Captain Kangaroo

Just learned that I will be working the concession stand at a Hudson HS tonight. Yippee. No beer at The Score for me.

We play ok at home, so I'm tentatively confident of our chances to pull out the "W." How's that for hedging?

I expect I'll have 2 extra tickets tonight. No handling fee ($0 x 4 = $0). No order processing fee. CK-bay™ policies are very family-friendly. I expect I'll be at The Score prior to the game if you want them.

We lost to a crappy team today. Poor second half yet again for the Zips.

Ok...let’s not get carried away.

FYI - We beat EMU last night.

I've never seen so much angst over a "player" who never played a minute for the Zips, and another who was 0.001% away from being a walk-on. Jimmond Ivey is playing some great basketball right now, if anyone'd noticed.

If we lose tonight, The Score on Exchange Street is offering a post-game drink special.

There's a quality understatement!

Yeah...if he'd have punched a few Huskie starters into unconsciousness around the 12:00 minute mark, I think we'd have pulled out the "W."

Again? When did he wear one?

I don't think your thoughts are correct. There was never any hope that he would get new commits prior to December 31st. And he stated he would not pressure any incumbent recruits/commits to sign. It would have been a low-rent move to have a handshake agreement that he become the head coach, but wait to officially sign him until January 1st. And I'm sure there would have been some sort of lawsuit if we'd have tried it. Who cares about the $350,000? It is chump change in the world of D-1 athletics. The Nebraska game that we didn't play footed the bill, with $300,000 left over. The South Carolina game paid for Bowden's buyout, with $600,000 left over. Notre Dame paid Charlie Weis $19,000,000 not to coach the Irish. Kansas then paid him $5,650,000 to not coach the Jawhawks

You are kind.

Who forgot the D in the locker room at halftime? Go back and get it!

Those red cushioned seats look soooo comfortable.

Defense travels. Dating back to WMU, Great last 55 minutes (and counting) of D from the Zips.

Doesn't everyone already, or is it just me?

And just when Dambrot leaves.... Is KD the Ken Lolla of Akron hoops?

Paying off Bowden’s contract one parking space at a time...

From the Pluto article - I recall several years ago that the MAC had a rule the it's programs were not allowed to play away games against FCS programs? Wonder if it is no longer enforced?

Season's Greetings and Thank You to all who participate on the board! ZN.O is what you make it. If it were not for you taking the time to post your thoughts and content, it would be nothing. Like the Kent board. We have a good group of contributors now. I enjoy waking up in the morning and scrolling through all of your thoughts and links to Zips-related news. There was a time not to long ago when that wasn't the case. We're definitely grateful for everyone's contributions!

Missed too many bunnies

On Thursday December 20th, new Zips Head Football Coach Tom Arth was kind enough to allow me a 30 minute interview. While I would have loved to garnered details such as recruit names and a detailed list of staff candidates, unfortunately neither was possible. Trust me, I tried. Until things are official, and contracts are signed, we all simply need to put the puzzle pieces together ourselves from Twitter and other similar sources. That said, I though he provided some great insight into his personal life, his football mindset and the DNA that will make up Akron Zips Football in the Arth Era. I hope you enjoy it. Note to Dr. Z: Regarding photography at scrimmages - Coach Arth was quoted as saying “Still photography is great.” Unlike the Bowden scrimmages, where only the initial 15 minutes of warm ups were open to photography, you should now be able to take plenty of action shots. Hope Santa got you a sweet new sports lens for Christmas this year! Coach Arth Q & A

I took the afternoon off work today and was able to meet with coach Arth. I’ll have a story posted sometime this weekend. On the topic of the existing recruits he said he didn’t want to pressure them to commit to a coach and staff that they’d never even met. And likewise he didn’t want to extend an offer to a student athlete that he’d never met. Zips fans will need to wait for the February signing date to see the 2019 class. It’s just the way it has to be. The new early signing period is really unfair to anyone involved with a coaching change. Whether your coach is fired, or he leaves on his own for a better opportunity. I can say he’s an extremely nice guy. Very gracious and a good listener. I was a big proponent of Luke Getsy being hired, and a lot of the positives I liked in Luke are also in Tom Arth. I think we hired a good one.

Good for him.