GoZips

GOZIPS has an estate? I think we have crossed wires here. Been looking for an estate since I was just a joey. 19.5 acres of woods on the edge of Wadsworth is hardly an estate, OR in "rural" Medina county. Only a GUEST wandering the rainy beaches of forlorn Hulaland would consider 19.5 acres an estate. Obviously the GUEST needs a visit to the mainland really badly. Medina County hasn't been "rural" in twenty years. On the serious side, billboard images of #5 super imposed over a Heisman trophy painted on STRATEGICALLY located barns along I-76, I-77, I-71 makes a lot of sense. Please, not more than 25-30 miles out of downtown Akron. Look nice on the daily commute into Cleveburg. Hmmmm, maybe into Columbus?

"Just getting Charlie in the final 5 in NYC would be H-U-G-E for the program. It would also be a great reward for a guy that stuck with the program through thick and thin." Guest Ah, this is the objective. Realistically just getting Charlie to the dinner party is HUGE. Writers never truly consider MAC players as worthy of any accolade. Consider the debacle in Dwright Smith's day. Dwight easily had the best numbers at corner of any college player. Yet, he finished second to a thug from Wisconsin in the voting.

Sunday's ABJ article by David Lee Morgan was fine as far as it went. My issues with it. one) A lot less column inches than the TWO articles on Friday and Saturday by Gary Estwick on Cant State. two) Since I neither saw nor read in David Lee's article that he was at the practice I am disappointed that he probably was not there. Not a good thing. three) No mention of the word "Heisman" in regards to Charlie. SID, get off your fat, lazy arse and put heat on David Lee. Promoting the Heisman is NOT a sometime thing. The University needs all the ink it can muster from all the local media ALL the time. Can you see Bob Pruett chewing David Lee's arse? I can. He d*mned sure would. Advertise ... advertise ... advertise ... advertise ... advertise ... advertise ... advertise

CK, thank you for the kind remark. I do not think I could rewrite the report. It was several paragrahs long and dealt with numerous topics. I recall that I left a one liner for Z.I.P. that his boy Leoakta (spelling?) did not make grades and suffered from homesickness and is appearantly back home in Hawai'i. I asked a person who is close to the team. Charlie looked really sharp. They under worked Fergusson at QB, which I thought was not a good thing. Jabari is quite athletic, but his interceptions and frequent throwing into double and triple coverage did not make him look good. He tends to force the play. Further, I remarked that perhaps Owens' postulant that Jabari might best contribute on the defensive side of the ball might be the right place for him. He is an excellent athlete and a gamer. They appeared to be running some Penn State plays (both offensive and defensive) with the scout team. I was particularily impresssed with the full on work of punting out of the end zone area. These attempts (several plays worth) were done with full rush on the punter who performed well despite the rush. Sullivan was consistently booming 50-55 yard punts with the wind to his back. They employed a number of drills that were interesting. Not going to describe them here. Seemed like the practice well well organized with various "stations". Coaches were CONSTANTLY on the defense to GO TO THE BALL. As a result there were numerous plays that ended with three, four even five defenders right at the stop. The D got a couple of "picks" off of Mr. Jabari. Former coach Jim Meyers wife was at the practice. She observed that it did not seem like the players were getting yelled at as much as in the Owens era. She also said that the practice seemed to be run at a fast and well organized pace. I agree with her on that point. I said quite a bit more, but, I'll not try and recap everything. Hope this helps.

ZIPPY, I confess that I do not know all the angles and tricks. So far as I know, I clicked on "Preview Post" and upon proof reading it I saw that I had a lower case letter at the start of a sentence. I highlighted the letter and attempted to change it to upper case. It changed color like it might allow me, but when I made the actual change nothing happened. At that point I attempted to go back by clicking on "Back" function of my IP provider (AOL). It went back to a blank screen. I knew it was lost. I made several probing attempts to find the page I had written, but to no avail. Taught me to never, never use the "Preview Post" again. Once before I had some kind of problem, but I managed to recover it, but not this time. A real problem for me is that I do not know how to navigate this board in a forward direction. Seems like that after any post I either have to close the board or do a "back" until I get out of the topic I was in. It all rather confusing. Seems there should be the opportunity to drive out in a forward direction rather than back tracking. Back tracking is uncomfortable and often takes several attempts to get back to a starting point (like a home page). Half the time I just exit the board and come right back. Thank you for your patience and attention.

