Captain Kangaroo

I agree with that point. For the lower seats, it is at eye-level.That said, the majority of the JAR's seating (65%?) is in the upper level. For those in the upper level, like myself, the primary "reference" scoreboard is the overhead board. If something changes on it, you notice immediately. Things scroll on/off the side boards 20 times before many of us in the upper level even notices. Anyone who debates that has never been a fan sitting in the upper level.Again I ask: Why is it rocket science to place statistical leaders on the overhead scoreboard? It is certainly possible if it can be done on the side boards. And, it is more interesting info than showing the live feed of a game that's happening directly below.If someone is so protective of the end scoreboards they must have a personal attachment to them? Either they work them, or they have some vested interest in justifying them. It is funny that everyone wants to know how to improve things at the JAR...but when you tell them something that's wrong, they get defensive and resort to name-calling. You can't have it both ways.

I sit in the middle of the court. I am constantly looking forward. If the sole reason statistical leaders aren't shown on the center scoreboard is the existance of the end scoreboards, then I think the end scoreboards were a waste of "hundreds of thousands of dollars." They might as well be placed in the lobby as far as I'm concerned.Beyond not being in the primary line-of-sight of the majority of the patrons, the end scorboards are extremely limited in the information they can show a one time. The graphics capability, visibility and level of information that can be shown on the overhead scoreboard blows away the end ones. I'm happy the overhead scoreboard is now being used for more than the live video feed of the games going on directly below...like they were for a couple years...but there is still room left to maximize their capability.Using your logic, why does the central scoreboard show time outs, the time remaining and the game score. Hey, it's already on the end scoreboards, right? Why repeat the information? There is no other arena with an overhead scoreboard as nice as ours that doesn't place information regarding statistical leaders on it.

Now if only they could show leading scorers, rebounders, etc on the center scoreboard during the course of the game...then my life would be complete.

Replace "Toledo" with "Marshall" and you've got a well-used Coach Pruett line...probably used it a thousand times.

The Plain Dealer reports Toledo expects convicted manslaughter and aggravated assault convict Ray Williams will report for spring football. He is already working out with the team. Marshall has officially been replaced in the MAC.Miami officials confirm football coach Tim Cooper was arrested for DUI last week. No truth the the rumor he was just trying to beef up his resume' for an assistant's job w/Solich @ OU.Former Miami coach John Wauford, fameous for punching a Marshall fan on the field, has left his most recent employer - Can't State University, to pursue a job at Findlay College. Wauford was quoted as saying: "There are simply more fans to punch at Findlay games than Can't State games."

As opposed to one of the other schools listed? No. It is just and interesting read, and Akron is a school in contact with him.

It is real.

Ok…you’re Martin Pees …or Dean Martin …or whoever the K-ent State football coach is. You want to set your off season workout goals high. REALLY high! But how do you market this to your players? You want to pump them up, but what in K-ent Ohio can you use to define the absolute highest level of commitment to football excellence?You could ask your players to exert “Antonio All-Pro Effort,” honoring San Diego Charger TE and K-ent player Antonio Gates. Yes, that’s high, but you can reach even higher!You could ask your players to reach “The Lambert Level,” honoring K-ent graduate and Hall of Famer Jack Lambert. Again, that’s high, but you can reach even higher!You could ask the players to reach “Harrison Heights,” honoring Steelers Super Bowl Champion and K-ent player James Harrison. High again, but you can reach even higher!I present to you the highest level a K-ent player can strive for in off-season workouts, as defined by the K-ent State coaching staff:

Albert Gallatin hoopster a well-traveled athlete FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEWSunday, February 19, 2006Jawaan Alston dribbles down the court at Albert Gallatin.Albert Gallatin junior Jawaan Alston has quite an edge on his classmates when discussing United States geography.After all, he has already been to Las Vegas, Orlando, Houston, Niagara Falls, New Orleans, as well as a pair of prominent North Carolina cities, Durham and Chapel Hill.Throw in acronyms like D-1, MAC, Big East, and A-10, and Alston, with a 3.4 grade average, has a big edge perusing a U.S. map, not to mention the advantage he enjoys with his 6-foot-8 height.Alston, a three-year starter for the Colonials boys basketball team, has already earned a lot of frequent flyer miles and has already seen more of the U.S. than most kids -- perhaps adults -- may ever see.As the 2005-2006 scholastic basketball season draws to a close, Alston, with 916 career points, is second on the school's all-time scoring list, behind Jason Kopec's 927 career total set between 1994-1997. Alston, most likely on his way to becoming the Colonials all-time leading scorer, has scored 495 points this season -- an average of 20.6 points per game -- and has at least one more game to play, against top-seeded Bethel Park in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs set to begin this week.With 272 rebounds this season, Alston holds the single-season mark, and has pulled down 667 for his career. He has also blocked nearly 100 shots this year for the Colonials, 14-10 overall, 7-7 in Section 1 for the regular season."Jawaan came in and started in Quad A as a freshman," Albert Gallatin coach Dan Andria said. "He learned some hard lessons as freshman. Jawaan got off to a good start for us, but had trouble finishing plays. We made the playoffs that season and won the section last year when he was a sophomore. He is bigger and stronger, growing in to his body -- Alston weighs 195 pounds -- and now he is able to finish those same plays."Helping with Alston's basketball development has been his involvement with the Pittsburgh J.O.T.S. AAU program, where he was a member of the 16-and-under team which, last July in New Orleans, was runner-up to national champion Mellow Yellow, from Baltimore, a team sponsored by NBA star Carmello Anthony.Alston has been with the AAU program for five years and coach J.O. Stright has glowing comments regarding the Colonials star."Jawaan was the most improved player on our team last year," Stright said. "He learned to work down low and got tougher as the season went on. He absorbed everything we taught. He's a smart player, runs the floor well, and was an integral part of the team. He is a definite Division-1 prospect."Always big for his age, Alston, at the urging of his father, Donald, started playing basketball when he was 6 years old, and is generating interest from such colleges as St. Joseph, Can't, Duquesne, Buffalo, Akron and Penn State. West Virginia is also keeping a vigilant eye on him.In three seasons, Andria has seen Alston's progress up close."He naturally plays inside but can go outside and shoot the three," Andria said. "He works hard, is coachable and has made steady progress. He covers a lot of ground. He lifted over the summer and is finishing plays, unlike his freshman year. His foul shooting has improved this year, and he has come a long way on defense. Jawaan works on becoming consistent and is turning into the top player we thought he would be."Going from high school to AAU and back again, Alston, whose SAT scores have already qualified him for D-1 schools, has played against the nation's best players in his age group."It's a tremendous opportunity playing against the best players in the country," Alston said. "There's so much talent out there, and it's making me a better player. I'm playing against bigger, stronger, more versatile players. Against bigger players I have to move outside sometime, and it's making me more versatile as well."Seeing the nation as a member of the AAU program has made a significant impression on Alston, especially his trip to Orlando, where he played at Disney World, and in North Carolina, where he played on the home courts of the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and Duke University (Durham)."You see Duke and North Carolina on national TV and all of a sudden I'm playing on their floors. It was a great experience," said Alston, who was named to the All-Fayette County team as a sophomore last year. "You see them on TV, but it was fantastic being and playing there."On the verge of becoming AG's all-time leading scorer, Alston was on fire during one four-game stretch this season, scoring 31, 32, 29 and 28 points in the span. His high-water mark was a 34-point performance against Mt. Pleasant."Our goal was to make the playoffs," Alston said. "Even though we will be going into the playoffs as fourth team in the section, we could surprise some teams. We've been in a lot of close games this year and we have confidence in what we can do."With yet another season of high school basketball in front of him, Alston, who will play for the 17-and-under AAU team this year, is in no hurry to make a decision regarding college."There are a lot of schools interested," Andria noted, "and he has plenty of time to make a decision."Additional AAU exposure this summer and his senior season will make that decision easier.

Dru is our go-to guy when the clock is ticking down. You saw it in the MAC tourney last year when he dribbled out the clock in regulation and hoisted a 28 footer. You saw it at game's end vs. OU earlier this season.Dru can be very effective if the match up suits his game, but I don't like him being the go to guy when we need a shot. I would agree that Preston or Peterson are the best options. If someone like Middleton would drive the lane and kick it out to Dru, that's fine. But Dru is very "guardable" one-one-one.I think Dials could be "The Man" in such situations his Jr and Sr years. And, you hear nothing but good regarding Conyers.

It appears the land that has already been acquired is being leveled. Hopefully the few remaining "hold-out" slum lords will be forced to sell their properties because they will essentially be on "islands."

