Captain Kangaroo

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Rasor offers some insightMore questions than answers...

Give him #7

Two notes:1.) This past Zips recruiting class is awesome. Take it to the bank.2.) As referenced by their abject failure at the end of the 2006 season, the word is out on K.e.n.t. People will be ready for them. And K.e.n.t. ALWAYS chokes. Screw Phil Steele -- K.e.n.t goes 3-9 this season. Easiest prediction ever.

I'm pretty much done with the Hipshers. There are 300 million people in the United States. If we need an assistant coach, I'm sure there are qualified candidates out there whose last name isn't Hipsher.I wish him well, but I am severely scarred from the Hipsher era and do not want another Hipsher on our bench.

My observation:When using football players to build a "human pyramid," it is NOT a good idea to place kickers and punters in the bottom row.

I've seen their mascot somewhere before....

Click for Info (The game Simkovich was supposed to play in)

Yeah, good riddance. But what prompted him to bolt for K.e.n.t. only 4 weeks after signing his 2007 recruiting class? The women's team issue could not have been shocking news to the guy. It has been in the works for over a year.Is the guy a dirt bag, or did Mack screw up? It is one or the other.

Unless I get "The Explanation of the Century," I'm with you. How do you lose the coach that just pulled off the most successful season in team history...to an ASSOCIATES position...at K>E>N>T!!??I gotta hear the spin on this one...BTW -- Helsel went to Maryland...which is still too close for me, but it'll have to do.

In 1995 we chose to stop the annal game, but the landscape of college football has changed a lot in the past 12 years. While UConn, Boise State, Marshall, Central Florida, Troy, MTSU and many others have sacked-up to be D1-A, YSU has decided to stay 1-AA. We offered you $125,000 to play and you turned it down. Now it is YSU who has elected not to renew the rivalry.Sack up and move to D1-A, and you'll get your home/home series. Until then, keep pounding your chest...and playing the Clarion's, Slippery Rock's and Lock Haven's of the world.

Link is corrected above. Sorry about that.

I'd rather hit the ballet or tour the ACME cardboard Box Factory for 7 Saturdays than watch that tripe.We could get 7 game too, if we wanted to be gutless and bring in Howard and Cal Poly instead of going to UConn and Indiana.

Click to see UA offered YSU $125,000 to play at the Rubber Bowl...and YSU declinedThat's fine if it is smart business for YSU. But if a YSU fan grouses that the Zips at somehow "afraid" to play the Zips, here is proof in their own paper that it is not true.If you're one of those people that thinks the Zips should be playing 1-AA football CLICK ME to see the pile of crap you could be watching this fall. Hey, it's the summer and things are slow...why not club a Penguin during lunch?

Click for Big South columnAs a side note, I loved the line:"Liberty's Dwight Brewington, who would have been one of the top players in the league, declares for the NBA Draft and decides to stay in though the chances he'll be drafted are about as good as him getting a return pass from Larry Blair on a fast break."I've never heard of Larry Blair, but I envision his game as very similar to Derrick Tarver's.

Hammond Column

To be honest...the guy I thought looked the OL best on tape was Jake Anderson from Erie. Technique-wise, he looked ready to go as-is. I'm sure that's not the case, but I liked what I saw.Simkovich seems like a strong kid that just flattens people. If the Miami Hurricanes offered him a scholarship, you know he's going to be great. Kasparek's tape was tough to watch...most of the plays were in the mud and rain with grainy footage.Ronsman's was tough to read too...so bright it was like looking into the sun. :blink: A guy you probably didn't see was Hassan Hazime. I was shocked at how fast he is. He's 6' 5", 240lbs and runs a 4.65 40. He could be a lot of fun to watch in 2008.

I don't see why the game would conflict with anyone's BBQ plans. The game is being held on Saturday evening at 6pm...who holds their Labor Day BBQ on Saturday at 6pm? Sunday, maybe. Monday (Labor Day) definitely. But Saturday evening?You must have some awesome relatives if you can stand doing nothing but BBQ-ing with them for 3 straight days. I'd probably kill mine half-way through day #2. You must have a cast iron colon to eat BBQ for three days too. I couldn't do it.

