Captain Kangaroo

Got our 1 million dollars. Now on to Pitt. What does an offensive playmaker in an Akron uniform look like? It's been so long, I forget.

For all you Zips fans in Oklahoma - I am extremely jealous! Drink a lot, have a blast, and let us know how it went.

If he had the opportunity for an official visit to Ohio State. Or Pitt. Should he do it unofficially since they are less than a 2-hour drive?

Sooners 47 Zips 16 Score is a little misleading, as the Sooner defense scores 2 TD's. Jerome Lane goes for over 100 yards.

So he'd be better off having an official visit at an out of town school that he has no interest in attending rather than an in-town school that's in his Top 5? How would the Zips compare to their competition if they didn't extend him one of their 12 allotted official visits? Probably like a cheap program. Just because the kid is local doesn't mean you can get by on the cheap and not allow him to go out with the guys, dine him and pay for his hotel (like you would an official visit from an out-of-town kid).

Chubby guys in bow ties are never wrong. We're in trouble.

Then what was your point?

An "official visit" is more than strolling through the student center and eating a burrito. He gets the big tour, hangs with players, goes out on the town...it is a recruiting event.

Scarborough, in his WAKR interview, when asked "How many fans will be at the Pitt game?" Reply: "Not enough." I hope his underselling of The University of Akron fans is consistent with his other antics thus far. If not...he was due to get something right eventually.

I disagree with your first segment, and agree with the last. The program KD has built is absolutely not a tough sell. We're sufficiently on national TV (in comparison to our peer programs). Play for championships every year. In an NBA arena. Have recently beaten the likes of Oregon State, South Carolina and USC. The support is fine. Zips fans show up for big games. They don't for tripe. It's no different than anywhere else in comparison to our peer programs. One thing no one has given KD any credit for is his effort to change over time with regards to recruiting. He arrived, and the team was crap. He turned it around with good, hometown/Ohio kids. He recognized the program's growth was limited by doing only this, and opened the door to high-risk/high-reward kids. Those were hit and miss, with more big misses than hits. But the guy tried...there's no blue print for success. And often in college sports you are stuck with the effects of your errors, big or small, for 4 or more years. He had at least 3 players that should have been in the rafters next to Bill Turner and Joe Jakubik...and none of them finished their eligibility at UA. The program evolved again, changing the recruiting focus from relatively "local" kids... to High-risk/High-reward, to now one of a more national scope. HS kids from Texas and Nevada would never have been on a Zips roster over the first 7-8 years. Will it work? I don't know. But the early reports look good. I agree that, now that we allegedly have all these fantastic recruits, our peer programs should also be of elevated stature. We need to begin playing them more often. Home-home. I wish Dambrot embraced the "Gonzaga of the East" comment rather than regretted it. I would bet 70% of the D1 basketball schools wish their program was as tough a sell as Akron's. Even if we'd have won only 19 games last season.

Clever Ohio Polytech Marketing. So we are now highlighting our own Student Athlete of the Week as - "Presented By The University of Akron, Ohio's Polytechnic University"? Who else would present a Zips Athlete of the Week? Prairie View A & M? That's the most retarded thing I've seen to date. And that's saying a lot.

Vikings cut Jalil Carter.

That's a nice summation.

I only have an issue with associating the term "NFL success" with the Zips. CFL? Maybe. But compared to most MAC schools, we've done nothing meaningful in the NFL since Jason Taylor, Dwight Smith, Vic Green, Hixon, Blackburn and Charlie Frye hung 'em up.

Lot 9?

If success is getting cut in training camp, we are wildly successful. By any other measure, we're not. If we're lucky, Pughsley makes an active roster. MAYBE March and Capi make a practice squad.

If the Zips coul If the Zips couldn't beat other "upper mid-major" programs on their home court, and instead played all cupcakes, it would accomplish little more than hide the fact that we wouldn't really be an "upper mid-major?" But we are a legitimate upper mid-major basketball program, right? So it isn't much of a risk to schedule home-home series with the likes of MTSU every year, right?

That's why the Bracket Buster's demise sucks so much. It brought in Nevada, VCU, Creighton, Valpo and other worthy mid-major opponents every other year. We haven't replaced that game.

A thousand electric eels getting struck by a thousand bolts of lightning while sitting in 1000 electric chairs wouldn't shock me more than if Pohl didn't start. They'll probably both play. But if Pohl is hot, I hope they have the awareness to keep him in and not stick to any preconceived substitution plan (see Washington-Gromek @ Penn State 15 years ago).

Alexander

I'm working on a version of this song, titled "Tailgate with Keener." I think it will be a Lot 9 Anthem. Here's a sneak peek: __________________________________________________ Keener drinks neither Miller nor Lite Keener drinks Allagash Black and White ... .... .... Tailgate with Kee-ner! Tailgate with Keen-er! Tailgate with Keen-er! I can see the beer foam mustache on his mouth.

If you don't lug your own tent, beer, food, cornhole set, stereo, etc to a parking lot, you aren't tailgating. You might be attending a party, but you're "tailgating" about as much as someone microwaving Stouffer's Lasagna is "cooking Italian."

Pluto discusses Williams

He could probably give a nice Sunday sermon. Not much else to glean from that snippet. Glad he wants to fill the stadium instead of grouse about it. I look forward to meeting him. I bet it goes better than the last ND/UA athletics guy I met.

I can't figure out if Dave's post is ironic, or self-depreciating?