Captain Kangaroo

Excellent quote!It reminds me of one of my favorite golf quotes, "100% of the putts that come up short of the cup don't go in."I don't think the Zips schedule is THAT far off from being attractive.The NC State, Texas A&M and Rhode Island games are good mid-to-upper level tilts. Drake, Valpo, UIC, Niagara, Wyoming and Austin Peay are solid mid-majors. Even a Malone or Walsh is ok for a tune up. That only leaves the UNCG, St Francis and extra D-III games and ones that can be improved upon.I get the fact that we need our young guys to play, and that playing a top-heavy BCS-laden Nov/Dec schedule won't allow that to happen. I get the fact that we want to get our 20-wins. I get that primo opponents want too much money to come to the JAR. What I don't get, or like, is that I see no end to the present scheduling pattern. I keep wanting to see the Zips rise up and knock off some noteworthy opponent, and instead I keep hearing how great "Niagara" is. How great UNCG or St Francis is. Give Joe Akron credit for knowing his college basketball...those programs (UNCG & USF) are terrible. When do the Zips take their game, and their scheduling, to "the next level?" Next season? The season after? The last two games have been against pathetic opponents. But the Zips played excellent basketball and beat them as they should. For the first time in quite a while, the Zips are nailing open shots. They're showing glimpses of the old Dials/Middleton/Joyce assassin-mentality from the perimeter...and that's with Humpty experiencing a pretty big slump. Inside, the presence of Zeke is absolutely a game-changer. Hell...Conyers may be playing the best basketball of anyone on the team?! This Zips team is rounding into form and gaining confidence. Hey...it could be that our progression is due to our OOC schedule's mix?In random closure, I say - Win a bunch of games and get me a sweet opponent for the Bracket Buster. Then beat the bastards. Wins against Rhode Island, Wyoming, Drake and <insert 14-3 upper mid-major Bracket Buster opponent here> will look nice at season's end. In 2010-11, kick the OOC schedule up a notch.

St Francis wouldn't win a MAC West game. There's "MAC West Bad"...and then there's "St Francis PA Bad." It's like comparing eating lima beans, or poop. Lima beans are horrible, but they ain't poop.[Note - I have not tried poop. If anyone has, and has enjoyed it, well...keep it to yourself]

You need to fix your link CK, it goes to an article about Syracuse football.Fixed!

MAC Hoops in 2009-10...blech.Over the course of time, the conference ebbs and flows. But it is hard to believe that only 8-10 years ago, the conference was putting out NBA 1st rounders?Daniels...Trent...Sczerbiak...Boykins...even guys like Brandon Hunter, Keith McCloud and Anthony Stacey were markedly better than just about anyone in the MAC right now.I think the Zips have held up their end of the bargain, and are an improved program from the early 2000's. But who else in the MAC can say they are better than they were 8 years ago? It is unreal how everyone's worse off.

Old friend Jose Cruz moves on to Syracuse after Hofstra drops football

He's a great player, but I don't think he's as good as Zakuani. It will be interesting to see where he goes in the draft.While it sucks to lose him, it is a great recruiting tool to have your team as "the fast track to the MLS."

Cleveland State's scheduling philosophy is very "Big East." Does that mean they're a Big East caliber program? No. If Saint Francis played in the MAC, they would probably not win a single conference game. Hell...they could field an all star team, combining the best of Saint Francis Pa and Saint Francis NY and still probably go "o-fer" the MAC. If they did win a game, it would certainly not be against a MAC East opponent. MAYBE they could get lucky and beat Toledo or EMU. At home. Once.To suggest a Northeast Conference doormat is a "MAC-level" team is pretty ludicrous.

You have never been so wrong. I dunno 'bout that...!

I would love to see Mitch Browning come here. Could Curt Mallory have been recommended by Vince Okruch?I would have hoped Okruch would have had a shot at the DC position. Hopefully he still gets a look as the LB coach.Browning's paycheck from Syracuse ends in 2009, so he should be ready for his next "pay" (non GA) job. He has the ties to TW, so him moving to UA from Tennessee would make sense.

