Captain Kangaroo

For what I'd guess is the best pre-game atmosphere, hit BW-3's prior to the game. It is only about 4 blocks from the arena and always has a decent pre-game crowd. Post-game, I'd think the two downtown places Sergeant Zip mentioned are best. Luigi's (downtown) is a great place if you want to sit down and eat. Places to stay? I guess it depends on your taste, budget, Hilton Honors points, etc. The Radisson downtown is the closest. Sheraton Suites in Cuyahoga Falls is 5 minutes away, and very nice. Plenty of hotels in the surrounding area. Since most of us live here, it's tough to recommend any...we rarely if ever use them. Fairlawn and North Canton are very close, and have plenty to do w/many hotels too.

That's all got --1.) The personal foul on Kemme (of all people) was crippling. It made an 85% certain 35-yarder a 20% certain 50-yarder. It hit the crossbar. You KNEW that would come back to bite us.2.) Igor missed a chip shot early on, but overall he has been solid. I'd still take him over about any MAC kicker.3.) The delay of game seemed to be crippling (on the FG) but were we really trying to kick the ball, or just trying to get Buffalo off side because it was at the limit of Igor's range?4.) Jacq has improved SO much since last season. Taking the team 80 yards down the field to tie things up was really clutch. It is tough to find fault in him...but if he wants to be a marquee MAC QB next season, he has to shake his late-game jitters. He's almost "there," but he's still lacking the confidence and late-game poise that we need from his position to win these kind of close games.5.) I shook the hands of several Buffalo fans after the game. They played a great game. They didn't make many mistakes. We did. It's pretty much been the same story all season...if we don't beat ourselves, we win. 6.) Kennedy fumbled twice (maybe the one in OT wasn't his fault) last night. Had he ever fumbled previously in his career? If he had, I can't remember it. Overall, DK has been a horse down the stretch. I wish he'd played like this his entire career instead of book-ending his career this way. 7.) I wonder if this is the was Andrew Johnson figured his senior season would end up? Probably not. 8.) The OL has protected on of Division 1's most immobile QB's flawlessly this season. And run-blocked unbelievably well. We've had better individuals on the line over the past several seasons, but none have played this well as a unit.9.) Buffalo's defense is worse than ours, but their offense is better. Not better athletes, but IMO better execution and better play-calling. 10.) Bryan Williams has been a major disappointment. I really thought he'd be a hard-hitting ballhawk. It hasn't happened.11.) Aaron Williams is the new Jay Rohr. Undersized, but active as hell. 12 - 16) All the stuff above has probably been said before. I'll throw in a personal final Rubber Bowl memory for something a little different.As the 4th quarter wound to completion and the OT's progressed, my 7 year old son and I raced back and forth to follow the action and scream our lungs out. When that last Buffalo FG split the uprights, the kids burst into tears like I've never seen. We stayed through the entire post-game ceremony and, although he bit his lip as hard as he could, the tears couldn't stop flowing. I tried every "dad" thing in my arsenal to cheer him up, but to no avail. After the game he asked if he could walk on the field. I said "sure," took his hand and walked him down the ramp. A security guard stopped us - "Turn around!" I tried to explain that we just wanted to walk on the field..but the rent-a-cop wasn't really feeling too sympathetic. Obviously this didn't go over too well with the already profoundly distraught 7 year old.I told my son I was going to drop him over the rail. Once he hit the ground, I told him "RUN LIKE HELL...and don't stop until you get to the A logo @ the 50! I'll be right behind you." I tossed the kid over the edge and he started running. I then hop over, and the security woman spots us. "SIR...SIR...SIR!" and she raced towards us. "RUN LIKE HELL SON!!" We were off to the races. The kid was laughing like hell. I was too. The security guard kept up for about 25 yards, but she soon faded. We blended in with the football alumni milling about on the field, and the rest is history. I had a lot of great memories of the Rubber Bowl...friends, tailgates , games, individual plays...too many to mention. The final father-son security-avoiding sprint across the field ranks my all time favorite. I'm sure my son will never forget it...he was laughing about it this morning as he ate his cereal (on about 5 1/2 hours sleep).A special "Thank You" to the rent-a-cop that made it all possible.

A family of 4 could have entered the Rubber Bowl for $12.00, instead of $4.00. The extra $2.00 per ticket wouldn't have deterred anyone. UA left $20,000 (or more) on the table just to pay homage? That's insane. Ask anyone @ UA how difficult it is to raise $20,000. How long (timewise), and how many people does it take to get an additional $20,000 for the Z-Fund? Four people making phone calls for a month? Probably. Maybe more.BTW - Acme-Zip tickets may have been $1.00 in the 70's, but they were $5.00 or BOGO in the later years.MUST...STOP....RANT....SO...DIFFICULT.....

Told ya so. BTW - In my FINAL (I promise) rant on $1.00 tickets --Say, for the sake of argument, the Zips had "Three Dollar Thursday." And, let's assume the Zips sold 10,000 $1.00 tickets.Those 10,000 tickets would still have been sold at $3.00, and the Zips would have made $20,000 extra dollars. That's a football scholarship. That's the value of an Infocision loge for 1 year. And UA threw that money away.End of rant.

Zips and Redhawks in the Hunt

I'm guessing Marla is the next ABJ employee to move to the PD. Nice column!

I had: JonEs andBowSer Penetrate the ENdzone U Bastardsbut I instead elected to go with:RubbEr Bowl Send Off ZiPs PouNd BUffalo

I agree -- this should be a GREAT football game. And that is great for the MAC. The Temple/OU game a few weeks ago was a TERRIBLE football game. It reflected poorly on the MAC, especially the MAC East.In the CMU/NIU game last night the announcers ripped the "inferior" MAC East several times. I think tonight's game is a showcase for the best of the East. Buffalo and the Zips are two good MAC teams.I like the Zips tonight due to the home field advantage, and I think our D is slightly better than Buffalo's.Zips 31 Buffalo 23

No problem. It's fun to assemble every year.

