Captain Kangaroo

This thread reminds me of the Rubber Bowl seating issue too. Some University "lifer," who's never been a traditional fan, decides to make a policy that screws over the people that actually attend a Zips game. To be fair - if you're an administrator that only sits in the RB press box, or the Tommy Evans Lounge, how would you know otherwise?It should be mandatory that people making fan policies need to sit in a fan's seat for 2 years before they can legislate.Like 99.99% of the posts on this board, I agree...kicking out a student from the half-empty student section due to an incorrect shirt is flat-out stupid. Just like it was stupid to turn away Gen Ad fans from the press box side of the Rubber Bowl...where the seats were 25% full (at best).

Click for What Might Be Another VerbalOr did he Verbal to K.e.n.t?I wonder which story is correct? Eugene Jarvis revisited?

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1.) If a 7-6 football season and a NIT win in basketball is our best period, shoot me now. 2.) I dig Mike...but he also struggled with the scoreboard stuff. He seemed to be "getting it" last season. By year's end there were nice stats on the center board and good clips and graphics. This year is pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. The most creative thing I've seen from this Marketing crew is Dambrot, reading a cue card, asking people to bring teddy bears to the St Francis game. Great stuff.

That's easy: "Yes" we have a marketable product. "No," no one's selling it.Next question: Is anyone held accountable for the poor Marketing efforts this year?What I would like to believe it the Marketing Group decided Marketing the first 4 home games is a lost cause due to Rosie O'Donnell-esque uglyness of the schedule. The Marketing Group hopefully is laying low, waiting for the Nevada game to kick things into high gear.What I believe is people are sitting on their thumbs saying "Gee we're a really good team and we have $30.00 ticket plans...why aren't we selling out the JAR? I guess the people of Akron just won't ever support a winner?"

We are in no way shape or form in Gonzaga's league from a recent historical pespective. They have multiple players in the NBA, multiple runs in the NCAA's, incessant presence in the national media. During that time the U of A has had Coleman Crawford, Dan Hipsher, no MAC titles, no NCAA's and one lone NIT win.Wichita State is in a great gonference and also a post season NCAA regular. They're #10...yes #10 in this week's AP poll. I think the Zips are #8...in the MID-MAJOR poll! The shockers are also in the middle of nowhere...what else is there to do in Wichita?Oral Roberts was in the NCAA's last season and expected to do it again this year. If we had beaten Toledo and gotten to the NCAA's last season, that would have been a decent comparison. However, we fell far short of Oral Roberts success last season. Who has Akron played at home that's our equivalent? NO one. Just a pile of crap thusfar. And people are supposed to pack the house for Winston Salem Marlboro...Hillsdale...Tiffin? No freaking way.Creighton? Compare our last 10 years of hoops to Creighton. We don't hold a candle to them. Again, they play in a great conference (4 NCAA bids last season), they've played in the NCAA's multiple times and been very successful. People at the University of Akron plant a seed on Monday and expect to be picking fruit by Thursday. It doesn't happen. Win SOMETHING and people will show up. If we had K.e.n.t's success over the past 8 years, we'd be packing the JAR every night...even for garbage opponents. But we've experienced minimal success over the past decade, and you don't overcome that negative inertia with a measly NIT win.

Why is it such an unbelievable feat to beat Texas Tech. They aren't exactly Duke, although they did crush Gardner Webb by 12 and North Dakota State by four this season, to go along with their 3 losses. They aren't anything special this season. Stating we would definitely be 6-1 if we played Texas Tech exudes a pretty pathetic, loser D-3 mentality. We could have beaten them, and it would have been on national TV for everyone to see regardless. And Akron people need games on national TV to see their team, since we have no local TV station. UALR was a crippling early season loss. It can be overcome...but it was what it was.

There is plenty of blame to go around. KD needs to look in the mirror a little too. The loss to UALR makes us 6-1. The difference between being undefeated and 6-1 is huge. We shouldn't have lost to UALR on a neutral court. We should have been playing Bobby Knight & Texas Tech on ESPN. THAT would have gotten the locals to take notice. A win would have been HUGE. Instead we beat Gardner Webb (Wyatt's cousin?).We've started our home slate off with three Div 3 schools and a 1-11 D1 newbie. That, coupled with the disappointing performance in Lubbock doesn't get the bandwagon up to warp speed.The Nevada game is our chance to shine. Beating them will garner some local and national attention and set the table for a nice gate for the remainder of the season. We can't choke like Buffalo vs. Pitt. We MUST win that game.Side note: Our marquee game this home season was set up by ESPN (payback for last year's Bracketbuster). If you look at the games we set up on our own, it is pretty shabby. Hopefully we get a nice bracketbuster game this February too. We should.