Folks, I spent twenty minutes composing a report on today's football practice. While I "previewing" it (proof reading and looking for errors) the board simply flushed my work. Either I did something wrong (I did try to update the message while in preview) or I do not know how to navigate the board. As I could never get my report back. To say the least I am quite pissed at the poor way the board handles previewing messages. I'll never use that crap function again.

I just spent 20 minutes writing a lengthy report on the Saturday football practice only to have the article deleted by this pissy board. That is the last time I'll use the PREVIEW function. Fix the damned thing.

JP Morgan ... I stand corrected. I turned the game off just as Rutgers was making a run early in the second halve. I just picked up on BZ's comments. sigh. Need to do my own proofing. My video of Seabisquit was of more interest. Seabisquit won. I love the movie because I grew up with an image in my head of Porky Pig muttering, "come on Seabisquit". Always pictured Seabisquit as a plug horse on account of that image. PP being such a loser himself. What a surprise to discover that Seabisquit indeed made a Rear Admiral out of triple crown winner War Admiral.

BIG ZIP ... good post. You asked a lot of tough questions. Here's what I know about Gonzaga. I have friends who live just east of Spokane across the Idaho line. They tell me that Gonzage succeeds for several reasons. Here are the factors. First, the head coach is a home boy from the area. I believe he went to Gonzaga and might have played BB for them. Two, the entire area is heavily Catholic and Gonzaga is a Catholic school. Thus, they draw many quality kids locally. Third, the only major competion for the Zags is a pathetic Washington State that has a "loser" reputaion not unlike Can't owns. Even when the Couagers win no one expects them to follow through. Fourth, the Zags have persisted long enough as winners to gain a following outside the local area (hmmm, sounds like Xavier and Dayton) that now attracts kids from other parts. Gonzaga built the program a brick at a time. Zippy stuff: Not only how does Preston fit in and will he have the character to do the work to get back, can Nick Meyers give a quality senior year? Either of these guys have more going for them than Matt Futch who has potential and seemingly no drive. A lot of ifs .... if Goddard can produce .... if Quade Milum can give minutes down low as a true freshman ... if someone more consistent than Mario (hey, I had one great game) Collins can be found to spell Dru at the point ... if Darryl Peterson has the maturity to play like an upper classman ... if Bubba Walthers really is the player he exhibits occasionally ... if Coach D has the courage to run a four or even five forward offense ... a lot of "ifs" ... and a lot more not mentioned Coach Dambrot is going to make us proud. His drive, his track record says he can get the job done. What one of us did not think the minute we first heard that Hipsher had hired KD that one day he would hold the HC job? The one component that must come from way above is the commitment to spend the money. This rests squarely on Dr. Luis Porenza's shoulders. He now has the university going in the direction he envisioned. Now comes the time to pay the piper. As for Gary Waters, I realize he is a well respected coach and deserves kudos for winning the NIT. He has done wonders at Rutgers ( a perennial bottom feeder like Can't). And I agree that most likely he will shortly be moving up and onward. After all, Stan Heat hith a lot less credentials leap frogged over Waters by winning with kids Waters brought in.

In an interview posted on Ashland's web site head coach Lee Owens was asked about his plans for the upcoming spring game. His reply sounds familiar ... "It will be a wide open game, three-to-one passing. There will be no blitzing and it will be an offensive-oriented game. We’ll see what the quarterbacks and receivers can do." I hope we do not find the same at Akron.

Well, I have tried several times to locate a Spring roster. I even cleaned out all the cookies and temp files ... re-booted the PC. Still all I get is a depth chart dated November 13, 2003. Can some one provide a TESTED link? Thank you

