Captain Kangaroo

My feeling is -- He's simply the best we've got. He started a bunch of games last season, so he gets the nod to begin 2008 as the favorite. Rogers is unproven, and really didn't stand out in the spring. I hope Rogers pushes CJ11 hard in the summer. If he's any good, he'll get his chance. Anyone else on the radar? I think it would take an injury to get any of our other QB's (Patterson or the New Philly kid) in the mix.CJ11 is "ok." He throws a decent ball and I'm sure he'll be better in '08 than he was in '07. But does he have that "special something"...that "fight" to be the team's ultimate leader and win a championship? Can he accept a sack rather than make the shovel pass to an LB when pressured? I haven't seen it yet.I'm really hopeful that the new WR's inject some life into the offense, and that helps the QB. Bruce and Bowser can turn 5 yarders into 80 yarders, and Jones looks to be a great deep threat. CL11 didn't have that in 2007.

If you'll notice, there are no kids from Maine or North Dakota on the Zips roster. It is because they are troublemakers. I've know several kids from both states. Grade 1 a-holes. The staff knows this too. Kids from Maine and North Dakota would ruin the locker room. Absolute cancers, those kids.

Man, the Nemer stuff was about as good as I can muster? Humor on this board is sometimes a lonely endeavor... So for those of you who would prefer a more straight-forward overview of the outing, here goes --It was pretty damn hot, but the wind and abundance of beverages made things more than bearable. It seems VERY well attended. I don't know if attendance was up or down from previous years, but to me it seemed up a little. I'm guessing next season will be a blockbuster event.Prestwick was in excellent shape. It is really a nice course to hold the event. Challenging, yet the average golfer can still score decently.The day began with a buffet-type lunch in the club house. Brats, burgers, beans and pasta salad. They tapped a keg of Bud Light promptly at 11am.We were short 1 person to make a foursome, and got paired with an excellent golfer/Zips fan from out west who happened to be in town for the weekend. Thanks to him, for the first time in about a decade of playing the event, a team stuck with me actually finished in the upper half, going 10-under. 13-under won it.The raffle prizes this year were OUTSTANDING! A 58" hi def TV, some smaller LCD TV's, Olympus digital cameras, golf for four at several area Country Clubs. A tremendous upgrade over any event I previously attended. Of course, I didn't win squat...but it was cool none-the-less.JD allegedly was out and about on the course. But he never ran into our group. He did stop over and talk to us after the dinner, which was great.Beer, pop and water was on every hole, and coaches Callahan and Chambers spread out on both 9's handing out brats. You never went hungry or thirsty, that's for certain! My partner hit a 300 yard drive...and Dan Basch beat it by 50 yards! And, somehow...Dan didn't win the long drive competition? I'd love to have witnessed the drive that beat him, because I've never witnessed such a golf shot in my life.The staff was all very friendly and accessible. They pretty much answered and questions we could muster. Since the people on this board are so up-to-date, it is tough coming up with much new info. Here are the Zips-related highlights:No one should fret over Bryan Williams moving to DB. He will be a first day NFL draft pick at the position, and we are in great shape at RB.The staff couldn't say enough good things about Dennis Kennedy, who's allegedly healthy and running like he did as a freshman. I believe it because he looked like a different back in the spring game. I don't believe it, because I've seen him play the past 2 seasons. Andrew Johnson won't be given anything. He'll need to work his way up the depth chart. Injury issues that limited his practice time this spring mean no one really knows what he can do on the field.Bowser is on campus, and "he looks really really really good." The combination of him and Jones could be lethal. Since Bowser and Jeremy Bruce were both RB's in high school, look for them to get some carries this season too. Both are excellent runners.We have 17 scholarships available for 2009. To-date, none have been taken. Zack Anderson was really banged up last year. He's supposed to be healthy now, and angry. If he's good-to-go, look for him to have a monster season in 2008. Likewise, Mike Ward took a big leap forward in the off season. In general, the OL, like the DL, is as deep and talented as it has been in several years. If there is a concern, it would be at center, where Shepp was both a great blocker, and a "money" snapper. You take the shotgun snap for granted when the center hits the QB on the numbers every time. Hopefully Bates, and his backup Ronsman, shore up their snaps over the summer.Ryan Bain will dominate the MAC. The havoc he wreaks will really make Grant look good. JD stressed the those two, plus Brian Williams, are big time defensive play makers. Despite the losses in the secondary, our defense is expected to be much improved over last season.QB? The general thought is we'll be better because of:1.) The competition at the position2.) The improvement at WR (it is no longer "Jabari, and Those Other Guys")3.) CJ11's experience and increased understanding of the playbookDon't expect Harvey or Lindsay to magically appear.The dinner was the best Outing dinner to-date. The steak was great. In the past, the steak was tougher than Dan Hipsher on Bruce Weinkein.Mack gave a solid speech at the dinner. But there were no real revelations. If you were looking for any conference-moving innuendos, there weren't any. No "we want to grow bigger than the MAC" commentary this time. Mack did mention future OOC schedules would be based on this formula: 1 "money game," 2 "winnable" games and 1 "that we should be favored." That's a good format. If I were to be picky -- I hate the term "money game," however accurate it may be. When we go up to Wisconsin this year, as Andy Wills mentioned at the dinner, "I want to go to Madison to beat the Badgers!" Not to pick up a check. I'd like to see a little more outward confidence regarding our shot at the "money game" in the future.I spoke to Mark Groza for a while. GREAT guy. He's finishing up at Cincinnati this week, and moving on to UMass very soon.I would really have to scrape to find something wrong with this years Outing. Coach Bleil did an OUTSTANDING job putting together what was certainly the best event to-date. If you missed it, you really missed out. Do yourself a favor and keep your June 2009 calendar open. If you're a Zips fan, it's about as good a Monday away from work as you physically could have.

