Captain Kangaroo

How do you know this and do we really want him to? I think what he means is "Frye can't do it all." I remember after the 2003 opener (Can't) someone asked Owens what he'd do differently if he could re-play the last 6 minutes of theKent game. He said he'd have stuck Charlie in (on defense) because "...he'd have made a *expletive* play!"

DA ZIPMAN begins an interesting thread! My thoughts...hand on a Bible...Sodium Pentathol drip has begun...no BS... Zips defense will be better than last season, and by A LOT. Yes, Owen's recruiting on the defensive side...hell, on EVERY side...was far from chamiponship caliber the past 3 years. But, there are solid defensive players remaining who, with the proper coaching, can be molded into a Top-6 MAC defense. That's all our offense will need to be successful in the MAC in 2004. Where is our D worse off personnel-wise in 2004 (than 2003)? No where. DL talent level remains the same. LB's should be better. Secondary should be much better...and the coaching coaching MUST be better...right? How far will the Zips offense "fall" in 2004 (from 2003?) In my opinion, not too far. Receivers: Hixson is rock solid...great hands and speed. Like Dr. Z said, D-Basch is solid at TE (missed the spring game with a concussion). Montgomery also missed the spring game with an injury, but is a good wide-out. Ellington is "servicable". Jabari could be awesome, but has a lot to learn. And watch true frosh Johnny Long. I swear this kid is the steal of the 2004 signing class! We will have 2-3 solid wide-outs in 2004, with a solid TE. With Frye throwing to them, we'll be fine. So it'll be like when we had Lavel and Jake, instead of Cherry-Sparks-Irvin...it'll be different, not as "deep," but still highly effective. Effective running of the ball will help too, which brings me to... RB: Ringer should be a fine replacement for Hendry, and Vaughns looks good too. Another Zip that didn't play in the spring game is Dan Basch. He'll be ready to go in the fall. The JUCO RB has nice credentials, and hopefully the kid from Oil City is good? RB summary: We're WAAAY deeper at RB than in 2003, when we essentially had 1 RB. Hendry's running should be more than adequately replaced. Will his blocking? I don't think his blocking (pass protection) skills will be missed IF the OL coach gets all the OL's on the same page...AND creates some better blocking schemes. Also, I'll assume JD watched the 2003 tapes and has decided putting Frye in the shotgun EVERY SINGLE PLAY makes it pretty easy for DL's to pin their ears back and tee off on a QB? Hendry's blocking was needed in 2004 because the offensive shemes demanded it. The shemes that contributed to Frye getting pummeled in 2004 will be addressed. JD is a tape "junkie," and he knows the score. QB: Frye could have me, Dr. Z and ZFF as his 3 wide outs and still throw for 2,500 yards. It'll be nice to have Jabari and Fergie as available back ups, so Charlie can catch his breath once in a while. Nothing to write about Charlie that hasn't already been written. Schedule: PSU - SHOULD we win? No. CAN we win...hell yes. Penn State is a bottom-feeder Big 10 school. If we jump on them early, they'll pee their pants. This is CF's day to put the team on his back and carry them to glory. Leftwitch, R-berger, Harris... all had their "signiture" days...this is Charlie's. Zips 27-Penn State 24 (remember, these clowns only scored 32 points on Can't last season, beating them 32-10?) MTSU: A good team, but one we should beat at home. Zips 34-24 UVA: Too much depth to overcome: UVA 45-29 Can't: Zips 52-31 NIU: NIU 17-16. NIU is solid, even with Turner's departure. Buffalo: Zips 42-14 UCF: Zips 35-28. O'Leary and Brookhart are in the same position...but the Zips are further ahead at this point. Ball State: Zips 24-23. BSU can't be Frye in the Rubber Bowl. Marshall: Zips 24 Marshall 12. Bad coaching and lack of defense killed us against Marshall in the past. This time, the NFL-bound QB is on our side. And, the NCAA sanctions have affected the Herd's depth. "This isn't your father's Herd (Oldsmobile)." OU: OU 21-20. Zips can't win all the games they "should," and playing in Athens is always tough for us. Miami: Zips 31-21. No way Charlie goes 0-4 against Miami. Bet the farm on it. 8-3? Seems a bit high? Of course PSU is a "reach," but CF gives us a shot. I say 6-5 is expected. 7-4 is possible if the staff is as good as we hope they are. 8-3 is possible because we have the best QB in the MAC in our backfield. Great MAC QB's always seem to carry their teams far in this league.