Local newspaper coverage by column inches for the Zips if we measured it would put the Beacon Journal third. The Plain Dealer comes in second. The Canton Repository has the honor of giving the Zips the greatest coverage. If you subscribe to the Beacon Journal ... shame on you. Strange that we now have to sign in to read the ABJ online. How long before these folks determine that disgruntled non-paying Zips fans do not deserve to read their precious rag even online? Of course Zwick will get more coverage than Charlie. The ABJ actually has a writer assigned full time to covering the Buckettes. The last time the ABJ had a full time reporter assigned to the Zips was Roland Queen. Eventually the ABJ split Roland's time between the Zips and local high school coverage. I agree that Zwick is no great QB. He never will be. He will throw the ball to anyone down field who has their arms open. He had the same probelm in high school. And, its not about being under pressure. Zwick misfired plenty of times when he was under any defensive pressure. Let's lay the blame for not promoting Frye as a great QB squarely where it belongs. Right on the shoulders of the UA athletic department. Specifically the SID office and also on the athletic director's office. All the stationery coming out should have #5 picture in an upper corner or a quite visible watermark of Charlie poised to throw. Advertise ... advertise ... advertise ... advertise ... advertise ... advertise ... advertise

Coach Dambrot spoke this lunch time at the weekly meeting of Canton's renouned Hall of Fame Club. The audience was large and receptive. Key points of Coach D's speech include: The foundation of his coaching concepts is built on three key phrases. The first being TRUST. KD defined this trust as trust between players. Trust between players and the coaches. Trust between the fans and the team. Second being HARD WORK. Coach stated that no team the Zips face will be more prepared than his players will be. The players will as individuals set and meet high standards. This then translates into working together as a TEAM. Team being the goal of the HARD WORK. Finally, LOYALITY. Loyality to each other, the school, the fans creating a unity called a team. Loyality among the coaches, the players and the fans. The style of play will be what KD used at Tiffin, Ashland, CMU and St.V. Play ninty-four feet. Press, trap, harass ala Coach Kevin Mackey at Cleveland State. Quick offense with lots of shooting, rebounding and overall agressive, hustling style of play. Or simply put ... let's go kick some ass. Coach D envisions his program at the level of Xavier, Dayton, Gonzaga. When asked about his coaching staff Coach stated that no one has been offered a position at this time. Coach seeks the best personel he can assemble. KD also stressed that it is likely that coaches he offers to will be men he trusts from his own experiences with them. That this is an important job that transcends friendships. The schedule probably will NOT include any big name team at home. Brian Hipsher is still part of the team and welcomed to remain so. Coach admitted during questioning that Allan Hanson had bolted the program. (See my post in the recruiting section). The other two players are expected to play at Akron. Appearantly some of the audience were on to rumors that the 6'-4" twin brothers of Ottawa-Gandalf may be coming to Akron. KD avoided directly answering questions about them on grounds of NCAA rules. The Q & A session was long and interesting inspite of numerous questions about LeBron James. Or as Coach D called him "Coach James" eluding to the fact that LeBron has close ties to the Zips. KD pointed out that we can expect LeBron's coaching skills to have a direct impact on the current Zips. For all you Bob Huggins slugs ... Coach Huggins will speak at the May 10th luncheon. The price for non-members is $13.

The Columbus Disptach is reporting that Nick Dials the walk on starting point guard for the Ohio State Buckeyes is leaving the program. Appearantly Dials has mentioned the University of Akron as one of his possible choices. Coach Dambrot had no comment.

Allan Hanson has asked to be let out of his commitment to the Zips. Coach Dambrot has graciously allowed Hanson to go back on his word. Seems that adults around young miss Hanson have convinced him that his talents are so valuable that he needs to play for a marquee program. Unfortunately, young miss Hanson lacks the gonads to follow through on his word. This will not bear well for him in life. As Coach Dambrot has stated, "if the kid does not want to play here, then we have no interest in him either". Well said coach. Look at tthe bright side. Its an open scholarship the Zips need.

Great article. Hmmmm... wonder if we could swap Elmo or DaveyDiddle for this writer. Wondering if Ashland is contemplating a jump to I-AA. New stadium, new budget, outstanding staff, etc. See that LO still has close contact with outstanding up and coming OSU coach Luke Fickle. Ashland Spring game April 16th at 7:00PM. Might be worth the drive.

