Captain Kangaroo

To be brutally honest...the MAC hasn't deserved 2 teams very often.K.e.n.t was a pretty weak champ last season. Toledo was our tourney runner up, and they didn't even get an NIT bid. The Zips and Miami were NIT material.It has been several years since the MAC has had a legit beef with not getting two teams to the Big Dance. This year the strongest teams are Toledo, OU, Akron and MAYBE K.e.n.t. All of the a.m. schools have lost their key early-season games...those needed to turn heads on the selection committee. Any of the above teams could probably afford to lose 1 or two more games MAX the remainder of the way out to have a beef with an NCAA snub. And of those one or two losses, one would not be the bracket buster game. Our league's strongest teams need to pull through on BracketBuster weekend to get some respect.

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Again updated.

I wonder if he is coming as an RB? Seems like his best position is CB?Edit: Just noticed he apparently selected the Zips due to a desire to play RB. Seems like we will have a solid stable of RB's for 2007?Scout Bio

I don't think you can use the Nevada game as a reference. It was held during Christmas break. And, we were coming off a very mediocre start to the season. WMU is a nationally televised game. We are on a roll. The students will show up big-time Saturday, and as long as the team meets expectations, the crowds will continue to grow. As predicted, the K.e.n.t game got the bandwagon in first gear.Bracketbuster will be a sell out...if the team continues to perform.

Agreed.............see Bob Huggins. And losing is the best way to empty it....see Coleman Crawford and Dan Hipsher.

I missed the first half, so I can only comment on the 20 game-minutes I witnessed:* On the board, the debate over the north and south end student sections reminds me of the Dr. Seuss - Sneeches story. * I thought the student crowd for a Sunday afternoon event was pretty good. Those who attended were pretty vocal. The lower section had a good quantity of yellow shirts. That said, no one should be satisfied with that turnout. Those in-power should be working on ways to jack up the attendance as we speak (or type).* In the end, the attendance will be up markedly over last season...barring an inconceivable collapse by the team. OU remains on the home schedule. That's 5k. And, the WMU game on ESPN2 this Saturday will be a near sellout. Add the bracket-buster game to the list and you've got 14,000 to 15,000 combined for three of the remaining games. That will be four home games with crowds in the 5,000 area. Dambrot should be happy with that, I would hope? * Dials probably played on of his best halves of basketball in a Zips uniform Sunday. His defense kept us in the game when nothing else seemed to be clicking.* Buffalo is a solid team...but one we should beat. They always play hard for their coach and will be a tough draw for anyone in the tourney. That said...we're better than them. * Joyce is getting back into some bad habits. Missing FT's is obvious. But he's also starting to do that isolation dribble dribble dribble thing at center court again. In that situation, because he's been shooting so poorly from 3-point land, the defense knows he's going to drive to the hoop. They all saw the Miami tape. They seem to be "baiting" Dru to drive, and then taking the charge/flop once he's committed. Dru needs to get his 3-ball back. The fact that he's struggling from there seems to be affecting his overall game.* Prior to MAC play, Joyce was at 41% and Dials at 35% from 3-point land. In MAC play, Joyce is at 21% and Dials is at 22%. Both are missing some wide open looks.* Conversely, in non-MAC/MAC 3's.: Middleton is 44%/50% and Linhart is 48%/47% * Middleton's game is fun to watch. Offensively, he's hitting on all cylinders and he's draining his FT's.* Wood has been very quiet. Except for his FT's, which are hitting the rim with a fairly large BANG.* Travis is plugging along. Buffalo's inside game is a tough match up for him at 6'6". * Linhart played a tough game. Some big boards and tough defense.* Idibi looks like such a goofball, but he's a solid player and speaks something like 7 languages?Let's not stub our toe this Wednesday at NIU and we'll have a packed house for our national TV game vs. WMU. Coaches don't like to get ahead of themselves, but I will. Following WMU we play a terrible EMU squad. Then a bad BSU squad...then a bad CMU squad. We should be 18-4 going into our game vs. Toledo on Feb 10th. That's not too shabby. Beat Toledo, and you'll be able to scalp your OU ticket outside the JAR for double the face value Feb 13th. Beat OU and the bracketbuster game will be the hottest ticket in town. The team hold the fate of a packed JAR in their hands.

Two comments:1.) Isn't the team photo you speak of from the WOMEN's NIT team of 8 years ago?2.) I am fairly certain the banners were removed, and the corner coach's pics installed, under the previous regime.

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The Zips have blown out every team they should have blown out this season.Zips 81 Buffalo Wild Wings 67

Added Marquinn Davis to the list.