CB/KR Waddell joins Titans By Terry McCormick, tmccormick@nashvillecitypaper.com April 25, 2004 The Tennessee Titans stayed on the defensive side of the ball with their second fourth-round pick Sunday, grabbing North Carolina's Michael Waddell. Waddell, a 5-10, 187-pound cornerback, also excels on special teams, where he was the NCAA's leading kick returner for the Tar Heels a year ago. He has a 40-yard dash time of 4.37. Waddell, the 124th pick overall, joins Penn State's Rich Gardner as the Titans' second cornerback selected in the 2004 draft. Best wishes, Wad! Send Jake our best!

You seem to follow the program close enough....when in 2003 did you see any Zips DL get close enough to an opposing QB to even "touch" him? Once...twice? The rule of the scrimmage was "touches" count as sacks for QB's in red. Jabari go nailed by #6 because he wasn't wearing red. I think Fergie and Charlie would have received a few decent pops had their shirts been white. The defensive complexity is definitely up a notch or two, and that's all I could ask to see in the spring.

I chased my kid around the Rubber Bowl for 2 hours, so any insight from anyone else is appreciated...I didn't see much! From what little I did see: Hixson looked great at WR. Like he's been one forever. Jabari looks like he has a lot to learn at WR. That's to be expected, of course. The guy hasn't ever played the position, and hasn't played in an actual game in 2 years. Tough to evaluate RB. Few catties for Ringer or Vaughs. Berchie seems to be the heir-apparent to Ben Ruhlin...a ton of carries in the spring game, and not too many come the regular season. D appeared aggressive and enthusiastic. CB's did a nice job. Good to see many of you...if only in passing! Tried to drop off a small "party favor" for the Allen Street fandango, but couldn't locate it. Oh well, no biggie. Best wishes to #9, #2 and #33 tomorrow!!

Hey Z-P...how was it blocking for Heisman? Was he a "slasher," or a staight-ahead runner? Also, Grantland Rice wrote that you held an OSU DL on the play that sprung Heisman for the go-ahead 12-6 TD? Now that it's been 110 years...come clean! Was it a hold or not??!! See you all tomorrow for kegs and eggs in the parking lot!

I would think WKY and MTSU would be great replacements for UCF and Marshall. WKY is also VERY respectable in Men's hoops, and their 1-AA football program is "Top-5" level. MTSU is already at mid-MAC level in football, and has a solid hoops program. Their football stadium looks awesome too.

What is one of your "smaller kids?" 6'3, 295?

Man...how do you expect to sell stuff with pictures like this? ZW: Did you donate your hat for the pic? By the way...when is the next generation of Zip gear/accessories arriving? I've heard rumors of some nice stuff in the offing?

I will give you the "serious" reply you want, even though you don't seem like all that nice a guy: I follow the football program as closely as anyone. I can say the following: 1.) There has not been a player named Dejovi Platt on the Zips squad in the past decade. 2.) I highly doubt there's been one named Dejovi Platt in the decade preceding this one either. My educated guess is Mr. Platt probably sat the bench for a season...or part of a season...or maybe a single practice...and quit. I assume this because, who the hell would spout off that they were a member of the Akron Zips? If you were going to flat-out fabricate you were a collegiate football player, I'm sure you'd select a Big 10 team and not one from the MAC. Then again maybe Mr. Platt is related to George O'Leary, who lied that he was a star for New Hampshire? I wish Mr. Platt the best in his European venture. The next time he's in Mannheim, tell him to stop and enjoy a Jever Pils. Good stuff.

Shouldn't this be on the MACbbs?

I thought that was a great idea too. Especially since there's no radio show until August. I've never met Tommy G, but I like his style. Hope he sticks around for a while! When does Dambrot's "5 questions" begin? Hell...I'd love to hear from all the Zips position coaches and assistants over the course of the summer.

15 of us went down to Santee SC for our annual golf trip (12th?). Always a good time. Golf was brutal...Dr. Z and I tore up the courses like the hackers we are...but the intake of Coors Light numbed the pain. Note: We had to sink to the level of Coors Light since there are: a.) No decent Micro Brews in cans b.) No decent Micro Brews in the state of South Carolina I'll be there Saturday morning with the kid. Hope the weather it good!

I think he's second from the left.