Ah ... what a refreshing word ... BLITZ...!!! First heard it at the recruit announcement press conference. While viewing short video clips of the incoming players, one of the D coaches remarked, "this kid will fit nicely in our BLITZ package". Half the room fainted. Most of them had only ever seen a blitz on TV. Attack the football. What a novel concept. This Zip fan still burns remembering the infamous "drive". The Zips LEADING Marshall late in the fourth. Eighty yards to get the needed touchdown. Nope, not a blitz, not a single aggressive play by the defense. The entire (except for smiling, knowing Herd fans) shuddered in horror as play by play the Herd drove for the game winning TD. And, they got it. Never again.

Bubba Walther is NOT a re-incarnation of Brian Hipsher. Bubba possess the quicks. Something Brian only knows about from everyone blowing past him. Bubba scores off the dribble. Can Brian dribble? Bubba knows how to penetrate the lane and draw fouls. Brian would say ..."who? me?" Bubba is a take charge, "give me the damned ball" kind of guy in the clutch. Brian can't even drive with a clutch. While I admit that I am a bit concerned that Bubba never even made Honorable Mention for state honors, what I did see of him first hand convinces me that Bubba can play the game. Bubba needs a good training regimen both in the weight room and at the dinner table. Let's look at Bubba as the possible second coming of Joltin' Joe and not Cryin Brian.

ZFF writes: "There is an article on jjhuddle.com that talks to T Sutton. He says the Zips have offered him a full ride." I can confirm this. I was involved in a conversation with Lee Owens and two other people where Coach Owens stated that UA had offered Tyrell Sutton a full ride about 15 minutes after he became eligible by NCAA rules. Unless JD is a complete idiot (which I doubt) the offer still stands. In my estimation Sutton will move on from his Hoban blue and gold to UA blue and gold. JD is going to make the Zips a force and Sutton should be part of the equation.

ZIP WATCHER, Great post. Coach Hipsher may all of us wish you the very best. I know that I do.

Jessica sounds like a great recruit. Had to look her up as I was curious to her height. At six-one she is likely to be a small forward. That's fine. Plenty of guards on the current roster. Kennedy badly needs that six-four or taller post player. DeVille's rebound numbers indicate that she gets up off of her feet. That bodes well. Coach K ... congratulations!

During the basketball season MT assured me that UA would promote Charlie Frye for the Heisman. The question seems to be "when?". There was no mention of Frye in the press release about the 2004 football schedule. Seems that would have been an excellent time to start promoting Charlie. That was a no cost golden opportunity to be such a campaign. I like what several posters on this board have suggested about promoting Charlie. Especially the one about a huge painted billboard on the side of prominent buildings in downtown Cleveland and Akron. In the past the university sponsered sportscasts on the local news. Maybe that would be an excellent time to daily promote Charlie. Oh, yeah, it just might boost attendance.

The 2004 football schedule has the same fatal flaw that nearly every year since going I-A had. One home game in the warm month of September. Going into cooler October 1-3 or worse is fatal to home attendance. Smart programs schedule two even three home games in September. Home games equate to wins. Why play Cant State on a Thursday if its not at least on regional TV such as ESPN or FOX? November Frozen Friday may keep the Herd faithful home. Especially if they are having a rough season.

Dang... I gotta stop listening to JD on the radio. 'Cause none of this crap is what he said at all. JD said that in the morning conditioning workouts about a 1/3 of the kids were heaving their breakfasts. He expected that to pass by the end of the second week. Heard also that the kids like JD and want to play for him. They just weren't use to the conditioning program glomped from a major Big East school. They will be. Or, there's the door. JD also stated that the Zips actually have a talent pool similar to most any Pig Ten team. It just needs to be brought out and developed. Considering that some of the former players are now stars in the NFL while others are yeoman players or in Europe this ain't yer momma's CYO team. Give the man a chance. Dan Bailey is first class. He provides, pushs and cajoles. The kid has to do the work. So, boys, do the work. I'll say "men" when you prove that you are.

ZFF, Not many kids with a one star evaluation play for teams much higher than the MAC. Those big name schools are mostly the kid's "wish" list, not the school's. In the past the Zips have signed mostly one star caliber kids. So, these kids pretty much fit what MAC schools can sign. Hopefully some of these kids develop into two and even three star caliber in their senior year. Some will. Typically UA and other MAC schools attempt to recruit as many two and three star caliber kids that they can. What is nice about the list is that some of the kids are from areas of the country that Akron does not recruit. That means that UA is getting recognition and interest.