.I know I could write a lot more. Hope this is a taste that whets your appetites.

I am impressed by Coach Jody Kest's no nonsense approach to her first practice. Sheworked the Lady Zips hard. While a bit short on running drills the pace was quick andsoon revealed the few players who were not physically up to snuff. Lindsey West isterribly out of shape. Her size is vital to a successful season.Looked to me that nearly all of the returning players spent considerable time in the weight room. This no group of wilting lilies. With Coach Kest's aggressive in your facestyle of play, physical strength plays an important role. Seems that most of the playerstook to heart her preconditioning program.Impressive, too, was a station system where the players broke down in groups and allthe coaches worked with the players on skill sets. There seemed to be a lot ofemphasis on an aggressive defense style. As fans I think you will enjoy watching theladies get after their opponents.One drill that really interested me was dribbling between folding chairs. Five chairswere placed on the floor in a pattern to route the player out from the baseline to thetop of the key and back to the basket. The objective was to dribble between thestations (chairs) switching ball hand at each station and finish with a lay-up.At first the players handled the drill with ease. As the tempo was gradually increasedand fatigue set in miscues became the norm. I think if this drill is repeated oftenthrough out the season the benefits will show up in the quality of play. It seems to be an excellent drill.Do not expect miracles. Expect a continual improvement in quality of play as the seasonprogresses. Expect these Lady Zips to not finish last in the conference. Expect the LadyZips to pull of at least two quality "upsets".

Andy Hipsher takes another upward step in his young college coaching career.Story on Andy

Picking up Ronnie Steward an outstanding true point guard completes the Zips 2007recruiting class. The addition of Ronnie Steward pretty much rules out any possibilityof Darryl Roberts (Toledo St. John's) ever wearing a Zips uniform. Steward seems tohave slightly better credentials both on and off the court than does Darryl Roberts.Brett McKnight, a clone of Antonio Gates, strengthens both the wing and back court as Brett can play the two guard well in addition to his favorite position as a reboundingwing man. Brett's year older brother, Chris comes in this year as a true freshmanunderstudy to Romeo Travis. Some believe that Chris is already nearly equal to Romein overall skills.Steven Sweich is monster man. He is reported to be even larger physically than MikeBardo. I can attest that Bardo is positively HUGE. Have hear that when Stevenholds a basketball in his hand it looks like a grapefruit. Also, Steven's arm span iseven greater than Mike's. That is saying a lot as Bardo has the greatest arm span Ihave ever seen on a Zip player.So, for next year the Zips picked up a fine point guard, a versatile wing man and a postplayer that gives Akron two four-five guys that will fill the lane. This can present somehuge match up problems for future opponents. Add Wood and Chris McKnight in themix and the front court is deep and can be either physical or quick and some timesboth.The addition of Steward frees Steve McNees to play the two guard while giving a solidback up at the point when needed. McNees size, six-two, makes the two guard a nicesized player as opposed to recent years when the Zips have been hampered by alack of back court size. Of course, Jimmy Conyers at six-four can also drop to the twohole and give an even taller back court. Especially if Steve McNees is rotated to thepoint.Next year's squad has the makings of being a true national power. The Gonzaga of theEast that coach Dambrot longs for. This combo will have at least a solid three year runwhich should in turn induce more fine young players to join the Zips.The future replacements for Jerimiah Wood and Nick Dials are now on board. Nextseason these two fine players will be seniors. Future recruiting now becomes looking forthe players to step in and replace current sophomores like Jimmy Conyers, Nate Linhartand John Rybak. Coach Dambrot and his staff have elevated Zip recruiting to a level far above recent years. Dare I say that the current recruiting class matches Thad Matta's first Ohio Stateclass? This puts the Zips in a fine position to tempt high quality players to come playat Akron rather than gather splinters on the Buckeye bench. Coach has recruited well.We fans will enjoy the results of his efforts for years to come. This season looks to be an exciting one full of promise and at least twenty wins. How far the Zips advance depends on the heart and spirit of the current players. A bit ofextra effort could lead to a MAC championship and a trip even as far as the SweetSixteen.

KEEPER ... very well put. All I can add is "phooey"

Last evening GoZips.com quietly repaired their home page.Must not be many folks interested in reading that web site as I am the only one whoreported having difficulty with it.I would e-mail them and report that the option tabs to other portions of the web site wasmissing. Thus, you could not easily navigate to say ... men's basketball to then moveto the prosectus, the schedule, the roster, etc. They responded to my e-mails with linksto what ever I mentioned I could not get to. I am happy. They repaired the problem. God bless them.