Former Zip #"X," thanks for checking in! As you obviously know, it is difficult for supporters of the program to find Zips info anywhere else but here, or maybe gozips.com. We appreciate the insight. To some extent I think everyone that's attended U of A over the past 2 decades can feel your pain regarding the facilities. In my era (insert Grampa Simpson's voice here) the Zips football players were blindsided by the replacement of Dennison with Faust. I draw the parallel here not for the coaching change itself: Dennison was a very capable coach who was replaced by one who essentially brought Notre Dame to it's knees. Bad hire. Coach Owens and staff, in my opinion, had brought the program as far as they were capable of doing and was replaced by HOPEFULLY a staff capable of coaching talent to the upper-MAC echelon. Good hire. Back to my point...there was no "plan" to upgrade the Zips a 1-A team in the mid-80's. There was no natatorium weight room. I think they had a few universal machines in Memorial hall, and that was it! The guys had to then go out and compete with Oregon State, Auburn, Florida, etc. Bad things, man. Undersized players and bad coaching were a bad combination. For a student that played nothing but intramural sports like myself, the facilites were a joke too. Memorial hall was under renovation for a couple YEARS...hardly any open gyms. When it was open...the baseball or volleyball teams usually occupied it. The JAR was open a couple hours a week to "ball," IF the lazy JAR MF'ers there got off their butts and set up the cross court hoops! The pool, racketball courts...what little is there now came after me. My buddies and I often drove to Can't State to play in their open gyms (6 full indoor courts) because there was no alternative at Akron. Appaling for a 24,000 student University. For ANY graduating student now it must suck knowing next years Freshman class are going to have all those new rec facilities! But, what the hell can you do about it? In the long run, I went to school for the education, and it worked out great for me. I deal with engineers who graduated from every school imaginable on a daily basis, and I've never once felt like any of them was better schooled than me. From my desk at work I can hit about 12 U of A graduates with a half-sandwedge or less, so the U of A education is woking out well for a lot of others too! Off "the rant-that-no-one-cares-about..." on to football stuff... Like a lot of guys on this board, I felt bad for the way the 2003 seniors went out. Mounting the monster comeback vs, OU...winning season...scads of offensive records...only to have the HC you knew for 5-6 years get canned 10 minutes after the game finished. What a punch in the gut that must have been. Despite how things played out on the "business end" (for lack of a better term) I assure you that the guys on the board have the utmost respect for what you guys did on the field and in the classroom. I know Matt and Nick a little bit, and they're fantastic guys on and off the field. My son and I will miss them (if anyone has suggestions on telling a 3 year old why #9 and #2 aren't Nick and Matt anymore, please let me know)! Jessie Smith was a class kid. I wish he played a "tighter" corner..but I respect him for the effort he put forth, especially in returning from the injury. Jud Cummins was a punishing run blocker. I loved watching him flatten the opposing LB's once he got beyond the line of scrimmage. Mike Brake was so solid. I remember when he was a frosh and he killed Dwight Smith on a run-after-catch! A bit later, Dwight got some payback, but I loved the frosh putting the big-hurt on #15! The OU TD catch was a great way to go out! Johnathan Gill stuck with the program for 5 years and earned a scholarship in 2003. At season's end, he was the #2 QB. Being #2 to Charlie Frye will be a nice thing to brag about in a bar in a few years, trust me!! Bobby Hendry ran down hill so damn hard! My favorite moment with him was the Wisconsin game: The guy behind me said "Hey, what is it...1942? Don't you guys know running backs aren't 'white' anymore?" I told the guy "I guarantee he puts up 100+ on you." I think Bobby ran for about 120(?) against the Badgers...and I let the guy know it after the game. The way he blocked in the backfield was awesome. Ditto the had yards to grind out the win vs. Marshall. I loved how Rickie McKenzie just got better every year. Had a great 2003! I met Marques Hayes at Signing Day a few years ago alongside Brandon Payne. He's a great guy. I wish he had better coaching because I think, with his strength, he could have done some serious damage in the right situation. I wish him the best in the future. His heart really seemed to be with the program, and he was a great Zip. Micah Fahler wasn't the best QB, but as a holder, he handled snaps with ease. It was nice not ever having to worry about bobbled holds on FG's. Bryan Shaw's mom and dad were always at the home and away games. You could always see the #70 jerseys in the parking lot! Nice people. Bryan had somewhat of an up-and-down career, but I liked him. Miquel Irvin probably thought when he transferred form Toledo that he'd be "THE MAN." How'd he know that guys like Nick and Matt were the players they were? Miquel accepted his role as the #2/#3 guy and really gave us a three-headed monster" at the WR position! "#20...YOU a BITCH"...a great quote from Miquel to a UCF player last season! Kyle McDuffie transferred for just one season. He had a great game against Wisconsin. I think that game alone should merit his decision to try 1-A ball was a worthwhile gamble. He proved he belonged here! If I forgot anyone, I apologize. I did this off the top of my head, and it's getting late. Time for bed! I just wanted to let any seniors know that, despite what you might think by your lack of media coverage...or the firing of your coach...or anthing else like that...that there were a lot of Zips supporters who really appreciated all your efforts, and who will remember your "era" in Zips football with a lot of pride. Best of luck, 2003 guys! I hope to see some of you on Sundays this fall! And if you're in town for a Zips home game on a Saturday in 2004, look for the wooden Zippy on a Stick along the fence by the blimp hanger...I'll have a beer on ice for anyone that stops by!!

