Captain Kangaroo

I agree. A lot of fun on a beautiful night. AND, we beat OSU. Students rushed the field after the game...packed house...great environment. Gimme my on-campus football stadium NOW! BTW: Say the Zips soccer program continues its level of excellence. What percentage of a 30,000 seat stadium could it fill for an on-campus big time game? I bet 12k isn't out of the realm of possibility.

The Beacon has ignored Zips athletics for in excess of 6 years, so forgive me if I don't start doing cartwheels and tossing rose petals in Larry Pantages' cubicle after they have one decent week of Zips coverage. The columns they've actually written over the past 6 years have been fraught with errors. Not typos, but flat-out half-assed, no attention to detail pieces of tripe that you learn nothing from...except that the Beacon really doesn't take Zips athletics seriously. Furthermore, the editors at The Beacon display a very condescending tone when discussing their non-coverage. They essentially say "Zips fans don't matter"..."the University doesn't matter"..."be happy with the table scraps we give you because your lucky you get that much." To answer your question: Yes, I do realize it is important the Beacon cover Zips athletics. There are a lot of "sheep" out there incapable of thinking on their own. If the Beacon doesn't follow the team, the sheep think there's nothing of interest going on. Look at Lee Owens' firing. Pluto railed the University for canning Owens. Most of the Beacon readers...the Pluto Sheep...automatically followed suit. Their coverage, and lack of coverage, makes an impact. I'll subscribe to the Beacon again when David Lee Morgan realizes Marshall is no longer a MAC member. Or, when Pluto openly admits he was wrong for condescendingly telling Zips fans they should accept Mediocre Owens because "you're Akron, not Ohio State or Notre Dame." I think I'm safe until sometime in 2010.

Getting rid of the cannon isn't the University's decision. Apparently there was a mishap with a similar cannon at a west coast football game last week. The mishap may shut down all collegiate cannons in the future. Forgive me for not having more details. Maybe someone else can help me here?

I hear the cannon is probably on the way out.

The whistle wasn't abused, as so many other similar sound bites are at college football games. I had no problems with it. Will it catch on? Tough to tell after 1 game.

Appalatian State, and Vanderbilt are our competition. Our "competition" for Brion Stokes was 1-AA schools. Seems like some Zips coach recruiting the Charlotte area has a better eye for talent than the coaches from other 1-A schools?

CMU should have beat Indiana, but their RB's helmet got ripped off on his TD run and it got called back. They went on the road and beat Miami. They blew a 4th quarter, 4th and 2 on the EMU 22 yard line last week that let EMU march down the field and take the game to OT. EMU isn't too bad this year. CMU ain't table scraps, and the Zips are no longer a "secret." Regardless: Zips 31-CMU 20 And if you see a CMU fan in the lot before the game or walking up to the Rubber Bowl...wish them luck. If they walk by your tailgate, offer 'em a beer. Dat's how we 'do in "the AK!"

Is it just me, or is Jermaine Reid turning into the player we all hoped/expected Duane LeFall to be after his freshman season? Reid has been a monster.

Gateway defensive end Jordan Stevens took an official visit to Kentucky last weekend. He also has scholarship offers from Indiana and most Mid-American Conference schools, and Iowa and Michigan State are said to be close to offering. Gators offensive lineman Chris Hanna added Can't State to the list of schools that have offered, which includes Akron, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Rutgers. His early leader is Illinois, where he's scheduled to visit next month.

There are a lot of reasons why Akron area people are OSU fans first, and MAC fans somewhere thereafter. To most people, Ohio State isn't a school, it is a football team. Ditto Miami Fla, USC or Notre Dame. Akron, Can't, BG, etc are thought of as schools first. For fans like me in their late 30's or beyond, Akron was in a lower division than OSU during their college years. There really was no comparison of the teams. Just like there's no reason you couldn't like Oberlin and OSU. Old habits die hard. Few people my age are willing to dismiss their favorite childhood team just because their school jumped to 1-A (like Akron in '86). For those in their 20's and low 30's...the Zips football teams have zero championships and very limited success during their formative years. Attitudes born from twenty years of losing or being mediocre don't change with an overtime win vs. Northern Illinois. It takes time. OSU and the BCS schools in general are a media monster. Radio...TV...newspaper...the Zips are battling this with what? GoZips.com and some ads in the BJ? OSU gets more coverage on sportstalk in Cleveland in 1 day than all the MAC schools get COMBINED in a year! I don't begrudge OSU fans for liking OSU. I hate OSU...but that my perogative. It does bug me when an Akron people (students or residents) root for OSU over the Zips or are condecending to the MAC schools. Win something. Do it consistently, and the Zips Nation will rise up. Compare YSU's football attendance now and during their championship years. Big difference. Look at Can't's hoop attendance prior to their championship runs and during the Huffman/Mitchell/Gates years. Big difference. If the Zips start winning, they will come and the fan foundation will quickly grow.

