Captain Kangaroo

On the nose, Dr. Z.

You know the MAC officials would have...there HAD to be a block in the back somewhere!Better Call than Stams and Frenchy?

Howard Cosell used to have a show on am radio called "Speaking of Everything."I guess this is my version.Speaking of the Buffalo game....Who'da thunk in August that we'd take a methodical beating from Buffalo? Give Turner Gill credit...he's done in 1.5 years what we've been waiting to see from JD for four, right? We'll...maybe not. See, Gill is winning with the previous coach's players, not his own recruits. I guess we need to see what the guy can do in year #4 before we can call him a great coach. At least that seems to be the popular logic on the board?And Speaking of Lee Owens...I remember early in Owens' tenure he was saddled with some horrific QB play. Junko...who knows who the other guys were, but they were absolutely atrocious. Owens pulled Greg Gromek's redshirt and started him the final four games. I think we won all four? So with that, I say...Speaking of Carlton Jackson...What can it hurt to put the guy in? Unless he knocked off a liquor store, or has a GPA in the Bluto Blutarski-range, I think the guy has served his time and needs to get back on the field. He beat K.e.n.t. He moved the ball against Indiana. I'm tired of seeing mediocre QB play.And Speaking of CJ11...The guy's play is still lackluster. But he is improving from game-to-game. It just seems like, when we need a big play, he blows it. Wastes a throw downfield on 4th and 10. Plunges into the line on 3rd and 3. Throws the errant pass to wide open WR's when we need it most. But the Zips offensive struggles are far from all his fault.Speaking of Bryan Williams and Alex AllenBryan Williams drops a sure 33 yard TD pass. With the Zips small margin for error, you simply can't do that. Alex Allen drops a sweep toss at the 5 yard line that's a sure 6 points. That's not on CJ11. The Buffalo loss was a "team loss."And Speaking of Dennis KennedyWhere is this guy in goal line situations? That's where he's "money." Just ask NC State. If Allen is going to be dropping the ball in the red zone, my vote is to use DK. Unless he's injured.And Speaking of Red Zone ProblemsJesus...Can our offense have any less confidence the closer we get to the goal line. A couple weeks ago we were at the 5 yard line and we threw on four consecutive downs. This week, we have 1st and 5 from the 8 yard line and we run every down? Two diametrically opposed strategies...but the same result. It sucked to watch Buffalo methodically push the ball into the endzone whenever they got close. And we turn into Laurel and Hardy.And Speaking of the Defense...To me, it was another decent effort by the defense. Not great...the DB's surrendered 3 TD passes on only 14 attempts from the Buffalo QB...but at SOME point the offense has to give you a chance. Giving up 26 points should be sufficient to win a football game in 2007. Even against a vastly improved team like Buffalo.And Speaking of Buffalo...This was their 4th game of the year at home. Conversely, through November 6th, the Zips will have had a whopping two games at the Rubber Bowl. TWO! What an unfair schedule! What other team in the nation had the odds stacked against them like that? Pick on CJ11...the defense, the staff, the recruiting, whatever. The year the Lee Owens supporters gloat over his gaudy 7-5 record, the guy had SIX home games, and two were against bad 1-AA schools! Five of those six were held prior to October 18th!Speaking of JD and Staff...I am really shocked...baffled...astounded at the "Fire the Coach" talk going on. The guy hasn't finished his 4th season...he's won a championship...been to a bowl...and we need new blood? Come on. His initial recruiting classes had substandard player retention. No doubt. Any you can see it's effects this year. Someone posted that in the Temple game, Temple played 10 more players than Akron. That's because they were deeper. Most teams are. But the 2007 recruiting class, the vast majority of whom are being red shirted, is a stellar one. Not the fool's gold of the 2006 class, but legit stuff. If JD can back it up with another solid class in 2008, the depth issues we've seen manifest themselves in the 2nd half of most games, should disappear immediately. What do I want to see out of the staff from here on out? To be honest, our young offense has progressed tremendously over the past several weeks. But we aren't putting the ball in the endzone. And that is a 50/50 blame split amongst the players and coaches. That MUST change. We need a swagger in the red zone. That comes from the QB, IMO.BG is bad. OU is terrible. Those are two games we simply must suck-it-up and win. I also want to see a win vs. either Miami or CMU. Miami is a decent team, but certainly not the Rotlisberger-led juggernaut of the early 2000's. A motivated Zips team can win in Oxford. CMU? I saw how we ended the season against WMU last year. I don't want to see that again. CMU gave up 70 points to Clemson. We stop LeFever and we win. I want to see the staff and team finish the season strong. Despite the BS schedule, 6-6, with continued improvement, should be expected. And speaking of the end of the season...My lunch break has ended.

