Captain Kangaroo

But he leads the nation in Time of Possession.

Why would anyone be excited about a home and home with Marshall? They are a shell of the program that they were in the MAC and nobody really came out to watch those games. I just dont get it.+1-1How can anyone say no one came out to the games...unless you want to lie? Every Marshall game a the Rubber Bowl drew GREAT crowds. Every game was exciting. Their fans travel great.Marshall beat a 9-3 OU program in the Little Caesar's Bowl in December, so obviously they are not a shell of their former self. They would have won the MAC East in 2009.C-USA is head and shoulders above the MAC in football. Home-Home vs. Marshall is a great "get" for the Zips schedule. The game will sell out. Easily.

Just curious if anything interesting was gleaned from last night's show.

Do you post Steve McNees threads on the Cavs' blogs?

So it's either "stats" or "emotion?" How about "stats," and "having a free-thinking bone in your head to decide on one's own what one just witnessed?" If games were played by computers, then reading stats would be the perfect way to follow a team. Hell...there'd be no need to watch a game. The stats would be a 100% perfect representation of the competiton. But...sadly for Stat Guy...the games are played by human beings. Coaching decisions are made by human beings. Fatigue comes into play. Mental toughness comes into play. Crowd noise effects the game. Referees decisions affect the outcome. Things occur late in a game that don't occur at the 10-minute mark of the first half. Hustle-plays can win games, but cannot be quantified by statistics. And on and on and on...Some fans have the ability to blindly trust every move a player or coaching staff makes, accept those moves, applaud them and walk away from the game with no desire to kibitz about how the game played-out. To take the game at face value.Other fans value the human element of the games over statistics. Which team competed harder...which player shined over the others...which coaching decisions were puzzling and which were dead-nutz on, which player obviously didn't come to play on a given day...etc. They enjoy discussion of the game's ebb & flow. Of speculating how things may have turned out differently under alternate scenarios.I learn WAY more from reading this board and seeing how other human beings viewed the game I just witnessed than I ever could by evaluating a +/- sheet. People who need such stats to tell them what they just witnessed first-hand wasted their money on a game ticket.Viva the post-game kibitz - be it @ BW-3's, or the Internet!

It was lacerated last season against Boston College. When the doctors went in to fix it, they found he was born with only one kidney.

ok there comes a point in time where you have to look at this and say "it's just a game" YOU HAVE ONE KIDNEY!!! no need to risk the other in a football game. I know it's important to him and he's put a lot of work into it, but honestly whats more important playing a game or protecting your last freakin kidney by not playing a 6th year of college ball. you've had your five years now thank the fans and fade into the sunsetEspecially when you're playing football for K.e.n.t. State. You risk your life to play for a team that will probably win 3-4 games in the MAC next season? Crazy...The ideal scenario for Eugene would be that Doug Martin holds him out of the OOC games where he stands a great chance of getting injured, and plays him only in MAC games where he's going up against D-linemen that are essentially his size. Eugene benefited greatly from schemes like the 3-3-5.

Some people watch the game, and others watch stats, I guess.Say a player plays 40 minutes per game, and in the last minute of every critical game that player throws the ball away. Otherwise, that player has a clean slate.Stat Guy can spin the statistic angle to say "Hey - He's great...he only has one turnover per game." Baloney.Crunch time is when players either wilt or shine. There's no stat for guys that are clutch, and those who aren't. Their box scores can look identical.How were Alex Rodriguez's stats when the pressure was off, vs. the playoffs for over a decade? You can give me all the A-rod stats you want...until he delivered in the clutch, he was a liability.How about Robert Horry? By statistics, a pedestrian journeyman. But who do you want to take the shot when you need to win an NBA game? Robert Horry.There are certain players who you want to have the ball when you need a bucket. There are others who take mysteriously begin taking ill-advised shots and turning the ball over in crunch time.I like McNees. I just don't like him handling the ball in crunch time. He should be running off screens, looking for the ball.

One Kidney, but he's going to risk it.When the Zips beat K.e.n.t. next season, he'll have lost 5 of his 6 games vs. the Zips, I believe?

The ability to take Steve McNees off the dribble hardly qualifies him for the NBA. And it also seems that the Zips defense (not only McNees) is making a lot of NBA prospects out of our competition lately. It used to be unheardof that an individual would go for 25+ against the Zips. Not anymore.Cooper had a nice game. He does remind you of a Spud Webb/Earl Boykins type-player. But he has a hell of a long way to go.I'm sure Miami thought Steve McNees was going to be an unstoppable force when he torched them for 6 threes two seasons ago. Ditto Brett McKnight his Freshman year against K.e.n.t. One MAC game does not an NBA star make.The book will be out on Cooper. Teams will be ready for him in Cleveland. We'll see if he can back it up.

I saw this kid named Chris McKnight today. Flat-out awesome. Has NBA written all over him.

McNees went Freddy Brown, tossing a bullet pass to absolutely no one with 30-something seconds remaining in regulation. We were in the driver's seat and it was a totally unforced error. It very easily could have cost us the game. He also hoisted an unnecessary 30-foot three pointer in OT with way too much time left on the clock. It too could have cost us the game.McNees has his strengths and his weaknesses. Being the off guard is his strength. Being the point guard in a tight game is not his strength. What's the stat that quantifies late game hyperactivity? If you figure it out, let me know. Please call it "The Ali Kart Percentage."

When you start pulling out Reagan-era stats, you are really grasping for straws. Like I said - If a MAC West program, or OU were to win the MAC Tourney, a 15 or 16 seed is possible. If a good MAC program...Akron, Can't, Buffalo, Miami...wins the tourney, a 15 or 16 seed is not possible.