The same thing happens to me on Thanksgiving. I typically go home to see family, so I can't make any Thanksgiving Day/weekend games. But it seems like a lot of people around Akron like the concept of a Turkey Day game, so although it doesn't work for me, it seems to be a decent idea.I think it will be a "wash." Just as many people will be able to make it due to the Labor Day weekend time slot as those who will miss it.I don't buy the "I have relatives in town so I can't make the game" excuse. If I'm in Akron and the Zips are playing football in Cleveland, and I have relatives in town, I'm buying them all tickets and heading to the game. Out-of-town relatives are usually dieing for something to do aside from sitting around the house.

I was able to view the 2007 recruit videos this past weekend. Man are we set at LB for the next couple years. Aaron Williams is incredibly physical...Almondo Sewell reminds me of a bigger, faster Jay Rohr and Matt Little is looks to be a drop-in replacement for Stokes in 2008!! They all look outstanding.Davon Moore is going to be an unreal free safety. Big, fast fast kid.DL Shane Shead's film was from HS. He looked about 210 lbs. If he's up around 240 lbs now, look out! His HS film was really impressive.Brian Williams is a strong north/south runner with break-away speed while Gary Pride rips...tears...spins and looks to get to the endzone on every play. Lots of competiton at RB this fall!I'm glad I watched it. Now I'm pumped for 2007!

Last year, when the University decided to sell the student seats at the JAR for the Nevada game, one of my friends wrote the University to complain. He actually got a response. It read something like "...we were told that the students typically didn't show up for games during winter break so we decided to put the seats up for sale rather than leave them empty."If I were Mack Rhoades, the lazy-ass person that said that would have been fired on the spot. When his/her replacement came in the door, the task would have been stated:"I am told the students typically didn't show up for games during winter break. That is totally unacceptable for a marquee game such as Nevada. I want that game packed. I want students at the game in droves. You find a way to do it." I also would have set this up a couple months prior to the actual game instead of simply waiting until a day or two beforehand.Why do I mention that story? Because, if the University still has the attitude that "NO one traditionally goes to Akron football games, so why spend the money to Market it?" the game will flop.I do not believe that will happen. The University is going to be responsible for filling a 30,000 seat stadium 6 times per year beginning in 2009. They can't afford to be lazy and unimaginative anymore. The bar has been raised. 8k for an Akron football game is no longer acceptable. If only 8k attended the Patriot Bowl heads should roll at The University of Akron. If less the 20,000 attended, heads should still roll. It would only be because of the world's worst Marketing effort that it could happen. And even the $5,000/year Parking Genius at U of A couldn't screw things up that bad.The city of Cleveland is pimping the game hard. The Browns are pimping the game hard. The University will soon be pimping the game hard. Those in NE Ohio associated with the Armed Forces will support the game heavily. Inexpensive tickets will be available, making the game affordable for just about anyone. And -- This is game #1 of a new tradition. It will only grow in the future. It is a great idea. It gets a "name" team, Army/Navy/Air Force, on a MAC team's schedule every year in a virtual (99%) "home" game.I remember all the whiners grousing about the MAC tourney moving from the Seagate center to the Q (Gund). "They'll NEVER justify it. It will fail. The MAC can barely fill the 8k @ the Seagate Center...there will be tumble weeds at the Q." Ask anyone involved with the MAC tourney if it has been successful in Cleveland. I has been a HUGE success. Thank God someone had the vision to see it while everyone else sold the MAC short. It will be the same with the Patriot Bowl.

Very, very sad. Eerily similar to Randy Walker's all-to-short life.

If Cleveland were a 3-hour drive from the U of Iowa campus...and we were playing the Hawkeyes...then we would be seeing 45,000 ticket sales in June. But it isn't, and we're not.Comparing the marketing and demographics of the two games is like comparing Eskimos and moth larvae. There's no correlation.

Hence my qualifier:

In mid June, whom do you expect to be purchasing September Akron/Army tickets?