Captain Kangaroo

Probably why Natson was 1st Team All MAC, but won't get much of a look from NFL scouts. But 3rd-teamer Lane will.

So the 2016 All MAC Teams are already selected? I hadn't seen them. Maybe someone can post the link.

Whoops? I guess as punishment I'll attend a Zips women's game and eat some hot dogs.

This one comes off as really cheap: Wednesday, March 1 vs. Buffalo - 7 p.m. • Senior Night • Fan Appreciation • AK-Rowdy Appreciation Night • $1dogs (first 200 people receive vouchers to redeem at halftime) Advertising "$1 Hotdog Night," and them giving them only to the first 200 people, is bizarre. You can get a 8-pack of Sugardale's on sale at Acme for 89 cents, so it's not like UA would go broke giving them away all night? I don't get it. "I'll take 4 hot dogs." "Ok, that'll be $16.00" "But it's "Dollar Dog Night?" "Not for you, Mr. Tardy. You shouldn't have had that last beer at The Score. Now pay up." Seeing a line of 200 people looking for their $1 dog at halftime should be fun.

George is ON FIRE!!

My prediction was pretty good. Although Boston didn't use a 2nd rounder on Zeke, they did give him a year on their D-League team.

The Bosaley/Ball-era win at Kent that broke something like a 31-year losing streak at Kent's building. After the game Jimmal Ball threw his armband into the crowd and I caught it. It's in a box somewhere in my house. If he wants it back he can call me. After the game we had some beers at Ray's Place. Hipsher was there celebrating with assistant Joe Piggati and their wives. That stuff doesn't happen anymore.

It would also be interesting to see the travel costs of the MAC vs 1-AA conferences. You can take a bus pretty much everywhere but NIU. If football dropped to 1-AA, does Zips basketball get excited about leaving the MAC for the Horizon? I see the MAC as the perfect conference for the Zips. Good competition, cheap travel costs.

I'm still waiting for anyone to present evidence that the 22 scholarships saved by dropping to 1-AA offsets the income and benefits of being 1-A. I'm guessing there's a reason why 30-or-so programs have moved to D-1, but no school has ever dropped down a level. If I really have a hankerin' for watching Samford or Wofford football, I'm cool with driving 50 minutes East and watching YSU play them. I can't imagine the scenario where that would happen...but the option is always there. Until that point, I'll watch Western Michigan, Toledo, Pitt, Iowa State, etc. @ InfoCision.

Five Pound Friday?

Meh. If you're going to replace Lane, getting three nineteen-year-old athletes who had scholarship offers from programs like Kentucky and NC State isn't so bad. It could be the best WR recruiting influx we've ever had?

We didn't have Natson last year, and we went to a bowl game. We had him this year, and we're watching bowl games. I don't get fretting over losses of seniors. Maybe next season Warren Ball is healthy, and he picks up the offensive slack? Maybe one or two of the incoming LB's is an impact player and our defense picks up the slack? Maybe one of the new WR's is really good? Maybe Lane would have blown his ACL in game #1 with the Zips next season, and we'd have need to figure out a Plan B on-the-fly, instead of having 10 months to identify and groom his heir? It's college football. Players leave. Next man up.

Amen. I was traveling and listening to the end of the game on the radio. I didn't actually see the endzone play until I watched the coach's show this week. I can't believe he didn't pull it in. I bet Natson catches that ball 99 out of 100 times. Tough kid. Great player. I'll miss him.

So what do you do...huddle in a corner, twitch and cry? Seniors graduate. Great players move to the professional ball. It happens at every Division 1 program in the nation, every year. I'll go out on a limb and predict it will happen at every school next year too. Wolf is solid. Coney is a good #4 WR. Smith has boarderline world-class speed...maybe he develops, maybe he doesn't. With no Lane and Natson, he'll get some PT, and I liked what little I saw of him in 2016. We bring in 3 heralded WR's. All with P5 offers, who ended up here for various reasons. So they are talented, and already have a year in the program. Beyond that, you never know who comes across the waver wire as a 5th year transfer, or what Freshman might emerge. It's only November. Losing Lane or Natson is like having your 98 year old grandparents pass away. It's sad, but their time was up. They had a great run... provided some great memories...and now it's time for the next generation to step up.

Man...George really out-did himself on that one.

His dad was a pro athlete, so I have to believe he's getting good advice. His dad also left after 3 seasons at Pitt. Jerome has the size and skill set to be an NFL WR. His life goal is to be an NFL WR. If he wants to attain his professional goal he's much better served being on an NFL practice squad honing his football skills 24/7, than taking Eastern Civilization and Western Cult at UA and running college WR drills with Freshman in the Stiles Center. If it doesn't work out, he can always return to college. But he can never turn back the clock to being a 22 year old athlete. Due to our QB situation he rarely got to strut his stuff in 2016. It was pretty obvious it wore on him. Thanks, Jerome. Wish you well. Make us proud.

Certainly a big loss, but we have three heralded kids debuting at the WR position next season. Now we can use Lane's scholarship for a defensive lineman.

Creighton plays with the chip-on-you-shoulder attitude of a high mid-major, but the talent of a Big East team. Their home court advantage is huge too. You know we're going to be chucking up a lot of 3's...they better be falling or we'll get buried fast. Very difficult match up for the Zips.

I think the best plan to keep a coach, if indeed that is your #1 priority, is to avoid being either terrible or great. If you float in the middle your coach can't leave for better offers, and you can't fire him/her. Rather than focus on keeping a coach I would instead prefer having a strong athletics department where great talent is consistently replaced by great talent. Toledo Football seems to be a great example of hiring great coaches, and reloading with another winner when the incumbent leave for greener pastures. Schools like Boise State (football), and VCU (basketball) are some of the many examples of schools who've figured out how to build a Program and thrive after repeated coaching departures. Kent Basketball thought they had it figured out...but they don't. Maybe OU basketball does... Akron has never had a strong Department of Athletics. Sure Thomas/Waddell and Rhodes/Yurachek did enough work at UA to strike oil at P5 programs, but the changing of the guard every 4-5 years always seems to send us a step backwards. And don't even get me started on the Wisterc_I-ll era. Maybe Larry Williams is the guy to arrange a winning team that breaks the trend? If he kicks butt and moves to a better AD job, "Akron" guys like VanHorne and Newhouse could ascend and give UA that combination of investment, stability and leadership we've been lacking for the past umpteen years. But the next Wistec_I-II...or I-and-ll-o...or Coleman Crawford... is always just a hire away.

I think the fact that he never played a down of college football tells you how much we missed him. HS star...to Pitt Commit...to Zips transfer...to ordinary Joe playing flag football at some small Pennsylvania college. Hope he's doing well.

Might? Creighton is a legit upper tier Big East team. If Hughes can't give us at least 15 really effective minutes, we will get waxed. Big Dog and Kwan better stay out of foul trouble. I really hope the Zips make a game of it, but based on what I've seen from Creighton this season, it's a daunting task.

Akron Rams

Damn...I really wanted @BlessedWhereIAm.

Just like it's significantly cheaper to buy stuff at a garage sale than it is Dollar General or Big Lots.

Bless Jawon Chisholm. I was blessed to watch him step out of bounds for four years while he won something like six games. We we are blessed to have a coaching staff that holds a player out who wants to play, but showed over the last six weeks that his shoulder ranged between hobbled and unusable. And lastly, bless Marques Hayes and Marcus Whattley, former Zips, who are proud of their alma mater and sending UA some great kids for next season. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!