Z.I.P.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, BZ! N'olens is ALSO the home of the biggest bowl game of the season -- the Sugah Bowl showdown between the Dawn Dawgs of Gawga, and da Warriors of da University of HA-Waiah! Perhaps ZippyNeedsyourvote is just in town to meet up with the second best mascot in the states -- our very own Hawaiian Warrior, making his first visit to da "mainland" -- gawd, how I hate dat word, since da only main land is the one I'm standing on right here in the islands. :DHauoli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Years) to all my friends in Zippyland.

I don't know what changes have transpired in the past six months, but I got word before the season from the top that the stadium would be in-place for the start of the '08 season. It would be nice to know -- and to hear in advance who will be in the Westfield tournament, so I can make travel plans.

70s? I don't think the TV series made it out of the 60s did it? If I've forgotten, at least I have old age to blame, and not anything I smoked!

Amazing!!! That's all I can call the Lady Zippers victory over the Houston Cougars, one of the premier teams in women's college basketball, and a favorite to win the Conference USA title this season. Whoohoo! And not one word about it on the Zips Nation??? What's up with you people?Thinking back, I think most of us experts would agree that the biggest previous victory was the win over Indiana (and victory in their tournament) back about 1999 -- the season Cheryl Bowles and Co. stumbled into the Women's NIT. So, I am convinced Sunday was one of the two biggest wins in the history of Akron women's hoops. So how many of you were there to witness it? I stated in my last post (See BB Recruiting) that the Lady Zips were two years away from being MAC title contenders. I may have been off by two years, because Houston is as good as any team Akron will face the remainder of the season -- including Bowling Green! If Coach Kest's charges (who clearly learned from their trip to Hawaii and humbling defeat by Nebraska) play the rest of the way the way they did on Sunday, they can beat anyone and everyone on the schedule!Go Lady Zips. ??

Can anyone comment on the recruiting class that Jody Kest has brought in for 2008-09? I see two of their names on Sporting News Honorable Mention all-America squad, including a 6-5 player from Sandusky Perkins HS. Yes -- you read right, 6-5! That means Riana can move to the '4', where she can contribute more with her athleticism.Two more years till Akron becomes a MAC WBB championship contender.

Coach O'Shea and the Bubbacats are beginning their journey to Honolulu for next week's Rainbow Classic. The Zips in Paradise will be locked and loaded and ready to welcome our favorite traitor to the Paradise of the Pacific next Wednesday nite as they take on the Redmen of St Johns. Anybody got any spare ZipsRowdy T-shirts? Let me know, please!

Wait till you see what Boo can do! My nephew is a former El Camino O-lineman. I'll have him put in a good word with coaches about our home town. El Camino is located near LAX Airport.

Well, it may or may not be a good thing for Ohio collegiate soccer, but those Columbus State futballers are headed to the College Cup, with a four-goal explosion early in the second half, they defeated Bradley 4-0 in the quarterfinals, and will play UMass in the semis. Wake and Virginia Tech meet in the other half of the bracket. This has been a tournament kinda like the college football (American football that is) season just ended. Wacky twists and turns all over the place, starting with #1 Boston College getting whipped out of the gate by UMass, and Indiana falling to UIC in the first round. Wake is a fairly heavy favorite, with the Bucks holding a 14-game unbeaten streak. I wouldn't bet on VPI -- but anything can, and could happen.Look forward to all-American teams announcement -- especially frosh all-Americans! We got a Zipload of candidates.

Someone who is concerned about this (unlike myself), and wants Goldie (Minniesota?) to win, should go to the Hawai'i bulletin board and tell them that this is Round One of the Sugar Bowl. Show them that a non-BCS school can beat them Ugla dawgs! Sorry -- Go Zippy!

Okay, I give. What the double H-e-c-k is the news???

I'm still laughing from that one! I've been shouting this for how many years? I doubt it will happen our lifetimes.

The univeristy was very fortunate to have such a gentleman as Coleman Crawford as its coach. We would be benefitted if we had his expertise back to coach our big men -- as an assistant coach now. He has been a #1 assistant in the Atlantic Coast Conference. That ain't chicken fat folks.

If you don't mind my returning to the subject at hand... Katherine did an extremely creditable job as Akron's first women's soccer coach. And for the record, does anyone think we could have gotten a better coach anywhere for the janitor's-level salary she was paid? The women's athletic salaries at Akron are embarassing, and that is the main thing holding back the teams from excelling. They are the lowest in the MAC, and indeed the nation. That has to change for Akron to excel in women's sports. But back to Katherine Byrne. She was a class act, always a gracious woman with everyone she interacted with representing the University of Akron. Thank you for your service coach, and I look forward to meeting you in the future as a head collegiate soccer coach.

Better broadcasting program? WHOA, Nellie! Take THAT Matt Lauer -- and about half the nation's anchormen and women.

Central Michigan better take care o' business against Miami first! If Miami wins, Ball St is out.

Say Racer,You're not a geography major are you? He's being recruited by the University of Hawai'i-Manoa (O'ahu), not the University of Hawai'i-Hilo (Big Island). They don't even have a football team, just some hot volleyball chics.

Does anyone know if Will is still going to be coming to Aloha Stadium this Friday for the Hawaii-Boise State game???If so, I will try and find him, and convince him that he should stay in Akron instead of enjoying the constant 70 and 80 degree days and lovely trade winds of O'ahu, OK? p.s.: Wish me luck!I was at the Hawaii-Boise State game. Before the game I went down to the first row and shouted to the group of several people who looked like they could be HS prospects, "Is Will Fleming there?" No one answered. I don't think he was at the game, which probably is good news for Akron.

