Captain Kangaroo

Nice finds!

I think that is easy to say when you've had several NCAA appearances over the past two decades (17 overall?). The Zips haven't been to the Big Dance since 1986. Winning the MAC regular season is a hell of an accomplishment, but I would gladly have traded it for a 3rd place finish and an NCAA bid last year.

I have to say I disagree with you on this one --1.) I would take a "tournament" championship over a regular season divisional championship any day of the week. I saw what a regular season championship gets you...jack squat.2.) Miami is solid this year. Xavier may be the "sexier" team, but if they play 10 times, Miami wins at least five. On the court, they're very even. That game was in the 50's, which means to me that Miami imposed their will on Xavier. Vintage Charlie Coles, and a nice win for the MAC.

I wonder what odds you'd have gotten from Vegas 7 years ago if you speculated that in 2007-8 Zips Coach Dan Hipsher would be at South Florida as an assistant and sparring partner Ryan Andrick would be a coach on Akron's bench?1,000,000 - 1?

For fun, Google "miami ohio football" then click on "images" and look at the first picture that pops up.

SWEET!

Wednesday night game...33 degrees...rain...4 hour drive...Zips are not in the MAC East race...need to take a day off work...plus get a hotel...the game is on TV....tough decision, but I will have to sit this one out.I'll place the over/under on Zips fans at the game @ 35.

Marshall's last few years show what can happen to the "Big Dog" in the MAC in only a few short years. Especially if you make the wrong decision for your head coach. UCF seems to show what can happen when you select a good coach, and you stick with him through the inevitable early, rough times.Draw your own conclusions

Shanahan Not Our Man?

It will be very interesting to see how the Zips finish against:

That kind of sums it up for me too.

That's odd? I'm guessing they are simply re-doing their web site. They did a very nice job on my some jerseys for me a couple years ago. I hope they didn't shut down?

The K.e.n.t. Golden flushes dropped yet another game, losing to lowly NIU 27-20. The K.e.n.t. basketball team lost to Detroit on a three-pointer at the buzzer.And for those of you that really couldn't hack two months of Buckeye hype regarding another national championship run, and in case the Beacon didn't send a writer...I wanted to be the first to notify you that the Buckeyes lost to Illinois 28-21 in Columbus. A nice follow-up to the Buckeye basketball loss to D-II Findlay earlier in the week.If you really want to stretch it...the Zips women's hoops team did have a nice showing in Ann Arbor last nich too, losing 67-55. The leading scorer in the game was a Zips freshman(freshwoman?), which seems to bode well for the team's potential this season.A pretty nice Saturday for not having a Zips game. At least it was for me.

I like it. Nice job.But...I was really shocked the University just didn't make a video of that Fred Martin Ford commercial to pump us all up. The one that goes (paraphrased):"Here we go again, Zips fans. Another crushing defeat. Another punch in the stomach. The Zips suck..."Why hasn't that freaking commercial been pulled yet? Are people within the University's Marketing Department that stupid to let that thing continue to run through hoops season too? They must be.

what about a wide receiver who kicks someone to get his foot back?What about a Rubik's Cube in a forest? OU fans blame Nichole Brown-Simpson's neck for getting in the way of OJ's knife.

I think it was a great play on the OU guy's behalf. Not only did his cheap shot take out one of the nation's best punt returners, but he also took out our best safety and it only cost him 15 yards. Anyone notice how easily OU moved down the field via the air with Dixon in the secondary instead of Andre? Great move by Solich.OU fans also seem to forget...on OU's 1st punt last year they also hit Jones after a fair catch and got flagged. There's a history to Solich's special teams. THAT is what JD was pissed about.

And...yes, if anyone cares, I edited the topic title. It's our playground here, so My bad...shoulda' done it sooner.

www.athlete-tech.com

My favorite:

I don't get all the hubbub regarding getting an "Akron Guy" as "the next head coach." First of all I don't get "the next head coach" thing. Don't we already have a coach? Any decent AD keeps his ear to the ground regarding coaching prospects regardless of who he's already got. But JD has 3 years left on his contract. He's 100% coming back for next season. And unless he really blows it...and we look like we did @ BG last week for a good portion of 2008...JD would probably get a 1 year contract extension at the end of next season. "Akron Guy?" Who cares if the guy is from Akron or not? Why limit your coaching talent pool from "Any Available Coach in the United State" to "Any Available Akron Alumni Coach." Give me a coach that wins and can recruit. I could care less where his degree is from.Winters? I agree with the guy above: Great guy. Has Akron in his heart. I think getting him in the fold somehow would do a lot for getting the football alumni organized. But we can do better than a 3-8 Wayne State coach as our HC. Even as a coordinator...the guy could never make the play call to ice a game. Or get a TD when we really needed it. In that situation we always punted...and the opponent subsequently pushed our D down the field and beat us. I've seen enough of that.JD is my coach. He's not perfect, but any problems I've had with him seem to be being addressed. His recruiting strategy didn't pan out, so he changed and still brought in a #1 rated class. He changed from a CJ7-centric run-fest at BG to a gunslinging, wide open attack vs OU this week. He's a young coach that seems to be adapting and getting better. I'm interested to see what he does in the off-season with his staff. And in landing a top QB recruit.BTW -- I think JD's salary is about 1/2 of Solich's...and he's 3-1 against him.

Temple goin' nuts!!

I thought the same thing. It was an interesting move by JD. I'm not sure if it was by design or the fact that he felt a change was needed. If by design, he was playing one one quarter and the other the second. He went with the hot hand in the second half and it worked out. I have to admit that CJ11 played much better than CJ7 last night.Why was CJ7 taken out? You can't be serious. If Fumbles Mc Lollypop had stayed in that game for 15 more minutes I guarantee the final score would have been reversed. Thank God the plug got pulled before the damage was worse.Easy Capt.....I understand he was under performing. I just thought it was an interesting move. JD normally doesn't move that quickly on something like that.I'm just curious if that was the plan or not.I agree that JD made the right move when he did.CJ7 had way too many turnovers vs BG. Fumble...INT's. I think JD has seen enough of him at QB. He got yanked because of his track record as well as his initial couple minutes vs. OU.

I thought the same thing. It was an interesting move by JD. I'm not sure if it was by design or the fact that he felt a change was needed. If by design, he was playing one one quarter and the other the second. He went with the hot hand in the second half and it worked out. I have to admit that CJ11 played much better than CJ7 last night.Why was CJ7 taken out? You can't be serious. If Fumbles Mc Lollypop had stayed in that game for 15 more minutes I guarantee the final score would have been reversed. Thank God the plug got pulled before the damage was worse.

I think equally as important as player retention is -- Coach retention.In the past 3 years we've had a lot of coaches leave...mostly for better positions - Alford went to Utah, Wallerstedt to Kansas, Pry to Illinois, Nori to the 49'ers, Terrell Williams to Purdue, etc.The drawback of hiring good coaches is they often become a hot commodity and move on. Somehow...and it isn't easy...JD needs to keep his better coaches in Akron for a longer period of time.Someone told me once that the relationship the players have with the position coaches that recruited them is a lot more personal than what they have with the head coach. I think relatively large number of position coaches leaving has contributed to the player retention issues we've discussed during the past couple years. Is it the major cause? Probably not. But it is more of a factor than people have mentioned to-date.