Captain Kangaroo

When it was recently announced that Nolan Procter verbally committed to the Zips, it wasn't really met with too much enthusiasum on the ZipsNation board. I guess a guy 5' 10", 180lbs doesn't jump out as all that "sexy" a verbal? I do know that the Zips have only 17 scholarships to offer for the 2009 class. And we remain very selective as to whom we extend offers. So I asked myself..."Why not check into this a little bit further?" I contacted Nolan's high school Coach Brendan Flaherty and he was very helpful in explaining what makes Nolan Procter an incredibly well-rounded, talented student athlete.Below is a short Q & A with the Coach to aquiant Zips fans with Nolan Procter --What type of athlete is Nolan?“Nolan is one of the best athletes we have ever had at Groves, and we’ve had over 20 former players go on to play college football in the past seven years. He'll be a three-year starter in both football and basketball and four-year starter in track and field.”On the field, what makes him special?“He can catch anything, and I would say he is a slasher after he gets the ball in his hands. We will move him around on offense and he’ll also be our back-up QB. He started three games last year out of need. He’s a threat to take a punt or kick-off for a TD every time. Nolan will play corner or safety on defense could end up on defense in college when it's all said and done.”How does his football stat sheet fill out to-date?“Nolan has 7 career interceptions, over 50 tackles, 62 receptions for over 600 yards and 10 TDs for his career. He’s 5'10 180lbs and very strong for his size. He benches 275, squats 425, and dead lifts 475."Which schools showed interest in him?"Nolan had interest from most MAC schools and had several offers. If he were a few inches taller he would be a Big Ten prospect. It came down to Akron and Bowling Green and he chose Akron because of the personal interest of Coach Bookhart. And, he really likes Coach Chambers. Dana is very popular in the state of Michigan--very respected by the high school coaches.”Off the field, what makes him special?“Nolan is a 3.0 student, a football captain and very involved in our student government. He is the Mid West youth president of Knights of Peter Clavier. His father is our HS principal and a former college women’s basketball head coach.”If you want to check on Nolan’s progress throughout the year you can do so here.

If he were doing so quickly, then I'd be impressed.

USC wants him too. But only if he enters school this spring. He wants to play now, hence the Zips or Tigers will get his services. Maybe Kansas State makes a late run too.

Overheard at the football golf outing --A few months ago Vince Hill actually called the Zips to see if he was still welcome at UA. He wanted to enroll as a non-qualifier.He wasn't welcome.True story.

I can only hope that such a "homer" call in meaningful in that game.

Just out of curiosity...I wonder what Goodyear has contributed to Infocision Stadium? I'll guess -- nothing. Am I close?For Summa to out-contribute a company the size of Goodyear is pretty sad.

I'm with you on some things, but not on a couple: Take away the Miami game and McNees had a pretty inauspicious Freshman season. He had a lot of turnovers and struggled to get his shot off. Hopefully moving to the #2 will help. Or, maybe he continues handling the ball and simply acclimates to the speed of D1 basketball? I think he's got a ways to go before you could say he'd start on 85% of the teams in the MAC. Emanuel Stewart WAS Mr. Basketball...and it didn't get him anywhere. And the fact that Joyce started as a freshman doesn't affect Steward or Humpty's play this year.Steward has a year of practice under his belt. Humpty can ball. But the fact remains that neither has played a single minute of college basketball in their life. They've never even tossed a pass to one of their (now) team mates in a game. Dru played his whole life with Travis, some with Wood, and his formative years were under Dambrot. That made his situation a little unique. He also played on a national stage his last couple HS seasons. He was a technically a Freshman in his first season, but easily had the experience of a Soph.

I agree. Rubber and tires are pretty irrelevant in Akron today. They have been for almost three decades. Keep the drum tire re-tired.

Upsetting the Badgers is impossible.Soundly thrashing the Badgers IS possible.

I agree with the general theme of your post -- don't judge the Zips' basketball progress by the 2008-9 season's record. I wouldn't trade our roster for anyone's...but we're ridiculously young. Will we have eight players that are either true FR's or Redshirt Fr's next season? We a very dangerous team next season if we gel ahead-of-schedule. But my expectations for a quantum leap in performance begin with the 2009-10 team.I disagree that it is easier to sneak up on teams in football rather than basketball. One or two kick-ass recruits can turn around a hoops program pretty quickly, and unexpectedly. Beyond that, you can win a title by simply winning 3-4 consecutive games at the Q, regardless of your seasonal accomplishments (you see this all the time with 13W-17L teams getting the 16th seed in some bracket). There's no such option in football. Wait...didn't NTSU get a bowl at something like 5-7 recently? Ok, getting to the post season or winning titles in hoops or football are totally different, but the same. Bad teams can get hot, or sneak up on people, or play in a weak division either way.