An exciting day! Congrats! I hope Zeke can now relax a bit and enjoy his senior year?Thanks also to GameChanger for sharing all the insights along the way. Welcome (officially) to the family!

Little CK gets back from his field trip @ 3pm, so I'll be there @ 3:45pm. Keep the beer cold!

Click for Bull Sh*tAnd beware the Buffalo mascot! Why? Just trust me on this one...

I disagree. I maintained a couple years ago, and still maintain today that Lolla left just as the Zips turned the "respect" corner. If he'd have stuck around, he'd have been able to enjoy the fruits of his hard labor. Unless the Zips lay a massive egg in the MAC tourney...which I don't see happening...the Zips get their Top-8 seed. I'll predict a #6. That's not getting screwed. "Heavy petting," maybe. But not screwed.

I got 3 tickets in section 201 for $17.00 each, shipping and handling included. The tickets have a face value of $27.50. If you're on the fence attendance-wise due to finances, I'd recommend checking it out. & I'll see you at O's!

I think that's K.e.n.t.'s favorite son Drew Carey?

PD Headline

Can't wait for the OSU fans to divert this thread

I am told several high profile recruits remain highly interested in playing their collegiate careers at Infocision Stadium beginning in 2009. Beyond that, a few new names can be added to the Zips 2009 verbal list today, which already contains Blake Fraley, WR Dee Frieson, RB Randy Greenwood and WR Nolan Proctor. # 5) Broderick Alexander now 6' 3" and 215 lbs. From Eastside HS in Atlanta.RB/LB, but Recruited as an "Athlete"113 yards on 5 carriesTD runs of 45, 30, 16 and 3 yards…in the 1st half#6) Anthony Merriweather - WR Midpark HS, Berea 6' 2", 190 lbsSome stats (not much info on him yet)#7) Grant Williams - Ballard HS, Kentucky TE 6' 4", 200 lbsRivals Bio#8) Pierre Carr - Peabody HS, Pennsylvania 5' 10", 190 lbsHe won the PIAA Class AAA 100-meter dash championship in June '08 (as a Jr.)Small Rivals BioLike a FerrariMore info will follow as it flows in!

When Graham transferred from the JUCO I thought he had 3 years (he was in the 2007 class) of eligibility. He transferred after playing only 1 season of JUCO ball.

The REAL stuff!!?? Wow! Can't wait!

Only Buchtel Field? For a 30,000 seat stadium they'd limit tailgating to that small area? They couldn't POSSIBLY screw it up this bad. I hope you are misinformed.

If he's like Cobrani Mixon, he's transferring to K.e.n.t. due to multiple arrests.K.e.n.t. football can recruit whomever they'd like...when it comes down to brass tacks...they all are chokers. If they weren't chokers in HS, K.e.n.t.'s football program molds them into chokers in their years 18-23. By the time they graduate in 4-5 years, they have a Doctorate in choking.

Anywhere within a 50ft radius of my truck. I know the subject of tailgating is heating up on campus now that Opening Day is only 10 months away. From what I understand, the goal of those "sane" at the University is to have open tailgating in any University lot. This makes the most sense. Limiting tailgating ("tailgating" being defined as a place where you can cook food and have beer in a Solo cup without fear of being arrested) to a confined area(s) would be lame. The more people that want to come on campus and enjoy a Saturday, the better. Hassling them will be an irreversable buzzkill that will deter folks from returning after the stadium honeymoon is over.I've been to scores of college game days throughout the United States. The ONLY ones that have butchered tailgating are Youngstown State and K.e.n.t. YSU severely limited their "tailgate" (see definition above) lots, and charged an inflated price to utilize them. K.e.n.t. arrested their alumni for a couple years in their tailgate lots. I know of several K.e.n.t. fans that used to attend Can't State's homecoming religiously, and who since have sworn to never return to the campus. Having attended the UA/K.e.n.t. game last month, I can say even K.e.n.t.'s administration was smart enough to call off their tailgate Gestapo and let responsible people enjoy their game day. Good for them. YSU? Beats me. I haven't been to a game in about 6 years (went with my mom, who's a YSU alum).I'm sure there will be an elderly UA trustee or two that will fight having open containers on campus 6 days per year. Hopefully someone overrules such narrow-minded clowns. Pretty much every college in North America lets their fans tailgate. Zips fans can handle themselves just as well as tailgating fans from any other region of the United States. Probably better (if we beat Buffalo, I don't see any of us overturning cars on Exchange).

You missed the point entirely, while also making convenient assumptions on very competitive potential match ups.The point was that we would be competitive with a "Big East" schedule. Pitt's 2008 schedule is hardly daunting. Racking up Rutgers & Navy as sure losses is laughable. Navy is no better than Temple, as proven on the field. And 2008 Rutgers is bad. Beyond that, while we lost to BG and Cincinnati, we gave them those games. We didn't lose by 30. Could we be 3-9 with that 2008 schedule? Sure. We could just as easily be 7-5. Would Infocision be fuller with home games vs. Louisville, WVA, Syracuse, South Fla, etc than EMU, Toledo, Northern Illinois, Miami Oh, etc. Yes. By a mile.Would the Zips get a better student athlete with the backing of a Big East logo on their jerseys? Yes.Would the administration step up to the plate and spend what it needed to spend to be competitive in the Big East? Probably not.

The Original Hotdog Shop is only a couple blocks from the arena and has awesome food and beer. If you don't want to see my ugly mug there, here are some other local spots to check out.