What kind of comment is that? So outside of Florida you can put talent above character?No, you just have to look much more closely at character when it comes to a Florida kid, and if there are any red flags at all, you pass. It's just a different culture many of the kids from down there are raised in, and it often doesn't mesh well at all with Ohio and Pennsylvania kids. Anyone who has ever been involved with college football knows what I'm talking about.I don't think it is so much the culture they are brought up in as much as the style of football they play. Midwest football is more physical (slow) and southeast football is more speed oriented. A midwest kid is more likely to be able to run the ball up the middle and a southeast kid is more likely to take the ball and run straight to the outside and shy away from contact (Dennis Kennedy).Jarvis Givens will change that stereotype, MARK MY WORDS!!

I'll post some comments tomorrow. In short -- it was a great time as always! And it was pretty damn hot.

In what can only be described as one of the most spiteful actions in the history of mankind, newfound millionaires Joe and Manny Nemer decided to take their cash windfall and wreak havoc on the Zips Football Golf Outing Monday afternoon.Said Manny Nemer (photo below from Prestwick CC hole #15):"Those sumana beeches don't who who they're dealing with!! I wanna my pounda flesh from doze bastards anna I don't wanna stop until I geddit!!"The day began like any other, until a giant stretch Hummer limo pulled into the Prestwick parking lot at 11am. Out popped Joe Nemer, who lept on top of the Hummer and defiantly yelled "You summan beeches football guys ain't gunna win nuthin!!"Filing out from the limo immediately following the rhetoric was the European Rider Cup team!!! Apparently Nemer had them flown in overnight and signed them into the outing under assumed names. Sufficive to say, the Nemer-assembled Dream Team took the top three scramble spots with blistering 30, 29, 28 under par scores. They took every closest to the pin, long drive and door prize too."We're simply in shock" said a beleaguered Mack Rhoads. "They took everything..it was like when the Grinch came down from his cave and pillaged Whoville....except it smelled like 5-day old falafel. It still does." His voice trailed off.The limo exited at 6:30pm, and drove straight to Joe Nemer's Sun Bar and Grill for a raucous party that Akron Police Superintendent Gary Chalmers stated "Made the worst UA May Day party look like a preschool picinic." Over 150 arrests were made. The Nemers bailed-out all those arrested with money directly from their wallets.

Zips Offer Florida WR

MAC is back?

Iowa, Cinci and MAC Schools also Interested

Too bad Pat "Parking Genius" Krieger wasn't still around. He would have simply charged the fans $20,000 for each spot and paid the Nemer's off in a matter of minutes.

There's no way Pitt plays the Zips. They backed out of a game this season for fear of losing....they certainly won't play us now that the program continues to progress.As hard as Akron is recruiting WPa talent, and as successful a program as we've become, Pitt will avoid us like the plague.I'd LOVE to see Pitt vs. the Zips, but I agree with Dr. Z -- the only chance we have to meet Pitt is in the NCAA tourney.

I agree with that 100%. And Huggins would come to The Q too (he ain't comin' to the JAR).