The explanation I was given is:There were some banners up-top that were really old. They were the old yellow cloth material, and time had taken its toll. They needed replaced. There were also eleven teams with legitimate championship claims that had no banners in the rafters. Holding to the present format, there wasn't enough space to recognize all teams.The University decided to place the large coaches pictures in the corner of the JAR and list all the past accomplishments there. I believe the only team not recognized is last year's NIT-qualifying Men's basketball team?Like it or not, that's what was done. If the banners are to come back, someone will need to make an executive decision.

He has only played football for two years. He's a bit of a project, but his combination of size and speed was immensely impressive in our on-campus camps. People are pretty excited about him.

The Zips recently received a verbal from Youngstown Rayen DE Marquinn Davis. He goes about 6' 6", 245 lbs and runs a 4.7 40 yard dash. He had offers from both Toledo and K.e.n.t. The Zips were the first to offer, which was a big factor in his decision to attend U of A. He also runs hurdles on their track team.

I would be surprised if Jacqmaine stayed with the program strictly from his body language at the Toledo game. When we went down 21-0, he was having a big belly laugh with another player rather than paying attention to the game. He stood out because most of the team was at the far end of the sidelines yelling in support of the Zip D's attempted goal line stand. I look at the end of the Boise State-Oklahoma game, and the back up QB's were pretty much given full credit for the playcalling that won that game. Even though they weren't ever getting into the game, barring injury, they paid attention and contributed immensly to the win. That's what I'd expect a back up QB, who wanted to win a job the following season, would do. Pay attention and be in a coach's ear when necessary.Maybe I caught him at a bad moment. But it ticked me off to drive two hours in some horrific weather to support the team, and see a few players really didn't seem to care if we were getting drillled.

That's $5.00 more than free.

I would guess there were about 1,500 "passive" followers of local college athletics at the game. You state you'd rather they stay at home than have them come down to the JAR and have a great time? That's bizarre.No one in the stands was born a Zips fan. They went to games with their parents as a kid...they attended the University and simply decided to check out the team one day...at some point every one of us that walked through the turnstiles at a Zips sporting event attended as an impartial observer. Those of us on this board, for God knows what reason, got "hooked" on U of A athletics. But there are thousands of potential Zips fans in this area who, when they come down to the JAR...or tailgate in the Rubber Bowl lot...have the potential to get "hooked" too, and subsequently build our fan base. Belittling those who want to come to Zips events and check out the team is flat-out stupid.

To me, the student section is a different story. General Admission is for the general public, and any clothing is fair game. I find it baffling that AK-Rowdies folks can deny student section entrance to an Akron student with the incorrect Zips T, but let someone with an OSU ball cap in.

I agree. Maybe they attended OSU and just wanted to come down to the JAR to watch a great college basketball game? Why hassle them? Especially when it is 10 out of 5,700?If the University wants to eradicate OSU gear from the JAR, they should do the following:Take those t-shirts that the cheerleaders toss into the crowd during breaks...the one's of which 90% land in the lower reserved section...but to-date no lower-reserved section patron has ever been seen wearing one...take those shirts out into the lobby and when you see OSU gear, you go up to the person and say: "Hey, looks like you could use a Zips tee shirt? Try this one on for size and enjoy the game!"They wear the shirt. They leave with a good feeling about the Zips. It's a win/win.

I agree with point #1. The Zips students have never stormed the JAR court. Why initiate it vs. a sorry Buffalo team?I disagree with point #2. You storm the court vs. K.e.n.t because they are our #1 rival. You storm the court vs. Ke.n.t. because the K.e.n.t students get to do it every time they beat the Zips at the MACC Center. You do it because it builds a connection between the fans and the team. You do it because we've been K.e.n.t's bitch for the past 8 years and the ship has finally turned. You do it because beating K.e.n.t is a BIG deal for the Zips program. It is a slap in the face to U of A students that they're not allowed to rush the court after such a game, while students across the nation do it every night. They're depriving the students of a great college experience...one that doesn't come along every day in Akron.You're allowed to rush the court after winning the MAC Championship at The Q (K.e.n.t. did last season). But you can't do it at the JAR? Screw the announcer...rush the court when we clinch the MAC East.

If Dambrot wants to get people out to the JAR for the remainder of the season, here's the springboard.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mike is as much an employee of the ABJ as you or me. The only paycheck he gets from that site is from U of A.

Very nice!

Almondo Sewell, a very highly rated LB prospect from Hargrave Military Academy, is apparently no longer a "solid verbal" with UVA and will be visiting Akron next weekend.Click for Bio

I thought we were pretty bad. But if someone wants to call us "mediocre" I won't argue. If he saved us from mediocrity, then Coleman Crawford saved us from being a doormat.