Captain Kangaroo

McNees got "posterized," there's no other way to put it. I'm sure the guys on the team will give him grief about it for years to come. That said, he played 32 minutes at point guard against a Top 20 team and committed ZERO turnovers. He really stepped up at years end when Humpty was injured. The elevation of his game was perhaps the biggest contributor to the Zips post-Toledo roughshod march though the MAC Tourney.Did he shoot 0-9 in the Gonzaga game? Sure. But there's not much you can do as a shooter but keep on shootin'. His shots were all good looks...he didn't force anything.One of my all time favorite dunks was John Starks driving baseline on Michael Jordan and stuffing it in his face. If you play the game, at some point you're gonna get posterized.If I'm McNees I send Pargo an SI and have him autograph it.

Not the Chris Webber Fab 5 either...

Corner Blitz?

There are all sorts of odd traditions out there. For example - I know that K.e.n.t. football recruits wear skirts and lipstick on signing day.

100% agreed. Roberts is a proven commodity. He gets the scholarship. You can't take away what the kid has earned.

I think the band should switch to the 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-5 stack formation.

That would be dirty pool in my book. The first scholarship available after Zeke's should be Roberts', and I'm sure it will be.

I didn't get an opportunity to post any thoughts or insights from the spring game until now. Here they are -* I probably learned less from this spring game than any other in history. Too many players sat the game out.* Jacquemain looks to be the starter, whether you like it or not. Rogers had his moments, but he didn't go through his progressions nearly as well as Jacquemain. Rogers will see playing time in 2009, but I just don't see him beating out Jacq.* I didn't notice any other QB's getting a single snap?* Nate Burney acquitted himself well. He's a little guy, but ran tough and showed decent hands. He is Youngstown Cardinal Mooney's #2 all-time leading rusher, so you know the kid has some game. FYI - He transferred from Ashland.* Nadir Brown looked raw, but impressive. If he wants to be a great WR...LOOK-OUT! He'll be almost impossible to stop in the MAC.* Bain's back is not looking good. He's beginning some treatments on his back in May.* Lots of recruits on hand. There couldn't have been a better showcase for them with the sunny weather...stadium glistening...standing-room-only crowd...very impressive.* Evan Laube's career may be over due to bad knees. He sat out the spring and may/may not give it a go in the fall.* Alex Allen is in top-shape. Can he stay healthy in 2009...who knows? He is healthy now, and was held out of contact drills for precautionary reasons.* The Zips changed the Football Golf Outing date from Monday June 8th to June 15th. Thus I now can't attend. That sucks.* If Bain doesn't play, the D-line remains suspect. Hazime looked good, as did Marquinn Davis. But they have a ways to go to before they dominate.* Spoke to JD for a bit on the new coaching staff additions. He said he was fortunate to get Harris, Montgomery and Ocruch on board. He speculated that other schools didn't want them because their HC's had too big an ego. His approach was to surround himself with the best talent possible.* TE was manned by a mish-mash of fill-ins. None looks like they could catch. Maybe off-season work outs change that. I hope so.* What happened to Igor? I could see Rogovic taking his job.That's all I got.

JD's Old HS?

I would vote for kazoos and armpit farts from the fans...all 30,000 of them...to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger." Opponent won't know what hit 'em.

Quality tailgating! Period! If the environment is a traditional campus tailgate environment, Infocision will be successful. If people are hassled and the tailgating is micromanaged, it will turn people off and kill attendance.Do not underestimate how critical the handling of tailgating is to overall attendance. The University gets one chance to make a first impression with the community. If they blow it, it will take years to recover.

I think some kid, or kids would have gotten killed if we played that game. It is one thing to schedule a 1-AA game. But these guys don't even meet the minimum requirements of 1-AA. They're essentially Division II. I do know Lee Owens would have pulled an on-side kick on these guys if he were coaching against them, but only if we were up by more than 30. And if we were up 58-0, he would re-insert his starting RB to punch in that final TD and make 100% certain he hit 65.

The local hotels would suffer greatly from the loss of out-of-town dollars from EMU fans alone. Not to mention the lost Miami and Northern Illinois fans that would no longer invade Summit County on a game day weekend.

He will be, if The Swish get their wish...

If I can get jalapenos with my nachos @ Infocision I will consider the University's planning to have been a major success.i asked a person at the concessions window at the JAR this year if i could get jalapeno's on my nachos and she informed me that "they dont carry them anymore". I asked why and was told "because they were too hot for people".True story.Can the melted cheese be far behind?At least the chips sold are round, so you don't need to worry about cutting your mouth on any sharp triangle corners.

My tradition will be to pop a beer, fire up a grill, toss a football and talk about the game with neighboring Zips fans. As long as the University doesn't F-up my ability to do that, I will be happy. My guess - They will F it up. And I will be angry.

If I can get jalapenos with my nachos @ Infocision I will consider the University's planning to have been a major success.

Wow...that's a great gig for a 1st time HC position?!

One of my favorite concession-related stories of 2009 was Bleacher Bum's request for jalapenos with his nachos. Concessionaire reply - "We quit offering them. People complained they were too hot."Every other arena concession facility in the United States...I'm guessing there are tens-of-thousands?... has overcome the obstacle of offering jalapenos with their nachos. But at the JAR the only possible solution to a customer's complaint regarding the scoville unit of a jalapeno was to get rid of them all together.

I watched the WKy/Illinois game after the Zips/Gonzaga tilt. Western Kentucky had great guards and two very capable centers. One was more of an overall beast, the other more of a shot block specialist (a higher-skilled Quade Milum). If the Zips want to take the next step, they need to get Zeke another big man threat. Payne could well be that guy. Cventinovic could be that guy too, depending upon how he fills-out. Zeke is a big piece to the puzzle, but if we want to be a 2-deep NCAA team, we need another high-quality post guy. I like it that we're recruiting with that in mind. Now we need to land one.A final note on Cventinovic - I remember watching Wally Sczerbiak in his freshman year at Miami. He had a very similar build to 2009's Nik. He also scorched the Zips for 6 three's during their JAR appearance, so he was a different kind of player. It will be really interesting to see which way Nik develops over the off-season. Does he become a Ryan Andrick-esque, low post threat? Or does he focus on his strength & shooting and go the Wally-esque 3-position route?

Tough not to improve if you logged a bunch of "DNP - Coach's Decision" in your previous season's box score.I like Jimmy. He certainly made strides in 2008-9. But let's no go overboard. His improvement was not in ball-skills or through coaching, it was from within...he decided to quit pouting and accept his role - playing eight-or-so min/game to give the starters a breather. And to shoot 20% from the three-point line.

Because someone was short-sighted and f*cked up.

Davis. I want to see the stuffDa'Von Moore's heart just broke.

Numerically speaking, you are correct. But if you were to create a pie chart listing all the JAR shortcomings from a critical point of view, 90+% of the chart would be related to the physical structure and layout.On a scale of 1 - 10, the structure, layout, amenities, "things that trip a recruit's trigger and get him to choose UA over a BCS school with regularity"...all that stuff is horrible.It is a bad Division 1 basketball arena.