No MAC program has ever been a 15 or 16 seed. Only if OU, or one of the MAC West teams stole the MAC tourney, would a 15 or 16 seed happen. If Miami won the MAC tourney, they would be damn close to 20-wins, with a very respectable RPI. A #14 seed is the absolute worst-case.And - CSU, as a 13 seed, won in the 1st round last season. I would hardly count them out in round 1. Waters can coach.

GP1 has had one of his better weeks of posts, IMO. One of his recent points is a calling out the basketball program to clean up it's cream puffs and play some "body bag" games to bring revenue to the UA athletics department. The football team plays 25% of it's schedule against SEC, Big 10 and Big East teams this fall. Like any MAC program, they will not be favored in any of these contests. But, they will bring some nice cash flow into the JAR offices by playing these games. At the expense of the Head Coach's winning percentage.Two very relevant examples of mid-major hoops programs who schedule very tough include Miami and Cleveland State.Miami played the following teams to begin the 2009-10 season:Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico, Dayton, Temple, Cincinnati, Xavier, Colorado.They lost every game. Some close, some not-so-close. As of today, Miami stands at 11-13 overall, but 8-3 in the MAC (tied with the Zips for 2nd place in the MAC).CSU played the following teams to begin their 2009-10 season:Kentucky, Virginia, Wichita State, West Virginia, Ohio State, Kansas State.Like Miami, they lost every game. Some close, some not-so-close. As of today, CSU stands at 13-12 overall, but 9-4 and sitting in 2nd place in the Horizon (to #22 ranked Butler, whom they play 2...probably 3 times every season)Both programs can sell their recruits that they will play "high level" competition if they attend Miami/CSU. Both programs are bringing in good money to their respective athletic departments. Both programs remain highly competitive in their respective conferences, despite their loss-riddled starts.If, like everyone's mantra seems to be...."The only thing that matters is the MAC Tourney"... then why not play a super-tough start to the season, bring in some revenue, get your highlights on ESPN, give yourself several opportunities at BCS-level upsets that you can sell to recruits...all that stuff.It seems like the only thing you have to lose by playing a tough OOC schedule is ... money?

D1realscout with a gem!

Tourney info

Drink your beer in a plastic cup. Be 21-or-older. Plan on using a gas grill, but you can probably get away with a charcoal grill if you feel like risking it. I'm PM you with some details. There is a large grassy lot a couple blocks from campus. Lots of the younger, more-rowdy fans seem to park there. Lot #9 is where we park. Luigi's has been mentioned by several. It's a small Italian restaurant just outside of downtown. It is kind of a local institution. I don't know how feasible a group of 30 would be. As I said, it's small. If you stay in the Fairlawn area, there are a ton of things to do. And it's only 10 minutes from campus. North Canton has a lot of hotels too, and is 10 minutes south of campus. The hotels in downtown Akron are ok. I'll think about it. The drive-in type burger joints like Swensons and Sky Way are somewhat unique to Akron. But in the end, it's burgers and fries. Tell me how many tee times you will need, and what day, and I'll set up a course. I'll get at least one, maybe 2 or three Zips foursomes to join you.

Rasor Probability Index?

Obviously, it can be seen in the severe NCAA sanctions we've been saddled with. How, oh how did Ianello recruit under such circumstances?

I was wrong in predicting "Anything Conyers will give us this season is gravy." Conyers senior-year All-MAC performance has been crucial to our success. He carried us for a stretch, and remains arguably our most consistent performer.I was correct in predicting we don't win an NCAA tourney game without Zeke being a major contributor. Without him, should we advance to the Big Dance, we're one-and-done. He's the "X-factor" that gives us a fighting chance.

I think you could live 1,000 years and never make a safer assumption than that one.

Okay, let me get this straight.You have a problem with "lack of control"?Yet..... you appear to be griping about suspensions, which is an indication that policy is being enforced, or at least that anarchy is not going to prevail.Right? First off, let me just say that, philosophically speaking, and sociologically as well, control is an illusion.However, in the sense of maintaining discipline, a suspension is not only an indication that something went wrong, it is also inherently an indication that something is being done to correct it. Since players are human beings and not robots on remote control, no coach is "in control" so to speak. Now, to be fair, I think that what you are suggesting is that KD is being heavy handed, and the suspensions are unwarranted?No, what I am saying is this:These are full scholarship athletes on a Div I team. The coach's job is to motivate them to be good players AND good students AND good citizens. Even the THREAT of suspension means something is wrong. That should be a last resort. Now, a player can stray now and then. Lets face it, Babe Ruth, the greatest ballplayer and probably the greatest pro athlete of all time would have been suspended by KD before he ever got into a game, and RIGHTFULLY SO! He was a bum off the field.But after Humpty was suspended last week, the message should have gotten out. That is did not is partly, if not totally, the coaches fault. I could be the coach and suspend players, that takes no special talent. It is maintaining team and personal discipline WITHOUT imposing sanctions that takes special talent.I would say every group of players is different. And every group is motivated by a different type of discipline.Dambrot has rarely ever suspended a player. I recall Travis getting a 1/2 game suspension for Nevada Game #1. That's all that comes to mind.Do you think that the Travis episode was the only transgression that's happened over the past 5+ years? Obviously the coaching staff has used alternate methods of disciplining players over the course of the last several years. You just don't hear about it.I give Coach credit for having the guts to yank his #1 offensive threat, and -arguably- his #1 guard to send a message that BS won't be tolerated. It cost us one conference loss...and almost TWO conference losses. Don't think Coach didn't realize the potential to go 0-2 by benching these guys, and potentially cost us a very valuable high MAC tourney seed.

CMU Board Comments

I care where he goes. Because it's K.e.n.t. If he went to Drake or Idaho, I wouldn't care.If every student athlete @ K.e.n.t. flunked out tomorrow, I'd do a dance.