GoZips

YES

Wow ... !!! The Zips climb all the way up to 98th place.

I think it is time to get out your coloring books and Golden Books. There is a fable (probably from Aesop) about the goose that laid the golden eggs. The NCAA and exceptionally greedy Pig (<burp>) schools again trying to commandeer the trough of plenty. Carving out a huge (i.e. bloated) piece of the pie will lead to the collapse of college athletics. How long before the Pig schools decide to lope off the back enders? Ten years, twenty, less? How long before there are only forty important programs? The death of the greedy NFL would soon follow. The NFL talent pool would evaporate. Yeah, I am a "doom and gloom"er. Yes, we should kill the goose that lays the golden egg(s). <burp> Am I joking? Not in the least. Just a short drive (even bicycle able on pleasant days) East of Akron lies the mighty Mount Union. National champions numerous times in division triple three or something or other in football. Guess what? They do not draw flies to their football games. What? Twenty-five hundred for home games? Frankly, who gives a rat's butt about Mount Onion? This is the fate of all colleges playing football outside the glorious top forty. Go for it. Kill the goose. You morons.

Welcome to "Give A Shite U". Just voted. Zips are currently 106th. Sad.

Zeke used up all his eligibility; Alex has not. Which one of us is sin free? Akron is a school famous for giving second chances. The list is long; Jim Tressel, Gerry Faust, Keith Dambrot, Jamie Bosley, Quincey Diggs and a host of others. Giving Alex a second chance seems the right thing to do. I spent Thanksgiving Day with Alex. He seems to have learned a great deal. Let us put it behind us and welcome him home.

Fat Chance.

+1

Anyone voting? The Zips have fallen to 48th place.

It isn't difficult, either. While I agree that until the hiring of Terry Bowden the Zips never had a true Division 1-A coaching staff, the Zips have had some wins over teams they had no business beating. Beating Syracuse 42-28 in their house was no mean feat. Oh, and that did lead to a coach getting fired (theirs). And the knock down of North Carolina State was one sweet win. The Wolfpack soldiered on that season beating the likes of Florida State and Boston College after losing to the Zips.

I suppose that no one cares about this. The Zips slipped to 42nd.

Time-Warner has a replay of the OU game at eleven AM.

Excellent post. I, too, went to Athen for the game. Which, btw, I recommend the university chartered bus. The old advertisement "ride the bus and save the fuss" works well. Post game it seemed that the OU fans were in a trance. There was little anger; or upset. It almost seemed as if they expected to lose. While a wonderful capacity of 13,000 (reported) the Convo Center is a dump with steep seating, sloped floors and exceptionally poor sight lines. No paper towels irritated me, but, so be it.

Keep voting. I just voted this morning (Sunday) and Akron was ranked 35th.

We should expect major improvements in Kyle Pohl's game. He has the off season between his sophomore and junior years to hone his skills and get many, many reps in the weight room. From my meager observations in game situations it seemed to me that Kyle's biggest concern should be his ability to read and react to defensive coverage. Up to now Pohl stares down his intended primary target. He badly needs to be able to pick up secondary targets. Would not hurt for him to read defenses better which should allow better evasion of the would be tacklers AND improve his connections with secondary receivers. 2014 should be a "breakout" year for the Zips as they should enjoy a winning season and a trip to a bowl.

I attended this event last year; or was it the year before? It was money well spent. We had complete access to Coach Bowden. He was gracious and illuminating as well as entertaining. I would expect no less from the debonair Coach Tressel

