Captain Kangaroo

Hawkins odds are as long a Charlie Coles-coached triple overtime game. Group all the MAC West coaches as Field Horses at 20-1. Witherspoon still has a legit chance.

CSU's attendance is on the rise. They drew 8k+ for a recent home game. CSU is getting a lot of media love both nationally and locally. The 2010-11 Zips would kill to have CSU's media situation. And arena. For 2010-11 there's no doubt - CSU is the top mid-major basketball team in NE Ohio. But CSU could lose their tourney, and the Zips could dance in 2011. Very good chance it could happen.

Dambrot has turned a defenseless, offenseless, star-free team into a MAC championship contender. What took him so long to get this crew to play defense? Who cares...he kept preaching and preaching and finally converted the masses. The Zips are definitely a team where the whole has become greater than the sum of the parts. The Zips beat #2 COTY candidate Charlie Coles Wednesday night, and Coach Dambrot gets a well-deserved post-season accolade. Coles has done an amazing job despite some serious injuries. If he knocks off the Zips for the 2nd time, he'll be the 1st octogenarian to win the MAC COTY that I'm aware of? K.e.n.t's coach? No chance. OU's? No chance. Ball State's? No chance. Wednesday night @ the JAR decides it.

I agree. I absolutely LOVE Saturday night games...BW-3's for 2-hours beforehand, and then the game. But if I didn't have season tix, and was just Joe Akron, it would be a different story. Sitting on those wooden bleachers for 2 hours watching mediocre basketball is really a tough sell to the wife on a Saturday night. Obviously the solutions to solving hoops attendance problems run a lot deeper, but the JAR seating, concessions, amenities, etc. is a big contributing factor for anyone looking for a fun Saturday night out. The JAR is a cracker box, and it won't change any time soon. Could the JAR sell out? Sure. It still does for K.e.n.t games, and it did for LeBron's St V crew. But that's when there's a serious Buzz in the community. My Buzz from spending 2 hours at BW-3's only goes so far to help the Zips.

Were there really so few people there? If so, shame on Akron. The Blue Jays are a name program and the game should have been close to sold out. For the last decade+ the Zips have played 3rd fiddle to K.e.n.t. State and Ohio State in NE Ohio hoops. The Zips have maintained a consistent level for the past 7 years, and K.e.n.t. has now regressed to our level. We've now slipped 1/2 a spot, to "3rd-and-1/2 fiddle," below CSU and Ohio State and tied with K.e.n.t. It is tough the Zips, tied for 3rd NE Ohio Fiddle, to draw more than 2,800 for Creighton. There simply isn't the interest or incentive. Especially if all you do to market the event is place a poorly ripped-off .jpg flyer on your web site promoting a whopping 20% off tickets. You reap what you sew, Marketing-wise. You are who you are, basketball-wise. 2,800 is exactly what should have been expected. If Marketing really pushed the event, and the hoops team hadn't experience such a bad Jan/Feb stretch, and the game was televised...then you approach a sell-out.

Cochran going to Youngstown State - did he get the boot or did he quit??? Interesting. He was a Girard kid who played for YSU, so Youngstown is his home. But Akron is 50 minutes from Youngstown...so there's no "I wanted to move back home for family reasons" excuse. Who knows...who cares.... I am excited to have "The Johnnyzips84 Impostor" as out new S & C Coach!

Looks like Mike Cochran got the boot after only 1 season on the job?

*Pssst*...don't tell anyone....but if he sent out that video, no one would take him, and he'd still be a Zip. Sorry, I didn't mean to include your message when I quoted Rootforoo44. Do you not agree that he is the best all around player on this years team? Nik is playing awesome. If he leaves UA early it will be a crime. And if it is a crime, someome from K.e.n.t. basketball was involved.

*Pssst*...don't tell anyone....but if he sent out that video, no one would take him, and he'd still be a Zip.

Hopefully it was an .avi of his dunk attempt against BG.

I think if we played them you would see that we don't. If OU beat Georgetown last season, why is Akron beating Ohio State impossible? It happens all the time in the tourney.

