Captain Kangaroo

Josh Enjoying the Season

You are on the Akron Fan Message Board. Everyone here knows the origin of the Zips name. Do you really have nothing to do but post on a Zips message board, and tease a Zips intern? Cease with the high school stuff here. No one has time for it.

I think it is best that the NBA has only 8 "super teams." Who really cares about Milwaukee, San Antonio, Orlando, Sacramento, Portland, Dallas, Indiana, Cleveland, etc anyhow? 8 super teams play each other 4 nights/week for 30 weeks, then the top 4 get a bid to the NBA tournament. ESPN can broadcast every game. Ditto - What chance does the NCAA #32 seed have to really win the NCAA Tournament anyhow? It should be a tournament of the Elite 8 every year, not 32 as GP1 suggests. Whomever the media and fans like to see the most should make the tourney. I think that would be fair and make for an exciting event that would blow the socks off the existing, yawner 68 team format.

I worry most about Abreu guarding the perimeter. McNees to a slightly lesser extent. 6' 1" guys shot with confidence over AA this season. He's going to need to get inside the opposing guard's shorts all the way up the court and disrupt their dribble.

Back in the 80's and early 90's, you could find NBA-quality players still playing college ball as college Juniors and Seniors. Had they played in the present era, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony and Larry Johnson would have been gone after their Freshman seasons.

It's a tired argument. The big schools get "home" games against the weakest away teams. What does anyone expect the results to be? BCS school fans and suck-up BCS writers only know big schools. They know school names, not their games. College sports becomes increasingly about only the biggest schools, marketing and ESPN. Thanks to TCU's, Butler's, George Mason's and Boise State's of the world for making the BCS shills like Wilbon and Gordon Gee, etc. look like the ignorant ass-clowns that they are. The correct answer is to let MORE teams in. Give 128 teams a shot. It would add one additional day. It would take away any program's argument that they got jobbed by the selection committee. It would make money. Making the tourney smaller, to only include big schools would be a death knell to the tourney, taking away what makes it special. And to be honest...it would kill mid-major D1 basketball.

I owe that guy a beer.

I thought the guy on the left was dead?

The selection party was very well done. Terry Pluto wrote a nice column on it in today's PD. He likened the party's vibe to a sendoff of a local high school team to the State Tournament, which I thought was a great analogy. Unlike a BCS program where star players are sequestered far away from the general public, with the Zips you feel like you're a personal part of the success. Everyone in attendance "knows" the players and staff on a level that's not possible at most other schools. Brett McClanahan walked through the crowd and proactively shook hands with a bunch of fans. He needs to work in UA Athletics when it's all said and done. In fact, it would be great if several of these guys stayed at UA in some capacity? If affable Steve McNees asked fans donate some money to the hoops program, who could turn him down? All the players and staff were accessible, and pretty much on Cloud 9. Smiles, photos, congratulations and handshakes never got old for any of them. My son got photos with most players, + Dambrot. I winced a little bit when he enthusiastically told Abreu - "I like you cuz you're one of the only Zips that can make a lay-up!" Alex laughed. Zeke took pictures with scores of kids, and the smile on his face was as wide with kid #1 and it was for kid #50. Great event. Thanks to all involved!

Who cares about K.e.n.t. The Zips are the NCAA Tourney. Focus on that. Hate on K.e.n.t. the other 51 weeks of the year.

I just googled "herbstreit relocating to nashville". All of you should do it. It does not paint a good picture for tOSU fans and Columbus. Those people are a bunch of a-holes. It was probably a biased reporter who wrote that Google stuff.

I was impressed with Ball State. They're the one team out of the West that I think has a chance to do some damage next season. They lose only Perry from this year's squad. WMU is a bunch of thug dirtbags. Teams like that don't win anything. EMU, CMU, NIU...they all suck. They've sucked for 5 years, and they'll suck next year too. Toledo will need to improve a lot to reach the level of EMU, CMU and NIU.

