Captain Kangaroo

Football-wise, Buffalo was a blight on the MAC (and that is tough to accomplish) for years...until Turner Gill. Then they were actually something the MAC could be a little proud of? Toledo was a flagship football program for years...then recently went in the crapper. Time will tell if Buffalo just got lucky, or if they are on to something good. I'm not worried about Toledo football. It will be back. The school is committed to winning.

If he were a Moderator, then you'd be dissing him. Poor Mike just can't win... Welcome back, CK. It just hasn't been the same around here without your unique commentary. For the record, I don't diss moderators, only immoderators. You made the kid from McDonald smile today, Dave.

You are correct. It essentially creates "The Fetid Four" -- Four teams who need to win a bogus NCAA Tourney play-in game just to get the right to participate in the "real" tourney. Three mid-majors that used to play on Thursday now get to play on Tuesday. Booo....

I'll respond here. Hopefully it's ok with Mike? * Quarterback — Outlook: If Nicely stays healthy, my retinas are en fuego. I continue to be astounded by anyone who gives Matt Rodgers a shot at the starting QB position. Matt is a super kid and a hard worker. But he doesn't have the arm strength to start as a MAC QB. Can he run? Sure. But his frame isn't like Tebow's. If the Zips rely on Rodgers' running ability...it will be an effective, but short-lived experiment. He'll get injured. He's a valuable back up to PN7. Nicely is going to be awesome. He'll get the whole snap-from-center thing solved this summer. He has a cannon, and if he gets OL protection...look out. * Running back – Outlook: Cautious optimism. Alex Allen will be a stud, IF he can take the pounding of a full season as a feature back. He started to return to form late last season, and by all accounts he's 100% for 2010. Dale Martin is an explosive, elusive back...when he's not on the trainer's table. If Martin can shake the injury bug, the Zips RB situation will be the envy of the MAC. Broderick Alexander? People were high on him last season. I wasn't. He was put in an impossible position, with his redshirt being pulled so late. And I applaud him for trying his best to help the team. But he needs to break initial contact with some regularity before I'm sold on him being an effective RB. Nate Burney is a wild card. He was somewhat of a HS legend in Youngstown, and is Mooney's #2 all time rusher last I checked. And Mooney is one of the more storied programs in the state. I think Nate has something to prove. And with Ianello's fresh eyes to evaluate things, Burney could be one of those recruits buried by JD who surprises us all in 2010. More later....lunch is over...

Featured Game on the Big10 Network 7pm start would mean GREAT tailgating. Assuming I can't swing both K.entucky and Indiana, this night game would definitely be the roadie game-of-choice.

Zips to Play Golden Gophers on December 15th in Minneapolis. Now when is Mike Thomas gonna play us in hoops?! Mack...the phone lines between Houston and Akron are functional, as far as I know...

If he were a Moderator, then you'd be dissing him. Poor Mike just can't win...

Several teams from CUSA have made the jump to a BCS conference...including Cincinnati. Meanwhile, none have moved up from the MAC. USF? They're in the Big East. Things have worked out well for them. Depending upon how things shake out, I'm guessing Marshall will be in much better shape to ascend conferences than any MAC program. The move to CUSA didn't hurt them. It was a great interim move. And...Marshall fans get to watch teams like SMU, Houston, Memphis, etc instead of EMU, K.e.n.t. and Ball State. Zips -- Move to CUSA tomorrow if at all possible.

They're not quite dead yet. Memphis basketball was around long before Calipari, and their massive basketball bankroll & Fed Ex Forum says they won't be "down" long.

I was out of town for three weeks. Just returned on Sunday. Looking forward to getting back in the groove.

Maybe we could play our Mountaineer game at The Q or Wolstein Center? I have to believe CUSA will be raided heavily by the "new" Big East before any MAC school would appear on their radar. Unfortunately I don't see any way a 16-team Big 10, and the fallout, would help Zips athletics.

Then this photo should infuriate him:

Looks like Jacksonville is a more likely destination than Akron?

Coming back to the board after three weeks of being out-of-town, I grade this one:

BTW - I am 100% as much a Zips basketball fan as you. The fact that I may also enjoy football, does not diminish my support for the hoops program. It's my FB program, and my BB program. I jump just as high when Steve McNees hits a game-winning 3 as I do when Deryn Bowser pulls-in a game-winning TD. I'm equally as devastated when Buffalo beats us at the Rubber Bowl in 4 OT's as I am when Xavier beats us at the JAR in 3 OT's. Also - I am equally as frustrated with a 1/2 full InfoCision as I am with a 1/2 full JAR. CK = BB Guy and FB Guy. And an argument can be made for SG too. I'm a ZW Guy too.