My inside source tells be he got lost on his way to an event at Canal Park and was simply asking for directons.

Miami is slowly adjusting to their new staff. Cincinnati sucks. That combination yields the result you saw last night.

I wonder if, not that it is obvious we're in the hunt for a championship, we get a few Fr.'s in the mix to spell Stokes, Rohr and Grant. Those guys played almost the entire game last week.

Football • Butler tight end Michael Ingersoll (6-foot-5, 260 pounds) has offers from Vanderbilt, Akron and Appalachian State, coach Mike Newsome said.

#1: Akron (previous week #5) – Major blowouts to Toledo and BG open the door for a new #1! Zips dominance over a good NIU team garners them the #1 spot for this week. #2: Toledo (previously #1) – Absolutely destroyed by Fresno State. Gradkowski was out, but the loss had little to do with it. #3: BG (previously #3) – Drilled by Boise State, and their defense is giving up points by the bucketfull. #4: NIU (previously #2): Tough September for the Huskies. They look to be like the 2004 Zips however. Expect a strong finish to their season now that they’re home, and playing MAC competition. #5: EMU (previously #7): Shockingly, playing very well. Beat CMU. #6: OU (previously #6) – 45-0 loss to Va Tech isn’t looking all that bad. They dominated Can't and proved that they can actually score a few points. #7: Miami (previously #8): Uninspiring win vs Can't. When will this team and their new coach begin to click? #8: Central Michigan (previously #4) – Loss to EMU drops them 5 slots. #9: Ken-t: (previously #9) – These guys are #9 only because the teams below them are atrocious. 24 year old QB “Beer Run” Machen appears injured. Their #1 MAC defense is getting shredded regularly. Giving up 35 to OU is embarrassing. #10: Western Michigan (previously #10) Drilled by Toledo, then nipped Temple in Philly. Lost their QB Cubit for the season. Hard to believe things can get worse for the Broncos…but they will. #11: Ball State (Previously #11) – Atrocious. Racking up embarrassing losses with regularity. #12: Buffalo (previously #12) – Thusfar in September, the Buffalo offense has been outscored by the Zips soccer team. One bad football team. #13: Temple: Lost to woeful WMU at home in front of about 1,000 “fans.” They need some of John Chaney’s goons on defense if they want to win a game this year.

I'm sure your right Hilltopper. Hard to express sarcasm in a post. I would have if I could in the above sub head. Post of the Month Winner!!!!

Yes!

