Captain Kangaroo

DAMN!! You beat me to it. For all love Charlie gets on this board, the silence for Dwight is pretty deafening. Did you know he has 22 career NFL interceptions? He trails Vic Green by only 3INTs as the Zips all-time NFL INT leader!Dwight StatsVic Green

It'll be interesting to hear, after a few games from your new seats, if you have any thoughts regarding injecting some life into the Oldies up top.

4. You don't need to use the word "suck" in every cheer. Of the few cheers I did hear, I heard that a few times. Be a little creative.6. Know our opponents. How Temple had an player named "Christmas" and no Rowdies busted out any carols during his free throws is beyond me!

The Rowdies that show up are great. But there are a couple hundred too few.What was done to get students to the game? Promotions? Give-aways? Emails? Campus posters? There are several thousand students withing 1/4 mile of the JAR. To have such a lot turnout for a marquee opponent like Temple is pretty pathetic. And - the general public's attendance was equally pathetic too.Until someone at the University is disgusted with attendance, nothing will change. Disgust is the catalyst for change...you look in the mirror and you're 60lbs overweight and you say "I'm disgusted, I'm cutting out the potato chips and getting my fat a$$ off the couch and exercising"...that is when things change. Until someone...someone that can do something about it (that is key) gets disgusted with attendance, nothing will change.If you want to do something, you find a solution. If you don't want to do something, you find an excuse. Excuses abound at UA. And you get paid to repeat them for decades. Not a bad gig?I went to the Cavs / Celtics game last night. When I walked in the door, immediately to my right was a table for my son to get his face painted and get a Cavs tattoo. Cost: virtually nothing. Next to that was a "hair painting" station. They sprayed his head with metallic stripes of wine, blue and gold. Cost: Virtually nothing. Then some Cavs girls gave him a pass to go court side and watch warm-ups. They gave him a $3.00 disposable camera and a $3.00 Cavs t-shirt. The kid had the time of his life! And at almost no cost to the Cavs. The Zips could do something VERY similar even on their budget. Anyone love that 17k .gif of a brick they show on the Zips "big screen" when an opponent is shooting a free throw? Does it look more like a piece of cheese or a graham cracker? My son says "graham cracker."At least they changed that car dealer commercial from "Another punch in the gut loss for the Zips..." to "Zips fans hate to lose..." Your welcome for the suggestion, UA. I can't believe it took internet postings to change something as glaringly wrong as that...but I'm glad it was changed none-the-less.Time to focus on Wyoming. I'll predict 2,500 in attendance. 2,502 if you count the two people that will work @ the concession stand at half time.

Krusty the Clown: "Is the Bill of Rights a good thing....or a baaaaad thing?"*long pause*Amber Dempsey: "...Good thing?"Krusty: "RIGHT!"

Throwing in 2 more cents:We fared better than I expected. The team seems to be improving game-by-game. McNees looked very good. He only scored 2 pts, but he has shown a nice stroke, and no fear in driving or shooting. He sees the floor very, VERY well. And his AND-1 assists get the crowd as pumped up as any dunk. His dribbling in traffic and breaking the press was pretty good for a Frosh. I'm comfortable with the ball in his hands in press situations. His D was more than adequate too, and he crashes the boards well for a little guy. Gotta do better than 0-2 in clutch FT's though. I predicted we'd need Milum and Linhart to step up in order to win. Didn't happen. Buth gave good efforts, but Milum struggled against the bigger Temple front line. And Linhart struggled period. Seems like the word is out to shut off the base line when he drives. And that he's an Anderson Varejo clone (ie. flopper) on D.Conyers was rock-solid the final 35 minutes...except those two missed FT's. Crashed the boards hard. His near-miss, power throw down off the missed shot was as athletic a power move by a Zip as I've seen since Anthony Buford or maybe Roy Coleman. He played great D. And although Bardo got the rebound credit, it was Conyers who ripped the ball free after that late missed FT. 9 points/9 rebounds. Great job.Ced was solid...except for that 0-2 FT episode. It was interesting to hear Dambrot bring up the Miami '07 ending when referencing Ced's misses. Usually a coach avoids such references. But -- everyone was thinking it, whether Coach mentioned it or not. Ced played great D and was stellar from 3-land. Wood struggled against the bigger front court. He got stuffed a few times, and missed a ton of bunnies. He needed some help underneath. Looked like he was missing Travis a bit...or someone to take the double teams off him. Late-game he started fading away to give himself room, and kicked the ball out too, so he eventually adapted. But, again, those FT's...Dials missed shots...rushed a few off-balance 3's...but you'd have to give him an "A-" overall. Great D, great hustle, clutch shots, solid ball handling....he was the glue that held the Zips together last night.Bardo looked good. He needs some more minutes. The frosh HIT his FT's! And was clutch under the boards. He made the most of the minutes he got.McKnight needs to figure out what he wants to be. Wing man or glass cleaner. Last night we needed him underneath, and he really wasn't all that effective. As the lead frittered away amongst a hail of Shaq-esque free throws, you could hear the Temple players warming up their "JUST-LIKE-FOOT-BALL" chants. But unlike the gridiron Zips, the hoops guys held on. Thank God. I though the "Roo Town Rebound" post game show was great. Joe Dunn's recruiting questions were great, and Coach Boals' answers were really interesting. Funny story that Cventinovic traveled to West Virginia to see McClanahan play football. Also - sounds like Humpty and Nick are going to be crowd favorites over the next few years?McFly was dead-nuts on regarding the concessions. Two people working the lame concession area at halftime. And those two had as much spring in their step as Jason Taylor did last night in that mud bowl. As the guy next to me said "I've never been to a High School basketball game where the concessions were staffed so poorly." And people wonder why the crowds are so small. There's ONE, of several reasons.Nice job by the Marketing crew to get people to the game. If they wouldn't have done their job, I bet there would have been 2,051 people there instead of 2,056. We just won one of the "Big 5" games remaining until the McKnight/Roberts Cavalry arrives in mid-December. Beating a quality team like Temple gives me legit hope for the remaining 4 games, none of which are easy.Until the Cavalry arrives...I'm happy to watch McNees/Dials/Ced. They're not too shabby.

