Captain Kangaroo

Thanks to adding Temple, MAC football schedules are a train wreck. I heard that K.e.n.t. at one point had committed to 15 games in 2008. The Zips had committed to 13, and had to drop Kentucky.In Akron you never know who's going to be on your schedule until about March of the respective season.

Had to take a trip down memory lane... Click to see where Carmen ended up.Where's my money?

Bryan Hipsher was top 10, if I recall? His brother Andy was also pretty highly rated.

I'm with you. The facts are undeniable...parochial schools are athletic machines that the overwhelming majority of public schools are incapable of competing against. Dyer lays it all out pretty clearly, and with supporting facts not just opinions. And it isn't an outlandish proposal to separate public and parochial schools when it comes to competing for championships.I don't get the "hey...let the public schools get stomped...who cares whether or not they can compete for a championship" attitude. Why does tabling the issue cause people to go "Bob Knight?"Tell me how Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, with at least 9 BCS scholarship players on their roster...plays in OSHAA Division IV? How fair is THAT? Mooney was ranked in the top 10 in the NATION, yet they're competing against public schools none of whom would make the USA Today top 1,000, let alone Top 10.If you hate HS football, or are simply indifferent to it, IMO you're really missing out. I attended three of the state finals football games this year. The environment is flat-out electric. Whole towns empty out, paint their faces, their car windows and drive upwards of 3-4 hours to support their teams. The caliber of football is always great. No flaming scoreboards...no dance team tarts...no DJ house party punk blasting you with music...just hard nosed football that is a binding fabric to many communities.And for those who might get their panties in a bunch over what I've written above, I'll offer this:USA Today #1249 Coldwater beat USA Today #9 Cardinal Mooney 28-27 in what was as compelling a football game as I've seen in some time. Shortly thereafter, Maria Stein Marion Local, from the same Dayton-area conference as Coldwater, beat parochial power Youngstown Ursuline 20-17. So I say...let the private machines continue playing public schools in the playoffs. It often turns into a real-life Hoosiers, with a splash of Rudy. And I LOVE that stuff!"No one roots for Goliath."At least I don't.

An one who constantly berates the ABJ for its shoddy efforts, it is only fair that I give some credit when someone does a nice job. This story by Bob Dyer is an excellent look at Ohio HS athletics and the dominance of Catholic schools. Very well researched. Note: Although not specifically Zips football-related, it is our slow period, so I placed it here. It is a good read.

I think if any student...not just a star athlete...makes an improbable leap in standardized test scores, it stands a good chance of being flagged. When it is one of the top basketball recruits in the nation, it'll most certainly get flagged. I don't see it as calling anyone a liar. I think it is due diligence on the NCAA's part. If they don't look into things like this, cheating would run rampant.You don't get "lucky" on ACT's or SAT's. If he really has buckled down and improved his self, he'll do pretty good on the re-take too. Maybe not as good...but he should score within his most-recent "ball park." Likewise, if he somehow cheated, it will also show.It does put pressure on the kid (to score well again), but if he's the #1 national HS recruit, you'd figure he's ok handling pressure.

From William Penn HS

Tosses the Football and Javelin Pretty Far

UNI could be his last stop?

Or to rephrase the question -- If you had to get a Zips Football tatoo on your back, what would it be:

:o do they have wifi down there? I never thought to bring my laptop.I have my BlackBerry. I did see one guy with a lap top. But I don't know about wifi. I'll ask someone.

When Brooks was a senior in HS he campaigned for a UA scholarship in the Beacon. Dambrot didn't want to give him one, so Brooks went to Niagara.After a year, the kid wants to come home, and KD does him a favor by letting him walk on. And this is the thanks he gets. The kid had a chance to be part of something really special at UA over the next 3 years. Instead he'll spend the next 20 years behind bars. Pretty stupid decision.I'm presently sitting in downtown Akron awaiting my call for jury duty at the court house. I'll keep my eyes open for him.

