Captain Kangaroo

Yep. Lord only knows how impossible it is to get an additional 30 lbs on a 17 year old, 6' 5", 265lb kid by the time he's 19. Tank would have his work cut out for him.

Thank you for the nice words Dig. Interpretation of a written piece's quality is in the eye of the reader. If you like classical music, you probably have never been to a Black Flag concert. If you loved Walter Cronkite, you probably don't like Bill Maher. But Black Flag has sold millions of albums, and Bill Maher is a millionaire, so sometimes what you like is not necessarily bad. It just doesn't suit your personal taste. This site is like a newspaper. We have or Comic section writers, where nothing is ever serious. We have our Religion section, where things are always great and everything should be forever cumbaya. We have our Political Satirists, who pick extreme points of view simply to get a rise out of those typically religious in nature. Our Fashion section always has commentary on the latest uniform trends. Our Entertainment section critiques the Marching Band, and anything Marketing-related. Our Letters to the Editor section is loaded with crackpot clowns who have nothing better to do that use ZN.o to rant 24/7. Our Classified section offers game tickets. Our Travel section offers recommended placed to stay and eat during road trips. And obviously our Sports section boasts more "reporters" following the Zips than there are vapid stay-at-home moms following Kim Kardashian's Twitter account. When the Religion section dominates, it is flat-out boring. When the angry crackpots dominate, it is embarrassing. And for all the quality posts on ZN.o, it seems the few stupid, ignorant guys are the ones that are held up as the poster-child for all at ZN.o. I hate that. When all sections of our "paper" are in synch, this site can be pretty good. I wish it happened more often. I like Bud Shaw's columns in the PD. I like Norm Chad. I like sports writers that are informed, and clever. I like the writers who paint a canvas with their words and give a visual image to the emotional ebb-and-flow of the event to go along with the numbers. I like writers with insightful opinions. Some people see this style as exaggeration. But many seem to enjoy it. @everyone: Happy Thanksgiving to all. Thank you for your contributions. And I will see you in Lot 9 Friday!

This has to be the most retarded men's basketball schedule since James Naismith was hitting the kegger circuit @ McGill U. I can't believe we haven't played a game since November 16th, and won't play another real game until December 7th. There's nothing to discuss...except if Jonas Stalyga is still on the team. C'mon George...get on that story!

Good question. "Completely Overwhelmed?" I give CSU credit for going toe-to-to with K.entucky for 32 minutes. And they did it without their best player too. But they wilted like 3-week old plastic bag lettuce those last 7 minutes.

Chokers don't choke at the end of the first half. That's when they look like all-stars. Chokers choke @ the end of the game. They panic. They find a way to lose. They look like CSU last night.

Kentucky finished the game with a 24-7 run. It was riveting to watch CSU unravel, the player's vacant stares, Waters scowls and futile time-outs. For the final 7:41 CSU as much "in the game" as Marvis Frazier vs. Mike Tyson. Reginald Denny vs. a lead pipe. Perhaps even worse. You can certainly make a pure numeric case that CSU was "in the game." But the box score only tells a small part of a much, much more complex story. @Zipmeister might agree.

It is equally as hard for Akron and K.e.n.t. to watch the rampant success the Penguins have experienced since Tressel's departure. The comment is more directed towards the YSU contingent that annually grouses that the Zips will not play the Penguins. If YSU would move up to 1-A, like UMass, like App State, like Middle Tennessee...then we would play them annually. But since they choose to languish in 1-AA, they should shut up.

They were not. They crapped down their leg with 5 minutes to go and sat shivering in the corner and the Wildcats did whatever they pleased, whenever they pleased. Dr. Heimlich should be the team trainer for these choke-bags. Why should they be intimidated by the Zips? Sans one recent Zips victory in a down CSU season, Gary Waters has owed Akron. CSU actually has a guard that can bring the ball to the front court against pressure from a Top 10 D-1 team. I'm jealous. If the Zips don't bring their A+ game to the Wolstein Center, it will be "St. Mary's Part II."

I had no idea they were moving to D-1A? Yet another 1-AA program that has more balls then YSU.

Way too soon to tell. He needs to get his grades for this semester, and next semester, before anything is official. I am sure he is being set up for success by UA (manageable class load, tutors, etc.). If he doesn't make grades it will be his own fault.

I hope he can keep his staff together for a few more years too. Tank, Woodford, Buckley, Amato...all those guys have done an awesome job over the past 2 seasons. You saw in year #1 that we can move the ball and score if we've got the right people in the system. We regressed offensively in year #2. QB, RB and WR need to pick it up next season. We need some horses. Then we'll be pretty dangerous.

