Captain Kangaroo

Butchie was working with Ashland's QB's for a while. But it appears he's no longer there.I know Nick Sparks is doing well out in Arizona...he and his wife recently had a baby girl. Duane LeFall also lives in Az. Matt Cherry is working in Hollywood. He works on the show "Heroes" (in production, not acting).Brandon Payne was finishing up his degree last Spring.Marques Hayes lives in Wadsworth. I believe he's teaching? He also has a semi-new baby.A lot of great guys from that era, both as players and as people. Too bad they could never get a decent defense. They definitely had a championship-level offense.

I thought the same thing!

When the Zips played Penn State in 1999 there was a great article in PSU Student newspaper on Butchie Washington (Akron's QB at the time). This was back in the day when the ABJ's "coverage" was a joke. Can you imagine a starting Division 1 QB with a story like this and it took playing at Penn State, in the guy's 4th year at UA, for me to learn about it? Overall, the column is unreal, coming from a student newspaper covering a seemingly "meaningless" nonconference game. In fairness to the ABJ - In Butchie's 5th season, Terry Pluto basically re-wrote this column for Akron fans.

A 'Dude sighting?! It's been years...can a post from DAZIPMAN be far behind? :blink: Paul Winters is still at Wayne State, but I couldn't find anything on Coach Uecker? He was with Winters for a while, but the Wayne State site now lists another guy as OL coach.

One thing that stood out to me regarding last night's game was the fact that, for once, a Zips-related story had a happy ending.The usual blue print for a game like Nate's finale is a heart-breaking loss. Whether it's to K.e.n.t., OU, BG, Central Michigan...how many seasons have the Zips closed out the JAR with a gut wrenching loss? Too many.Despite the overall team playing poorly, Guest of Honor Nate Linhart wouldn't let the team lose. He hit the big floater...snatched the big rebound...hit the clutch free throw...he grabbed the team by the scruff of their neck and willed them to the 9-point win.There are a lot of games in Nate's career where he "did the things that didn't show up in the box score." Last night he did it all...the "box score stuff" and those things not statistically defined. After the game he was hopping around with the Rowdies having a blast. I couldn't be happier for him. And if you heard his post game interview, you'd wish he had another four years. If he weren't a player, he'd have been an AK-Rowdie. Sweep K.e.n.t, then get a ring Zips!

Steve French told Dambrot that in the post game interview. Dambrot's reply - "Why don't you tell the guys that on the bus ride to K.e.n.t. Sunday?"

Looking for a final like this -

He blew his knee out as a Freshman, and it took a while to come back. Hopefully he's 100% this season. I'll try to catch up with him in the spring and see how he's doing.

OK I give. Which is the interesting part?The "Troy" part. "Eison" isn't all that compelling.

Cventinovic is going pro?

OwensMoorheadTresey

OU hasn't won a road game in almost 2 months, and the Zips play well every other game.Zips 72 OU 63

Interesting name of the day - Troy Eison

He's keeping busy in the off-season.

Thanks so much for checking in. Message boards can be tough for player's parents. If you've enjoyed the passion that Zips fans have for the Program, that's awesome. Nate's a great kid. As far as "leaving it all on the court" goes, I don't think he cheated himself out of 1 second of his playing time @ UA. No fan could ever say he gave less than 100%...most would say more.Hope he gets a ring next week. He deserves it!

Buffalo is the only possibility I can think of. We lost @ OU and Miami, where we were underdogs. We were favored in every crossover game.I think BirdZip is correct.

This kid is AWESOME. It would be nice if Coach Ferri's Mooney Alum status carried some weight in recruiting him. I'm not getting my hopes up, but I can always dream.

Who wants to play NIU or Ball State right now? Playing on Tuesday would suck. I guarantee at least one "lower seed" will advance to Thursday's Final 8. Probably two. I don't want the Zips to be one of the favored teams that falters.I also disagree with the notion at, if we lose, we don't deserve the post-season. NO ONE in the MAC deserves the post season! This is the worst collective set of teams the MAC has fielded in memory! So why not the Zips in 2009?This tourney comes down to coaching. The team that is most prepared and focused will win. No team has a "star" x-factor to carry them. No team has overly more talent or experience than another.

Hopefully the first of about 10 - 15 installments?

Season StatsSeems like Texas State was a good fit for him. 10.4ppg, 4rpg, 41% from 3-point land and 80% from the FT line.

A nice item up for bid on GoZips.com.You and a guest can watch the men practice Saturday morning (March 7) from 10:30 a.m-2:30 p.m. to prepare for the Can't State game. After practice, you will eat with the team in the Tommy Evans Lounge. Then, Sunday morning (March 8), you will have the opportunity to ride the team bus to Can't State and watch the Zips take on Can't State with two (2) tickets to the game (tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.). Also, included in this auction is a media guide autographed by the entire team and Coach Dambrot. Seems like a good cause, and a good Sunday afternoon?

From what I hear, all sorts of crazy stuff is going on with the football schedule.

Coming into the post-game stuff late, I'll add the following -Tack this loss up as yet another opportunity lost in the fight to win the heart of Joe Akron. Great home crowd (BTW - Someone PLEASE tell me how the BG game crowd was 3,175 and the recent Miami attendance was 3,710), battle for 1st place, NIT bid essentially on-the-line (all that stuff ZipsWin said), regional television... and we laid a 48-point egg. I don't think that's overly critical. Chris McKnight was 1-4 in 24 minutes. Brett McKnight was 1-9 in 29 minutes. Both were non-factors in this immensely important contest, and both put up soft efforts when they had a chance to put the Zips up late. Both McKnights played S-O-F-T. There's no other way to put it.A few weeks ago KD stated he was grooming McClanahan to take over Linhart's role next season. I think he's got a great head start in the turnover department. He had 3, but his "mentor" had 4. They also had similar stats for the 3-point line, going 1-5 and 0-4 respectively. I appreciate Nate's effort as much as anyone, but every time he lobs an ill-advised pass...it kills me. And he's done it a lot in the last two games (team-leading 9 turnovers in the last 2 games). M-V-P = Most Velocity-challenged Passes.Jimmy C - The next time you're open at the 3-point line...pass it. 4-22 on the season from beyond the arc.This team can rip your heart out because, when they play well you can see their potential (like vs. Miami)...then the next game, you see what they truly are, which is a group of talented, yet very young kids without a true "money player" to bank on in tight games. Hat's off to BG. I don't think they're more talented than us, but they were a better team than us on Sunday for certain.

I just noticed the time change. It was very nearly a disaster.