Captain Kangaroo

Forget keeping Hipsher I don't like Dambrot as much as everyone else. Just a gut feeling...I wouldn't kill myself if he were hired, but I wouldn't have a party either. If Larry Hunter couldn't win at OU, why would Akron be any different? Dubious past for John Loyer. How's he doing now-a-days as a JUCO coach? Write-in: I need to research it a bit, but there MUST be some really sharp D-II coaches ready to move up.

Is he gone? Who will be the new guy? It'll be nice to see 4 good college basketball games at The Gund Thursday...I haven't seen 4 good games all season.

Reggie Witherspoon took over a program in mid-season 4 years ago. The previous coach was canned for NCAA violations. The following year Buffalo was on NCAA probation. They drew 1,000 or so fans per game. Fastforward to today: They are better than Dan Hipsher's Zips in every facet of the game, even though they lost 3 players to suspension and one to injury this season. They'll have 9,000 fans for their game tonight. Regarding Z-P's post: It would be interesting to see what the present Marketing group could do with a winning team to promote? I bet it would be some great stuff. Wonder if we'll ever find out? Say MT wants to dismiss Hipsher. Say the University blocks it, like they did Owens in 2002. Does MT start firing out resumes left and right? If I were him I would. I firmly believe firing Hipsher not only gives our hoops program new life, but also keeps our AD around for a few more years. Put the shackles on him and stop him from making the "moves" he wants, and he'll have no choice but to move on. Bryan Hipsher hustles. However, per John Wooden: "Activity doesn't mean achievement." On offense he sits on the wing trying to create spacing. Once his defender realizes Bryan's not going to do anything, he sags off him and it is essentially 4-on-5 offensively. Defensively, a simple cross-over dribble crumples his legs. All he's capable of doing is holding up his arms and trying to block the passing lanes. I agree with the poster below...I don't care how much BH has improved his game, there is no reason for him to be on the floor...ever. There MUST be some other line up the coach can utilize that makes the sets 5-on-5. Is BH the reason we're as bad as we are? No...the problems are much deeper. But the Taliban has a better chance of putting a man on the moon than BH does of being anything but a liability. Ball State game...could there be any less excitement building up to this one? The tragic thing is the winner of this game will play Miami at The Gund. Miami is not great (and that's being kind). Our bracket is a cake walk to the semi's if we had a good team. Over/under on the Zips free throw percentage tonight? .500 When does spring football begin? The hoops season is in the

Good to see the BJ up to speed. This concept was first penned on the old Blue Board about...oh...maybe 2 months ago? Don't these BJ guys earn a salary based upon timely, insightful reporting on events/stories in the Akron area? Must be nice to click on a web site, copy something someone else wrote, pass it off as your own work, and get paid for doing it? If anyone knows a good product management web site, clue me in.

We'll see how the position coach of Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald does with Drew Higgins, Johnny Long, Jamie Goodwin, Jason Montgomery and Mo Ellington. Who runs the slant now that Sparks is gone? Predictions: Higgins will be a player...Long will start as a Frosh. Also: Dennis Basch will be utilized at TE.

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Sutton is around 5' 9"185lbs, which is small by Big 10 standards. That gives us a shot at him. His older brother Tony put up similar numbers at Hoban, and now plays for Wooster. I never understood why Owens didn't give him a shot. We shall see what JD does with local kids. He stated there will be plenty of Akron-area kids in the 2005 recruiting class. I don't think you'll ever stop the Vrabels and Antonio Winfields (Akron HS stars) from going to Big 10 schools, but if JD's good, he can convince the local kids that "hometown" Akron is a better avenue than BG, Toledo, Pitt, and other similar schools that have stolen Zips-level talent from under our noses for so long. Owens recruited mid-Ohio very well, but locally he was horrible. He simply didn't have the relationships with the local coaches. Additiona note: Jerrel Ringer has a brother(?) in the Dayton area that is tearing things up! I think he'll go BCS, but it'll be interesting to see if he at least considers the Zips.

The Marshall game appears to be the difference between a home or away MAC tourney 1st round game...probably against Marshall again. Is it better to have a MAC tourney home game? Hipsher's had plenty of them and lost every one. A win this Wednesday would also mean we'd need to beat Marshall 3 times in one season to advance to The Gund...and beating a team thrice (my word) in a season is always very tough to do. As unpopular as it sounds, history dictates it would probably be best if we lost on Wednesday and played in Huntington next week. If we finish as an 8/9 seed...and win in the 1st round...we'd play Can't @ The Gund next Thursday. That would be pretty cool. Does it happen...or does the ghost of Anthony Stacey...Jose Davis...Keith McCloud...or Brandon Hunter send the Zips to yet another disappointing 1st round loss? Stay tuned... :o

I bought one for my son and wife. Still trying to decide on a name and number for myself. They're really nice. Material and stitching are 1st rate, free delivery and the guy that runs the store/site is pretty helpful. The only thing I didn't like was the name on the back, which is silk-screened on instead of stitched. Regardless, it looks really good.

From Hawai'i I can understand your point of view. From section 2a of The JAR...the pre-season 1st Team All MAC senior point guard (team leader) put forth a profoundly weak effort in 2003-4. He quit before the season began. There's no "stat" for effort, unfortunately. At least we now have a chance in the tourney. BTW: No more H-Worth stuff from me. I've offically moved on. :wub:

Sept Column He is going to put up some monster numbers this year...he's the premiere back in NE Ohio...and he's in our own backyard. Let's see what JD and his crew can do regarding local recruiting!

