Captain Kangaroo

First of all -- congrats to the Zips on an awesome victory! Coming off a home loss to lowly NIU, then snaring back-to-back road wins vs. BG and the previously hot Miami is really impressive. Looking at the VCU game a week ago...to be honest...I'm concerned about getting crushed. Now I expect to win. Welcome back Ced!I've seen the banter about sitting Wood for VCU. Screw it...if he is healthy and can play, put him in. Like KD said, he's healthier now than he was several weeks ago. Do we want him coming in to the MACC series rusty and out of basketball shape? He's gotta get things going now. Great job by the UA fans at the game. On the radio it was tough to tell if the Zips made or missed a shot...the Zips cheering section probably came through louder than the Miami crowd. Zips gearing up for the Tourney....Woo hoo!BTW -- Anyone catch Ced's comments regarding ZipsNation after the game? Apparently he doesn't read it? GO CED!!BTW2 -- If the Miami assistant yelling at Elton Alexander after the game called him a "Douche Bag," I can't fault the guy.

Numerically we are. And on-paper we are. But it is concerning how sporadic our guard play has been when Dials and Ced aren't playing major minutes. Roberts has been steady...McNees has shown f.lashes...but overall our guard play has been shaky without the seniors.Next year Roberts and McNees will likely improve...but then again, who knows. And it is rare that sub 6-foot Fr's, like the group we have coming in next season, contribute immediately.We may end up fine...but I expect a continuing learning curve, with some rough performances up-front.Nice post, BTW - ZW. I enjoyed reading that.

Man bites dog...sun rises in the east...Miami assistant coach needs restrained by police...some things are just Universal givens.

I hope all the OSU fans that read this board are embarrassed by that statement. The Zips played K.e.n.t. in a 15 degree below zero blizzard and won 34-6. To make excuses for OSU's offensive output based upon a slightly humid September day, with a little drizzle, is laughable.

Weekday football games suck. They ruin tailgating, which, to many many people, can be the best part of a college game day.

It's always nice to see someone pat themselves on the back, but you were clearly talking about some guy named Woods, not Wood.Woods DEFINITELY will play. Nick Dial told me so.

Since JD has been here, our defense has "lost" us a lot fewer games that the offense, or lack thereof, has. I'm more concerned with the Zips consistently putting points on the board, and converting in the red zone, than I am debating the merits of the 3-3-5.

From The Beacon

Since the the K.e.n.t. game on January 23rd, who knows what to expect from the Zips on a given night. The "Good Zips/Evil Zips" showed up at K.e.n.t, mauling K.e.n.t. in the first half, then getting mauled themselves in the second half. Jan 26th we go to Central Michigan -- Only the evil Zips showed up. Despite the 1-point loss we were pretty much dominated.Jan 30th -- "Good Zips/Evil Zips" again, as Toledo crushed us in the first half, then we returned the favor in half #2.Feb 2nd -- "Good Zips/Evil Zips" again, as the Zips played a lackluster half #1, then dominated in half #2.Feb 6th -- Only "Evil Zips" showed up. WMU dominated us.Feb 9th -- First game without Wood, and we gutted it out. Any road MAC win gets a "Good Zips" rating in my book.Feb 12th -- Pure "Evil Zips." The only evil thing missing was Ronnie James Dio singing the national anthem. Feb 16th -- "Good Zips" make a return appearance! Seniors collectively pull their weight for the first time in seemingly forever. Poise and clutch FT shooting down the stretch??!! It was heartening.Feb 19th & Feb 23rd -- We have a shot at Miami if Ced is truly back...even if "back" is 75% back. Unlike beating Bal State and BG on the road, this would be a legit, "Zips are back" head-turning win. It has been a while since we've beaten anyone of note on the road. VCU? It is a HUGE game. You hear the "Gonzaga of the East" stuff every so often from UA folks. Here's the chance to live up to the hype. Sure Wood is hurt. But Travis sat the 1st half of the Nevada game and we were fine. KD says repeatedly "The MAC isn't a 2-bid league yet." Baloney. K.e.n.t. beats St. Mary's on Saturday and K.e.n.t. is a legit at-large contender. Will a VCU win get us an at-large? Of course not. But it would have put us in the mix if we didn't blow our "opportunity games" vs. Dayton, Winthrop and K.e.n.t.. Or the "bunnies' that a solid at-large team should win like CMU or NIU.I have no prediction for the Miami game, other than if Middleton is "back," we're in the mix. And if he's 2-11 with 5 points, we'll lose.

rather be a masculine woman than a gay can't stater...and Brady Quinn checks into ZipsNation. How about that?

