Captain Kangaroo

3-9 with a 51-3 loss to K.e.n.t and I'm probably updating my 1990-edition "Oust Faust" banner.

He needs 5 years minimum before making any keep/fire decisions. College sports sucks now-a-days in that respect. Joe Novak at NIU took over a horrid program...worse than the 2-9 (at that time) Zips...and it took him 5 years to make it respectable. NIU had faith in the guy, and 10 years later he's taken them to two bowl games and some very big wins. I have a lot of respect for such patience and loyalty since the en vogue thing is canning your coach after two or three sub-par seasons regardless of the circumstances. And NIU's patience was rewarded.This will be JD's 3rd "true" recruiting class. Class #1 was assembled in 1 short month while he was also assembling a staff, so I throw that one away. By all indicators, this will be another top-rated class. And, the players on the depth chart will be predominately "his." This is the year to see some real progress.JD hasn't taken any severe shortcuts...he's redshirted most of his recruits and only dabbled in transfers and JUCOs. I'm sure it was tempting to sit some seniors in 2006 in favor of playing freshman...especially on the OL...but he's been building this program for the long-term. Stumbling into the MAC Championship last season was both a blessing and a curse. While it was a blast, it involved a lot of luck and gave us some, in hindsight, inflated expectations for 2006.It will be fun to see the competition for the open positions this upcoming season, and to see if JD's recruits are really as good as advertised. New OL. New QB. New DL's. But, lots of returning, proven skill at LB, DB and TE/WR. I'll with hold any predictions until the summer...but we should be in good shape. At least on paper it looks that way... How many days until OSU?

I don't. OU is pretty good. They match up with us very well and Saturday's game will be a war.

Ryan Andrick improved more from his Freshman to his Sophmore year than anyone I've seen. Senior year...

Several televised games, but all are home games...with the exception of K.e.n.t...which is 10 miles away. Wish more roadies were on the list.WMU game is on ESPN2, which is very nice!Click for Roo TV

I would give the Zips a B+ to-date. UALR loss was bad. But, it was the first game of the year...and it was very tight.Oral Roberts win was a good OOC victory, a tad better than the one vs. YSU.UIC loss was bad, but not horrible. We were outplayed by a team that will be upper-middle in the Horizon League.Nevada loss was a tough one. The Zips needed a Top-20 scalp on their resume' and there was never a better opportunity to get one. One final shot by Drew, and all the big shots that we've witnessed over the years at the JAR that have gone against us...Jose Davis...Anthony Stacy...Brandon Hunter...Keith Mc Cloud (@ Gund) all would have been erased. Well, at least dulled a bit.Other games were all double-digit blowouts. And that's really all you can do vs. crappy competition. Dru has been Dru. Plays a good floor game, doesn't make too many mistakes and can stick the "3" if left open.Dials has been playing well. Not outstanding, but solid.Travis has been a bit of an enigma. Capable of carrying the team on any given night, but only showing up in spurts.Milum shows that KD can spot a diamond in the rough. He's making up for Travis' unpredictability.Middleton started off hot, but has slumped a bit lately. Still, overall he's playing well.McKnight - Only getting better.Linhart - Is Conyers bringing out the best in him? Nate's playing well after a so-so start.Conyers - Is he the "X-factor" we needed to dethrone K.e.n.t? Play as of late would indicate, "Yes."Wood - Coming back nicely, but still not in top form.And, how nice is it to have the depth to redshirt McNees and Bardo? It wasn't only 3-4 years ago we were forced to play D-2 talents (term used loosely) like Brian Wood, Matt Seibert and Bryan Hipsher major minutes. Games vs. K.e.n.t, OU, Miami, and Buffalo within the next 3 weeks will tell us alot. I'm betting we win all four. BG's in there too....but they suck.

List is updated.

My personal favorite.

Simply based upon what I saw from the kid. Anyone can put together a 30 second highlight reel of big hits/runs over the course of a year. This kid made the AAAA State semi's and finals his highlight reel. He stood out amongst a lot of great HS players.Trust me - You will love him.

Penn Hills' Aaron Williams has verballed to the Zips. He'll likely play LB, but was a devastating RB too. I saw two Penn Hills games on Fox Sports Pittsburgh this fall. The "Big School" (like Ohio's Division 1) semi's and the finals. Williams was a man amongst boys in both games.Click for Rivals BioBTW - Same HS as David Harvey, Jake Schifino & Coach MoorheadGreat Pick up!!!!!!!

Speaking of that, is Kemme leaving early to enter the NFL draft?