Man, I thought I was hard-core...you're an animal! :blink: I'm going to the game, but I'm doing a Friday/Saturday Charlottesville stay with the wife. If I get a divorce between now and May 1st, I'll be giving you a call!

There are plenty of hotels available on campus, but they all seem to require a 2-dight stay, and cost between $139-$299/night. There are a couple hotels in Milesburg, which is 12 miles from campus, that allow single night stays. "Autoport Lodging" (whatever that is) is $99.00/night, and the Holiday Inn is $148.00. I am still looking for a single-nite hotel on campus...I don't want to drive 12 miles after drinking what I'll be drinking on the evening of September 3rd. Note: Penn State had the best pregame night atmosphere of all the BCS campus' I've visited I give Va Tech the nod over Wisconsin for #2. Most disappointing was OSU. UVA was a great time, but like OSU, a disappointing number of pregame nite revelers.

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A popular Akron barber shop had a new robotic barber installed. A fellow came in for a haircut. As the robot began to cut his hair it asked him, "What's your IQ?" The man replied, "130." So the robot proceeded to make conversation about the Zips, Charlie Frye , the "West Coast Offense" , the merits of the 4-3 vs. the 3-4 , and so on. The man listened intently and thought, "This is really neat." Another gent came in for a haircut and the robot asked him as it began the haircut, "What's your IQ?" The man responded, "100." So the robot started talking about Can't State, Josh Cribbs, the legalization of pot and so on . The man thought to himself, "Wow, this is really cool." A third guy came in to the barber shop. As with the others, the robot barber asked him, "What's your IQ?" The man replied, "70." The robot then said, "So, David Lee, how 'bout them Buckeyes?"

Click Here for Levert Bio Walk-on Willie Cook: 6'1, 395!!! :blink: Holy Moly. He makes Shippy look like Bryan Hipsher! Levert is a shotputter on the track team. 6'3", 337! It would be nice if he panned-out!

With the Hanson scholarship available I thought Hairston's recruitment might heat up? Then again, because of his grades, he wouldn't get a scholarship until 2005-6 anyhow... James Hairston, Connellsville (Western Pa.) Hairston, a 6-3 senior guard and a two-time Fabulous 5 selection, finished his career with 2,245 points, 11th best in WPIAL history. This season, Hairston averaged 26.3 points a game and led Connellsville to a spot in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game for only the second time in school history. Hairston has scholarship offers from Robert Morris, Eastern Michigan, Akron and North Carolina-Wilmington, but might attend a prep school or junior college for academic reasons.

I will settle for the following: Take us to The Gund! I really can't take another season of missing out on the party. Win a game at The Gund! This is a quantum leap beyond anything we've seen in 15 years. We win one at The Gund, I'm a happy camper in 2004-5. Note: I reserve the right to get greedy and ask for a second win should we get the 1st I want to see the team be better at season's end than they were at the beginning. Again, something we haven seen for years. I want to see players "grow." I want to see Futch be a "banger." I want to see Wood improve his free throw shooting. I want to see Travis hit a 12 foot jumper if left open. I want to see Joyce play "D" like a young Jimmal Ball. I want to see some picks set for McFadden. I want to see enthusiasum from the bench! I want to see floor burns! I want to see well designed plays after TO's. I want to see, with 5 seconds left in the game and we're down by 1...POISE! I don't want to see a half court shot with 4.1 seconds left. I want to see people with "AKRON" shirts on in the stands...not ones that say "TARVER." or any other individual's name. I want to see a packed JAR once or twice during the year. I want to truely compete with a BCS-conference school (like the other quality mid-major programs do) Make my wife want to come to the games! Getting my wife to come to mid-February Zips games, when the team is bad...and losing...and lacking enthusiasum...I've done it for several years. I can't hold on much longer. I need her to start looking forward to games again (this happend for a brief stretch during the Ball/Bosley era, and it was fun). If I get that, I'm a happy camper. Oh...and on a non-team related rant: I want the food menu on the OUTSIDE of the concession areas! Every time I was in line I was behind at least 3 people that waited 8 minutes, only to be told "Ummm, nachos are over there (pointing to the right, where there is another 8 minute nacho line awaiting)." Ok, maybe this is a minor point, but I swear every time I was in the main concession line there were numerous people who assumed there were nachos there...and those people got pissed when they weren't! They also got pissed when they waited 8 minutes in line only to find out that there was no pizza left - Memo: If you run out of pizza (which happend several times too), put a sign up! And, how about beer at the JAR? Can we set up that Zipsfest tent outside the JAR too?! Better basketball...better concessions...happier Kangaroo