Speaking of Zippy -- Here is a big, FAT thumbs down for the University's handling of the "Zippy's Kid's Club" in 2007-8. No newsletters, no Birthday cards for the kids...nothing. Of course, all that stuff is promised to the kids up-front.I buy my son season tickets for football and hoops to support the respective programs even though he's in the Kid's Club. He liked it, so for $30.00 it was worth keeping him in it. He's out of it next year. #1 mascot in the nation, but #317 ranked Kid's Club. Shoddy, UA. Very shoddy.

Seems like a great kid. Click for a nice column in the local paper.

That's just f-'d up. Profoundly sad.

Hopefully it was just announced that Eric McLaughlin and Marcel Boyce were granted anlother year of eligibility? If not, based upon our last several games, I remain pretty concerned.

I think it is safe to assume his son was on MassilonTiger.org campaigning for dad to keep his job.AkronObsessed...to AshlandObsessed....to MassilonObsessed...to GreenObsessed...that kid has more obsessions than Calvin Kline.

After reviewing the recruit videos...a great way to spend a lunch break by the way...here are my thoughts:Jordan Miller has a strong arm. Noticeably stronger than what I remember Matt Rogers' appeared in his video last season. The throws a nice deep ball...not a floater, but a strike. Runs well too.Bowser looks to be the real deal. Nice moves, acceleration and a ton of yards-after-catch. Thankfully he isn't an inch taller or the Zips couldn't have gotten a return phone call from him. He'll rule in the MAC.Deshaun Miller - Looks fearless over the middle. He and Bruce will be a great slot receive combo.Nadir Brown - He's one of the guys the Zips offered after Gardner and Cooper stiffed us on signing day. Not only is he tall at 6' 5", the guy has great hands and reach. He plays with the athleticism of a basketball player. He could be a steal. If he weren't injured is senior season, BCS schools would have been all over him. All reports say his health is fine. He's a good one.Ryan Ladrach - Probably the least spectacular of the recruit videos...but TE's typically aren't all that sexy (for lack of a better term). Seems to have great size, good hands and a lot of upside.Andrew Colosimo - Looks to be a strong, strong kid. Technique looks good...I'm guessing his HS coaching was pretty good.Andrew Bice - Marked as an OL...but I wouldn't mind seeing him get a shot at DL. He looked excellent there. Mitch Straight - See Bice's comments above. Both these guys look to be agile, strong big men who could be successful on either side of the ball.Joe Pachuta - The guy just mauled opposing DLs. I wonder how many pancakes he had for the season...more than Waffle House and Perkins make for a typical post-church Sunday brunch, I assume?James Harvey - Yet another big man (6' 4", 280) who's athleticism stood out first and foremost. Played RB, TE and DL! I think the sky is the limit for him.Hassan Hazime - 6' 6", 245 lbs, and chiseled. Hopefully he makes the jump to the speed of the American college game quickly. If so, look out! It will be surreal for him to play in some of the bigger college venues...judging from a lot of his footage, my back yard is more of a football field than some of the sandlots he's used to playing in?Brian Wagner - Man, did this kid look impressive. Reminiscent of an early-career Nate Boyd or Brian Hilk. Yeah, he's from a Division 6 program, but's that's the only way the Zips could get a kid of his caliber. If he played at even an average D1 HS program, larger schools would have been all over him. Breakaway speed...strength...I'd be surprised if he isn't one of the 2008 true freshman that plays immediately.Nate Schuler - FINALLY the Zips start recruiting from the Youngstown-area's Inter County League...home of middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (Lowellville HS) and yours truly (McDonald HS). The kid lays out some serious shots. Once he gets into a solid weight program, quits playing QB and gives up hoops, the sky is the limit for this 6' 2" 215lb missile. Troy Gilmer - Highlights were predominately on the offensive side of the ball, but he'll be an LB. Looks to be a great athlete. Very fast.Will Flemming - Not the sexiest highlight film ever, but the one thing that stood out was his anticipation. More so than anyone else, he seems to make big plays by being a 1/2 step ahead.Kevin Davis: He fell into the Zips hands when Maurice Harvey stiffed the Zips in favor of Nevada Reno. Davis looks to have excellent ball-hawking skills. Tackles well too.Jared Province - Most of his highlights were at RB. The kid glides...he looks like a young Robert Smith, or better yet Dominik Hixson. Like Wagner and Schuler, he's a small-school Ohio kid. But he has great size, bloodlines and burner speed. He seems to be an absolute steal.Kevin Funches - A JUCO DB that appears to have solid cover skills and good speed. Manley Waller - Fast and tough. reminds me of a pre-ACL injury Chevin Pace. He also had the best tape special effects!Marvase Byrd - His speed and toughness stood out.Norm Shuford - I loved his spin moves at RB. And his speed. despite being 5' 9", he has the "look" of a prototypical DB. Add these guys to Bain, Bruce and Johnson and we have what appears to be a very solid class. I'm pretty excited to see them all suit up.