Now there's a plan. Unfortunately, it is one that the basketball staff and Danny Ferry of the Cavaliershave tried to set up at least a half dozen times. Plus, it would be far more advantageous to bush whacka BCS opponent in the friendly confines of the JAR. Playing at the Q neutralizes.I think you can stop by the basketball offices and voice your opinions most any afternoon. Call aheadfirst and make sure the coaches are available as practice, workouts, scouting and recruiting sometimescause some or all of them to out of the office. This is for real. They will happy to meet you.No "high profile" team will come to the JAR.The "semi-high" profile teams that have played at the JAR recently have all beaten the Zips (Nevada, VCU, Dayton, etc.)The Zips shouldn't play and neutral/home games against high profile competition unless we're poised to beat them. The Zips have not set the table to have a successful run at a high-major program yet. If we played a high-major at The Q, it would not draw well. Everyone knows we'd get beat.Our mindset is to play the Malone's, Walsh's and bottom-rung D1's at home, then play the home MAC schedule.I don't like it. But if I stop at KD's office, it won't help. We can only hope to have a stellar record against our weak competition and hope for a Bracket-buster home game against a decent "semi-high" major.

I simply read The Science of Success. The rest was gravy.

A politically correct way of saying non-BCS.Did the yard gnome tell you that?It means that the individual did not initially meet the NCAA standard for eligibility.NCAA eligibility rulesAre you unaware of ESPN's blog on the "non-AQ" conferences? Graham Watson reports on the non-BCS conferences and she, along with the rest of ESPN, calls them the "non-AQ conferences" because the term non-BCS makes the BCS look exclusive (which it is).I checked it out and apparently UAkronkid is correct in this case. Way to go Zach. One small step for man...*crackle*...one giant leap for mankind...

Just asking --If the Zips played an ACC schedule, do you think we would still have run the table?We played 2 ACC programs and couldn't score a regulation goal.Ok - end of my controversial observation. It does make you wonder what Caleb would need to do to win COTY? Was the COTY picked prior to the NCAA tourney?Lolla turned tail and ran to Louisville when he felt the Zips program couldn't overcome the NCAA's "non-BCS" soccer bias.Caleb decided to stay, and force the NCAA to respect the Zips.Caleb's omission proves there's a lot of work remaining to be done on the Zips road to respect. But his track record shows he's the guy to break those barriers.How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time....I think Caleb's about 8% away from being a member of "The Clean Plate Club."

ESPN ArticlePer Elton John, Levon's son will apparently also attend UA --Levon wears his war wound like a crownHe calls his child Jesus`Cause he likes the nameAnd he sends him to the finest school in townA little more on Levon's personal bio (below) -He was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas dayWhen the New York Times said God is deadAnd the war's begunAlvin Tostig has a son todayAnd he shall be LevonAnd he shall be a good manAnd he shall be LevonIn tradition with the family planAnd he shall be LevonAnd he shall be a good manHe shall be Levon

PA QB - I'll assume his offer is a remnant of the JD era, but it is there nonetheless

Come on guys...it's the Holidays...have some Egg Nog and enjoy the season.In the interest of full disclosure - I have no idea who G-Mann17 is. Never met him. As a Moderator, I've never been contacted by him.I created the "GP1 Sucks" smiley with no input from anyone...I just thought it was funny.

The UA Bookstore has Akron scarves, but not the one given away with the season tix.

The entire JD staff was offered an interview with Ianello (this is standard operating procedure when a head coach is dismissed and the new guy comes into town). From everything I heard, Okruch was the best coach on JD's 2009 staff and fully capable of being the DC. If anyone from JD's crew stays, it would be him.

It would give the remaining Big East football teams a guaranteed Homecoming opponent?It would improve their soccer RPI?It would give South Florida's basketball program a chance for a Conference win once or twice per year.The UConn women vs. Lady Zips basketball rivalry would be I-N-S-A-N-E!

Huggy was ahead of his time. He is exactly what college sports are and what they have always been. He had the balls to say what everyone else was thinking. It's about winning today. It was about winning in the 1990s. It was about winning in the 1950s. It always has been and always will be. Coaches are brought to schools to win. Alumni give money because the school is winning. Coaches are fired because they don't win. Athletic Directors are fired because their teams don't win. Alumni stop giving money because the team is not winning and are willing to turn their backs to bad behavior if the team is winning.I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it just is what it is.You are so full if sh!t.Look at John Calipari. Or Rick Pitino. Those guys stand for all that is good in Division 1 athletics. With them, it is all about teaching kids. About education first, then athletics. About integrity and character.How long would Bobby Knight have lasted at Indiana if he won 15 games per season? FOREVER, I SAY!Winning has nothing to do with anything.

