Captain Kangaroo

I guess I missed seeing him play -- both when Akron played here in 1991, and the previous year when Huggy brought the Bearcats to Hawaii. Where does he work as a TV analyst -- what network? If you page down, you will note that Mike Waddell serves on the same Board with AB. Go Zips!! AB does color commentary for the Bearcats sports. Watching a replay of the Bearcats/Zips game coverage from 8-or-so years ago, I laughed out loud at his commentary after Bryan Hipsher got absolutely destroyed by a 6' 9", 270 lb UC player on a layup attempt -- "That kid has absolutely NO business being out on the floor against these guys!" Funny story #2 from that game - The Zips went up 2-0 to begin the game. I began chanting "OH-VER-RAY-TED" in the stands. The Bearcat fans looked at be like I was nuts. I said - "Hey, I gotta get it in while I can!" I think the next time the Zips scored, we cut the Bearcat lead down to... 22-4. I knew what I was doing.

Recent WKY Basketball History 9: 21+ win seasons in the past 10 years 5: NCAA appearances in the past 10 years (one Second round berth, one Sweet 16) 2: NIT appearances in the past 10 years I wish the Zips recent history was so downtrodden.

Found this short bio on AB. IMO - one of the top 2 guards ever to play at UA. He proved his worth, transferring from UA to UC for his senior season and starting alongside Nick VanExel on the Bearcats 1992 Final Four team. AB has put on a little weight? I'm glad to see it isn't only me putting on a few extra pounds in middle-age.

It is nice to be in a position to tell a 6' 9" D-1 recruit that he'd need to redshirt.

Few will arrive to tailgate before 1pm. I'm sure you will have no problem finding a large space to set up. Since the conversion to digital TV, not all network stations can be easily viewed in Akron. I'm guessing one or two is the best you can hope. We'll be in Lot #9, directly behind the main scoreboard. If you want to stop in for a beer before you enter the gate, just let me know.

Link Don't tell Syracuse fans, but per the column they are no longer BCS material -

Who do you get to visit InfoCision Stadium after the first 4 games of the year...when everyone else's schedule is filled with conference opponents? Independent works for Notre Dame, Navy and Army because people want to play them. Ask Dambrot how he'd feel about trying to recruit as an Independent. Or dropping to a crappier conference simply to accommodate UA football going Independent. Wait...has this ever happened before?

We can only hope.... Yeah... MAC football is sooo top heavy. Let's rejoice if we lose one of our top 3 programs.

No.

Mack Rhoades told me "Winning the MAC is nice, but we're thinking beyond the MAC." Did he mean "I'm" instead of "We're"? I'd like to think UA's AD's have been in contact with C-USA many times over the past few years. I personally wonder if UA's budget could handle the increased travel costs associated with C-USA games for the non-revenue sports. It is a lot cheaper to bus your team to Toledo and BG, than fly them to Tennessee and Louisiana. And you know the minute the Zips join C-USA, the BE will pluck the better C-USA teams. So essentially -- we'll be trading directional Michigan opponents for directional Louisiana schools, while increasing our budget. Here's where TW can earn his paycheck.

It's hard to sink, when you're at the bottom.

I dunno how good the team shop will be. The Odd Corner sold skull bongs, and it would violate the rules of eminent domain if the team shop sold skull bongs. So - no skull bongs in the team shop. That is a deal knell.

I found this pic of Martin posted on ZN a few years back. I assume the yellow hair has turned a little grayer of the years, but he must not have changed all that much?

I miss the whole "I'm a tenured professor at UA..blah blah blah"..."Hilltop High....blah blah blah" diatribe too. Poopiter Douche has been an ankle-biting Internet Weasel since day one. I thought after his ZN suspension he'd changed his MO. He actually (for him) had a nice run of on-topic posts. But a weasel apparently doesn't change his stripes. To ZipsNation -- Please, no one here bring up Frank Solich's DUI, and subsequent cover-up claims of being slipped date-rape drugs. We're above that. Thank you.

