Captain Kangaroo

You think? Winthrop, Dayton, Temple, Wyoming, Oregon State or Colorado State plus a Bracket Buster game doesn't constitute a solid non-conference schedule? What more could you ask for?

Monorail comes from the Latin "Mono," meaning "one," and "rail," meaning..."rail."Great episode.

Click for Bain

Click for ColumnHopefully the BC game goes as well as the Minnesota game last year.

Balaam is not eligible this fall. At least that's what I was told last week. Unlike some of the other "casualties" he is going to stay in school and expects to be cleared to play in the spring.Brinson signed up for classes in the spring, but aparently lost interest. Barring some act of God, he's not going to be a Zip.

Derrick Alston (#33) was a great RB. Had 100+ rushing yards against Tennessee back in 1990?I like the Chuck Webb reference. At times he was a man amongst boys.It is a shame that a lot of the aforementioned guys don't remain close to the program. I see Hilk and Buddenberg at the golf outings, but a lot of the other guys have dropped off the face of the earth. Too bad. Whether they realize it or not, they are a big reason why we finally are getting REAL 1-A facilities and a genuine commitment to 1-A football. They all have a legit reason to have moved on from UA...the clowns we've seen over the past 20 years that control the athletics department have been pretty forgettable, to say the least...but these guys layed the groundwork for the dramatic upgrades that are going to happen over the next couple years and I wish they'd actively be a part of it. I wish the University would reach out to these guys. They deserve it.

Hilk and Moten were two of the top 5 LB's of that era. Maybe the top 2?Buddenberg's a top 5 OL.I can't put Clark on an All-anything team. 1 year in a Zips football uniform + 3 in an orange jump suit gets him no recognition in my book.I wonder what his rap sheet is now-a-days? And "Smokin' Crack" Mack Warren? And Marcus Reliford, who was much more adept at breaking through off-campus housing windows than breaking through any opponents defensive lines? Yes...Faust took too many chances.

I couldn't disagree more. Dwight was the best DB we've had in the past 15 years, and was an absolute "shut down" corner. He was the best I've seen in a Zips uniform. He pretty much single-handedly won several games during his career. It is unfathomable how bad some of Lee Owens' defenses would have been without him.That 40-below-zero game @ K.e.n.t his senior year was one of the most impressive individual performances I've ever seen in college football. Too bad there were only about 261 people there to witness it.Vic Greene...maybe Bobby Lyons were at his level...but that's about it.Dwight Smith Ruled/Rules

No freshman were featured in the scrimmage. It really seemed focused on "which QB can lead this team" than anything else. Williams will get a lot of touches this year, trust me. People in-the-know can't say enough good things about his play thusfar.

I wonder what Alex Sullivan ever did in his life to have his inagural thread hijacked in such an ugly mannner? It must have been pretty bad, whatever it was...

You gotta have faith...

Allen didn't play. Williams and Kennedy pretty much split carries in the first two quarters. Walker had several carries throughout the scrimmage.If you held a gun to my head I'd say Kennedy looked the best. But Williams never really had a chance. Any time Williams got a hand off, he was immediately snowed-under.It seemed like this scrimmage was much more about seeing what the QB's could do than running the ball.