If the BE would never take Temple back (never say never), wouldn't it make sense for the ACC to go after Temple? They already stretch as far as Boston and Maryland is not far away. Temple is a basketball school first, but it also plays in an NFL stadium. In addition, Temple is in an extremely large media market stretching from C. PA through NJ.Temple didn't leave the Big East. They got kicked out. Temple will not be back in the Big East, in the next 15 years.Never say never. If they were desperate enough they would. Self preservation makes people do things they might not normally do.Like eat other people.

Look for a big jump after the Malone game. Big jump, Akron at 15.Hopefully we get our shooting on-track. Both from the field, and from the free-throw line. If not, we'll soon be out of the Top 25 altogether.

OH NO!!!!Adults using adult language.The language is going to happen .. that's probably why the family section is upper deck.My issue has to do more with self control. From the moment that Jacq made the mental error at the end of the half @ UConn, it was clear to me that the HC had no sense of self control or discipline. He chose to berate his player right in front of an ESPN(?/U/8) camera on the way to the lockerroom, rather than waiting 30 seconds and keeping it in the confines of the team meetings. The minute that event happened, I had doubts as to his ability to get the Zips on a winning path. That's when my opinion turned. Kept the hope, but somehow knew it wasn't going to happen.Throughout the past 5 years, the Zips were victims of their own lack of self control: timely personal foul penalties ended how many drives, pushed the Zips out of field goal range at critical junctures of important games. And I think that all points to a lack of self control / discipline to keep your head when it matters. Teams are generally a reflection of their coach .. and if the coach was unable to exercise restraint, how could the players be expected to?You've mentioned that episode in the past. I will disagree. Of all Brookhart's problems, lack of personal self control and discipline would rank near the very bottom of the list.Forfeiting two full recruiting classes, recruiting kids that had no business attending college, that hurt him.Sticking with the known screw-off Jacquemain, recruiting no reliable fallback at QB, that hurt him.Relying on gimmickry in all phases of the game plan...that hurt him.Being some out-of-control, Hipsher-esque lunatic? No way. Can GP1 or InTheZone provide a better insight here? On a scale of 1 - 10, "1" being a saintly Division 1 football coach and "10" being an absolute raving mad man, how lacking in self control / discipline was Brookhart?From the 45-or-so games I watched...I'd say "3."

Do we pay Syracuse or IU more than a North Texas?Yes. The Zips need to compete with all the other D1 programs for those home games. Syracuse doesn't cut the Zips a break because we don't have as much cash as, say, Michigan State. Our only trump card is - Michigan State won't give them a 1-for-2 deal like the Zips.Since they allow 1-AA wins to count towards bowl eligibility, 1-AA schools are a hot commodity now. Why would a 1-AA program come to play Akron at $300k, if Penn State will give you $700k?It isn't easy to schedule attractively, and make a profit.I think if the Zips want to fund a new soccer stadium, it is a lot easier to net $600k for the athletic coffers with a "body bag" game than it is to find 6, $100k donors.

Interesting thought.Assuming we don't go back to the "give the tickets away for free" mantra again, I figure a home game with 20k paid attendance is worth probably almost $500k gross to UA (before any payout that goes to the visiting team? Would there be one in this case?) before operational costs are taken out.20k tickets sold x $20 average sale price = $400,000Everyone there spends $5 on concessions = $100,000That doesn't include parking .. and I have no concept of the single game overhead the U faces to host a game .. but I'm guessing that the margin on a home game like this is something like 50-75%?? So the net take on a home game could be as high as $375k???It is probably safe to estimate the payout for any team to come to InfoCision at $300k+. It cost us $200k to get North Texas at the Rubber Bowl several years ago, and costs have soared since.We get roughly $700k to play at Penn State. We clear at least $600k. That is significant.We get less to play at Syracuse or Indiana, but we get a return game.