I didn't predict the Zips would win the MAC East last season. I believe you have me mistaken for Big Zip? ;) (are there enough winking smilies in the world to cover for that one?)I pegged the Zips for 8-4 "worst case" last year. I grossly underestimated the problems we'd have at QB. In a desperate attempt to salvage some pride from my prediction, I'll say the following:We were 4-8, but the separation from the Zips and the MAC "elite" wasn't all that great. We lost to MAC East champ Miami, on the road, 7-0. We beat MAC Champ CMU for 59 minutes, before blowing it. We beat Temple for 59 minutes before blowing it. We were punked by BG, but only because we wasted 7 of our 9 opportunities in the red zone. We beat K.e.n.t, beat OU...other than Buffalo we were were in the driver's seat in all our conference losses. If CJ11 hasn't improved...and Rogers isn't ready...then I predict JD puts Gary Pride in the shotgun. Then I up my 2008 season-record prediction from 7-5, to 8-4.And if I'm wrong, I'll make up some lame excuse, and post it on December 3rd, 2008. Mark it on your calender...I promise it'll be a doosie!

I don't think we're ready for the Big East, but if a Big East affiliation did, by some freak act of God happen, the following would occur:I think basketball would struggle. I'll reference Gary Waters. The guy is a great, great coach. He put K.e.n.t. basketball on the map, and he got CSU 20 wins in only his second season. He had 6 years at Rutgers and couldn't do better than a couple NIT's. Big East basketball goes 7 bids deep in the NCAA's with regularity, but finishing 7th in the Big East is a lot tougher than winning the MAC. Jim Boeheim has missed the last two NCAA tourneys, and Syracuse is a tremendously storied program only a couple years removed from a national championship. Big East hoops is a B-I-T-C-H.That said, I'm hoping a few of the BE schools get frustrated with the BE gauntlet and decide to create their own conference. Maybe pull in Xavier, UMass and a few other Top-tier A-10 teams too. Such a conference would be very appealing to the Zips...but who knows if it will ever develop.Would the BE take the Zips because of the media market? Doubtful. I think they know this is Big 10 country. And, they all recruit Ohio pretty well as-is (a primary reason S FLA is BE is because BE schools can promise a Florida HS kid he'll play in his home state at least two times in his career). Northern BE schools also don't mind the trip to Florida in November. Akron's not so appealing.Football, initially, would really struggle. We'd be the next "Temple." But I think recruiting would ultimately improve to the point where we'd be competitive. I think a lot of local "stars" would play for the Zips if their schedule included Pitt, WVa, Cinci, Syracuse, etc. Presently, those kids go to Minnesota, Pitt, etc.If you worried about selling out the stadium and the JAR, that's where a BE affiliation would be a coup. Replace EMU/CMU/Ball State/WMU/Toledo with Marquette, Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia, Notre Dame, etc and people are beating down the doors for tickets. We'd need to play our games in Cleveland until we got a new arena.Football would sell out. You'd get a minimum 10k opposing fans for the Pitt, Cinci and WVa games at the new stadium. Assuming that many tickets were available. The expansion of the stadium to 45k would be on the fast track. Our athletic programs would make money.Could we compete? It would be damn difficult...right now. If we could go C-USA first...it would be a good stepping stone. But CUSA is a constantly evolving conference. We could go CUSA tomorrow, and UCF and Memphis could bolt to the BE the very next day. Then we're stuck with a big sack of crap.That's why Mack gets paid the big bucks...to figure stuff like this out. Hopefully whatever vision he has for the state of NCAA football and basketball over the next 5-10 years is correct. A conference move for the Zips could be a bonanza...or it could blow up in our face.

I'd be shocked if ECU got in before UCF. ECU is terrible in every aspect of athletics. UCF is rising meteorically.If CUSA lost Memphis, then CUSA should merge with the MAC.

