Captain Kangaroo

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 --

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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.

We now have the capability to do so. In the Rubber Bowl Era you couldn't afford to bring in a decent OOC foe. With the backing of 8,000 "paying" fans...at an average of about $5.00/ticket...you don't have much scheduling flexibility. You bring in what you can afford.Filling 30,000 seats at $20.00 per ticket...NOW your wallet can entice someone decent to make the flight into CAK.

That perception seems to be a really tough thing to overcome. Even the staunchest UA supporters seem to be stuck in 1989...referencing games played 20 years ago...asking for 1-AA teams on our 2009 football schedule. Does that happen at Miami? Toledo? No. It happens at places like EMU, K.e.n.t and unfortunately Akron.We are getting a 60+ million dollar football palace. The place WILL be full. The teams WILL win. The opponents SHOULD be exclusively quality, 1-A OOC and MAC opponents. If the stadium is NOT filled to capacity -- heads should roll. You don't spend 60+ million dollars and use the same techniques to garner crowds that were used in the Rubber Bowl era. The bar has been raised, both on the field and in the stands. 5,000 person crowds and 4-8 teams can no longer be accepted.The "low hanging fruit"..."the easy way out" is:* Schedule 1-AA cupcakes to inflate the team's record (this is known as the "Lee Owens Technique")* Schedule "Band Night" and get a few thousand HS bands to pad attendance* Schedule YSUThis is 2008, not 1988. The Low Hanging Fruit Days are over. It is time to expect a quality Division 1 NCAA Football experience in Akron.Personally -- I think that dawn has arrived. But to many, only seeing is believing. So we'll need to wait until September 2009 for people to forget about Jim Dennison's firing, Murray State, YSU and HS Band Nights. I can't wait.

Read #9 response from a guy that claims he was thereI agree that I would like to see CJ take more snaps under center. As much as I dislike the 3-3-5, I might start to dislike this "spread" offense more.I sure hope that we don't line up and then look at the sidelines to get the play. Has that EVER given us an advantage? Doesn't seem like it to me.August 21st, 1972

Is that like when MC decided to only go by "Hammer?"

Word on the street is he's visiting UA this Friday. It looks to be between us and Memphis.

I believe it is a MAC rule that MAC teams will not play 1-AA teams at the 1-AA's stadium. I also believe that YSU can play at OSU or Penn State every year for around $700,000 per game. UA could only offer about 1/3 of that. Thus YSU would be stupid for ever playing the Zips. It would be a half-a-million dollar hit to their budget.Beyond that -- The Zips aren't 1-AA anymore. They don't need to be playing 1-AA teams. YSU is a 1-AA team that refuses to elevate to 1-A. Once they move to 1-A, we can schedule them.FURTHER Beyond that -- We will have a brand new stadium in 2009. We no longer need "gimmicks" to draw fans. Getting 10,000 Penguin fans to drive up to Akron for a game is now officially worthless. There will be 10,000 Zips fans that will be occupying those seats. Go Penguins. Beat Northwest Central Missouri State!

Can you intersperse blatant name-dropping within your confirmation post? I'd think you were pretty important, and supremely knowledgeable, if you did so.

I've had "Roo Brew" in the Rubber Bowl lot for about 7 years now. I hope the guy that's ripping me off goes bankrupt. Here's a label from 2003:This years batch will be the best ever. Guaranteed. The new label is already taking shape.

Tough to be "The Gonzaga of the East" when you haven't had an NCAA appearance in 22 years.GOTE is a nice, longer term goal. But it is flat-out silly to put that label on us at this time. Look at the names ZIP posted...and he didn't even mention John Stockton. We have...Dru and Travis...on a summer league team.We need to step up to be GOTE, and it will take some time. Are we on the right track? Sure. But a lot of work lies ahead.

Word on the street is he is a really special player...very highly thought of. We'll know if he's in the fold or not soon...maybe as early as next Friday.

