Captain Kangaroo

Didn't he transfer to Slippery Rock?

Nope. I like the type of student-athlete the MAC typically attracts. If I really liked the "Oden/Durant-type" I wouldn't spend the time I do on this board supporting the Zips. Would the Zips staff take an "Oden/Durant-type?" I don't see that question ever being a realistic one. It will never happen at UA. If they want to recruit that type of player, then they'll prove it one day by leaving Akron and moving on to one of the NCAA/NBA developmental schools/programs. It would be a lot easier (to root for a "machine")...that's for sure. But it isn't what I personally prefer.

Personally, although you seem to know me better than myself, I would not have taken Oden. The one, one-and-done situation I liked was Larry Hughes. He could have jumped straight to the NBA, but he wanted to stay at home for a year and play in front of his family. And to help the Bilikins' program. That was classy.Say LeBron James wanted to help KD out, and wanted to play basketball in his home town with his high school friends for a year. I would have accepted that. Helping out a mentor from his youth, helping out his hometown program, turning down the NBA to do so (like Hughes, he had the option of turning pro or going to college)...that would have been borderline "noble." To me this is different than the OSU/Oden relationship, where Oden was specifically recruited from out-of-state to be a "student" for 1/2 a year. Getting into a recruiting war over 1-and-done players is a crime. It has nothing to do with collegiate athletics and all to do with money.OSU made millions of dollars from Oden and all it cost them was two quarters worth of out-of-state tuition scholarship money. It was a great business decision. But Oden was a sham student athlete. Given the choice...give me the Cedrick Middleton's of the world any day of the week.

If we spent 100million dollars on a football-exclusive practice facility, someone should be shot. Hell, our new football stadium only costs 55million. Keep in mind that the Stiles center is a full blown rec center for all students, that the building houses many athletic department staff, that the track, golf...basically all students and programs benefit from the facility. Too many for my liking. But the last class, sans Vince Hill, seems outstanding. Although no one really wants to mention it, there are also some excellent players from the first 3 classes. I said Oden was a sham of a student athlete. He was. If it makes the thin-skinned OSU fan happy, I'll say that Kevin Durant was a sham student athlete too. I'm sure Oden is a nice kid. I never saw anything in the morning news that he beat his girlfriend, robbed a team mate's dorm, fell asleep drunk at the wheel...nothing. By all accounts he is a very good kid. But he was a sham student athlete. He has less than 10 credit hours at OSU than me. And I never attended OSU. Dambrot has a commitment to getting college students degrees. As a fan of collegiate athletics, I like that. And there's noting better to me than when a bunch of traditional student athletes beat a bunch of guys who are simply playing out the string until NBA draft day arrives. That's what is so great about the NCAA tourney. At least it it used to be before the big schools began excluding programs that weren't NBA developmental teams disguised as college programs. No difference between OSU, Texas, Florida, etc and Akron? You got me there.

If they play McDonald in the 1st round it may be your only chance to see him in the playoffs. If there's anything better than Division 6 Ohio HS Football smack, I don't wanna know it.

Can you cite the source for the 1.5 GPA statistic? I'd like to see it.

After watching Buffalo at the Rubber Bowl last season, I'm shocked they're playing decent. I would have never seen it coming.Zips off a bye week, and back in the MAC East hunt after the Miami loss to Temple...The Zips will beat Buffalo this week. Tight game...it always is up there...but the Zips rebound, and continue their undefeated record against the Bulls.

He's had 3 full seasons at Akron. Not 10. Odds are pretty high that two of his best seasons would be with Lee Owens-recruited players. You're only allowed to recruit 20-or-so kids in a class. Statistically, how could it be otherwise?Urban Meyer had his best/only two seasons with Blackney's recruits. Does that mean Blackney was great, or that Meyer got more out of the players than Blackney ever could?Make that statement after 5 or 6 seasons and it would have some merit. To make it after 3 is just silly.

You got me.

All that...and they beat us by 18 in football. Amazing.And we tied them in soccer.To be honest, I don't want to compete with "that." When I spoke to Dambrot at the golf outing, he was very proud of the fact that 11 of his 12 recruits at Akron thus far were getting their degrees.Contrast that with a sham student athlete like Greg Oden or Mike Conley who took a handful of cakewalk classes (History of Rock and Roll anyone?) one quarter to gain eligibility, then took the bare minimum in the 2nd quarter...which they subsequently dropped after the season's over...and went to the NBA. Now THAT'S college basketball in it's purest form. Go Zips!

I will add: If K.e.n.t. is dumb enough to give away their home field advantage and play us on a neutral field, I'm all for it.