He's also one rolled ankle away from starting his career at Tri C.

You don't think KD has already gone "Allen Hanson/Ced Middleton" on Ennis? The day Ennis de-committed, I guarantee KD, McFadden and Company pulled out their little black books and began re-kindling some relationships. Ennis seems to act like Favre...but I don't think the Zips are as desperate for Ennis as the Vikings are for Favre.

I think it's funny that, 5 months ago... hell, 2 months ago.... many were complaining that we had too many small players. That we couldn't guard the longer, more rangy players from schools like K.e.n.t, or BCS-type schools. Now we have size, so I guess there needs to be a new fear to take it's place (nature abhors a vacuum). If KD's new group of recruits works out...and that's a BIG if...then we won't need shades. We'll need welder's masks.

I get that Captain, but I'm still allowed to not like it! If it's someone we want, then we should be unhappy about losing them to another MAC school every time. We need to become the destination school of choice for MAC & some BCS caliber players. There will always be a few players that tip the scale based on location or a certain academic program, but we need to start Toledo in recruiting...that's why facilities were built and the iCoach was hired. I would guess we offer scholarships to about 75 kids per year. Maybe more? I could care less if some of them attend Toledo. The only teeny tiny caveat would be if it were an Akron kid. Maybe that would bug me a little. And even then, if the kid wants to go away (from home) for college, I guess... more power to him. I did. F YSU

One beaten dead horse down... 1,345 to go. Maybe with the Lot 9 discussion closed, we're down to 1,344? That's making MAJOR headway! Come on KD... sign another point guard and take us down to 1,343!! If GP1 dropped some of his rants, I think we might get the number down to single-digits?

No way these kids redshirt, after already sitting out a full season to gain eligibility.

You're welcome to stop in at our Lot #9 party any time...and stay as long as you'd like!

I get that Captain, but I'm still allowed to not like it! Fair enough.

Here is my final note on this topic: A few months ago, someone predicted this would happen: It really sucks that someone could make a decision that pissed off, or at minimum stressed-out scores of long-time, devoted Zips fans with a pie-in-the-sky fantasy of filling a gravel parking lot with $5k+ donors. Whomever made that decision has absolutely no touch with reality. That both scares, and disappoints me. I shake my head at the unnecessary public relations blunder. I'm back in Lot #9. I'm happy. Time to move on - drink some beer, eat some food and enjoy the upcoming college football season.

There are 13 MAC schools. At 25 scholarships per year, that's 325 scholarships annually. Many high school players have scholarship offers from multiple MAC programs. Unless the Zips can offer 325 scholarships per year, I think we will always "lose" kids to other MAC programs. I don't think Gabe Gilbert will make or break our 2011 recruiting class. It is August of 2010...somehow we'll recover.

Redshirt = scout team He won't learn one more thing on scout team at the end of the year that he doesn't know right now. Not starting Nicely this year would be like not running your fastest, healthy horse in the Kentucky Derby because you want to breeze him some more so he knows how to run around the track in a circle. No offense Zach, but offering the idea to redshirt potentially one of the best QBs in the league is an example of how comfortable UofA fans have become with losing and the "building process". The Zips have 12 games THIS YEAR, not next year. Fans have bought tickets for this year, not next year. Fans want to see winning this year. It's time to start winning. 20+ years of losing and "building" is enough for me. I can't take it anymore. I'm not saying that's what we should do unless Nicely will sit anyway. I'm saying that if Rodgers wins the job, we shouldn't let Nicely waste a year on the bench if there's the option to redshirt. As for him not learning anything that he doesn't already know, you're telling me that he has a 100% knowledge of a brand new, fundamentally different offensive scheme that he's never played before after just a month or two of practice? He's perfectly comfortable taking snaps under center after spending his entire life in the shotgun spread? How could anyone even fathom Matt as our QB for 12 games this year? I've said it a million times before -- Matt is a super, super kid. Awesome. But he is the #2 QB on this team. It is a stone-cold lock.