Finally...we have a winner for "Least Compelling Worldwide Internet Thread of 2007!" It narrowly edged out a thread discussing an odd-shaped mole on Brett Musberger's back.

And they still can't pay a student $6.00/hr to give the fans some stats at the games. How freaking bush-league can you get? A 6-1 Division 1 basketball team with about $2million dollars in scoreboards and they can't give you one freaking statistic the entire game. Hey - Great live shots of the basketball game going on directly below the monitors. Everyone in the stands wants to look up at that monitor to see the game rather than watch it on the court below. Pathetic, bush, Division III effort. Whomever is in charge of that stuff has no idea what it is like to be a fan. BTW - Love the fact that I need to buy my 5-year old a 20 freaking ounce pop for $2.75 if he's thirsty...and a $3.00 hot dog or a 3-lb sack of Skittles when he's hungry. No one at the JAR has ever seen "Super Size Me" I guess? How about some bottle of juice or some normal-size food? Or, WARM pizza?Also a great innovation - Offering soft pretzels at one concession stand with chesse being an extra $0.50. But, you need to get back in line over at the nacho stand to get your pretzel cheese.Ahhhh....the game day experience at the JAR in awesome. Does St Francis have a win yet?

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It is the age-old Penguin "given"...as predictable as the sun rising in the east or the Beacon not sending a reporter to a Zips' away game.Penguin Fan is unseen for 5 years...then finally they're back in the 1-AA playoffs. Penguin Fan gets full of himself and starts thinking he's too big for 1-AA football. Penguin Fan starts making posts on MAC message boards and bringing up decades-old diatribe about how they should have been in the MAC if only it weren't for U of A and K.e.n.t. Blah blah blah....Hey, it happens in Akron too. The Zips beat NC State and all of the sudden the ZipsNation is petitioning for Big East entrance.If YSU wants to move to 1-A, there is nothing stopping them. They could make the announcement tomorrow. They won't sack-up and do it. They could find plenty of C-USA, Sun Belt and MAC schools to play. They win 7 games and, with their fan following, you know they'd get a bowl bid.Why don't they do it? Because they're a big fish in a small pond and they like it that way. I don't blame them. There are already an insane amount of D1-A football schools in Ohio. Sack-up like Akron, Boise State, UConn, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, etc. and move to 1-A. Then the Penguins can legitimately gripe about not being in the MAC. Until that point: *yawn*.

Like before, it seems pretty much a guarantee BG will return to the West. They prefer being with their Toledo buddies.

That will be one heck of a rally..since he's dead.

Luke still would have had 98% of the snaps in 2006.Jackson or Hakes will be fine. The spring game is gonna be really interesting this year.

JD & the Zips win 8 games or more...like we should have this season...and he's got a pocket full of offers. It sucks, but that's the way it is anymore. Have a couple 8-win seasons and you get a big job. If you are a "BCS" school coach and have a couple "bad" (8 or 9 win seasons) & you're on the chopping block.Former Zips AD Mike Waddell, now at UC, was seen at several late-season Zips football games including the OU game in Athens. Could he have been scouting JD? I think so. No one was hiring JD after the WMU debacle...whether it was predominately his fault or not.

Unless you enjoy a coaching staff that's tickled pink with a 6-win season, I can see why K.e.n.t might not be appealing.

WMU was 1-10 two years ago and finished a strong 8-4 this season. K.e.n.t was 1-10 last season and won 6 games this year. While winning helps, it seems getting decent players has more to do with coaches selling the program/school, coaches building relationships and facilities than it does having recent success. Beyond that...I think 2006 was our first sub-.500 season in 4 years? This season was a downer, but our program is hardly in the "bottom-feeder" catagory.

As a homebrewer and potty humor aficionado, I gotta hand it to you. That's great!

K.e.n.t has Dicks Stadium. I think that cost John Holmes about $50.00 back in 1973?

Rumor has it rights to The Roo Zoo were sold. The student section will now be known as "The Odd Corner."

Unless the Heisman estate forks over several million dollars towards the facility...I would opt for a corporate name. Summa...First Energy...Jason Taylor/Charlie Frye Field...whomever shells out the most $$.

It should. If it doesn't, someone needs to (again) be fired. It will be because they didn't put forth any effort. Nevada may be Top 10 when that game rolls around.

My guess - The cracker-box JAR will sell out several times this season regardles of spending $$ on billboards. Why spend the cash for Marketing if people are going to come anyhow? The Zips aren't exactly swimming in money, so I think they need to be selective where it is spent.I do think there should be billboards arounf town to raise public awareness of the program regardless, but that's just my opinion. I don't think there is any fear that the basketball team won't meet expectations. If someone is afraid of that, they should be fired.

Aaron Williams is a big time difference maker. We have our share of Penn Hills ties with David Harvey and PH grad Coach Moorhead. I hope we win this one. We need a back like him in the worst way.