Here's OU's OOC schedule for comparison:Home games -Holy CrossBucknellSt Francis-NYRoad/neutral -@George Mason@Marshall@Delaware@Xavier@ Louisville, Indiana State, Northern Arizona (UL tournament)@Bracket buster

This coming from a UCONN Huskie?That's totally different than a Northeastern Huskie?Or a Washington Huskie?Or a Northern Illinois Huskie?You want original? Try The University of Akron Zips

Build the stadium...let the properties sit there...and let Nemer pay taxes on 3million dollars for a few years.So much for the stadium being under budget.

He's a word smith.And this is Will Smith:BTW - it's wordsmith.You going to the Wisconsin game, 'meister?

He's a Champ! Story HereIf the link doesn't work --Wildcat player says credit coaches, tooState Baseball Tournament notebook by Derek TaylorDaily Mail sportswriterBrett McClanahan should be used to getting asked to leave the field at Appalachian Power Park. Only now, the Nitro senior outfielder doesn't mind it so much.McClanahan went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a triple in Nitro's Class AAA championship-clinching win over Fairmont Senior on Saturday.After scoring the final run of the five-inning game, the first-year player was among the throng who were asked politely but firmly by Appalachian Power Park staff and Charleston police to clear the field following the victory.A year ago, McClanahan also got the boot, only under vastly different circumstances.Then a junior, McClanahan had worked his way into the crushed rock surrounding the field to lead cheers for the Wildcats during their semifinal loss to Beckley. His presence there didn't last long as he was asked/told to return to his seat."I'll tell you one thing," a beaming McClanahan said Saturday."It feels a lot better being told to leave the field today than it did last year."McClanahan had the only RBI for Nitro on Saturday that wasn't claimed by senior Chase Pickering or sophomore brother Andrew Pickering. The younger Pickering hit two home runs in the win, the second of which wound up on the awning of the former Charmo warehouse on the opposite side of Morris Street."Those guys are two of a kind," McClanahan said. "There's nobody like them anywhere."On a team loaded with talent, the University of Akron basketball recruit said it was the Nitro coaching staff that deserves the most credit for the end result it produced in 2008."I think our coaching staff is really underrated," he said. "They underwent a big task this year and have to deal with egos over here and egos over there. It's hard to manage that when you've got a team that has a lot of talent."We all get along so it's not that big of a deal, but it takes something special in a person to be able to balance all that."THOSE MONITORING the big school/small-big school scoreboard for the purpose of judging the need for four competitive classes in the state will be interested to know Nitro and Fairmont Senior are both among the eight smallest Class AAA schools. Although the current proposal being considered by the state Board of Education that would split state Secondary School Activities Commission members into four divisions would do so just for football and basketball, the AAA baseball final made it four title-game appearances in the three major boys sports by schools that fall in the lower half of the class in enrollment.Following the order the schools rank when new classifications take effect in the fall, St. Albans (football) is the 27th-largest AAA school (among 40 schools) and South Charleston (boys basketball) is the 26th-largest.* * *THE LOGAN Wildcats, who will join Class AAA in the fall, slammed the door on both their Class AA existence and the Point Pleasant Black Knights with their 13-3 drubbing in the State Tournament finale.The Wildcats overcame a 28-minute rain delay without missing a step.Senior pitcher Josh Motto, who spent much of the season with an injured shoulder after transferring from Chapmanville, threw four solid innings before giving way to submarine-style relief pitcher Robbie Abbott.The win gave Logan its sixth overall baseball championship. The Wildcats won Class AAA titles in 1984, 1994, 2000 and 2001 before winning the 2005 Class AA title by beating Weir.* * *THE COMBINED 27 runs separating championship winners and runners-up in the three classes were the most since the state went to a three-class championship format in 1984.The previous high was 26 runs in 2005.That year, Jefferson beat Fairmont Senior 11-2 in AAA, Logan beat Weir 12-4 in AA and Wheeling Central beat Notre Dame 15-6 in A.The smallest run differential since 1984 is five runs.That total has been achieved three times - in 1992 (Jefferson over South Charleston 6-5, Wayne over Bridgeport 2-1 and Van over Bishop Donahue 5-2), 2001 (Logan over Jefferson 4-1, Winfield over Frankfort 3-2 and Gilmer County over Fayetteville 4-3) and 2003 (Cabell Midland over Fairmont Senior 2-1, Lincoln over Magnolia 7-5 and Matewan over Greenbrier West 9-7).