I went to 9 Zips football games last season...and I don't think CJ11 is a good QB. When you first see a really good QB, or for that matter a player at any position, you can usually see if he has "it."When Frye came in for Nick Sparks after Nick's turf toe, Frye rolled out and threw a bullet to the TE...him him square in the numbers. I, and my buddy next to me looked at each other and said "Wow." You could see he was special.GP1's point is valid that maqree QB's win in the MAC, and mediocre-to-bad QB's don't.I hope CJ11 proves me wrong. I hope he hit the weight room in the off season, hit the film room and takes his game to another level this year. We need it, or we're a sub .500 club in 2008.The WR's we have this season will be better suited for CJ11's abilities. Bowser seems to be a guy that can turn a 10 yard out into a 35 yard gain. Bruce is likewise more a short yardage guy than a deep threat. If Andre Jones can stretch the D like Hixson a few years ago, that's a solid top 3 WR set.OL is fine. RB is excellent.DL is as good as it's been in 15 years.LB's aren't too deep, but the improved DL will hide that a bit.DB will be fine. Especially if Will Fleming is as good as I think he is.Punter is "ok." And our kicking game should be excellent.I also think coach Moorhead needs to re-invent his offense this summer. The sideways tosses didn't work last season, and they won't work this season. Regarding JD --Consistently winning football games at UA isn't easy. That's why it hasn't happened in about a quarter century. JD came to UA with zero head coaching experience. He shot for the moon with some athletic talent that, if it would have panned out, would have made UA a dominant team. I think he learned that athletic talent alone doesn't cut it for a student athlete. And that the cons outweigh the pros when is comes to accepting kids long on talent, and short on character. But -- the guy gave it his best shot. He didn't copy Lee Owens...he tried a fresh approach. Ok, maybe it was a little like Faust. To his credit, his last two classes have been nearly as highly touted as his first ones, but with much better character, and grades. Hopefully he gets the opportunity to see them into their 4th and 5th seasons.In today's D-1 athletics, you essentially have 5 years to win. Especially if you're playing for an AD that didn't hire you.Will JD turn it around this season? He should. Even with milquetoast QB play, 7-5 should be an attainable goal. And he stays at 7-5, no doubt. If he had a schedule with two 1-AA opponents, like Owens did in his final year, 7-5 probably wouldn't cut it.If the Zips do worse (than 7-5), then what? It will be interesting to see if Mack looks at the big picture and recognizes the progress after the early retention issues...or if he goes by the 5-year-and-out book and puts "his guy" at the helm for the inaugural Infocision Stadium season.Owens got 9 years and Faust got 9 years. UA's history is to give football coaches a pretty long leash to turn things around. I think JD's chances of being on the Zips sidelines in 2009 have a lot to do with, win or lose, how the team progresses, how it wins or loses, and how it finishes. I'm going with 7-5, with JD and a pretty decent core of players returning for 2009.

I think the eagle still looks too mean. Any chance you could give it a black eye?

I think your signature graphic infringes on my avatar's patent. Cool Roo!

Nice find! Maybe it's happened already and I haven't seen it, but I have to believe that at some point a few schools are going to be whining about how the LeBron factor is an unfair recruiting advantage for the Zips. Especially since KD is not shy at all about discussing it. I hate to say it, but maybe the BCS schools that lost out on Zeke will get the ball rolling?All the big schools use NBA players to help in recruiting. Michael Jordan has his summer camps at Chapel Hill. John Stockton does a TON of PR for Gonzaga. LeBron supporting the Zips is no different. No, he didn't attend UA. But that's irrelevant. He's an NBA guy helping his former coach. Something to consider -- Greg Oden passed 5 more credit hours at Ohio State than LeBron has passed at UA. How would it be any different if Oden lent a hand to Thad Matta?

It will be interesting to see if Ray wants to be a Zip after his 2-year JUCO stint? See story.

I will be shocked if he makes the first cut in the NFL, let alone a roster...but he's passed the first hurdle.

sig heilReminds me of the "SMUG" episode on South Park.

I wish the whiny transvestite douche bag would take his K.e.n.t. scholarship fund and fall off the face of the earth. K.e.n.t.-loving she-males suck just as much as any other Golden Fla.shes.

Nice job Mike Waddell!

Wait until the Big East Hoops splinters, and hook up with whatever iteration evolves?Go to C-USA as a "stepping stone" to a bigger conference down-the-line?You keep hearing Mack say "We need to think bigger than the MAC." And JD too. And KD too. I agree with ZW...SOMETHING will happen regarding our conference affiliation within the next couple years. Whether we (the Zips) drive it, or the changing landscape of another conference drives it remains to be seen. But something will change. And the change will be positive.For the record -- I can't imagine an UA AD having the "stones" to go the Independent route again. No way, no how.