Thanks for the very interesting news on John Rennie's retirement. Will watch to see if Lolla is considered to take over there. Would be nice to see an ex-Zip as an ACC HC.

I always thought the Buchtelite was where the story broke, and the NCAA got hold of it from there. Other observations?

You're kidding me! Bob Dylan has a radio show?

Hey, I just wanted to post some follow-up to what I said yesterday while in a hurry to get off the computer.Although my only experience wth this year's Wahine Zip BB team came in their blow-out loss to Nebraska -- last year's 4th-place team in the #1 or 2 conference in the nation -- I was impressed with the individual play and athleticism of the players Jody Kest has brought on board to lead Akron to respectability in MAC women's basketball. Rianna Miller, the tallest player on the squad at 6-3 may also be the most athletic player on Akron's team, and looked like she could have played and excelled for either team in that game. The guard play, while showing its inexperience in battle, indicated some great one-on-one talent that will be needed for the team to compete in the conference this year and in future seasons. Akron was unprepared to deal with Nebraska's full-court pressure. Down 20-18 with about 4 mins to play in the half, they gave up too many open threes by a hot shooting Cornhusker offense and went into the locker down 34-20. Sadly, the second half began with the same NU blitz and before you could say "Some backcourt help, please!, Nebraska had doubled the score to 40-20 and kept up the pressure and turnovers most of the second half. The coach of my local high school girl's team has a team rule that only one particular player is allowed to dribble across the half-court line, and it appeared that Akron had a similar rule, as only the guards handled the ball in the backcourt, and the taller gals offered little assistance, and only once did UA try to throw over the pressure -- Miller being unable to run down a fly pattern.Akron is a team with enough talent to compete fairly well in the mostly mediocre MAC, so I would look for them to threaten the .500 mark on the season this year, both overall and in the league. Of course I'm the one who says that about women's soccer each year also, and they've yet to approach the even mark in MAC play. Hopefully ZipAlum, (I think that's the handle) can jump in here with some advise and critique of the Lady Zippers. p.s.: The Malika Sports people -- its a 25 y.o.-looking gal on hand running the event locally in HI and the women's coach from NW Missouri State organizing team entrants from his office -- are promising a men's D-1 tournament next year. I don't know if I would encourage Keith to look into this or not. I keep saying Akron belongs in the Maui Invitational, but at least they should shoot for the Rainbow Classic -- where Bubba and the BobKitties will be in a few weeks. Rumor is Akron men will be back in Puerto Rico in '08.

I am still dumbfounded by what happened in the Zip in Paradise's Thanksgiving weekend sports schedule.There I was on Saturday morning, sitting in the broad luxury of the end zone seating at the University of Hawai'i Stan Sheriff Center Arena, waiting for the start of the first of four women's college basketball games in the Rainbow Wahine Invitational. I had to open my morning Honoolulu Advertiser to check the exact schedule of games. But when my eyes locked on the sports page my jaw dropped into my lap at what I viewed!The morning Advertiser gave scores from something called the "O'ahu Classic", at li'l old McKinley High School Gym, and one of the scores from the previous day's competition was Utah defeating Akron. AKRON??? How could this happen? No one sent the Zip in Paradise THAT memo. And the only word in the newspaper was the score from the day before -- not a word about the schedule for that or any upcoming day's games. So, obviously, unlike past years, the Lady Zips did not receive their complementary blue and gold leis on arrival at Honolulu International Airport. How sad, that this group of Zip student athletes were neglected by both the alumni base AND the tournament committee (committee of 1.5)Ends up, I wasn't the only one who was bereft of info on this event -- and that is indeed the understatement of the century, for this tournament was the ultimate in Fly-By-Nite college basketball.I literally RAN out of the Sheriff Center and rushed (safely and slowly -- as holiday shoppers clogged all arteries) to McKinley HS, only to find the parking lot taken over by shoppers from the city's official craft fair event. I parked severla blocks away and walked back to the gym, only to find the doors locked. As I was leaving a pair of coaches from Eastern Washington University walked up, and I asked when the tournament started. In an hour they said. Another half hour later the doors opened, and I asked the only person who looked remotely like a tournament official (he was wearing a T-Shirt with "Malike Sports" emblazoned) when Akron was playing. He told me he had to go and find out, as there was no schedule printed or posted. He returned several minutes later, only to tell me that Akron did not play on Saturday at all -- that they were scheduled to play on Sunday. I asked who their opponent would be, but he was unable to tell me. His remark was the most telling thing I heard all weekend, "It's my sister who's running the tournament, I'm just helping out while I'm on vacation".Well, apparently the Lady Zips got what they were looking for -- a very good competition including two NCAA tournament teams in Nebraska and sweet-16 finalist Marist (they didn't play the Red Foxes) -- in front of what may have been a total audience of several. I guarantee there was a total of ONE local basketball fan in attendance. Yes! I was there! As it ended up, even the tournament name (O'ahu Classic" was different from what appeared on GoZips.com (Hoop and Hollar Classic or something like that). Good luck to Jody and the Lady Zips. Hope you had a good time and PLEASE Come back again for your lei greeting!

If they would take just one of those 55 millions, and put it into coaching salaries, they would get as much, if not more bang. As it is, they are depending on selling out the new FB stadium to keep the old jalopy from breaking down permanently. Yeah, it might look bright and shiny to you, but it's a jalopy nonetheless.

He may catch more passes that way!

Regarding Michigan State being the leading contender: Last I checked, Will had just two offers -- Akron and Hawai'i. Has that changed?