Mr. Stec (father) posted this on a FL newspaper's site:FYI…my son John Stec Kicker for Atlantic High School has signed a National Letter of Intent for the University of Akron, winners of the MAC conference this year and in the Motor City Bowll…John is projected to start as the team’s punter in their first game Sept 2nd at Penn State…John led the county in his junior and senior seasons with punting averages of 40 and 44.6 yds respectively…he also led the county in scoring as a kicker with 55 points…thanks for all your great High School coverage…Peter Stec

The K-ent coach said players from Florida were overrated.

Ryan Andrick developed a drop step. I've yet to see anything resembling a repeatable, decent low post "money-move" from either Travis or Futch. That liability was glaringly evident vs. Nevada. The shots Travis put up vs. Nevada were unorthodox fadeaways. Game in game out he misses more layups than me in an open gym, and rarely uses the backboard. Futch just plugs away. Maybe he teases you with a good offensive move every blue moon, but in general he's there for his defense...and his 5 fouls.

I will put on my moderator hat for 1 minute:Stop it with the personal attacking of other posters. It has no place on this board. It won't be tolerated.BigZip's post brings up a legit question. It was phrased perfectly fine. He merits no attack.

We are 19-6. Unlike K-ent, we have yet to lose to a team less talented than us. That doesn't happen on teams with massive internal problems. We play hard every night. That doesn't happen on thems that have massive internal problems.If there are massive internal problems, please reference the Hipsher years to see the inevitable results.As ZipAnalyst said....we are simply missing talent. We are getting 110% out of the talent we presently have.

Newsflush: Our women's team is pretty sad. Back to you, Bob.

That's a good analogy.

Click me for brackets, assuming the tourney were held today

Random, as per usual:If Terry Pluto writes some sappy drivel about how hard those scrappy Zippers played...well, you should expect it.The Zips are not in the class of Nevada. That is a rock-solid, inside and out, machine of a team.Nevada has an NBA 1st rounder on their team, plus players with scads of big post season wins under their belt. None of our guys will sniff the NBA, and we have no post-season experience. If that sounds like a recipe for a mismatch...it was.The Zips played hard. There are beatdowns that come from lack of effort, and there are ones the come from simply losing to a better team. We lost to a better team. Simple as that.When Nevada tossed the ball inside, their players scored at will. When the Zips tossed the ball inside, we threw up some really unorthodox-looking garbage. The lack of skill we have in the low post really showed tonight. Slow feet...fear of using the backboard...no confidence.Dru was abused tonight. Nevada's guards were 2 steps faster. They also baited him into some terrible turnovers. Let Dials or Middleton run things if Joyce can't compete.Preston was the one guy I can say brought his A game. If we play a team of that caliber in the future, Middleton will need to see more PT at Dru's expense. He has the speed to match up.Rybek hit a 3? Hope he is officially off the schnide?Where did Peterson go?Hitting 12-19 three's is easy when you're wide open. We do it all the time vs. crappy MAC cellar-dwellers.The sky isn't falling. That's the toughest team we'll face until the post season. We need to focus on Miami, OU, Buffalo and Can't. We need the #1 tourney seed, so 2-2, with a win over Can't, is the worst we can afford...and that is easily attainable.Hope the Zips are humbled by the beating and use it as fuel for their stretch run. In the big picture...while profoundly disappointing...it means little for our post season chances.I really look forward to seeing those bastards...and I mean that in a complimentary sense...next season in the JAR.

No one denies he carries weight in the area. Hell, so does Earnest Angsley. Thyere are many sheep in the area. As you can see by attendance, there are far too many people who witness games through Pluto's eyes than witness it for themselves. Thus what he says is gospel.What I personally can't stand isA.) His hypocrisy (refer to the Owens/Hipsher credit issue)B.) His "WWII Switzerland Approach" to writing Susie Sunshine columns while Owens, Crawford and Hipshers' teams grossly underperformed.The more positive stuff he writes about the Zips, the better. But I have a very hard time forgiving the sins of his past 6 years just because the Zips are now winning. He stuck his head in the sand for 6 years. No free passes for that.

I agree with your assessment. You've hit it out of the park. The only flaw is that Penn St. is in State College while College Station is where Texas A&M is located. K-ent lost to Penn State in the NIT a couple years ago...at State College.

We should play Walsh in football too, since Jim Dennison is now the coach. Pluto continues to perpetuate his own stereotype...

I also have an "I went around the world at Mike's Gold Bar" tee shirt. It doesn't fit as well as it used too....

I used to work-out there. I still have a satin "Mick's Gym" jacket. Man am I old....