Yes he did. Scroll down: Football Inks 22 Recruits on National Letter Day 2001 University of Akron Football Recruiting Class Brendon BANKS 6-0, 190, SS, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Woodland Hills) James BATTLE 6-0, 225, LB, Cincinnati (Colerain) Dorian BEARD 6-1, 250, DL, Verona, Pa. (Penn Hills) Geoffrey BEAUCHESNE 6-5, 230, TE, Montreal, Quebec (Du Vieux) Chase BLACKBURN 6-4, 215, DL, Marysville Mark CONLEY 6-2, 285, DL, Lakewood Diontre EARL 5-11, 230, LB, Toledo (Rogers) Dion ELIE 6-2, 185, WR, Atlanta, Ga. Lithonia/Euclid, Ohio Jamie GOODWIN 5-11, 160, WR, McKeesport, Pa. Justin HEIN 6-7, 335, OL, Lakewood Jeremy JACOBS 6-4, 245, OL, Uniontown (Green) Charlton LEWIS 6-4, 250, DL, N. Braddock,Pa.(Woodland Hills) Jason MONTGOMERY 6-1, 180, WR, Southfield, Mich. (Lathrup) Montae MURPHY 5-10 173, DB, Rankin, Pa. (Woodland Hills) Thomas PLUMMER 6-1, 215, RB, Etobicoke, Ontario (Henry Carr) Jerell RINGER 5-11, 195, RB, Dayton (Meadowdale) Brad SHELDON 6-2, 200, LB, Rochester, Mich. (U. of Detroit Jesuit) Richard SPAULDING 6-3 210, SS, New Albany Marcus SUBER 6-1, 185, SS, Sacramento City College Vince VAUGHNS 6-2, 185, RB/FS, Oklahoma City, Okla. (Santa Fe) Greg WILLIAMS 5-10, 185, SS, Canton (GlenOak) Chris WOOTEN 6-0, 240, LB, Bedford AKRON - A share of the 2000 Mid-American Conference East Division title and back-to-back winning seasons certainly made a positive impact on "National Letter Day" for the Akron Zip football program. UA coach Lee Owens today unveiled his seventh recruiting class and announced the signing of 22 student-athletes for the 2001 season. Based on early commitments, the class ranked first in the Mid-American Conference, according to RIVALS.com.

Hey Z-P: An old timer like you has to remember the similar talk of "How are we going to keep Lee Owens" about 2 years into Owens' tenure? I just cant participate in this debate 1.2 years into the guy's D-1A head coaching career. If CMU comes in and knocks us off...like they did Miami...everyone will be calling for the guy's head. Sports Talk in the 2000's is a funny thing.

We just beat NIU. Miami has already lost at home to a bad CMU team, and BG's defense couldn't stop St V's junior varsity. Buffalo...Can't...OU...? All W's. The question is more like "Are the Zips the favorite to win the MAC East?"

Wish I'd have thought of that? The problem with the Zipsfest turnout is more complex than the cost of the spot. If I see someone from the Marketing group at the next game, I'll explain. If they want to give me a call, I'm happy to discuss it. Sufficive to say: They should call up each and every one of the "vacant" spot holders and let them know their money is being refunded and people on the waiting list are being moved up front (they did keep a waiting list, right?). They should also move those fans who put the effort into making the thing an event together. Now. Not tomorrow. Your original spot number now means nothing. The organization of the students for the game was great, well planned, and worked out outstanding. Conversely: The Tailgate fest wasn't...and it flopped.

This is something I really wish Zips fans would do. If out-of-state fans come to the Rubber Bowl, it is every Zips fan's duty, if you cross their path, to welcome them to Akron and wish them luck in the game. That is class. It should be synonymous with "Akron" and it's fans. I went to the Nebraska game several years back and, to a fan, every one of those Huskers came up to me and did exactly what I stated above. At game's end, after beat-down, they couldn't have been classier. Their hospitality and class is forever embedded in my mind. That is what we as Zips fans need to do at the Rubber Bowl and you don't need to wait for some University-sponsored program to do it. CMU fans will be in our lot next week. Let them leave Akron with great memories of the city and it's fans, and bad memories of the game! Note: K-ent is the exception. You can be a bit obnoxious to K-ent fans.

I agree. The students were awesome. Credit UAM for their work in getting them out to the game and showing them what a good time being a student at The University of Akron can be. I would like to see the students take it to another level next week. It back-and-forth "AK"..."ROWDIES" is a great start, but they can be more creative. Keep it up!! Also...it was heartwarming to see a few endzone students hoisting silver flasks in the crowd! Ahhhhh "Tradition never graduates."

He's coached a full 1.2 seasons of college football. The Zips haven't won a damn thing. They haven't won a championship. They haven't beat a real BCS team (beating teams like Rutgers, Army or Temple don't count as marquee BCS wins). JD isn't going anywhere soon. Look at Toledo. Miami. BG. Those teams stay atop the MAC despite losing coaches. The day JD ultimately leaves, we'll be fine so long as we have the commitment from the top. I remember everyone freaking out about the QB position this year..."How will we ever replace Frye?" Worrying about that was a waste of time, just like worrying about JD leaving.

Zips ALWAYS play well at home vs top-flight competition. Today is no different...except for the fact that we have a defense to stop those last-minute drives. Zips 31 NIU 30 Off to the tailgate!