If we had a real newpaper in town everyone would know why CJ7...the QB that beat K.e.n.t...isn't on the field. But we don't, so we don't. Nice job, DL Morgan. Could you imagine being in Columbus...and Troy Smith beats Michigan in September (for argument's sake)...and sits on the bench the rest of the season...and no reporter ever asks "What gives?" to Tressel at any point through October?

Thanks for bringing home the win!

With the weather being as lousy as it is, I can't believe the Buffalo game is going to be an air show. But I would LOVE to see CJ11 play a solid game. No bonehead plays like letting the clock run out at the end of the 1st half at UConn. No defaulting to a scramble-run and gaining a yard on 3rd and 3...when buying time with a scramble and passing could net a 1st down (like vs. Temple). CJ11 shows signs of being a solid QB. Then he makes horrific decisions the likes of which Zips fans are wholly unfamiliar with from the QB position over the past 10+ years. At some point the faith and patience JD and Staff have shown in CJ11 needs to start paying off. This is the game where CJ11 wins my heart, or forever swings me to CJ7. No Zips QB has ever lost to Buffalo.CJ11 doesn't need to throw for 350 yards, but he needs to move the chains and make smart decisions. If he plays a solid game, our D will get the rest it needs to be successful, and we win the game handily. If CJ11 has a bad game, we can't overcome it. Even if Bryan Williams goes for 180 yards and 3 TDs...which he will.Zips 31-17

Great pic, Zip81!! Thanks!

Brett McKnight's Situation is Explained HereHe was ineligible when the semester began, thus he can't play for the 1st semester. Apparently 9,000 other HS kids who wanted to attend colleges across Ohio were also caught up in this State screw-up. For those who were athletes, or who were scheduled to get any State financial aid...they got screwed. The State has corrected the problem for 2008 HS seniors. Their standardized test scores are now assured to be submitted to their respective colleges prior to the beginning of the fall semester or quarter. A year too late for Brett.

That was my understanding too?To me, the jury is out on Mack. The stadium project was 90% complete when he arrived. His three premier programs have coaches from the previous, or interim, administration. They're doing well, in varying degrees, and he has handled the contract situations well, but he hasn't made any "impact" coaching decisions. Lost the golf coach to K.e.n.t. Lost a softball coach (or two?). Marketing has been underwhelming. Odd policy decisions like the reserved/GA seating at the Rubber Bowl, the parking debacle, the Z-Fund changeover where you can't designate the program that gets your $$...etc.No hosannas from me at this time.

The local economy might affect season tickets a bit, but not game day sales.The main factor in selling out Zips games is the team quality. If the Zips are winning...really winning, not going 7-5 every 3 years...people will show up regardless of the overall economic situation. BTW -- There are plenty of people in the area that seem to be doing very well, financially. That doesn't make for all that great a news story, so you don't see that in the papers too often. The game day experience needs to be fun. That's where the crappy Rubber Bowl hurts. While the tailgating is great, getting people out to Ellet to see it for themselves is tough.Win + get the hell out of the Rubber Bowl asap. That's what will sell tickets.

No Buffalo Chips, But There Are Some Dips

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!"