I agree. CMU looked great. They deserve to be

I would say a valid comparison would then be the MAC Basketball Championship. IF we had beaten Toledo...there's at least 10k Zips fans at the finals vs. K.e.n.t. @ The Q. Buzz-kill. There would have been residuals from that game that would have helped attendance this season. That's one of several huge "opportunities lost" in recent Zips hoops history.UALR isn't all that great this season, and we lost to them on a neutral court, missing a chance for a nationally televised game vs. Texas Tech. Buzz-kill. We lost to UIC, who is sub-.500 this season. Buzz-kill. And, further cooling Joe Akron's interest...we lost to Nevada at home. Buzz-kill.If I'm KD I'm pointing three fingers at why the JAR isn't filled:One finger at himself for not winning the games he needed to win in order to force Joe Akron to pay attention. KD's the CEO that needs to take the Zips "From Good to Great." Joe Akron has proven he'll show up only in limited numbers for "Good." And we are only "Good" at this time.One at Akron Marketing, who hasn't done squat to spread the word regarding the program to the community, and who actually seems to create policies to miff the students. Hell, 1/3 of the way into the season they can't even get the scoreboard working.One at "Joe Akron" - Who doesn't want to take his son down to the JAR to see a really good basketball team against some great competition (Nevada game).I'm not one of the guys that says KD is whining. I'm glad he's not happy with the place 2/3 full. But by the same token I wish he would focus more on winning these key games and stop harping on the attendance. Those 3,300 fans that showed up were extremely vocal and did their best to support the team. My son was yelling most of the game and had tears streaming down his face after we lost. It is a disservice to those showing up if you grouse about those not showing up instead of appreciating those who did.In summation I say - Z-P is correct. "Keep chopping wood and they will come." However - Go 10-6 in the MAC with a second round tourney exit...and you'll be grousing about attendance again next season. 'Cuz that's how Joe Akron rolls....

We're #1! Alphabetically.FYI - I believe Dennis Kennedy was 37th overall in NCAA rushing this season. Of the top 80 NCAA D-1 rushers, he was dead last in yards/carry. That means no big gainers. I hope we get someone that can go the distance in our backfield next fall.

PD column on Travis' football side:Click for Travis ColumnAbout a decade ago a Zips basketball player named Anthony Stanford completed his 4 years of eligibility and played a 5th in a football uniform. It would be interesting to see if Travis would give it a shot.My guess is Travis can make a decent living somewhere in Europe playing hoops, so that would be his choice...but it would be fun to see him on the D-line @ the Rubber Bowl this fall.

Man, I am soooo transparent! Can someone give me mt $550.00 back that I gave to the basketball program for season tickets this year? I never said what Dambrot is doing, or has accomplished is simple. My post (you should read it sometime) was strictly about attendance. While what Dambrot's teams have accomplished is phenomenal, it is not enough to fill the JAR. He has not yet taken a team to the MAC finals, let alone win a Championship and play in the Big Dance. Winning Championships and Dancing in March is what sells the JAR out. That is when the bandwagon starts. One-and-done in the NIT is groundbreaking for the Zips program, but it isn't going to get "Joe Akron" off his butt to check out the team. It is that simple. That is what I said in my post. I'm not getting on him at all. I am speaking the facts. I look at what K.e.n.t basketball has accomplished over the past 8 years, and I look at what the Zips have accomplished. If the Zips had done what K.e.n.t has, the JAR would be jammed every freaking night. But...we haven't. And I'm incredulous at comments that wonder "Why isn't the JAR full in 2006-7?" It is simple. Do something to make "Joe Akron" take notice and he'll show up. If you don't, Joe Akron is buying his son a Greg Oden jersey and staying home to watch the Buckeyes. It ain't rocket science. My comments are regarding attendance. The Lord gave them eyes, but they cannot see. If you choose to fabricate things I have written in your own mind, I can't help you. If you want to read my posts regarding the football team this year you will find them 100% objective. Likewise my basketball posts are 100% objective. You OBVIOUSLY believe that KD can do no wrong. And you know, you are correct 90% of the time. But when it comes to the results that count....championships and BIG wins...KD has work to do. If hew does that work, the JAR will be full on a regular basis. That's EXACTLY what I wrote in my post above, and it remains 100% true. Being on the verge of greatness doesn't fill the JAR. Greatness fills the JAR. Until KD achieves greatness, the JAR will not be filled on a regular basis. Unless you give 1,000's of tickets away for free. Then you have a full JAR...but at what cost? Read my posts. They are always objective, regardless of sport. You can agree with me or disagree, but is is pathetic to twist or spin my words to suit your agenda.JD won "something." That "something" brought over 15,000 Zips fans to Detroit to follow the program. You saw the residual effect of that this season, where the Rubber Bowl, despite a horrible schedule, an underperforming team and bad weather drew a few thousand fans per game than it ever should. That is because the Championship got a few thousand people on the bandwagon. It would be the same for basketball.You can also pack this one away for future reference: The Zips, if they play to their potential, will have a marquee Bracket Buster game in February. It will be an ESPN game. It will be held while school is in session, and it will be a sellout. I hope the above post is clear. But I can only do so much.

