Z.I.P.

I hate to throw a damper on the miracle celebration folks, but I won't be the only one asking this question: Who should be our QB next week? Temple coming off a win. We need to score a lot of points for at least psychological reasons. I feel, as I wrote on the game thread, that Jacquemain lost the game with his inabillity to score/create the game-tying TD.If I were coach, I would do the unthinkable, and start Jackson.Go ahead and hit me with your best Z.I.P.

What happened in '92? I missed that one?I was thinking of Big Ben's hail Mary. All this one was missing was a tuba player!

Three or four years ago now, Pitt started the season 2-2 under Walt Harris and one of the local sports writers wrote an article titled, "Who Will Be Pitt's Next Head Coach?" Harris went on to win seven in a row and Pitt went to a BCS Bowl. At the end of the year he was let go and Dave Wanstead was hired. Wanstead has absolutely run that program into the ground in three years.Be careful of what you wish for......... Post of the Year nominee!!!

Well, I think the Rifle team would disagree. If the rowdies showed up to a Rifle Match, there would be problems. We like fans.....if we can't hear them!Sheeeesh! Who do you think you are, Tiger Woods?

I know very little about WMU, but they were my pre-season favorite to win the MAC. Their start now indicates otherwise. Is it true they have under 200 yards rushing for the season? That's positively Notre Dame-like! (always wanted to say that!) :PThe key is to put pressure on Hiller, and remind him why we didn't recruit him. Get well soon, Nate, and let's hope we can stop this opponent from spying on us and getting that second-half advantage!

Yes -- I was listening on-line, and as I recall, Mack's exact words were, "We plan on constructing a true world-class sports palace, seating a minimum 25,000 fans, which will make Northeast Ohio sports fans forget that the Quicken Loans Arena, or the Value City Arena or Nationwide Arena ever existed. And the name of this new Taj Mahal of Summit County will be 'Blue and Gold Arena at Blue and Gold Place', in honor of the man who's generous personal contribution will make this facility possible: that guy who calls himself Blue and Gold from the ZipsNation.org website."Hey, let me say, on behalf of the Zips in Paradise, University of Akron Aloha Section Alumni, "Mahalo, Brah!" Can we stay at your place when we come home to see the new arena?

The only poll that matters in collegiate football/soccer is the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) top-25 poll, in which Ohio State is #26 in the poll out on Wednesday 9/26 with 49 points. Akron has just one point in the poll, good for 38th place.Akron must win nearly every game the remainder of the way to make the NCAA tournament, if they do not win the MAC tournament. That's just the way it is. Respect comes slowly.For your interest, the poll can be found at ncaasports.com/soccer/mens/ :)There is also has a link to the final RPI for 2006, showing Akron at #46, which is why we sat on the sideline for the postseason.

THIS GAME mattered. There's a thread a little ways down about USF and how they got to where they are today (which is a team on the doorsteps of the top 10). They got to where they are today by winning games like this one against mediocre (sorry UConn fans, your team really isn't THAT great) BCS competition. This is the kind of game that can do one of two things. Establish that you are just a mid-level mid-major that can compete within the conference but is hopelessly lost against the big boys or it can establish that you are a team on the rise that can compete with the big conferences week in and week out. If you guys are satisfied with being a middle of the road MAC team that maybe will be in contention for the conference championship depending on the year then so be it, but I'm not. There is no reason that Akron shouldn't be able to beat the Indiana's and UConn's of the world. QZ,If you check it out on Sunday afternoon, you'll find that two of the three teams Akron has lost to this year are ranked in the top-25: Ohio State and Connecticut (both undefeated, you'll notice), and the other, Indiana, has just one loss -- to another top-25 team in Illinois.Akron may or may not be a contender in the MAC East (and I think Can't's performance the past two weeks shows Akron may well be), but you definitely cannot put down Akron for having lost to weak teams. UConn could be this year's Rutgers. Well, maybe not. But they have as may wins as the Knights had at this point a year ago.Relax and have a good weekend Zips' fans. There's a lot of time before basketball season begins.

I was shocked to see on the box score that Caleb used just one sub (Zemanski) -- beside the GK injury -- the entire game! I have never seen a college game with just one sub. I know we have more depth than that. Any idea what's up?BTW -- I assume that Irizarry from OA&M is the brother of their former tight end, who moved back to YSU. (??)Two big road games coming up next. Greensboro an NCAA tournament caliber team will be a tough nut to crack. Then Wright State, which usually is easy to crack.Go Zipfutbol

This is the first 2008 NCAA tournament brackets I have seen -- from ESPN's season preview. They have Akron as a 12 seed, playing the 5th seeded Bulldogs in the Anaheim Regional. That sounds good to me, but does this mean we play them twice in '08?. See you all in Orange County in March! (And Seattle in Dec?) sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

That's because "Something's rotten in Denmark"!See what a University of Akron education gets you. Smart Aleck Degree.

Is he still breathing???

Here's another related interesting fact that I had not known until earlier this year: The NCAA does not have any limit on how many players a team can have on their team or roster. The only limits are for scholarships, travel squads, and apparently training camp. Before the start of this season, one of the papers in Honolulu mentioned that after the official end of camp, the University of Hawaii added several players to their team, bringing the total number to over a hundred.

