Captain Kangaroo

Whenever I see those commercials I marvel at how we have the most phenomenally bright minds in the world walking all about UA, with scores of Doctoral degrees in fields of cutting-edge Science that are constantly re-shaping the world... yet no one on campus can figure our how to win more than one football game in a season, or market dollar hot dogs.

Who knows, maybe an "unfortunate" name serves to toughen a player up? Perhaps Dick Butkus (one example) might not have been the quite the same LB without the teasing that no doubt came along the way. This guy probably never got teased at all. But the writer did: He had went to college at Arizona State University. At ASU, Fair lettered in track and football. Corrected sentence: He had went to college at Arizona State University where he done lettered in track and football. 2:23am and Zipmeister's still going strong.

Always an enjoyable read, ZW. Regarding the passage below, the games were against CMU, EMU and Toledo..three of the most atrocious D-1 hoops programs in the nation. So I'll need to buy into your "wait and see" approach to our new-found defensive success. Cventinovic has elevated his game a bit recently. Zeke is slowly making more of an impact. But we aren't going to have any real success until we toughen up and start banging inside. Our key remains Brett McKnight. And I don't see him buying into defense at this point in his career. We don't defend, we lose...at least to the teams above the bottom 30.

If you go JUCO because of grades...and then don't make grades at the JUCO...that's not a good sign. If he wanted to walk on for a year, and prove he can pass some classes, I could see scholarshipping him in 2012. But I wouldn't roll out the red carpet too soon.

When you play a team as God-awful as EMU, it shouldn't be a matter of a few baskets. That game should be a 20-point blowout win 9 out of 10 times. If we could kick an extra point, we'd have beaten Gardner Webb.

Not to belabor the McKnight point...but he averaged 2.5 FT's per game last year, and shot 77%. This season he's averaging 2 FT's per game, and making 67%. When he was at his most effective last season, he was going 2-9 from the field, but making 5-6 FT's in a given game (remember he began the 2009-10 season horribly at the line, then shot around 90% the last 1/2 of the season). He needs to get back to banging inside and finishing around the rim if he's to be useful to the Zips. If he keeps playing soft he doesn't get to the FT line, and he becomes a shot-a-minute offensive liability.

+2 :lol:

We don't have an alternative but to play Steve. We do have some alternatives to Brett. Brett is Brett. He ain't gonna change. Time to start integrating some of the #3/#4 guys with upside.

+1

There was an article on past Mr. Ohio Football's in the PD last week. It stated Howard was still hopeful to become a Buckeye. But he doesn't seem to be putting in the work required to be a Malone Pioneer, let alone a a BCS student athlete.

You'd have hoped Zeke would be at least honorable mention.

I see what you're saying, ITZ...I wish we'd have stolen some marquee recruits from some BCS programs, or at least seen some "InfoCision Effect" that would make this reflect something to get excited about. But is looks to be pretty pedestrian...not any better or worse than classes of the past couple coaches. That said, the coach addressed as many needs as he could in a single recruiting class. Other than Miami last season, no one really turns things around from cellar-to-championship in year #2. I like that Nicely will be getting some real competition. It will either make him better, or make him transfer. Either is great for a Zips fan, since that means we ultimately end up with a good QB. I think Rossi is a steal. I'm really excited to see him play. I like that we'll have a Penn State-level athlete at WR. And I assume Suelo, who had an Indiana scholarship, will be there too. That gives us two big "BCS-scholarshipped" WR's, and a bevy of smaller guys to fight over what SHOULD be the #3 WR and slot WR. Potts could be our Edelmann in the slot...like Jeremy Bruce, but more durable. We loaded up on both sides of the line with some big kids. We got the Michigan State kid for 2011. I'm happy there. We lost a couple games last season, and several over the past 4 years because we didn't have a reliable kicker. I like that he focused on correcting that problem. For being 1-11, I think Ianello did as good as he could. It won't be until he begins winning, that the combination of winning+InfoCision brings in the caliber of athlete that has a can't miss, "wow-factor" on Signing Day. At least, I hope. I'm not sold at all on the guy that's kicking FG's when we need TD's, and kicking off twice against 1-AA teams. But I have no choice but to give said guy a chance. I'll grade this class a B-. It addressed as many needs as can be addressed in a single class...but it was conservative. A conservative class isn't sexy, but we can't jump from a butt-ugly 487 pounds, to sexy, with 23 scholarships. Next season will be the defining season and recruiting class.