The good: The abundance of alcohol.The bad: All too often, the football.The Ugly: The visiting K.e.n.t. fans.

I think Mike Waddell hired Caleb. Someone can correct me if I'm mistaken. according to Mack's profile that goes in the media guides, they list Caleb's hiring as the first thing in the "time line of success". So I think Mack is given credit for it. I dunno...Why does he get so much grief out here? I've never understood that.I believe Waddell recruited and interviewed Caleb. The actual hire may have occurred within the first week or two that Mack came on board, but I don't believe he had much to do with the hire. Again, I will confirm this and officially put the matter to rest. Mack wouldn't want credit for something he didn't do. And likewise, if he made a great hire in Caleb, he should get his due.I don't think Mack gets all that much grief here. If you do, take a look at other message boards and check out commentary on various AD's. ZipsNation is Fluffy Bunny Central by comparison.

I think Mike Waddell hired Caleb. Someone can correct me if I'm mistaken.

It works for me? Try a cut-n-paste of this link:http://www.the-review.com/news/article/3881571

This is a better write up than 90% of what I've seen from Beacon writers covering Zips games.

The move of Wiliams to DB is a great one. He's going to be a mid-round NFL draft pick after the 2008 season is over. And between Kennedy, Johnson, Allen and Pride we're going to find someone to fill his shoes at RB.Jones is arguably the best athlete on the team. It makes sense to get the ball in his hands as much as possible. If you liked him running back kicks, imagine what he can do if the ball is thrown his way 9 or 10 times per game. He'll be a deep threat like David Harvey, and unlike David Harvey, a threat to take a 10 yarder and bust it for 80. I think his affect on the Zips offense will be eerily similar to Hixson's after his move. Bowser, Jones and Bruce are a tremendous upgrade over Arthur, Arthur and Arthur from 2007. And who knows...maybe Alphonso Owen decides to join the pass-catching fray in 2008?Look for Jalil Carter to assume Jones' role in the secondary. I hear a lot of really good things about him.If our QB can go through his progressions in 2008, one of our top 3 WR's is going to be open.

Zip Watcher wanted me to let you know he'll offer up his old prom tux (below) for a very reasonable price. Zeke'll probably want to let the hem out in the pants, but otherwise he'd be set? Please PM ZW if you're interested.

I agree with you 100%. I remember a couple years ago Tyrell Sutton complained in the ABJ that "My hometown team didn't even recruit me!" I was shocked that no Zips coach bothered to pick up the phone and at least offer a recruiting visit. Reading further down the article, I saw that Tyrell was talking about the Buckeyes, not the Zips.The Zips need to find a place in the local people's minds and hearts. For the better part of two and a half decades the football program has been invisible. The teams have been bad, the facilities terrible and the marketing 4th-rate. That all needs to change. Making the team competitive is tough. And overcoming 25 years of futility doesn't happen overnight. Is JD the answer? I don't know. I'll have a better idea after this season is complete. He's won a championship and beaten NC State. But stumbling out of the gate with some overall bad recruiting classes, highlighted by the the inability to recruit a stud QB, makes his 5th season a highly critical one. He needs to take a step forward after two successive "down years."The facilities are now unreal. UA couldn't physically do a better job of setting the table for success. The campus takes quantum leaps forward in beauty seemingly weekly...the football practice facility is top-notch and the new stadium will be state-of-the-art.The Marketing? I'll accept an improvement from 4th-rate to 3rd-rate. The stuff I've seen lately is "ok." But having a new stadium to pimp means even the worst Marketing Department can't screw it up."Roo Town -- This is Your Team" is a decent first step. The "Roo" thing seems to be a winner, so why not ride it? The fact that Akron is a Buckeye's town...can that change? Yes. It won't ever change 100%, but UA can gain a place in local folks hearts by following the three things mentioned above. Look at the Zips hoops team. There are a lot of little kids growing up right now who are Zips fans first and foremost. 10 years ago they would have been die-hard Buckeye fans.Youngstown people are just as big a fans of OSU as Akronites. Yet if you go to Youngstown, you feel and see a lot of "Youngstown Pride" (not the old WBL team either). Akron people are Cleveland wannabees...Columbus wannabees...and who can blame them? Their home town, and their home town University really haven't done all that much to merit any "love" since rubber ruled the town. That's changing, and at a breakneck pace."There are those who look at things that are, and ask 'why?' I prefer to look at the things that aren't and ask 'why not?"'God Bless Proenza, and God Bless the new stadium!! The face of Akron is forever changed.