Seat back chairs certainty are more comfortable. Two problems with this. One, it further reduces the capacity; probably to under five thousand. A huge negative if the Zips are trying to "sell" themselves to a higher level conference. And, let it be known that the university is interested in going to a higher level conference. The second problem with the chair back seating is that the current seats are old, cracked, damaged and would need to be totally replaced. That is a lot of money to pour in to an old, ill designed rat hole. (ooops, is my skirt showing?) The JAR is so poorly designed that the first two rows of floor level seating are neatly tucked under the moveable seats. Take a look. Find rows A and B down at floor level. They are there alright. Still under row C. For several years I have had the same seats in row E; the third row from the floor. Ever need to visit a restroom while at a Zips game or other event? Ah ha, only one facility for men or women available to most fans. These are located at the south end. True, there are tiny restrooms located inside the Tommy Evans Lounge which most fans have no access to. Now, officially the largest restrooms available to the public reside on the main concourse. Which, years ago they were to service the patrons in the lower bowl. Along comes the University police and closes the corridors under the seating meant to handle floor level traffic. Today, if you are seated in the lower bowl you get to climb several awkwardly designed steps with no hand rails to get up to the race track and the one available restroom at that level. An oft and over used trite commentary applys beautifully here: you can put lipstick on a pig.

Were you all wondering whether the President took the time to do a meet and greet of the Zips? Sorry. No, the President did not bother meeting his constituents from Ohio. This from a source at the Classic.

We scheduled South Carolina as part of our commitment to ESPN. They needed a home game which we provided. Our tie in with ESPN gives us three straight seasons of major ESPN TV coverage as next season the Zips will play in the Charleston Classic another ESPN tournament. There was a chance that Akron would face either South Carolina or St. Mary's in the Diamond Head Classic. So be it. It is high time (no pun intended) that the Zips get their shit together and play as team. Enough of the squabbling and petty antics. We were a two horse team up against a seven horse team and it showed.

Headline on Oregon State's Official web site . . . Akron Edges Oregon State "edges" you just have to love the political correctness of the Left Coast

President obama in attendance. The Beavers have never lost a game he was in attendance. (hint; hint) Can you say "integrity of the game?"

Carmelo is a lot better player than this. He needs to regroup his head and recharge his spirits. Mel has some still in the tank. Give him a chance.

Don't forget; the mighty Owls also lost to the Golden Flushers earlier this season.

Actually, D.I.G. is correct. Sorry. Coach Dambrot signals offensive and defensive plays continually. Against Cleveland State a series of plays named "horns" was introduced. The ball movement by the Zips drove the CSU defenders nuts. It was a scheme they had not seen by Akron previously and obviously were not prepared for. "Horns" contributed greatly to Akron nailing eleven of twenty-two three point shots. The Zips were wide open. ORU prepared for "horns" and the defender(s) chased Akron players relentlessly. This probably accounts for why ORU never went to a zone defense.

IMHO: The Browns will continue to suck because their draft game plan has been the same since 1999. That is; they continue to draft with the foolish idea that they can hit a home run by drafting a quarterback. Win now has long been their philosophy. Simply will not work. A team has to have most of the necessary pieces in place in order to win regularly. Terry Bowden laid out his plan to resurrect the Zips on day one. Lose big, lose small, win small, win big and keep on winning big. How? By recruiting (draft in the pros), coach your talent (hint: Bess and Little), play conservative ball with a wrinkle now and then. Sadly, for the Browns fans, they do not incorporate any of this philosophy. Its all win now, win now, win now while the sorry coaching staff flounders. No Super Bowl for the Browns any time soon. Hiring Coach Crudnick was as stupid a move as any made by the sorry Clowns. Go Panthers. Love any team that has two former Zips on its roster.

My money is on Coach Dambrot and his coaching team. They see the Zips every day. They know the kids. They plan well and scout the opponent meticulously. At shoot around prior to the game 90% of what ORU would throw at us was covered. There were no surprises. ORU is a well coached team. Akron has slightly better talent at most positions. It showed over forty minutes. No one has blown out ORU. High quality teams fared just about the same as the Zips. Ten point wins closed at game's end. Detroit will present a new set of parameters. Should send the Zips to Hawai'i riding on a small winning streak. Can not look past Oregon State. Iowa State awaits if the Zips take care of business. Good shot at WINNING the Diamond Head Classis. Pray for Coach Peters. oh, and, by all means, Go Zips ... !!!!