Captain Kangaroo

Cleveland is Ohio State's market. I don't think any BE representative could be duped into thinking people in Cleveland care about the Zips, or would suddenly go gaga for Zips football just because UConn or South Florida came to town. Sure, UA would give their left nut to be in the BE. I'd donate mine if it helped the cause. But I just don't see it happening.

I just saw Zook's re'sume' posted on Monster.com...the writing is on the wall...

What does Cincy circa 2005 have that we don't? Answer: Medical and pharmacy schools and corresponding large grant money and research, a mediocre football team, and a great basketball arena. Cincinnati is a slightly more-attractive market than Akron-Canton too. Do you not affiliate NEOUCOM with Akron? I would think our lack of a direct Medical and Pharmacy school is pretty low on the list of reasons we'll never get invited to the Big East?

Valid question.

I wish Blake Justice would do the football update videos.

If CJ Oldham went 1-1 from 3-point land, and I extolled the virtues of CJ's 3-point prowess, I think you'd have a point that I was "massaging statistics." But 41 shots is, statistically, a HUGE, relevant sampling. I'll bet he shoots within +/- 2% of that number this season. I personally thought, and the statistics bear it out, that Diggs had a sweet stroke last season. So it's less impressive to me that he's hitting 3's in August practice. Nothing against his hard off-season work. You could see from his progress over the course of last season that he was a hard worker. All hail Quincy - 2010-11 Zips 3-point Percentage Shooting Champion! Now back it up in 2011-12, baby!

Great interview with Blake! Nice, nice job, UA.

Toronto Star reports the Zips received 8 votes in the Canadian AP poll! Can a Top 25 ranking be far behind?!

Hey, we're due, right?

As soon as I read "Paul" I immediately stopped reading and disregarded everything before. You can mess up a few things, but to mess up the returning starting QB!?!? Did he mention anything about Tyrone Prior's status?

I like the input of ZN.o members regrading practice. It is fun to actually watch the guys you've read so much about actually do something on the field/court. I used to love attending the Zips football summer practices to get a preview of the upcoming team. You could tell right away that young guys like David Harvey and Matt Cherry were going to be special talents. Scouting, and projecting the results of young talent is one of my favorite things to do. I'll digress and tell a quick story -- I coach Kiwanis youth basketball. I had a teeny tiny kid on my team (Jared) last season who hadn't played basketball very much. He was pretty overwhelmed for most of the season, but if he were unguarded, he actually had a pretty fundamentally sound stroke. This usually occurred during practices. Fast-forward to our Round 2 playoff game - the opposing team presses us the back court, which is a 2-shot technical. I placed Jared at the free throw line. I hear from a parent behind me: "HEY COACH, GET THAT KID OFF THE LINE!!" That dad was the father of the best kid on my team. He had some justification to have his son shoot the free throws. Jared stroked both free throws for 2 of the 6 points he scored the entire season. We went on a big run and won the game. Moral of the story - If that dad was at my practices, he'd have kept his yap shut when I placed Jared at the line. The kid was the #8 kid on a 9-kid roster. But he was our best free throw shooter. He showed it every day in practice.

Go to hell, you Suckeye-loving butt munch. Now we're back to normal! Thank God I found the thread in time. The world remains in balance.

Always in a dark suit...

For the record -- I never cringed when the guy that lead the 2010-11 Zips in 3-point shooting percentage (39%) launched a 3. I was actually sort of happy.

Yes. Busted his hip. Injury #1. He was granted a medical redshirt after injury #2, ACL tear (it happened on the practice field next to Shrank South).

Pardon my lack of knowledge, but what happened to Dale Martin? Can we add him to the Cap'n's list of Great Zips who never were? He and Ryan Bain need to wait the requisite 2 seasons before enshrinement. BTW -- Guest MC at this year's Great Zips That Never Were HOF Ceremony is Thomas Plummer.

There are three players who look like triplets. They are Q, CJ Oldham & Nick Harney. Get in line now for "Fear the Fro" shirts... I had a "Fear the Fro" sign back when Wood was sporting one. Looks like I'll have to dust it off... Oh no. By far, the best signs I saw during the J. Wood era were "FEAR THE WOOD". Even old people like my wife and I (we both have juvenile minds at times) could never stop laughing at that. But, don't consider me a representative example of people in my age group. I still laugh at Beavis and Butthead too. My favorite of that era -- I recall a girl with a "You Got Played By Quade" sign. High degree of difficulty in rhyming Quade with a basketball-reference put her over the top.

