Captain Kangaroo

Wood has been shooting his FT's ok recently. At least he made 1.Fouling Penno means we are going to need a 3 to tie and go to a 2nd OT.

I really really want to see us win a big game like this on the road.

I'm glad you aren't our coach

I'd say 99.9% chance that that would be an affirmitive. The only question was "three pointer or a drive?"

F#$cki9ng idiots. Why the hell are they playing commercials I'd rather hear the "echo" feed of the game!!! Who's the idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!!GOD DAMMIT

Seemed like a good time to bring back and oldie but a goodie.

The Zips has commitments from 3 "preferred walk-ons."Brigham VanEtten is a 6' 3" 210 lb WR. The Zips had maxed-out on WR scholarships. VanEtten and his parents loved the Akron program and decided to sit out a year and wait for something to open up. He's got great size, and is an exceptional student. Click for BioJason Kaiser is a 6" 1" 175 burner from Bellaire. He ran a 4.29 40 at the Zips camp this summer. He'll need a year to build up his strength, then...look out.Zach Campbell was the punter/kicker for Cantom McKinley in 2006. He will compete with Igor for the starting kicker job this summer, and is a solid fall-back if Igor's back-related heath issues continue.Click for PicOther Notes:Derron Smith, an LB listed in last year's recruiting class, did not enroll at Akron this spring. He's presently at a prep school. Probably 40/60 odds he'll ever see the field in a Zips uniform.The Zips have four remaining scholarships to give. Look for two of them to be awarded within the next month. The awardees will be "impact" student athletes. One will be visiting campus next weekend. No names at this time.The other two scholarships will likely be held until the summer.

Miami fans have vowed to storm the court if their team takes a shot with 8 or more seconds remaining on the shot clock. I don't think it has ever happened. Final score:Zips 41Miami 25

Click for ClucksThey're treating this as a pretty big game. Good to see.

Who cares? Here it is anyway...

Click for "The Brick"Once he plays, I want credit for the nickname.

I argee with Rasor that it's puzzling to see any hand-wringing over Dambrot's recruiting.Next year's class is awesome. Steward answers our PG vacancy. McKnight is one of the top players in Ohio and Sweich is probably the premier big-man recruit in the MAC next year. I saw him at the game Saturday...he's no Matt Seibert. He's a wide body who will be ready to contribute immediately. In the Hipsher era, guys like McNees and Bardo would be expected to play major minutes. Dambrot's recruiting depth allows us to redshirt these guys. Milum has progressed nicely. I'm guessing Bardo will follow a similar timetable. Middleton was a late pick up after Allen Hanson backed out of his commitment. Pretty nice guy to have as a fall-back...he's Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson, instant offense coming off the bench.McKnight will be like Travis. I really look forward to seeing him during his sophomore trip through the MAC. Dials is a solid player and a key to our defense.Joyce was a walk on that only Damrot...out of the 300-some D1 coaches in the United States...saw fit to bring in and untimately put on scholarship. He'll leave Akron as the school's all-time assist leader.Conyers - Who knows? I've heard too many good things about him to give up just yet. He had to take a year off with no practice. I'm hopeful a summer of ball with the team and a tour through the MAC will lead to bigger contributions next season.Linhart - He's a solid MAC player. Solid defender and decent shot. He gets sloppy with his passing, but overall, his best basketball is ahead of him.Rybek - Seems like Dambrot missed on him. When trying to project what a 17 year old kid is going to do once he's 21 or 22, you gotta miss once in a while. He's hardly the poster child for bad recruiting. Hell...he'd have been the star recruit in a couple of Hipsher's classes.Dambrot's recruiting is fine. Better than fine, it's boarderline great. My question isn't recruiting, it's whether or not he/we can win big games. Not Austin Peay at home, but Toledo in the MAC title game. Or any team at "The Q." That's the only thing he's got left to prove. Until then, the Zips are Peyton Manning, circa 1998-Jan 2007.

