Z.I.P.

Hey! Since I haven't been able to acquire a ZipsRowdies shirt at this point, I want to at least have a fall-back, when December comes and the Zips in Paradise (UA Aloha Section Alumni) welcome our Boy Bubba to town for the Rainbow Classic. BTW -- I guess it's not too early to ask folks back in A-Town for ideas on signs to bring to the arena for the Ohio ScatCats. Rumor has it, some "experts" are going to predict that group to win the MAC this year. The Zips in Paradise want to be sure to let Bubba & Co know they can run -- they can even fly -- but they can't hide from the Roo!

Well, you beat me to the (luau) punch. Unfortunately, the chances of a June Jones team playing a road game vs the MAC is about the same as a snowstorm on Kalaukaua Avenue. That's Waikiki folks.Now, a one-and-one (or even 2-2) vs UNLV?!?! Just say the date, and I'll meet you on the Seventh Island! Zip in Paradise

Okay! Here come my memories from the late sixties to early 80s.When the starting post referred to the night the lights went out, I assumed he was referring to the Eastern Kentucky game about 1980. What a fan-TAZ-tic performance that night.I'll never forget Canton McKinley's state championship victory over heavily-favored Gerry Faust's Cincinnati Moeller team. That was sweet! 1976 or 77 I think.And I'll remember walking thru the end zone to get to the far sideline when I was about 14 before the Browns' - Giants' game. I was the same height as Giant's DB Spider Lockhart. (5-5).Thankfully, memories are all that will be left of the Bowl. I do wonder what the plans are for redevelopment. Any clues?

Bucknell??? You haven't been following Air Force basketball lately, have you? Even with a new coach, look for them to be the best of the group for a while. Bucknell? Where is trimmy from, Kansas?

Well, if you want to hear a divergent (don't call it deviant) opinion, I feel IU may be one of the most underrated teams in the nation. Definitely better than the NCSU team we surprised a year ago. I see them beating out Illinois, Minniesota, and possibly MSU to get to 6 or possibly 7 wins, and MAYBE, the Motor City Bowl -- where the MAC would have a real showcase to show if they can beat a "Big-10 bottom dweller".Go MAC!

I don't care, I just wanna know when my residuals will start rolling in.I was the one who first suggested the motto, before the Maryland football (soccer for you Yanks) game, about three years ago. Gotta have my people call Mack's people. Tell them to Cease and Desist!

Amen to that bruddah! I think, if the basketball team wins 20-straight MAC titles, and plays in 20 straight NCAA tournaments, that in 21 years, 69-year old coach Keith Dambrot will be working like a fiend to get attendance over the 5000 average mark.

I predict in another couple years people will wish Temple were still in the Big East, because they will be a contender in the MAC East. They're one of the better recruiting teams in the MAC already. Time will make them very competitive. Their history is sure better than Buffalo's, or frankly Akron's! No offense fellow Zipheads.

Sounds to me like the kid's future is in another sport. How many have offered him for Track and Field? I assume many more than for football.

For the record, the NCAA Men's College Cup was held at Columbus Crew Stadium just two or three years ago. Mid December. What a GREAT home field advantage it would be for Caleb's crew!Re: The recruiting class. Zakuani will emerge as the Beast of the Class -- if he lasts long enough to show his stuff. He could be an international star in short term. AND: watch out for the frosh GK from Alabama, the future of the spot between the pipes for UA. Apparently his HS coach was brought aboard by Caleb for a mission. He was a star for the Tennessee team in Premier Development League (usually for college soph's and Jrs) right out of HS. And we beat out a Big Time program, South Carolina, which thought they had him wrapped up. This could be our year. But look out for NEXT year!

Well, GoZips, I missed out on that UH-ND game. I was at the Stan Sheriff Center watching UH Wahine basketball. But at the end of the game, we all ran into my friend, the FB video coordinator's office to watch the finish. Fun.With the Hawai'i Bowl having a future commitment for the seventh and eighth pick from the PacTen, there should be some open spots (how often does the Pac Ten get 8 bowl eligible teams?) for schools not otherwise covered. A possible make-up for that Michigan State fiasco.

Okay. But what exactly WAS this??? (7-on-7 football -- who was playing? I assume this was not a "camp"?)