Good post, ZW. My comments would be: Our best wins this year were vs. Miami (Tarver sat) and Can't (Hollingsworth sat). The most "gutsy" game was the loss to Drake (both Tarver and Hollingsworth sat). Remember early 3-game win streak: Hampton, Radford, George Mason...without the suspended Hollingsworth? Why are our best games played without one or both of these guys? My hope is that Tarver and Hollingsworth were like oil and water. With both in the game, we sucked. With one or both out, we have played pretty good. I see the "kind" wishes to Hollingsworth. I can't join them. There's a reason he had his Cincinnati scholarship offer revoked. When he came to Akron he stated how grateful he was to have the Zips staff stand by him and honor their offer. For a year he played like he meant that. Then...old habits returned. To make a long story short, he quit on his team and his school. I watched it all season. Hipsher rode Hollingsworth like Enron...he held on to him until his stock was virtually useless. If Hipsher would have jettisoned Hollingsworth in December (and there was reason to do so), we'd be much better than 13-12 right now. If anyone thinks it was Hollingsworth's actions over the past week that got him suspended, you're delusional. The writing was on the wall from the Cincinnati game. I hope he turns his life around, but he's got no one to blame but himself and I have no pity for him. What a waste of talent. The crowd of 4K was to be expected. We've stunk all season. We've had "star" players suspended. Comming off a home loss to 8-20 Drake? The JAR has been a morgue all season. I can't blame people for not showing up. What was that about 9 years of mediocrity? Joyce played awesome. Great clutch freethrow shooting, great energy. That, unlike Hollingsworth who rarely filled up a stat sheet in 2003-4, frequently missed clutch freethrows and generated the energy of Wilt Chamberlain (not the one of 30 years ago, but the dead one of 2004). I agree with JP. Regardless of the season's disappointment, sending 2000+ back to Portage county crying in their sheep never gets old! Here's hoping the post-Hollingsworth team chemistry is the catalyst for a good MAC tourney run!

Twenty soccer fields? 120million stadium for soccer? He's nuts. Put his 20 million towards the Zips football stadium...call it the Bart Wolstein Stadium...use field turf and make it Zips/pro soccer combined usage...and everyone wins. Spending 120 million for a white elephant in Boston Heights is insane.

LB coach would still be shocking, but somewhat believable. :huh:

And monkeys are going to fly out of my butt.

Seriously...is there any possible reason why he should be coach in 2004-5? Overall record: Horrible Tourney record: Horrible Player retention: Bad Major Out of Conference Wins: None Tenure: 9 years Excessive Cost to Terminate?: Nope. Either use the money saved when Owens quit towards a buyout, or "reassign" the guy and hope he follows Owens lead. It is impossible to be truely successful in NE Ohio Hoops with a 6,000 seat arena: Can't State has 6 consecutive 20 win seasons. It is impossible to win at Akron: Bob Huggins had 4, 20-win seasons in 5 years. Next year's team will be "loaded," so he shouldn't be release now: Gee...how many times have we heard that? Can anyone give me a reason why he should stay? Just one? Why do I have to go home with some moral victory (yay, Dru Joyce got 23 points...but we lost again) and an excuse every week (gosh, we learned about the suspensions after practice the day before the game ), while Can't is drubbing teams in front of a packed house on ESPN2 every week? :angry:

Very disappointing to see no new Zip recruits on the Ohio or Pa roster. I always look forward to watching that game to get a "preview" of 1 or 2 furture Zips, or other MAC players. Maybe JD snags one of the "undecided" kids?Big 33 Rosters

Funny you mention that... In 1998(?) the Zips played Pitt in football. We moved the game date to accomodate a September Pitt-Penn State game. In return, the Zips were to get a home-home Pitt hoops game, or a date with Pitt @ the Rubber Bowl. Our AD screwed up and didn't get it in writing...so Pitt backed out and we got nothing for moving the game date. By the way...If you think that Pitt...after losing to Toledo in the Glass Bowl last season...will ever step foot in a MAC stadium again...you've been tokin' on some of Josh Cribbs' stash!. Of course...if in the future the "Big LEast" begins to flounder due to the departure of BC, Miami and Va Tech...they may have no choice but to schedule MAC teams on a home/home basis. That would be pretty cool. Or, I could see when the Zips open their new stadium they could bring in a Pitt-type team, because they could guarantee an attractive payout.

I think Dan Hipsher should keep his job because: #10. His players play H-A-R-D for him. Never an ounce of quit. #9. Stellar player retention...hardly ever see a kid drop out! *cough* #8. Stellar academic record...*cough Sims*, *cough E Smith*, *cough Courtney Jones* *cough Preston*, *cough etc* #7. The way his team responds after time-outs...never a turnover or a bad shot! #6. Who else could get 38 minutes per game out of a guy with the mobility of Frankenstein? #5. 20 win seasons are overrated! #4. MAC Tourney wins are overrated! #3. Playing in a 30% full JAR provides an intimate setting for you and your date. #2. If he gets fired...we could lose Bryan Hipsher to Can't (transfer)!! And the #1 reason Dan Hipsher should keep his job...*drum roll*..... F-bombs, F-bombs, F-bombs! :o

The schedule is not yet finalized. Expect it in the next 1-2 weeks.

Played my second night of "35 and over" hoops last night. A guy that was a dead ringer for James Taylor schooled me relentlessly. Bryan Hipsher would have had a field day booing my sorry ass!

It is up to you guys, but I would kill the old board in a week or less. A month is a really long time to leave that site vacant. People will find the new one...and the old one will become a blight. Hey, ZFF: You should change your name back to Zipsfanforever, since you won't need to type it anymore!

I'll keep adding comments as I see them. The "framing" of everything (posts, emoticon boxes, etc) has thin, black lines. They're tough to see. If these can be made "Zip Gold" I think it'll look great,

Can the bars (presently black) that separate the posts as you scroll down through the threads be gold too? I like the gold background on the top...much easier on the eye! Fire Hipsher