If the same team that showed up Saturday night vs. Binghamton shows up tonight, we're in trouble. We'll lose. I agree Linhart needs to have a big game...a double-double type game...if we're to hang with them. Milum will be key too. He has the athleticism to match Temple's big men. Can Ced play effectively on 1 day's rest? We'll need him to go for 15+.I think Dials and Wood will have solid games.41-2 at home under Dambrot. But only two of those wins were without Dru and Travis.Temple should be favored by something like 8. I'd agree with that.

7 road games. Great.

The Ball State QB (Nate Davis) rules. If either CJ had half his playmaking abilities, this thread wouldn't exist.

Fingers on laces. I rest my case.

Thanks for the scoop, UAK! Statistically, he looks awesome. We need a 6' 3" shooter like that!

I'm told he is eligible. He is a transfer, but he received a waiver from the NCAA. Since I saw him on the sidelines, dressed at some away games, that would mean he is eligible. An ineligible player is not allowed to dress (that's why you see transfers like Ryan Bain and Jeremy Bruce in street clothes in the stands rather than dressed on the field).Joe Dunn was also pretty adamant the other night that Alex Allen would be a senior next year (he'll be a junior). Maybe Joe is finally showing his age?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :laugh_up: :laugh_up: :john: :john: :john:Tough to take a site seriously that once posted I, CK, was a candidate for offensive coordinator!

I'm for whatever it takes to get a win. I want to go into the heart of recruiting season coming off a win vs. the MAC West champ. Getting waxed at home in for the sake of experience would suck for the program, the fans, and especially for guys like Stokes, Shepp, Jabari, Mackey and the other seniors.

I'm sure that will appear on a locker room chalkboard somewhere, but it is the truth. Hopefully it is a good tune-up for Temple on Monday.1-2...how bad is Quinnipiac?

Lost and Stolen Recruits

and Notre Dame is... who'd a thunk it?Sometimes they place a BCS team there as a joke. Like when Michigan lost to Appalachian State. Notre Dame really is one of the 10 worst teams in the nation.

With one game remaining in the 2007 Zips football season, it is officially time to begin looking at the future of the Zips QB position. If JD has an “impact” QB in the offing, it will go a long way in assuring he’s the guy manning the sidelines when the Zips take on Kentucky in September 2009. Can Jacquemain or Carlton Jackson pilot the team in 2008? Ummm…no. Jacquemain lacks the intangibles…decent are strength, but no pocket awareness or field vision. Jackson defaults to the run WAY too soon. His mid-range throws are soft and inaccurate, and he handles the football as deftly as Lindsay Lohan handles her car keys at 3:30am.I think a lot will be written about Matt Rogers over the next several months. He’s the odds-on favorite to win the QB battle this summer. We’ll also probably learn a lot more about incoming Freshman Jordan Miller. An interesting “wildcard” in the QB derby is KC Patterson. Patterson quietly appeared on the Stiles Center doorstep in August 2007. A transfer from Sacramento State (although he never played a down for the Hornets) he has an interesting story…and a punchers chance of being in the QB mix this spring.KC Patterson was a Rivals 2-star QB out of Oakmont High School in Roseville California, and was rated one of the Top30 QB’s in the state in 2004. Going into his senior season he had recruiting interest from BYU, California, Colorado, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Washington State. Half way through his senior season, and sporting a 5-0 record, Oakmont lost 9 senior players for the season due to some undisclosed disciplinary issue. Oakmont subsequently lost their next 4 games. Their final game of the season was canceled due to smoke from wild fires. Likewise, lacking any appreciable stats, KC’s D-1 QB offers also went up in smoke.Patterson ultimately landed at The University of San Diego, coached by present Stanford HC Jim Harbaugh. An excellent student, he graduated high school early, and played in 5 games for the Toreros in 2005. That year San Diego, a non-scholarship program, won the mid-major 1-AA national championship.When Harbaugh left for Stanford in 2006, KC transferred to Sacramento State where he red shirted during the 2006 season. A coaching change in 2007 was the impetus for KC’s transfer to Akron this past summer. Interestingly, it appears as though he is/was eligible to play this season, with 2008 being considered his Junior year?It will be interesting to see the fresh faces at the QB position this spring. And in the short term, to see if KC gets a few snaps this week vs. CMU -- He’s eligible to play…and I’m desperate. If he can look off Jabari once in a while…or handle the ball on consecutive plays without fumbling, he’s at least worth a look.

I was there today. Great match. Congratulations to the team! 1st round bye and a home game. I'm banking on it.

Losing game #2 sucked. It was like the UALR game last year. But it is too soon to say it was crippling. We just need to ride the storm out until Steward gets healthy, and hope that when Roberts and McKnight are ready in mid-December we start hitting our stride. I think this team will be a LOT better in January than it is right now.

Which writer did The Beacon send to the games? Thanks for all your notes and pics. It was great!

Vikings Home (Nice site layout)

Great stuff!

Did just the one bottle do the trick for you then?I had to work today. Anymore than one bottle on a Wednesday night, and Thursday @ work gets to be like a 3rd and 17.