I didn't think I'd put in my 2c about attendance again -- especially since I haven't been at the Bowl since 1983 BUT here goes anyway.Like I said more than once, I was at the Browns-Giants game about 1972 when the announced attendance was 43,000+, and there were open sections in the end zone bigger than the open areas in the upper left in the photo. And I've been to games where the attendance was given as much smaller, (30-35k) that seemed more packed than the Browns game.Would the UA athletic athletic department give an attendance figure smaller than the actual crowd? Nothing about the department's incompetence any longer surprises me. For example, they have signed up a proxy organization called the Akron Oldies to do the job that the UA Alumni Department is payed to do but doesn't (thanks, Oldies!).An aside: At the University of Hawai'i, the attendance includes every body that enters Aloha Stadium -- spectators, players, officials, press, bands, ushers and the Caveman-looking mascot who can't wear Zippy's jock strap.

I just looked in at VegasInsider.com, and was really shocked to see the opening spread for Saturday's game having Akron getting 13.5 and 14 points in the underdog role by Vegas sports books.Wish I was back in Vegas (where I once lived) this week. In my opinion, Connecticut is the weakest 4-0 team in CFB history. Wins over Duke, Temple, Pitt and (forget). Let's hope they read all their press clippings this week, and fail to prepare for a good Akron team. I'm feeling very positively about the Zips' chances to pull the upset.Sorry Go Zips, I cannot offer you a ride to Storrs. I'm not driving past Makapu'u Point. And I'm definitely not taking the ferry.

You said a mouthful there my friend! Sounds like you've done the Yamhill County wine tour. Ahhhhh, I can taste the pinot noire from here. Oh -- it's the glass in front of me I'm tasting. (Without the head)

Sad result for the Timbers. They totally dominated the first 70 minutes, with a bundle of scoring chances, but couldn't put it past the Silverbacks' goalie. It went through to penalty kicks, and Portland could not shoot straight, as they lost the shootout 4 goals to 1. Cameron did not take a shot in the PKs. Seattle beat San Juan in the other semifinal. Well, at least I won't waste a trip to the Northwest for the final.

Can I have your recipe for deer cabosi? I need something unique to go with my 3-day old poi at the Hawaii-Utah State game. Would you serve that with a syrah, or valpolicella?

I will never apologize for saying this: What's good for the MAC is good for Akron. Go Fl-ashes -- beat the A&M Blue Bloods!

We are talking about a Dave Wanstead coached team. An anoymous NFL coach was once quoted as saying, "Dave Wanstead will turn Pitt into Temple within five years." Looks like it may be true.We just need to keep taking care of business in the MAC, the MAC East especially and everything will be fine.Can't is a 6-6 team. It may make them special for the Can't, but not for college football.GP1,An anonymous Miami Dolphin DE told me virtually the same thing, so don't think you have any kind of scoop here.

Tune your telly sets to Fox Soccer Channel Zips soccer afficianados.Who's the best player on the field -- both offensively and defensively -- in the A-League semifinal between the Portland Timbers and Atlanta Silverbacks? Its Portland's fullback Cameron Knowles, the University of Akron all-American. He's had two shots on goal the first 30 minutes -- both excellent scoring opportunities. The second, a bicycle from just inside the 6-yd box had to be headed over the bar by a defender. The overall playoff series score between the teams is apparently all-even, though you wouldn't know it from the FSC announcers, who are largely useless.Cameron was voted to the A-League first team all-stars, after being second on the Timbers in scoring with 7 Goals, 4 assists this season from the left back position. His leadership for the league semifinalists (Portland has 7 shots so far in the second game to nil for Atlanta) gives Cameron a really good chance to move back to Major league Soccer next year, and this time on the varsity rather than a reserve squad.Here's hoping he stays on the West Coast - hopefully the new San Jose franchise -- where the Zips in Paradise can most easily cheer on their Kiwi star.Wouldn't it be great if he could make his way to the inevitable MLS NEO Stars Soccer Club in Macedonia? Go Zips!!!!

Pardon my laughing -- it's only funny to me -- BUT, that joint may be the only place left on campus that was there when I was a freshman. And it's pretty amazing, considering that my neighbor caught Hep-A there about 1979 and sued them successfully for quite a bit of dinero. At that time, there clientele was made up mostly of homeless and grad students -- though you have to understand the large intersection of those two populations.But, here's another question you might ask, if you're looking for a larger solution: What type of drug treatment facilities are there in the community? When a friend of mine was concerned with the drug problems in East Palo Alto CA, just around the corner from the Stanford U campus, where she studied, she ended up starting the city's first drug and alcohol abuse treatment center. Maybe you should be talking with the school administration and the Plasma Center management for the best accomodation. As I learnt at Akron U, seek da win-win solution for all.BTW, did I mention, it's 1800 in the islands and

I take that back, way, back. The jockeyes lost to the Bruins on Friday 3-1. Play today (Sun) vs CSU-Fullerton. This is the tournament I hope UA will play in in another couple years -- doesn't look like any Left Coast road trips next year. You listening out there, LA Zip?

While all that is a given (except that they played Kentucky nearly even, except on the scoreboard and that AWFUL Iowa State team just beat Iowa), at this point K-ent is playing the best football in the MAC. On the other hand...If we get back the Wagon Wheel (as I expect to), Zips get the target on their back, and become the faves in the East. Jus'do it Akron! Wish I could be there.