His flight arrived last evening and he's checking out UA today. If anything major develops, I'll do my best to let everyone know.

I wonder what the YSU AD would do if Slippery Rock petitioned YSU for a 2-1 series?

I'm glad my 2007 pre-season post was memorable to you. I do know mine was more accurate than Phil Steele (3-9 K.e.n.t. to win it all), and he's a paid "expert." BTW - My season predictions are part fun and part educated guess. Nothing more. Last summer, who knew that Vince Hill would bolt...that CJ7 and CJ11 would be terrible, etc.?Like I have for about 10 years, with varying degrees of accuracy, I'll do it again this year. Most people seem to like it, and I have fun putting it together.

So in summation: The Zips are a Division 1 football program that has no business playing Wisconsin, and should schedule 1-AA Youngstown State.Makes sense to me.

How is the above-listed offense to be confused with over-darkened window tint? Did the police just fabricate the entire scenario? If so, Chev should sue and become a millionaire.

Two of the three teams we sent to bowls last season got humiliated. We don't need more bowls until we get better as a conference. The MAC as a whole is a better football conference than 8 years ago. But the upper-level programs aren't nearly as good.

Can Jarvis Givens and Kyle Rodenberry be far behind?

UA cannot match what Penn State or OSU can offer. And, both those games are a bus trip for YSU. Penn State and OSU are a bus trip for YSU. Travel costs are irrelevant. They would stay in a hotel in Columbus, Happy Valley or Akron, so lodging is irrelevant too. How can you say YSU longs to "play up a Division?" In the past 20 years upwards of 25 schools have made the jump to 1-A. YSU is content to sit at 1-AA. They long to be no where but 1-AA, playing the likes of Lock Haven, Edinboro, Slippery Rock and Gannon for their OOC games. Plus a money game vs. a BCS school. I'd rather fund the athletic department of an out-of-state D-1 team than give $250,000 to a competitor 50 miles down the road. It doesn't seem that way. Then why Lock Haven, Edinboro, Slippery Rock, Gannon, etc? We'd still be rivals if YSU had the stones to go 1-A, but they don't. Thus the rivalry is dead. So why bring in a 2nd tier opponent? We just got a boob job, Botox and a tummy tuck and you want to still date a chubby junior high sweetheart? Unless YSU moves up in Division, or drops their laughable "home and home" demand, we'll never meet on the football field again. That's their choice. And I applaud it.

I'd love to hook up with you, but I think I'm going to Wisconsin and also Army. I gotta draw the line somewhere, and I think Syracuse is gets the short straw for me this season.Thanks for the invite. If things change, I will look you up. Tailgating is about my favorite thing in the world, so I will be happy to host in 2010..whatever "hosting" entails.Details are sketchy on where parking & tailgating will be available at the new stadium. Stay tuned for details.

Click to Access Complete Audio of the ConcertNot a 'Dead fan, but it it neat to listen for a few minutes.

$650,000 to play Penn State, or $200,000 and a trophy to play Akron...even a penguin could make that decision.

Since Tressel got them going, YSU has generally traveled very well when playing UA or Can't St. so you would think this would be some incentive as well for them. I agree that we'll just have to wait and see. Attitudes may change.Seems pretty clear to me --

Source

I hope the Zips can have a nightmare season like that one!?!I was at the game. Carl Pickens went nuts. A true freshman, he scored a TD receiving, and via an interception. Chuck Webb ran for well over 200, and he only played because Reggie Cobb got busted for drugs shortly beforehand.Derrick Alston had a great game for the Zips and ran for 100+. In general, between the 30's the Zips offense moved the ball fine. But that was it.Great time was had by all. One of my favorite roadies!

All that listed above is Rubber Bowl Era history. It is inescapably "us," but it should no longer define us. Infocision should be the dawn of an era where we can compete with an upper-echelon BCS school once per season. Like Miami has...like Toledo has...like NIU has...like Marshall has...like UCF has..etc. Beyond that, the $700,000 pay check remains crucial to our athletic budget.Should we play 1-AA schools? The games DO now count towards bowl eligibility. And as GP1 stated, everyone else is doing it. But I don't like it. Maybe I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the Howard & Liberty shams from the early 2000's. Those games sucked. I'm also tired of the Penguin fans chirping that they should play the Zips while they sit at the 1-AA level. Marshall stepped up. UCF stepped up. Middle Tennessee stepped up. Western Kentucky stepped up. Penguin Fan needs to shut his yap until he decides to get Gannon, Clarion and Slippery Rock off his schedule.