Looking at the "Spring Prospectus" on GoZips.com (a very nice piece of work, I might add) it appears the major "missing" players are accounted for. Beard, Wilkes, Gonzales, Higgins are all there. Interesting one: "Chuck" (formerly Charleton) Lewis. Sat out for grades in 2001, Hurt his shoulder and sat out 2002. Was redshirted in 2003? Wow...three years into the program and hasn't played a down! I give him credit for sticking with it. Hope he sees the field in 2004.

Initial thoughts are: 1.) JD said that the initial depth charts would be a crap shoot until he actually sees the guys on the field. It makes for fun reading, but in truth there's going to be a lot of changes occuring over the next several months. 2.) Dominik Hixon at WR? Not only that, but #1? Wow...interesting move taking one of our better secondary guys and moving him to offense? Then again, his main attribute was running-down opposing WR's just before they made it into our endzone. He saved...or at least postponed...a lot of TD's last year. He never got much of a chance to actually play the safety positiion, at least from a pass-defense standpoint. If our corners are improved, and our DL gets a better rush, then Dominik won't be missed on D. To me this was the most interesting move on the chart. 3.) Having a healthy Donaldson back will be nice. 4.) Mike Schepp up to 292??!! Going strictly from memory, I though he was a lot smaller when he was recruited...like 245? 5.) Dennis Basch appears to be the heir apparent to the nice legacy we have going at the TE position. Things are really slim behind him, however. 6.) Jabbari #2 QB. Was the rumor of him going to WR just that...a rumor? 7.) Jason Nedd moves from secondary to HB. Again, we're really thin at HB. 8.) Mark Tetzel will do well as Basch's back up. I'm surprised to see he's a Sr.? I thought he was a Jr? 9.) LeFall @ 260. Hope that gets up to 270 by September. 10.) Mike Berry #2 behind LeFall? I thought he never even made it to campus due to grades? He was a Rivals 2-star recruit, so hopefully his grades are good and he's ready to go in 2004. We need a dark horse to emerge on the DL. 11.) Brian White behind Joe Radich. I predict that one will change over the spring...assuming BW is healthy. 12.) Chase to DE!!?? The second biggest surprise of the chart! Dr. Z stated Chase's ability to both rush, or drop back into short coverage made this move possible. We'll see what kind of defense JD's running and comment later, I guess. Chase will make plays wherever you put him...we're deep at LB and thin at DL...so it makes sense. 13.) Jay Rohr #1 on the chart! Grades must be ok? I will LOVE to see what Jay can do as a full-time starter! Yeow and Smith behind him...MLB is the deepest position we have at the moment. 14.) Fuller to "Rover." I've always liked him against the run...and not liked him so much against the pass. Maybe the "rover" position is a good fit for him? 15.) Dionte Henry #1 CB. Good. 16.) Chevin Pace has the edge over Jino Vitale at SS??!! The battle for starting SS should be really interesting. If Pace really is a better SS than Vitale, our secondary just got a dramatic upgrade. 17.) Best name on the 2-deep: "Razi Penny." Penny is from Twinsburg and attended prep school at Morrisville College. That's all I know. 18.) Break out the champagne!! Dion Elie tops the FS depth chart! Dion has a nose for the ball. Although Owens didn't have much faith in him, Dr. Z and I love him. Happy to see that move. 19.) Reggie Corner #2 behind Agyeman? Again, if this is legit, we're much better off at CB than we were last season. Reggie Rules! Let the Games Begin!!