Captain Kangaroo

Drake's beaten more Top 20 teams, and actually been ranked in the Top 20 itself within the last 2 years. They aren't exactly MAC West material.I wonder if Drake fans care as much about Drake basketball as Zips fans seem to care?At least when we do end up playing them this November ZipsNation will be up-to-speed regarding their program's recent history.

You can't have two great mid-major seasons until you've had one. Drake 1. Zips 0.I like upping the level of competition. If the Zips want to step up we need to to play the MVC, Colonial and upper-tier Horizon League schools rather than the OVC's of the world.

One year off a Top 15 ranking, I'm not ready to throw dirt on Drake. They have the runner-up Michigan Mr. Basketball on the way, and it will be the second year running the new coach's system. 17 wins in the MVC is like 22 wins in the MAC. Drake should be a solid team in '09-10.

Camp doesn't start until August.

Not exactly. Drake is far from being a "high mid-major"."Far from becoming a high-mid major?" Your argument is convincing...tough to find fault in any facet of your analysis. But I'll try.If you consider UA a solid mid-major, then what do you call Drake?2008 NCAA tourney - Lost on a miracle 3-pointer at the buzzer to Western K.e.n.t.ucky (who advanced to the sweet 16 that year).2008 - Won the MVC (a basketball conference light years ahead of the MAC)2008 - Beat a Top 10 team.2008 - Ranked as high as 13th in the national polls.I'd wear a Golden F.l.a.s.h. mascot uniform for a month to accomplish 1/2 of what Drake in '08.They were 17-15 last season, but played a very difficult schedule. Although they lost some key players, and their coach to the Big East, they still received a post-season bid. If you don't see playing an upper-echelon MVC program as a great measuring stick of the Zips progress towards becoming a high-mid major...you need to do some homework.

I hear 4-star DL Recruit Chris Henderson in on campus, taking classes. It looks good that he'll see the field in 2009. (am I only allowed to use this emoticon if I have 5th or 6th level tickets?)

It's funny....Ohio government for years has said "no" to gambling in the state. But now that there's a budget deficit...low and behold...maybe a few slot machines scattered across the state isn't such a bad idea?Mark my words...the instant attendance begins to drop, or budgets need to be made...beer will mysteriously appear on an Infocision concourse. Somehow, the concern for student drinking will disappear. In year #1 sell-outs are guaranteed. And there's a big spotlight on the grand opening. It isn't worth the risk now. Wait a couple...when House of LaRose dangles a big wad of cash under the AD's nose.Once it can be implemented under the radar, it'll happen. There's not valid reason not to have it. Don't get me wrong...there's a myriad of hyperbolic, ill-founded yet impassioned reasons not to have beer. But if it worked at the Rubber Bowl for 5 years with no problems, it would work on campus. It is the same group of people.And for the record -- I was inside the "Zipsfest" area once in it's 5-year existance. Any other halftime I was taking my son to play on the inflatable bouncing things. If there was a "ZipsFest II" I'd probably still hit it about twice per decade. The tailgate lot is sufficient for me.

Link to a May '09 Thread

Yeah, but Ben Wallace just put his 10 ducats in the student section up for sale.

If we beat NC State, can we get a: "JUST - LIKE - FOOT - BALL!" chant going?Also - Drake will be a great measuring stick of the Zips progress towards becoming a "high-mid-major."

Unless you have tickets in the level 5 or 6 loges, you're in!

Good luck selling your house

UA officials have worked with Hunter for 3 years. If they base their search decision solely on what the guy does from June 23rd to July 15th 2009, they're using the most bizarre evaluation strategy know to man. What can he possibly accomplish in 3 weeks as an interim AD? Schedule a home-home with Ohio State? Hire Pete Carrol away from USC?UA pretty much already knows what they have in Hunter. Hopefully they bring in 3-4 other candidates to compare his "vision" of the next 3 years of UA athletics to some outside ideas.I will be interested to learn if Hunter can bring to the table something other than the most overused, Hunter-descriptive term on the board -- stability. What if Proenza was all about "stability," and not vision? We'd still be a slightly bigger version of YSU.

Yeah, we were beating him like a dog that day...Sorry, couldn't resist... You should have resisted.

If it does stay on the schedule...GO! We had a blast there back in 2000. The Zips ran up 303 yards of total offense in the first half of that game. If Jake Schifino didn't get hurt (seems like he always did) we had a damn good chance of beating Michael Vick that day.