While your sentiment is correct, your examples are a bit off. We've beaten Creighton and MTSU. Relatively recently. The win vs. Creighton was in a really down year for the Blue Jays. Much like beating Penn State last season...we whipped them by 20...they're a Big 10 team...but Penn State would have struggled competing in the MAC West last year. They sucked. Nevada, VCU (0 for 5?), Dayton, etc. I think are better examples of the Zips opportunities to ascend OOC, but faltering. While I loved the Bracket Buster event, over the last decade it really exposed the Zips as being a notch below the true upper-mid-majors.

I remember him...

Actually, I was referring to the Mississippi State win from 2005-6. I figured since LOZ was referencing the Florida State NIT win in the same post, he/she was referring to the Mississippi State win of that era. Regardless of the landmark Mississippi State win, LOZ's point remains valid - if Tree would simply realize the Zips should not expect to win, much less care about winning such games, and wait until the MAC season to really be concerned about W's and L's, he'd be much better off.

I agree 100%. I think this was the best defense the Zips have fielded in two decades. There really were no weak links in the secondary. All the DB's have improved since last season. We play WR's honest, without the 10-yard cushions we've all grown accustomed to since the Lee Owens years (apologies to the anomalies that were Dwight Smith and Reggie Corner). LB's were awesome. We lost CJ Mizell for the better part of the season, and it was "Next man up." Jatavis Brown is great. Evans is great. March is great. DL had quality and depth. Pretty much 8 interchangeable guys. All solid contributors. We ALWAYS over-pursued in the past. Now we have discipline. This was a bowl-worthy defense. But our offense was not. No rhythm, no consistency, just herky-jerky all season. I look forward to a real QB competition this spring. Pohl needs pushed. He needs to make a big leap forward next year if we are to be a bowl-worthy team. If he plays like 2013, or his successor plays like "Pohl 2013" it will be a shame. Home run-hitter WR and return man need to emerge too. Our KO and Punt return guys have shown little in the way of escapability since Andre Jones. We start our possessions around the 20 yard line way too often.

Tree simply needs to realize that we have no chance of winning those games. He needs to appreciate the fact that we beat Mississippi State 5 or 6 years ago, and that the confetti from that victory still obscures the sun. He needs to realize it is unrealistic to expect to win any of the marquee OOC games leading up to the MAC season. Only then do the games really count. The sooner he aligns his goals with the low-aimer Zips basketball fans, the better off he'll be. If it helps boost his spirits, there are some who are hoping we can develop Evans or Betancourt into a D-1 point guard over the course of this season so we'll be more competitive next season. In November, building towards the next season is really what it is all about.

If Zeke played for John Calipari, do you think he would have progressed better...or sat at the end of the bench... or quit basketball prior to his eligibility expiring? I think KD got the most out of Zeke Marshall that anyone could. Probably more.

Better than Tree being in-uniform and practicing?

The "Paul Winters Counter-trap." Best, most unstoppable, simple play play ever.

A grass field can make a tractor sexy.

I doubt you can score a Lot 9 pass, but you can always try. That lot is unfortunately reserved for donors. But this late in the season, maybe if you arrive early enough you can sneak in (although your vehicle isn't exactly a Stealth). Most visiting fans have seemed to congregate in Lot 13. That's where I have seen the party busses, grilling, etc. One thing we lost in the move from the Rubber Bowl was the all-encompassing awesome tailgate lot. Lot 9 is great, but the Rubber Bowl lot was essentially Lot 9 but 20X larger.

I like succinct, accurate posts.

Appalachian State is far better off than had they not beaten Michigan. They now have a part of college football history. Every year when such an upset looms, people talk about the Appalachian State win over Michigan. They will for decades to come. Who cares if they are 3-8 right now, they got Raquel Welch in her prime. Everyone else got Oprah. If I got Raquel in her prime, and I'm with Oprah now, I am way ahead of every other FCS Chubby-Chaser. Is Valparaiso better today because they made it to the Sweet 16? Who cares. They are a part of college basketball history. Two decades later they still show Bryce Drew's shot. And they will for another couple decades. That shot has done more to raise awareness of their University than all their Horizon League wins combined. Do K.e.n.t fans relish their trip to the Elite 8? Or do they relish their MAC championships? Which is the better memory? When Antonio Gates brags to his team mates about his college basketball career, does he brag about beating Eastern Michigan, or Pitt? The list goes on.

Big road wins against BCS schools...wins in the NCAA tourney...these will never, never, never matter? Tell that to Coach Dambrot. I want to see if he agrees with you.

You are getting way too confrontational with people that disagree with your personal view of Zips basketball. Everyone is growing tired of the escalation. Once you start driving people away from our board with your tone, and frequency of posting, it becomes a problem. Please stop it.