So what you are saying is: We should be circumspect about Infocision Stadium? Perhaps for short we can call it "CircumCision Stadium"?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What is all this talk about young Mr Fleming (not you Kiel), being a Big-Ten level recruit? He has two scholarship offers -- neither from a BCS program, and Akron has outrecruited the Hawai'i football Warriors the last three years of JD Brookhart's efforts.The facts are -- for those who aren't familiar (don't you wish!) The University of Hawai'i football program, while having multiple newspaper articles written about it each and every day of the year, has practice facilities about as good as Akron's were thirty years ago, when I started school there (remember my story -- my first instructor was Jim Tressel). Their home stadium, while seating fifty thousand (but averaging just 30k), is rapidly deteriorating to the state of the Rubber Bowl (again the bowl of thirty years ago --pretty crummy).I'll be sitting in Aloha Stadium the day after Thanksgiving, when Fleming gets his Hawai'i vacation on the sideline -- and UH and Boise St. play off quite possibly for a BCS bowl bid. I can't lose -- I'd love to see an Akron kid play within walking distance from my house. But if JD moves UP, his father could very well be the next head coach of Zip football. That possibility may come into play -- but I'm not sure how it factors in.Aloha means goodbye!

There's a link on Ohio.com saying someone named "Campbell" will be a new member of the UA FB team -- but the link, like many or most on the New and Improved website is broke.Any info? Razor?

Here's the bottom line on ED (er, uh, eminent domain, that is). The university can take the property in short time, and let the courts or negotiation determine what constitutes just compensation down the road. If the property owners want to delay the inevitable, that is.Build it, and they will go.

Ahhhhh, the Cleveland Browns. The Can't State of the NFL!

I was listening to the Western Athletic Conference Commissioner on radio this morning, explain why the WAC turned down ESPN's latest contract offer -- the second time so far they've turned their back on the biggest cable sports channel.The gap in negotiations? $$S Somewhere around 4 million a year to be exact. Commish says that the Mountain West Conference's deal with the heard-of, but never seen except on satellite, College Sports TV network pays $7 mill a year! He said the negotiations with ESPN are stuck because ESPN has refused to go beyond about $3M/year. ESPN offered to add 9 men's college basketball games above what was televised last year -- which wasn't much. However the commish is interested purely in dollars -- not exposure.I know in the past, when ESPN - MAC contracts were announced, all the attention was given to how many games would be broadcast. Does anyone know if the MAC gets ANY up-front money from the network for broadcasting rights?

And speaking of holdouts...How 'bout that Brady Quinn??

I have to make a late-night (at least EST, if not here in the isles) commentary:This thread really sums up all the development that has occured at the UA since Dr Pro arrived, and a New Landscape for Learning was layed out and in no time took off. Few people in the city and area's establishment (media in particular) would have believed this then. In fact, if you told them this beautiful stadium would be in place on campus in just over ten years, they probably would have laughed in your face. You have to give credit for most of this to just a few people, with Proenza at the top, but with his biggest hire, as the new Athletic Director by his side, making the decisions and planning about the future of Zip Sports. The fact that this design reminds so many of Charlottesville makes you think that our friends, the Mikes of Cincinnati did in fact play a huge role in this design, and that their images will be forever cast on the Akron campus.Now, as Mike Waddell wrote to Cap'n Kangaroo and I just before departing, is when the plans for the large scale upgrade to JAR can begin to be discussed.I know you guys are paying attention, and I just want to say, God bless you for your trust in my hometown and alma mater. If we can find more like you, we can go much further still.Look where we've come since the Blue Board! Z.I.P.

Dude,With a name like Shaka, you oughta be in Hawai'i! Wish you were.Shaka brah!

Damn, Cap'n. I thought I was an optimist, but you take the cake! My prognostication:A 7-4 season will get us into the MACC -- IF we beat OU in the Rubber Bowl. Easiest prediction that so many "experts" can't figure out: Bowling Green and Miami will not win 10 games between them. Nonetheless, I expect the Bimmer Nation to win in Oxford... AGAIN. That could be our sole loss in the East though. We can't afford to lose more than one.And I won't be surprised to see both IU and UConn in bowl games this year -- look for at least one of them to do so. UA Postseason: Loss to South Florida in International Bowl. We pick Toronto over Mobile (wouldn't you?).

Here's my favorite prediction from this one:Eastern Michigan, 2 wins and 12 losses. How exactly are they going to play fourteen games????????????

Did you ask him if he is academically qualified? Sounds like he is at prep school because he can't get into a 4-year institution under NCAA guidelines. If that's the case, he is/would be wide open to any school after 1 or 2 years. We don't know if JD would still want him, considering the apparent adjustment in balance of athletic/academic talent at Akron.

Trimmy,Yeah, I guess Kirk's Bundeslige career was shortlived. But I'm also sure he has stories for the grandkids. You know the Croatians Manager, Bartulovic? Does he dress out for the team? I think I remember the name, he played for either UA or CSU. Would have been maybe late 70s-early 80s??