Awesome game by Zeke and the guys! Couldn't be prouder to be a UA alum last night! I hope Momma Zeke's next 3,000 miles are even better than the first 3k. Gotta get my dancin' shoes on!

FYI - It looks just as embarassing when Zips fans continuously whine about referee conspiracies.

yes

On the nose, ZipsWin!

This was a topic of much discussion last night. Zeke needs to get a wider base, and beat his opponent to the spot. Presently his feet are slow, and he doesn't get in good defensive position. He looks awkward, and that doesn't do him any favors with the refs. When there's contact, they will call a foul on the awkward-looking guy every time. Zeke needs to work hard on his footwork this summer. He can block shots all day long with whatever footwork he presently uses...but if he wants to stop an opposing center who's backing him down on the low block, he needs to widen-up.

Love the quote.

Why would Joe Akron come out to see Eastern Michigan/Akron? Dial, Head and Boykins are long, long gone. I posted the Round #1 attendance poll for a reason...you knew it would be low. We had no marketing of the team this season. No marquee wins for the umpteenth season. No star players. Barely 20 wins. We were coming off 2 huge losses, the latter on national television. We weren't exactly on a roll in March. Ask Karman or Gaffney -- if they had to pay for their ticket, would they have shown up for that game? I bet they wouldn't. I was there with my son. But I can't blame anyone else for staying at home on a work night, saving the $20 - $40 and listening to Frenchie.

No.

It is impossible to have a discussion with a person who invents their own reality, so I will post the following solely for those casual forum readers. Jim Tressel's offense was a MAJOR NCAA violation. Ferri's offense was a secondary violation. The same level of violation that Ohio State football had 17 documented occurances in 2009-2010. Believe it or not -- There's a reason the NCAA has a differentiation between major and secondary. Secondary offenses are nothing. Clearly reference the ZERO resulting NCAA sanctions against the Zips football program. Absolutely zero. Clearly reference the $250k fine and two game suspension of Jim Tressel, with more sanctions to follow. Clearly reference the multitude of suspended players. Players suspended not for 1 or 2 games, but 5. I feel bad when someone's hero lies and cheats in such an egregious manner. It obviously has rocked some people's very foundation. If posting fantasy beliefs regarding Ohio State football in a Zips football forum gets someone through the day, I'm happy to contribute to the coping mechanism. That's what we're here for. (lol) (omg) (PBR) I'm also happy to see a post of mine from 2009 is still sought as a reference. After re-reading it, it still hold up (where's a pat on the back smilie when you really need it?). I like when people reference my quotes directly, and credit me, rather than paraphrase me and act like the copied thoughts were original.

"Everyone does it." "Everyone cheats...he just got caught." Blah blah blah... Jim Tressel KNEW his players committed a MAJOR NCAA violation. Jim Tressel played student athletes who should have been on suspension in order to win a game. Jim Tressel is a cheat. A liar. A phony. Early in 2010 there was an article in the Plain Dealer detailing 17 secondary recruiting violations by Ohio State. I never posted that article here because minor stuff goes on everywhere. I could care less about a text or two that occurred in a non-contact period, or an Ohio State alum trying to sway a recruit to Columbus. In your warped world Tressel can do no wrong. Writers don't research. You make up your own reality. You cope with your hero's downfall through the same rationalizations that people do whenever a charismatic fraud is exposed. OJ could still get a foursome after he killed 2 people. Jimmy Swaggart could still fill a church after skanking it up. And Tressel will still have plenty of sheep to follow him. Tressel knowingly played ineligible players. That's as big a cheat as there is. If you look the other way, I can only say "Baaaa....baaaaa."

Rationalize all you want...Tressel is a sham. A liar. A cheat. He's Jimmy Swaggart...Jim Baker...insert whatever other phony baloney religious charlatan you want. He's exposed big time, baby. It is fact. I guarantee he doesn't end up at BYU after he's fired.

Best column I've read from the Beacon in a long, long time. Jason Lloyd won't be in Akron for long...dude's got mad skills.