I can say he did nothing regarding the indoor football practice facility. Except maybe tour it when he interviewed on our campus. It was completed a couple years prior to his arrival.I thought they just finished it? Who was his predecessor, I'll edit my post to reflect.. ThanksOpened in 2004, under then AD Mike Thomas

Sorry, Cap'n but with regard to the football situation I see it differently. Rhoades was quoted in an interview, I think last summer saying that coach Brookhart was in no danger of losing his job, and I believe he said words to the effect of, "this year or next". Now the next is here, and I don't believe things have changed that much -- except that JD cannot have another losing team. When I look at the schedule, I see seven wins being a really good result. My honest prediction is 6-6. I don't see a new guy coming in and canning the football coach of a .500 team considering how few .500 teams the school has had in the MAC. As bad as the East is, a half way decent effort should put them in the top two.6-6 isn't .500. It is really 5-6 against 1-A competition. I can't see JD's job security being all that high if we go 5-6 with a MAC East schedule. 7 wins, 6 against 1-A competition, and he has a slightly-better-that-average chance of staying. But one of those needs to be against IU or Syracuse. And another win MUST be K.e.n.t. Turner Gill got 8 wins last year, in his 3rd season, and he took over a program in much worse shape than what Owens left JD. This is JD's year to prove he's "The Man." Year #6 is time to win. Not go 6-6, sit at home in December, and watch 5 other MAC schools go bowling. Other things going against JD - That guy that said "JD isn't going anywhere"...he's now in Houston. There will be a new guy at the helm of Zips athletics this fall. And that guy doesn't want to hand out a contract extension to a .500 coach. We have a 61.5 million dollar stadium to fill. JD's gotta win. That's just reality in D-1 college football.

Looks like Nate Linhart and Steve McNees in UMass uniforms?

I can say he did nothing regarding the indoor football practice facility. Except maybe tour it when he interviewed on our campus. It was completed a couple years prior to his arrival.

When the Mike Thomas administration came into town, they had it bad...but they also had it good. On the surface Zips athletics was a wreck. The men's basketball program was short on talent and saddled with a long-term contract to a coach with severe anger management issues. The football team was mired in mediocrity, playing in a stadium that would need major improvements to be upgraded to a "disaster," and the training facilities were a joke. And the Zips were saddled with another long term coach's contract.Those programs are the two straws that stir any D-1 program's drink, and things were almost as bad as they could be. Unless you recalled Faust's Felons and Coleman's Clowns of the early 90's. But I've blocked that out...it took a decade of therapy and Loge Level 5-6 type drinking binges...but it is gone.The biggest plus to the Thomas administration, ironically, was the tragic state of the situation they entered. They basically got Cart Blanche to blow up the entire thing...and build something from scratch. We saw new logos, a training facility, new coaches, the start of the new stadium, the AK-Rowdies and a myriad of other improvements. The tide of Zips athletics finally began making a turn for the better after the ham-handled Faust hiring roughly 15 years prior.The work of the Thomas administration, with major credit to Dr. Proenza, certainly allowed us to get the quality person that is Mack Rhoades. I don't see Mack taking the Zips' job if it stood as it was in, say, 1999. Mack's administration followed up Thomas' work nicely. The stadium project lost no steam, staying on it's aggressively-set deadlines. The basketball program prospered. Coaching changes were made in the "Olympic" sports that seem to have panned out. It has been a nice 7-year run for Zips athletics. Not scads of Reese and Jacoby Trophies, but great progress has been made towards competing for them. So how do things stack up for the "Next AD?" It has to be the sweetest AD situation in the mid-majors. The new AD will be able to say he/she opened the new stadium. That they were at the helm of a soccer National Championship run. That they captained a ship that had multiple NCAA basketball men's tourney appearances. Track and rifle will round out the resume nicely, with strong potential for additional winning programs like women's hoops and softball.Men's basketball attendance will increase. Guaranteed. KD finally won "the big one." He's also recruited "The Big One." His team is young, and already championship-caliber. Joe Akron is on the bandwagon.Men's football attendance will be through the roof in comparison to the recent Rubber Bowl era. Morgan State - sellout. Indiana - sellout. K.e.n.t. State - sellout. And the remaining games will be 20k+. As long as the Zips remain competitive, 20k+ is an absolute "given" for the next 3-4 seasons...coincidentally also the same amount of time the "Next AD" will have spent at the helm before his resume gets its first "bite." The next 3-4 years at UA are a AD resume' filler's delight. The only tough decision to be made is regarding football. I think JD needs to win 8 games this season to get a contract extension. 7 wins is likely too few in a weak MAC, with a 1-AA school opponent on the schedule. But if the coach is not retained...Proenza didn't authorize a $61.5 million dollar stadium to lose football games. You can guarantee the new AD will be given a nice allowance to hire an attention-getting replacement. [side note - JD will win 8-games this season. But that is another thread for later this summer]As long as the next AD doesn't go "Kevin Mackey" and get caught with hookers and crack, he's planted his foot on the biggest, fattest stepping stone in the history of mid-major athletics. If things go as they should, the 3 1/2 year AD turnover cycle will probably be broken. It'll be more like 2 1/2.