Go to hell, you Suckeye-loving butt munch.

Throw caution to the wind. We should be boldly optimistic. I am going "Kobayashi" on the Zips Basketball Kool Aid. I can't keep up with the Joey Chestnuts of the Zips Kool Aid circuit, but I am drinking more than most.

How's that old line go...something like -- "I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken."

Here you run into trouble. You're here admonishing energized fans about their opinions, and you want to base the cold shower on facts to back up your reservations. I think it's good to be cautious here. You live in NEOH and are a Vikings fan. I get it. We all have big hopes, and some of us are more eager than others to dream big for our guys. Problem here is that your "facts" are categorically and completely inaccurate. The Zips have received AP votes, on multiple occasions under KD. It's not some magic land they've never visited. Is the AP poll a real poll? Two NCAA births in 3 seasons are real, tangible evidence of success. They weren't accidents. I look forward to more. I've got them on. B) Go Zips!! First - Let me clarify that I'm a Minnesota Vikings fan, not a CSU Vikings fan. If the Zips received an AP vote in the "others" category at some point over the last 7 years, I forgot about it. It must have happened back in the Travis-era for a week or two? Not exactly a Butler-esque run, but if true I certainly stand corrected. Assuming there are 22 "poll weeks" per season...over 7 seasons...that's 154 possible weeks in a poll (ran out of fingers and toes on that calculation). If we have 3 weeks on the charts out of 154...I think it is safe to say our street cred is, in the big picture of NCAA basketball, "leaving a lot of room for upside." Especially when compared to Memphis, Butler and the other marquee mid-majors mentioned. I realize I am tossing the smallest of wet blankets on our monumental pre-season run to the Sweet 16, but what the heck...Skip Zip was slacking off, so I had to fill the void.

Memphis and Butler played for National Championships. San Diego State was ranked #2 in the country. We've never received a single vote in any "real" poll, and have two double-digit losses in our only two NCAA appearances this millennium. Newcomers Harney and Treadwell played only one season of high school ball, and sat out last season entirely. Walsh could practice, but he's played really limited game minutes since Moon High in 2008. The MAC can be won with a plucky, mop-haired point guard. "Upper-tier" college basketball isn't so easy. I am fully on-board with the fact that this team will be a blast to watch. That it has huge upside. That we can knock off some previously un-knock-offable programs. But we need to earn street cred before we get ranked, and taken with the seriousness of a VCU, George Mason, Gonzaga, Butler, Memphis, SDSU...even a Saint Mary's or upper-tier MCV program. Those programs have earned their rankings and respect on the court. Until that time, we're just the plucky over-achievers from a slightly-below-mediocre basketball conference.

Lots of exuberant hyperbole posted recently, but this one is pretty over-the-top. I'll give you the past 8-or-so years haven't seen too many eyeball-test teams. But in the 10 years previous, EMU (Dial, Head, Boykins), K.e.n.t (Elite 8 guys), Miami (Sczerbiak, Newble, Davis, etc), OU (Jamerson, Trent, Hunter, and many others), BG (Stacey/McCloud), Ball State (Lonnie Jones, Theron Smith, etc)....all have had some really legit rosters. And won some big games. Even Marshall had some big teams, with VanHoose and Slay. This group of Zips hasn't won anything. In the past, KD's teams have been ones where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Hopefully he can continue that, with the increased talent level. Then we'll have something extra-special. This will probably be KD's toughest year to coach. Dividing minutes will be tough. Zeke's a Junior...he needs to blossom big-time this year. Breaking-through and beating BCS-programs hasn't been done in a long time. I can't remember ever getting a single vote in any "real" basketball poll, let alone Top 25 ranking. A few votes in the "others" section would be an impressive step forward. Lots of milestones can be reached this season, beyond the elusive NCAA tourney win. I dig the excitement and the potential as much as anyone...but let's be real. Best ever...even by only the eyeball test? MAC basketball has a lot more tradition than that.

Shooting from half court? Reminds me of Bubba! Love a 6' 5" shooter. He looks like he'll be fun to watch.

This Internet injury misinformation thing can go both ways. I saw Latina tweet that Zach the Zip sprained his index finger last night while posting a recruit update. Bet Ianello gives him an ear-full.