SGM405 posted a reply to go Zips...I responded to SGM405...and my post was entered under the name SGM405 instead of Captain Kangaroo? I can't figure it out?SGM - don't take it personal...just some goofy glitch.The gist if SGM's post was "Are you serious...Dru Joyce has no business being on any NBA team, summer or otherwise."My response was "Who would you rather have - Eric Snow or Dru?"

I'd have to believe that, as long as the classwork continues to go well, Roberts would get one of those scholarships. He'd certainly deserve it. And KD seems ultra-loyal to guys that pay their dues. I spoke to a coach at the Trevor fund raiser a few months ago. He said they're aiming very high for a player to fill that available scholarship(s). Whomever gets it will be a high-caliber complement to Zeke.

*Pssst* don't tell anyone...but students that want to drink in the new stadium will bring flasks filled with alcohol...just like they have since John R. Buchtel's frat brothers started the tradition back in the late 1800's. Some students will bring bottled "water" (water bottles filled with vodka). It is inevitable.Like Dr. Z said -- Beer is sold in stadiums all over the country. Beer is sold during the MAC Tourney...and somehow...some way...the businesses make money off it...and somehow...no one dies.BTW -- Students tend to shy away from $6.00, 16 oz. Miller Lites. I do too. Hence the flask. ;)BTW2 -- If you're looking for a Zips-endorsed beer, former UA linebacker Ryan Myers requests you choose Miller Lite.

You should try the "Search" function on ZipsNation (top right corner)...it works really well.Click for CJ 7 Thread

Vandelay Sports Zips Football Preview

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Here is his column. As per usual, he gets a "dig" in on the Zips at the end (that's why the guy, who is a decent writer, draws the grief that he does on our site).BTW - Elton is correct. There is a big difference between MAC East Champs, and MAC Champs. Or regular season MAC champs, and MAC tourney champs. Unless it is a confetti-producing championship, a rush-the-court, on- ESPN Championship...it isn't THE "MAC Championship."

Probably true. But since the "next job" is usually a BCS gig that triples their salary, who can blame them? That's also good incentive for them to do a good job while they're here. Do you think Syracuse likes being left out of the NCAA's in successive years? How about Rutgers, who hired one of the better college basketball coaches in the nation...and the guy was barely getting into the NIT? I can't imagine a lot of the BE hoops teams being happy with the meat grinder that is BE basketball. At some point the A-10 and some of the "western" BE teams are going to form another league. True...but Memphis football would LOVE to be in the BE. And that is a major reason they'd move tomorrow if they could. Memphis basketball could handle the BE. My question is "Why shouldn't UA strive to improve?" Why can Boise State...Gonzaga...Cincinnati (the school was athletically irrelevant for 25 years until Huggins arrived)...improve their lot, but UA should stand still?Believe me, after going 5-6 and 4-8 in the MAC I'm by no means saying we'd be immediately competitive in BE football. But with the right commitment, it would be a realistic 5-7 year goal. UConn was 1-AA only 8 or 9 years ago, playing in a band box. Now they're one of the better BE programs. You also sell Zips hoops short. There's no reason FSU should ever lose to a MAC team sheerly due to low motivation. They may not have been overly motivated...but the Zips were pretty good too. We backed it up with a solid run at NIT runner up UMass. Lack of a healthy PG was our "degree of separation" last season. Nothing else.No doubt the Zips have some work to do to prove their worthy of hoops recognition like the Butler's, upper-tier MVC schools and Gonzaga's of the world. But those schools didn't win overnight. Hey -- we lost to K.e.n.t. 3 times last year. We have work to do. But people was to plant a tree on Monday and begin eating fruit on Tuesday. It doesn't work that way.The hoops program is on the cusp of a "special" 5+ year run. Not the "nice," confetti-free, 20+ win seasons we've seen for the past 5 years, but real, confetti-dropping MAC tourneys with some NCAA tourney wins. Like everyone else, I wish it happened a few years sooner...but once the confetti hits the floor I'll forget all about it.

Noon EST. If you're going to the game, get ready for an 11am CST kick off.