The day the Zips took the K.e.n.t. game off campus and moved it to a neutral site would be the last day I own season tickets. Or any Zips football tickets. Why would you build a 55million dollar on-campus stadium, then move your premier rivalry game off campus?

Thanks for including that previous post. It is greatly appreciated...that's where I first leaned of the verbal. FYI - The info for my post was obtained from interviews with people who've seen him play, not from any web sites. If the ZipsNation hoops fans like that type of info, I will continue posting similar stories. It's fun.

The University of Akron basketball team recently received a verbal commitment for Serbian-born Nikola Cventinovic (Ven-TIN-o-vich). Nikola came to the United States 1 ½ years ago and is beginning his second year at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg Virginia.While possessing a nice outside touch, the 6’ 7” 225lb forward isn’t your typical Euro player. His strength lies in his role as a banger. Projected to play power forward for the Zips beginning in the fall of 2008, he’s extremely intelligent and a vocal floor leader who excels on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. And, he can throw down a mean dunk!A former soccer standout, Nikola already possesses some advanced footwork. Active, aggressive, frequently diving for loose balls…he’s certainly from a different mold than the Zips last Euro recruit, the immortal Klaus Zollner.How’d this youngster from the former Yugoslavia get to Akron? Was KD scouring the rugged Serpian terrain in search of the MAC's next Szczerbiak? Not quite.The Zips were apparently recruiting a teammate of Nikola’s. As occasionally happens, when you watch tapes of one player, a teammate unexpectedly catches your eye. While recruiting Virginia Episcopal’s Brian Irwin (sp?), it seemed the more tape and performances that were reviewed, the more Nikola stood out.Euro kids typically take a year or more to adjust to the more physical style of play we see “state-side.” Learning the American game as a Junior last year, he was still amongst his team’s leaders in most statistical categories. 12.5ppg, 6rpg and 2 steals/game. If you look as Virginia Episcopal’s roster, where most graduates earn college scholarships...many to major conferences, that’s pretty impressive. Nikola played his AAU ball for East Coast Scholar Athletes. Most of their games were in the south, hence he received heavy recruiting interest from such schools as Appalachian State, Davidson and Eastern Kentucky. And Vermont(?).Nikola dropped his soccer aspirations for his senior season and is solely focusing on basketball. Look for him to take his hoops game to another level this year...and then it's off to the JAR for the 2008 debut of "The Serbian Szczerbiak!"

The University of Akron basketball team recently received a verbal commitment for Serbian-born Nikola Cventinovic (Ven-TIN-o-vich). Nikola came to the United States 1 ½ years ago and is beginning his second year at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg Virginia.While possessing a nice outside touch, the 6’ 7” 225lb forward isn’t your typical Euro player. His strength lies in his role as a banger. Projected to play power forward for the Zips beginning in the fall of 2008, he’s extremely intelligent and a vocal floor leader who excels on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. And, he can throw down a mean dunk!A former soccer standout, Nikola already possesses some advanced footwork. Active, aggressive, frequently diving for loose balls…he’s certainly from a different mold than the Zips last Euro recruit, the immortal Klaus Zollner.How’d this youngster from the former Yugoslavia get to Akron? Was KD scouring the rugged Serpian terrain in search of the MAC's next Szczerbiak? Not quite.The Zips were apparently recruiting a teammate of Nikola’s. As occasionally happens, when you watch tapes of one player, a teammate unexpectedly catches your eye. While recruiting Virginia Episcopal’s Brian Irwin (sp?), it seemed the more tape and performances that were reviewed, the more Nikola stood out.Euro kids typically take a year or more to adjust to the more physical style of play we see “state-side.” Learning the American game as a Junior last year, he was still amongst his team’s leaders in most statistical categories. 12.5ppg, 6rpg and 2 steals/game. If you look as Virginia Episcopal’s roster, where most graduates earn college scholarships...many to major conferences, that’s pretty impressive. Nikola played his AAU ball for East Coast Scholar Athletes. Most of their games were in the south, hence he received heavy recruiting interest from such schools as Appalachian State, Davidson and Eastern Kentucky. And Vermont(?).Nikola dropped his soccer aspirations for his senior season and is solely focusing on basketball. Look for him to take his hoops game to another level this year...and then it's off to the JAR for the 2008 debut of "The Serbian Szczerbiak!"

I took my son to a corn maze in Penisula this past weekend. One of the women walking through it had a FTR hoodie on. Another guy had a "Roo A" hat on. I was in my Akron hoodie. You'd never have seen so much Zips gear out in the boonies 5 years ago.Waddell's efforts on the Marketing front made it cool to sport Zips gear. If we could ever consistently win, you'd see the stuff everywhere.