Someone had to stop the stupidity.

So we lost a Junior that never saw the field. We lost a Freshman to The Cavity Fillers of the IUPUI Intamural League (IUPUI hasn't had a football team since 1965). We lost Nolan Plate, who was as key to the Zips success as: Who cares.

Douche Dislikes Bracket Buster.

Plate, Heiss and Vidmar - No one cares. Greenwood is a disappointing loss.

Miami's home basketball crowds are only slightly larger than EMU's home football crowds. Seems like the Miami AD is against fans in general?

Unbelievable that someone rips me off so blatantly. All it would have taken was a simple PM or post stating "Thanks for the idea" and everything would be fine. I hope the classless lackey that took credit for this as their own work enjoys ZN.O. I used to provide Marketing ideas to the Thomas administration. Many were used, and they always had the class to say "thanks." I miss classy people. They're a thing of the past. Given the Captain's sarcastic history, I can't tell if this is serious or not. I'm serious. People who take credit for other people's work or ideas make me sick. Just a pet peeve of mine. I'm sure there are a lot of people who are cool with it. Since the Thomas Administration left, ZN.O has always had a Rex Ryan/Foot type relationship. ZN.O is UA Athletics' big juicy foot. They won't ever admit they love a big smelly foot, but reality shows they're addicted to 'em.

Unbelievable that someone rips me off so blatantly. All it would have taken was a simple PM or post stating "Thanks for the idea" and everything would be fine. I hope the classless lackey that took credit for this as their own work enjoys ZN. I used to provide Marketing ideas to the Thomas administration. Many were used, and they always had the class to say "thanks." I miss classy people. They're a thing of the past.

I have said in the past, and continue to say - "God Bless the Bracket Buster." Screw staying in Conference 100% of the time. I've seen Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan enough to make me puke. Throw a true mid-major hoops fan a bone! The Bracket Buster is essentially the only way we can get opponents like VCU, Nevada and Creighton to come to the JAR. If it weren't for the Bracket Buster we'd be scheduling the all-too-familiar record-padding cup cakes. We'd always wonder, but never really know how we'd stack up against the Colonial or Missouri Valley conferences. We'd never have a shot at a February national TV game. Is it helping decide whether or not Creighton/Akron gets an NCAA at-large? No. But who cares. Thanks you ESPN. You're typically evil...but in this instance you rule.

You said if we win we'd have a bye period. Buffalo also had to lose to make it work. You are correct. I'm sorry .. maybe I missed something, but last night's win gives us a bye? Wow! Is the tournament this week? Zach said so, so it must be true.

You said if we win we'd have a bye period. Buffalo also had to lose to make it work. You are correct.

Tough for a mid-major to lose guys to the NBA (Sanders and Maynor) and recover quickly...those players don't fall into your lap annually. Look at Butler this season after losing Haywood. All of the sudden they're mortal. Regarding K.e.n.t/Miami - I root for K.e.n.t. to lose every game.

We win by 15 instead of 30.

You never win this award when your team is a favorite. You win it when your team is near the bottom of the pre- or early-season heap. The 2010-11 Zips fit that description. The Zips new-found defensive prowess...the emergence of Cventinovic as a dependable stud...Diggs getting increased PT and wreaking havoc...the move to bring Abreu off the bench and start McNees at PG...and a home stretch re'sume' featuring some nice wins over upper-tier MAC teams...it looks like this could be his year? Who'da thunk it only a couple weeks ago? It will be really interesting to see how the Zips fare against the Blue Jays this Saturday. KD has the rap of not being able to beat marquee Bracket Buster opponents, getting beaten twice by VCU and Nevada. And also losing to a bad Valpo squad. Was the Austin Peay loss also a Bracket Buster return game? I forget. Creighton isn't having their typical strong mid-major season, but they're above .500 in the MVC. It would be a nice win for the Zips, the MAC, and also push KD's late COTY surge a little more towards being a no-brainer decision.

I guess I'd rather have Cosgrove than the retread UCLA ended up hiring.