I took the morning off work to check out today's scrimmage. Here's what I saw -Jacquemain and Jackson split 90% of the snaps. Rodgers got a few token plays with the 3rd teamers, as did #14. I don't see any way Rodgers is in the starting QB picture. Nada. Zip.Jacquemain started off rough. Some wobbly passes and two that were batted down. Jackson was equally shaky, with a bat-down to his credit too.Jackson also had a bad hand-off to Williams in the red zone that resulted in a turn over.The QB play seemed to pick up significantly in the 2nd quarter. Jackson converted a couple 3rd and 15+ yards on some nice passes. Later he hit Jabari on a nice 40 yard bomb in the front corner of the endzone. Jacquemain responed with a nice 20 yard strike into tight coverage, and a 30 yard TD pass to Sandilands shortly therafter. He also hit Fuqua on a nice 30 yard post for a TD.After settling down, both QB's moved the ball pretty easily. I think it's easy to say translates to our defense being bad, but it is tough to play D when the QB's are wearing red jerseys. Overall, the offense seems ahead of the defense.Devanso Tate had some great knock-downs. He played well.Tuzze had a few nice totes and blocked well.Marquinn Davis and Simkovich both wore red "injury" jerseys.Best run of the day was a 30 yarder by Kennedy. He didn't play after the first half and had an ice pack saran-wrapped to his thigh afterwards. No major injuries incurred in the scrimmage, which is good news. Jabari had several drops and bobbles to go with his 40 yard TD catch from Jackson. He looks to be the same, inconsistent guy we've seen for the past 3 years. Speaking of the same guy we've seen for the past few years...There is no way Domonkos is our kicker this year. He was awful. His 51 yarder barely made it to the goal line and he duck-hooked a 35 yarder. Igor's kicks didn't score much better, but he was at least close (3 feet below the goal post on his 51 yarder and about 2 feet below the cross bar on his 45 yarder). He also nailed a 36 yarder with plenty of room to spare. He's an upgrade over McClain. But, I was really hoping for more considering his HS accolades. Campbell kicked some XP's, but no FG's.Poindexter looked great. It wouldn't shock me if he ended up our #1 TE.The Zips' Beacon beat writer showed up at the end of practice. There was some construction on Exchange, across from Shrank South. I'm sure he just got caught up in the traffic or he'd have been there earlier. My opinion on QB? Based on this scrimmage I'd take my chances with Jacquemain. He matches Jackson in arm strength. He can run better than people give him credit for (he ran one in from 30yds out today). He also puts a nice touch on the ball. Jacquemain seems more trustworthy in the red zone too. That said, Jackson played well today too. Nice 3rd and long conversions. Nice TD tosses to Jabari and Merce. But he seemed to try to do too much with his legs. The way he holds the ball, I think that will lead to some fumbles.I wouldn't pout if Jackson wins the job. But I think if JD is serious about having the player that makes the fewest mistakes winning the battle, I think that's the edge that puts Jacquemain over the top.

I thought my wife and I were the only ones to remember Nerim Gembolai? Averaged something like 30ppg/15+rpg out of HS. He played 1 game for the Zips before quitting, I believe.

Would you trade them for Treg Lee and Jay Burson?

If you're complaing about getting $25.00 seats to the game at Browns Stadium included in your season ticket package, then I don't think anything will ever satisfy you.As I described above: The only possible mistake the University could have made here is to not give the season ticket holder the option of paying an extra $10.00 or $20.00 per ticket to sit nearer to the middle. And if they did that...everyone would have still chosen the $25.00 tickets anyhow.Man...it isn't like they stuck anyone in the upper-level. I don't get it...

I think it hurts the Zips because a lot of people subscribe the Beacon because of him (don't ask me why). His departure will certainly hurt the Beacon's circulation. Less cash flow means the Beacon will probably cover less Zips road games...wait...they don't cover those anyhow...Here's hoping Mike Rasor replaces him!! (If they can afford him)

Fixed!!

This was probably the best-organized meet the team event I've attended. Very well done. All the players were accessible for the full 2 hours.Small notes (busy today):Ryan Bain is a monster. It looked like he was wearing shoulder pads...but he wasn't.Marquinn Davis is also a monster. I know he's raw in the skills department, but he is bigger than most of our seniors right now. And not fat...he's chiseled.Overheard the Mondo Sewell is being moved to the DL?Allegedly there is a scrimmage this Saturday. Don't yet know the time.Got a picture of the walk-on long snapper (name escapes me) with my son...both sporting mohawks. Classic!Gotta go.

We're in $25.00 seats. The "primo" seats are going for a lot more than that. And, I'm sure a lot of those are already taken by sponsors.An interesting scenario would have been for the season ticket package to include the option to "upgrade" your $25.00 standard seat to something better.For a family of four on the Akron $120.00 Family ticket plan, you're getting 4, $25.00 seats to the Army game at Browns Stadium. That means it costs $20.00 COMBINED for the four of you to see every other game at the Rubber Bowl this fall. How can anyone complain about that?

I would say that is 100% bogus. If it were physically possible, it would be 110% bogus.Thanks for checking in, Doug Martin.

Remember when David Falknor was inelligible, then took some "workshop" class over the winter break and regained eligibility? Could be something like that?I'll find out today. Balaam is definitely out for the fall. However he'll be enrolled, and expects to get his eligibility back in the spring.

Remember when David Falknor was inelligible, then took some "workshop" class over the winter break and regained eligibility? Could be something like that?I'll find out today.

FYI -- This was the first documented "Fear the Roo":Click for Waddell's InspirationI remember it only because, when the first FTR sign appeared, I KNEW I had seen it somewhere before and I searched our site.I say split the residuals amongst the marsupials. 50/50 Z.I.P. and zff.

Keep in mind I qualified my post with "...IF the University is committed...". For the past 20 years the University was absolutely NOT committed to it's athletic programs. Everyone's talk during that time about fancy new arenas was pretty laughable.I think the University's commitment to athletics has dramatically changed, and it will soon be time to address the basketball facility. But...time will tell.