The best way to find out where the new arena will be is to review the recent real estate purchases of UA Trustee's children.

I could not attend this year. The University sent a note stating the Outing would be held on the 8th. I made plans to head out to Arizona the following week. Then UA changed the date to the 15th. Bastards.Cap'n - Sorry to hear you missed the football outing. Are you going to attend the Men's Basketball Outing at Silver Lake Country Club on Monday, August 31st?Yes...unless someone changes the date on me!

Sounds like he's ready to step into Jacquemain's shoes already?

I could not attend this year. The University sent a note stating the Outing would be held on the 8th. I made plans to head out to Arizona the following week. Then UA changed the date to the 15th. Bastards.

Alcohol to be Limited at Captain Kangaroo's Tailgate PartiesOnly non-premium seated patrons will have access to his alcohol at home games By Marsupial Watson Beacon Jungle staff writerPublished on Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 Captain Kangaroo announced Wednesday that his tailgates at the school's new football stadium will be dry — except for those holding tickets in non-premium areas.The decision means most affluent fans won't be able to consume beer or other booze at his Infocision Stadium on-campus parties Arrogant, affluent fans should note alcohol sales will be permitted in the club and suite areas, the stadium's fifth- and sixth-floor levels, respectively.Retired Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jane "Low" Bond was the only UA trustee to publicly speak against the new policy, saying she wanted more access to Captain Kangaroo's personal stash.''I know that a lot of 'everyday' tailgaters have discriminated against the affluent at sports venues,'' Bond said after the meeting. ''I think we need a far greater, in-depth look at what precipitated those decisions. To me, exclusionary decisions based strictly on one's monetary worth are tantamount to racism."She said pre-game drinking ''is a serious societal need— particularly among the rich and influential. I want the opportunity to overturn his [Kangaroo's] ill-reasoned, deliberate decision.''At the Rubber Bowl — about six miles from campus — beer sales had been permitted since 2002, in the "Zips Fest" area outside of the stadium gates. There, no one died. No one was injured. And the University made a couple bucks. It seemed like a situation where everyone benefited.Beer sales are offered at neighboring K.e.n.t. State University. K.e.n.t. State AD Hayseed Kennedy, interviewed from his Portage County farm, said "You know, MAC schools need to be creative to fill their stadiums. Ohio State will draw 105k if the sky is raining battery acid and Adolph Hitler is dotting the "I" at halftime. We don't have that luxury. So we need to try every means necessary to get folks in the seats. Beer makes the game day a little more festive. Obviously we take precautions to make sure no one gets out of hand. But keeping order is hardly rocket science. People tend to police themselves." Kennedy added; "Feedback from those attending K.e.n.t. football games has been overwhelmingly positive since we've instituted beer sales." In an apparent dig at UA officials, Kennedy then concluded "You folks over in Akron must just not be able to handle your alcohol. Either that, or the University higher-ups don't believe you can. Did you notice the University gave no sound reasoning for their decision allowing alcohol access exclusively to the wealthy? What do you think the reason is? Even a K.e.n.t. State General Studies major can figure it out." The policy at Infocision Stadium — allowing sales of beer, wine and other alcohol only in the club and seat areas — covers home football games for the 2009 season. The home opener will be Sept. 12.Trustees said they will reconsider the alcohol policy for subsequent seasons. Said Judge Bond "This is our weasel-way out. We'll rescind the decision next year and act like heroes. No one will remember the hard gavel to the head I administered a year prior."The prohibition does not apply to nonathletic and nonuniversity events held at the stadium. For those events, alcohol sales may be allowed from the main concourse concession, if approved on a case-by-case basis. This is because Motley Crue and Cold Play concert goers are far more responsible than Zips fans.The new policy was recommended by UA's athletics department, who, coincidentally, will do their game day partying on levels 5 and 6.Punter Cashachek, executive senior associate athletic director, told the trustees that premium-seat patrons expect alcohol sales, but students will have ''limited exposure'' to the club and suite levels. He refrained from explaining how Akron Aeros games have the capability of seamlessly balancing beer sales with a family day at the ball park.Infocision Stadium has a capacity for 30,000. The club and suite levels have 1,038 seats. Thus only 3.5% of the Zips fans in attendance are mature enough to handle a game day beer.Cashachek told trustees at least two other Ohio public universities — Can't State and Cincinnati — allow beer sales in their stadiums at games. Leading us to believe their fans must be more responsible than Zips fans.Ohio State University does not permit alcohol sales at home games at Ohio Stadium. Most likely because their drunk fans like to burn things and overturn cars after a loss.Marsupial Watson can be reached at 330-ZIP-BEER