I measured it. Being suspended for 1/2 of your senior season doesn't show leadership.

BCS schools dont have to take chances on risky kids. Mac schools do. Yeah...BCS schools would never hold a scholarship for, say, a molester. From Lawrence Phillips to Cam Newton...man, how easy would it be to list all the at-risk kids that BCS programs happily fight over to offer a free ride?

Has Brett McKnight played well since the Can't game? I'm not trying to pick on him, but it seems like he has been struggling mightily since then. Brett McKnight 2-9? Who could have predicted that?

Scout indicated a scholarship offer from UA a few days ago. It didn't look like anyone else had offered at the time. It's interesting that this class will apparently have TWO kicker/punters (not that we don't need the help, particularly at kicker). With Ianello's penchant for field goals, and our stagnant offense, UA is nirvana kickers and punters!

Per the PD this Morning I couldn't find the column link, but until someone does, trust me.

I think the best thing to come out of last night's game was the win. After that, it was the Coach showing the fans that he's willing to make changes to improve his chances of winning. Historically, Coach K has been VERY loyal to many of his upper-class players. Last night, for the first time this season, we saw McKnight cruising towards a 2-9 performance....when KD put on the brakes and sat him down. He inserted Digs...who made some mistakes...but brought a ton of energy, rebounding and hall-hawking to the fold. Diggs was allowed to make some mistakes and remain on the floor. And he didn't disappoint. Diggs has a long dribble that's ripe to be picked, but he'll figure it out if he's allowed to continue playing. And I think he will be. I liked PT for Roberts. He's taking care of the ball better than Abreu, DEFENDING BETTER and shooting it better too. I think a reduced role for Abreu is probably welcomed by Alex himself at this point in time. He seemed to be a little more at ease when the bulk of the load wasn't on his shoulders. We all wanted Egner to get some minutes, and he finally got a couple. I hope he continues to see the floor. He can't score like McKnight, but he can rebound and defend. And at this time, we need rebounders and defenders in the low post more than we need offense. McNees gets the weekly "Jawanza Moore Onslaught of Missed Lay ups Award." One guy that won't get it this year is Darryl Roberts. He's close to "money" when he's near the hoop. Bardo was outstanding last night. He played like the bad-ass bruiser we needed him to be. I'd keep giving him minutes. Zeke had a nice game offensively. And altered a bunch of shots. But somehow he needs more rebounds. Getting one against that Side Show Bob impersonator was too few. Still - nice game by the big guy. CMU seems to be a total train wreck right now. it reminds me of the Hipsher era, in the ensuing days after the Andrick fight. They even have a Savior Coach's son?! Elton Alexander (today's PD) took the angle that Zips fans should not clamor for increased PT for our Freshman, because that's what CMU's doing...and it ain't working. I disagree. CMU is a horrible team with a volatile coach and a lot of internal issues. They didn't lose because they were playing a bunch of Freshman...they lost because they are a terrible basketball program. Nice game by Nik last night. He missed his requisite couple bunnies, but otherwise played with a lot of energy and got results. Can't get too high after holding such a crappy team to around 40 points...but I can't complain about a nice win last night either. Good coaching, and good play on the court for the Zippers.

This is very bad for us. I know Andrew's parents, yes he's a very good kid and a hard worker, but in no way is he a D-I recruit. His only offers have been Patriot league schools like Bucknell and Holy Cross. Youngstown State isn't even giving him a look. Looks like we're getting a bit desperate. He sounds like the right size for a linebacker or long snapper. Any chance he is being looked at for those positions? Historically if you look at a lot of our offensive linemen, they were brought in at 245 lbs, and beef up to 300 by their redshirt freshman year. Kemme is a good example. If the kid is athletic, with a good frame, he's fine.

Yet another idea taken from ZipsNation. You're welcome Tom. Good luck with the $1.00 Buck-a-Roo Night..oh, I mean "Dollar Night"... next Wednesday! Next time, please use the name too. Using 1/2 of a good idea is not as good as using all of it.

His tirade was so profane -- How profane was it? The Zips Dance team started dancing to it.

Channeling Vince Hill...are you there, Vince...?

I want Milliken.

We're probably desperate to fill our recruiting class. 4 spots to fill in only a few days. This is probably a sign we aren't pursuing any more JUCOs. I would bet you are completely wrong.

Catching up with Dan racer will like this wun since he wunts to bring back dan. haha.