In my opinion, Travis' legacy is up in the air. He has about 20-or-so games left to make or break it. I loved his effort at UIC. I loved his effort in the 2nd half yesterday. In between, I could not have been more disappointed in him. "Enigmatic" comes to mind.

Keith Dambrot:``I've run out of excuses,'' he said. ``It used to be that we didn't win. We didn't have local kids. We didn't have good opponents. We had all that tonight.''Keith - It is this simple. Trust me. The Zips still haven't won anything. No NCAA appearances. No MAC Championship appearances..let alone titles. The Zips have won no "marquee" games in the Dambrot era. None. Temple and Mississippi State were nice wins. But those schools were NIT material, or worse.Win a big game, KD. Win a MAC Championship. Beat a Nevada-level opponent. That's when you will pack the JAR. Lose to Illinois Chicago and UALR and play a bunch of cupcakes and you will not pack Rhodes Arena for any game other than K.e.n.t.Ke.n.t drew flies to their basketball games until they began winning. Then they packed the house. The Zips are on the cusp of greatness. But the cusp only takes you so far. Once the Zips make their breakthrough, then the crowds will come. Marketing, schmarketing....win something and people will get "hooked." Win 20 games, play a weak schedule and go to the NIT...and you'll draw 3,300.It isn't rocket science.

I thought we played very well.Linhart played his best game of the year. Conyers finally showed flushe.s of his potential. Dru was off the hook. Milum battled hard. Wood was great. We played a very good basketball game against a great team. Too bad Dru's last shot didn't fall.Middleton was off tonight. But he played hard 100% of the time. Dials wasn't on either, but didn't hurt us. Overall he played well.Travis needs to get his act together. That first half performance was embarassing. No effort. I'm astonished to see a senior MAC POTY candidate missing team meetings and pouting on the floor. He can be like Anthony Stacey or Brandon Hunter and carry us on his back...or he can sleepwalk and pout. I hope the fire he showed in the second half last night means he's decided he wants to play. His attitude is the difference between us being "good" and being "great."Sucks to lose...but as the immortal Dan Hipsher once said: "Sometimes you gotta remember - The other team wants to win too." Nevada has a ton of talent and played very hard. Teams like that are tough to beat.

I think your recollection is bad! CSU was never ranked that high. Yes, they did return a bunch of players from the Sweet 16 squad. They eerily parallelled the Zips, who also returned the majority of their players from their NCAA qualifying team. Neither saw "The Big Dance" again, despite all the returning talent.The game was huge in NE Ohio because both teams were excellent, coming off NCAA appearances. That's what still kills me about last season's loss to Toledo. Win that game and there's 18,000 for our game vs. K.e.n.t in the finals. Win the Final game and...you get the picture...The Zips need to validate their program with a championship and an NCAA appearance. History shows people come out of the woodwork once that happens. NIT's don't cut it.The bandwagon starts tonight!!!!!!!BEAT NEVADA!!!

I remember that game. Felton hit 3 consecutive 3's. After each one, Hipsher slammed his hand on the court in disgust. Felton apparently took the shots too soon in the vaunted Dan Hipsher motion offense.Shocking that Felton transferred after his Fr. season.

The Rasor site has a little.Little Info on a Big KidSomething else I found:Jarvis Givins DL/OL 6'4 295 4.90 Miami Columbus Florida Givens is one of the premier linemen in Dade County, possessing excellent athleticism and quickness for a lineman. He is a ferocious pass rusher, posting 14 sacks as a junior. He has a great body and is very quick off the ball. One of Florida's best. He transferred from Gulliver Prep to Columbus for his senior year.

Click for Butts-Pirates Info

A friend of mine went to Myrtle Beach last September. He was at a tackle shop in Akron gear and the guy behind the counter said: "Akron, huh? I never even heard of Akron until last week."The week prior was when we beat NC State.

I was at that game too. You physically couldn't shoe-horn another human being in the JAR. I think fire marshalls now limit the capacity to 5,500, but that night it was over 7k.I agree, that was awesome.