With the exception of the K.e.n.t. game, I don't think the secondary was bad last season. It's tough to cover guys for 10 seconds. Our DL's inability to get pressure on opposing QB's typically made our secondary look bad.

I met him a couple times. Super nice guy.

I disagree. If we lose, it means we're worse than the top OVC team. That would suck.We need to beat the top OVC team on our own court to validate where we feel the MAC stands amongst the "mid-majors." A loss is a black eye on the MAC. A loss removes all hope for an at-large bid.A convincing win is a big help to our RPI and gives us a chance at an at-large bid should we falter in the MAC finals. It also goes a long way in getting a home NIT game for rounds 1 and maybe 2, should that be where we end up.You want to know where you stand in the mid-major "world," Zips fans? You will find out tomorrow night vs. a very good A-P team.

Click for Devastating Second Place Finish

I am guessing Toledo will come to the RB this fall, and we will travel to Western Michigan?To balance that out we should get either EMU/Ball State/Temple at home.That's not great...but not bad either.I don't buy into the grousing about playing Army in Cleveland. I think that game will be a blast. I'm guessing the players will have fun with it too. Yes, we "kinda" lose home field advantage. But, we're playing freaking Army. We should beat them on a field that's "60/40 neutral," 60 being in our 45-mile-away favor.BTW - Yes I'm aware we lost to them at the RB 2 years ago. I don't really think that affects 2007 in the least.

I wonder if there's any way we can leave the MAC - soccer only. I have to believe our program is attractive to a better conference? And, Chryst has to realize he replaced Kentucky with a directional Indiana dreg in IUPUFW-FUA. If Chryst can't help us, we need to help ourselves. As long as the MAC has their automatic bid, things aren't too bad. But at some point I'm guessing the NCAA is going to review the MAC's bid status and pull it.

Beat K.e.n.t.

Speak for yourself.jupitertoo is a K.e.n.t. fan who has trolled this board and the MACbbs for years with little more to offer than third grade rants about Akron being "Hilltop High."Click Me to Read the Same Akron-hating Post jupitertoo has cut-n-patsted for 8 Yearsjupitertoo is a K.e.n.t.-loving dickwad. Not a congenial OU fan.

I thought this was a great interview:Click for Bubba-babble

I'm curious as to your opinion on this. Is it screwing the guys who will be playing the next two years with the Rubber Bowl as their "home?"Is it no big deal? The road games at IU and UConn are difficult, but winnable games. And we'll get some cash. In the big picture, in the MAC it is what you do within the conference anyhow, and we'll have four of our MAC games at the Rubber Bowl. Win your home games, worst-case split on the road and you've probably got 7 wins and you're bowl eligible.Should we drop IU in favor of a 65-0 Hampton beatdown at the Rubber Bowl just to enhance our questionable hopes of an at-large bowl invite? Why waste our energy on all the great recruits if all we want to do is beat on 1-AA dregs?Is it a given that the stadium will be functional in 2009?I'm not all that comfortable with a scheduling strategy that keeps us away from home in expectation of "marquee" games down the road. I can just see in a few years...the stadium opens...Mack and Co. depart for another college...the game contracts are voided...and we're stuck playing Hampton in our new stadium anyhow.

I agree. Toledo isn't great, but Toledo is a bad match up for us. They have speed at the guard position. We don't (offensively Cedrick does, but he doesn't play "quick" defense). Dambrot needs to come up with something to counteract Toledo's guards. Towards the end of the game, when the pressure starts rising and the pace quickens, it plays into Toledo's hands.

Zips 88OU 75

I was wondering the same thing. I spoke to a U of A coach...not a hoops coach...regarding Conyers only a week or so ago. He stated the 80% rule was still in effect for all athletes. I'll have to check up on it. Maybe, if Conyers was admitted prior to the rule change, it wouldn't apply to him? Just a guess.