No, I think it was necessary. Dambrot constantly beats the drum on what he perceives as poor attendance and poor fan support. I do too. Hence we're alike. To go a step further, KD has a Masters in Marketing, and I have worked in Sales & Marketing for the past 18 years. In that respect I see things through similar glasses as KD. You don't really care about Joe Akron. Or filling the house. That differs from my point of view, and KD's. Which is fine. I take no offense. As an Engineer, I assume that when you see a product that is poorly engineered, it bugs you? More so than it might bug a non-Engineer. It's the same with me and how I perceive the promotion of the 2010 basketball season. Nothing more. As an extension of that example -- UA Marketed the "White Out" game heavily. In response, people showed up in droves, and all bought into the "White Out" concept. If that effort were brought into other UA games this past season, our attendance, and home court advantage, would have increased. Penno, Austin Peay, WGB and Can't Statex2 weren't 10 years ago. In fact, four of those pain-examples happened this season (as you know). Oratorious D.I.G's post inferred Zips Basketball has had no painful losses. I think that statement is laughable. As should any fan of Zips men's hoops.

You appear to care deeply about Joe Akron's interest level. Me? Not so much. Go Zips! I guess I'm a little more like Dambrot, and you're a little more like our Promotions Group? Fair enough.

Anthony Stacey, Keith McCloud, Brandon Hunter, Jose Davis, Jeff Penno, Austin Peay & Wisconsin Green Bay...the K.e.n.t. State bludgeonings....yeah, being a Zips basketball fan is f-ing Shangri La.

Watch it, 'Watcher. Don't piss-off Tailgate Guy!

Might be your best post ever! Could there possibly be hope for Zach?

Wow...a fresh, sound theory? I LIKE it! Zach - Can you please find me reams of statistics to back that one up? .xls format will suffice.

I haven't discovered the financial stats motherload, so hopefully Zach can address this. I await those stats like I await a vasectomy with a rusty butter knife. 1.) Stats regarding the football programs profitability are worthless at this time. Anything referencing the Rubber Bowl era is irrelevant. And last year's "Honeymoon" season is too small a sampling. 2.) 5 years of 20 wins and status quo = 5 years of 3k attendance. That's all you need regarding basketball. Fetch those stats for Dave if you want, Zach. FYI - His car may need washed too.

Here is where Basketball Guy needs to take a step back, divorce himself from his love of the program and respect for the players efforts and accomplishments...and try to objectively get in the head of Joe Akron. If you want a 90% full JAR, you need the other 40% to be filled by Joe Akron, who has proven, with over 5 years of indisputable data to back it up, that he will not show up if the status quo is maintained. URI wasn't a waxing...but it was a loss. Like Dayton was a loss. Like all the major OOC games we've played over the last 2 full seasons. Joe Akron sees the losses mount in these games. With zero marquee wins to offset them. Joe Akron is not thrilled with last second wins over lower-middle mid majors like WMU and EMU. It's just a fact. Keeping up with Texas A&M and coming away with a double digit loss doesn't excite Joe Akron (or many others). Home CBI losses to Wisconsin Green Bay don't either. This is the TV/YouTube/X-Games/X-Box generation. You need to do something special to pull Joe/Jane/Billy Akron away from their computers and home theaters. What is a laudable loss for Basketball Guy is nowhere near appearing on Joe Akron's entertainment radar. Joe Akron HAS proven he'll show up for a big game. Like K.e.n.t. But we've put on a poor show for Joe on the rare occasion he graces us with his presence. Maybe Football Guy is Joe Akron? In the end it doesn't matter. If you want to fill the remaining 2,500 seats, the status quo needs to be blown up. If no one cares about the 2,500 empty seats...which is perfectly ok...then keep the status quo.

Word on the street is Ianello had the existing scoreboard torn down. New 2010 InfoCision endzone view is below:

The UA "Football Guy" vs. "Basketball Guy" has existed @ UA since Dennison was canned. That pretty much spans my era as a resident of Summit County. It just gets old... No ill intent towards my friend Zip_ME87. His post simply inspired a minor rant on my part. And that chain reaction is the backbone of this board...posts that generate intelligent, opinionated and passionate observations on all aspects of Zips athletics. ZW makes a lot of excellent points. The one I'll disagree with is using the blanket statement that (paraphrasing) "Zips football doesn't cover it's costs." That certainly was the case for every year up until 2009. But that should no longer be the case. I think all history of Zips football and profit/loss during the Rubber Bowl era needs to be locked away forever. The book keeping began last season, and I don't think the profitability (or loss-ability) can accurately be gauged until 2014. If it is an albatross in 2014, then someone isn't doing their job. And as a final point of clarification - No one denies that the basketball program is highly successful. It's having it's best sustained run in the history of the program. Winning 68% (24-11) of their games is equivalent to the football team winning 8 games, and Football Guy has never won 8 games in the Division 1 era, regardless of the ease of schedule. But...the JAR is 1/2 full. And have seen Z-E-R-O ideas on how to correct that. And it needs to be corrected. In my "Blame Rant," I listed numerous easily fixable problems within Zips basketball. Fixing them will put additional butts in the seats, improve the Program's image and visibility, and will not cost squat. We'll see how many problems are corrected in 2010-11. If past history is any indication...nothing will be done...people will toss up their hands and say "Why oh why can we not support the Zips basketball program"...and then the annual grousing about the football program will enter it's 26th consecutive season.