It isn't Zippy's fault. It is the Costume Coordinator!! Fire the Costume Coordinator!!! The previous Costume Coordinator was awesome. The old costume stitching was WAY better than the crap we've witnessed the past 3 years. The costume material thread count has decreased dramatically, and quite frankly I'm tired of it. I don't care if we need to eat the CC's contract...she's got to go.I have written Mack Roades daily regarding this topic, and I urge everyone at ZipsNation to do so as well!!

2001 - Urban Wins 16-112002 - Zips and BG Didn't Meet

You warm my heart!

Do you think I was born yesterday?? Come on! Sorry - Lee had 9 years. JD has has 3 1/2. Half of that game was played in the remnants of a hurricane. And Jason Taylor, a Faust recruit, almost single-handedly led the team to a win. Owens coaching played little part in that game. He was along for the ride. And, he lost. Owens' team played the Buckeyes well. But they were never in the game. Wells plunges in from the 1 at game's end and it is 35-14. JD was down 3-2 in the 3rd quarter. Place him against an overrated team like Marshall and he likely would. In only 3 1/2 years at the helm, it is pretty laughable to pit his record against top 25 opponents against someone who had nine years to do it...and did it once! What Bowl did they go to? None. Owens blew the game against Miami and watched the MAC Championship from his couch. JD beat Northern Illinois to go to the Motor City Bowl. Advantage JD. I LOVE the Owens fan who counts wins vs Hampton and Liberty with the same degree of difficulty as real Division 1 wins. Again - You can't be serious? Do you think the ZipsNation readers are that stupid? Why not put SE Missouri State and Grambling on the schedule and let Owens go 8-3? If you want me to post some of Owens' player retention rates, I will. His 2000 class is on GoZips.com...around 32% if I recall correctly? Compare JD's after 9 years and let's talk. And NYC slum is pretty laughable. While not what it is today, Owens campus was a hell of a lot nicer than when I enrolled in 1984. To evaluate JD in comparison to Owens after 3 1/2 years is a self-serving arguement. JD has had the practice facility for 3 years, and won't have a new stadium until 2009. Man...why the hell aren't we in a BCS bowl!!! FIRE HIM!!! NO PROGRESS!!! FIND ANOTHER URBAN MEYER!!! IT IS EASY!!! GOOD COACHES WIN BOWLS BY THEIR 3RD YEAR OR THEY SHOULD BE CANNED!!Gheeez....

A stat I heard this weekend was that 56% of the picks in the NFL draft's first two rounds this year were less than "3-stars" out of high school. Take it for what it's worth.

NC State is in the ACC. They drew 56,000 fan to the Akron game. 56,000!! We drew 7,000 butts-in-seats for Temple last week.OSU drew 105,000 for it's game against Akron. Their ticket prices average 20X what an Akron game ticket costs. Programs like NC State, and to a larger extent OSU, are dripping with money. Their stadium upgrades cost twice what our entire new stadium will cost! They don't recruit, they select.Akron beat NC State, who's grad assistants makes as much money as JD.Akron played OSU within 18 points. Ans the disparity between OSU's football resources and Akron's is similar to my salary vs. Bill Gates'.That's not impressive? That's a guy that should be fired? Gheeeez...Is JD perfect? No. Was the Temple collapse boardeline unforgivable? It was close. But if you ride JD for that loss, then where's the anger towards Dambrot for the Miami collapse? A 7-point lead with 2 minutes remaining? And we blow it? I guess JD just isn't that "loveable?"In the big picture, JD appears to have the program going in the right direction. To blow off his MAC championship as "luck" is ridiculous. To harp on his recruiting mistakes, while giving no credit to the quality players he's brought to Akron is self-serving. It is funny that, in mid season, all you heard from Indian's fans was grousing about Shapiro not picking up quality free agents..that Dolan wouldn't spend the money to be competitive...that Wedge was a boob. The Tribe is 1 game away from the World Series, and where are those guys now? They just sit and wait for the team to fail, so they can say "I TOLD YOU SO." Just like last week...the JD haters disappeared. Then the Zips lose, and the haters return. As predictable as an OSU fan's response to "O-H."All of you are welcome to post after the Buffalo game. But if we win, I can easily predict who will post, and who will disappear...until the next loss.

I'm dying of curiosity. You simply HAVE to tell me...what part of post #8 or post #10 in this thread is confusing?

That's extremely hilarious, even if it's in a sort of cryptic, off-beat way, Cap'n. Outstanding!! Thanks. Glad someone picked up on it!