Click for MAC Recruiting OverviewTake it from the source...an on-line publication that listed Jarvis Givens and Kyle Roddenberry as Zips commitments for the second consecutive year.

Lol, I love the Tarver reference.Can ZipWatcher get "Go Tarver" T-shirts printed before the next home game? I'm in for THU-REEEEEEEEEEEE!!

If that were the case, we would have been playing 2 on 5 last night ...On second thought .. maybe we were. If you give up 80+ at home .. you're not guarding anybodyNo one shoots 65% in a game unless:a.) They flat-out over match the opponent (like when my intramural team got waxed by BUS FREE AFRIKA back in 1988)b.) They have confidence out the ying yangNIU didn't over match us. They're a bottom-feeder MAC program. They were supremely confident, because they knew they could get their shot off. It is SO much easier to shoot if you know no one's going to bother you.I agree with ZW - KD needs to figure out another way to win. Winning with defense isn't going to happen...these guys simply aren't good defensive players right now. And I don't think that's going to change over the next couple months. It'll take the whole summer.When Pitino got replaced by O'Brien a few years back, the Celtics progressively started playing better defense. A reporter asked Paul Pierce "What gives?" Pierce replied - "When Pitino was here, he yelled at us 'PLAY DEFENSE!'. When O'Brien got here, he TAUGHT us how to play defense."KD has some teaching to do with the youngsters. Until the "D" starts clicking, I'm inclined to let the McKnights "go Tarver" and take our chances until Wood returns.

Our 22 game home win streak got snapped by a team that was 0-10 on the road. Said team shot 65% against the Zips. To quote Luis Proenza: "Wow..."

Screw that -- Do whatever it takes to win THIS season! The MAC East is still there for the taking, and it would be a disservice to the seniors to put this team in a "rebuilding" mode, even for one game.No - You don't run Dials and Middleton into the ground. But you don't stick Bardo out for 30 minutes just for the sake of giving him "experience" either.Like Dambrot alluded to in the post-game Saturday:Bubba left, and Middleton stepped up his gameWood got hurt, and Travis stepped up his gameWood is out, and C McKnight seems to be stepping up his gameThis is an opportunity for a youngster to seize. We need someone to step up and be an impact player for the rest of the season. Regardless of how the season plays out, we will not go into The Q with a bullseye on our back this season. It'll be fun to be the underdog for the first time in a while.

CJ7 is no longer a Zip. But I do agree...I don't see him improving, regardless of where he ends up. If it does, we are in a world of hurt. No one is banking on them. That's why we signed the JUCO guys. They are the key to the WR position this year. That, and a QB that can get them the ball.

I've heard similar rumbling. I think it would be awesome.From what I've heard, he has a legit shot in the NFL as a DB. But probably not as an RB. It would also allow us to put our best 22 players on the field, instead of sitting Allen or Johnson.

He was ineligible in the fall, so like any fall non-qualifier, he would not be eligible in the spring. Assuming a minor miracle, you could see him in summer camp.

Since you bring up the topic of scheduling...I hear rumors that the Florida State Seminoles could end up on the Zips 2009 schedule (away). That would be a sweet road trip. Regarding getting upper-tir B11 teams @ home...forget it. It ain't happening. Michigan can get 110,000 paying customers to see them play 1-AA schools. UA would need to charge $2,000.00 per ticket to get anywhere near close to the $$ required to get OSU or Michigan to come to our 30,000 seat stadium.Like other MAC schools, we need to get the Syracuse's...Rutgers'...Purdue's...Iowa State's...Cincinnati's..Minnesota's...teams of that ilk to make an attractive non-conference schedule. Or, we waste our brand new stadium and play a neutral-field game in Cleveland againsts a top-tier school. I want to tailgate in Akron and watch games in Akron once the stadium is built. Why spend 55 million dollars, then play games in Cleveland's stadium? Why screw the local merchants who invested in business around the new stadium by giving Cleveland our $$.As far as innovative ideas to grow the fan base - Play better, win games and do so for an extended period of time. That will draw fans. I think the Zips' 2009 team will be excellent...we'll have the new stadium to showcase them...and the bandwagon will spontaneously erupt, much like the Motor City Bowl's "instant" Zips following. And for once, I think people will pay for their tickets and we may actually start crawiling out from the red.