Z.I.P.

Thank you. I do what I can.Hey Bum -- where'd you get that lei? You been hangin' in Lahaina?Hauoli Makahiki Hou!

Wouldn't it be cool if the University of Akron had its act together?I just want everyone to know that it is not that difficult to put together a system that fills the needs of the public -- including people who are not yet Zips fans and supporters. This is one way of building a fan base. Our university needs to wake up and discover its the 21st Century.Check out the system that one university -- there are a lot of others with very similar programs, and its not all that expensive to contract out, or do in-house -- has put together to sell, re-sell, or trade athletic tickets 24 hours a day, seven days a week.http://www.etickethawaii.com/sports.htmlNow, will someone please copy this post to the folks in charge at JAR Arena -- AND Buchtel Hall?

It's pretty dismaying to see that a team which played as poorly on the O-line as Akron did this year may have two future NFL players from that line. What does it say? If you ask me, it says this team desparately needs someone to coach the offensive linemen. I've heard from someone who has coached OL in the NFL (now Oregon State's OL coach) that no area of football is as susceptible to improvement from effective coaching as the offensive line. Effective blocking technique, especially understanding leverage, is more important at the position than pure strength could ever be. Is there any chance of a change in the coaching staff there, or will other players have to wait till they leave Akron to excel?

Okay, mahalo Zipboy. If this is a preset rule of the Bracketbuster, then I take back my slight shot at KD. I know how tough it is for a program rising like Akron's to get quality opponents, especially at home, and when we have the home court, I hate to see any of that advantage go by the wayside.Let's just be and go get a rematch with a neutral crew.

Did Akron have a home court advantage versus Nevada on Friday night?The facts speak differently, and that is the tale of the tape as to where our program lies.I won't comment more on the attendance stat than to say what we already know, 3300 versus a nationally-ranked opponent is embarassing.But what hasn't been stated, here or as far as I know, in any media is this: I followed the Nevada-Akron play-by-play on my cellphone from Stan Sheriff Center, while the Rainbow Classic was going on, and I was just disappointed by the outcome. Looking at the officials calls, it at least didn't look like Nevada got the officials' advantage just for being a top-25 team.Then, between games here in Honolulu, I bumped into the Western Athletic Conference Commisioner of Officials. I was floored when he told me that he sent a WAC officiating crew to do the game in Akron, Ohio! Whoa! Did you just read that? The game in Akron was officiated by refs from the other team's league? How can that be?The only way it can be is if Nevada made it a condition of playing the Bracket Buster return game @ Akron. But it could also only happen if Akron accepted it, which they did. Whether or not the officials were biased toward Nevada is not the point here. What is the point is why KD would be willing to take away what little home-court advantage he might have had by placing the other team's refs on the JAR floor. To me the post-game comments quoted on Gozips.com are indicative of how Akron has accepted a position where they earn little respect.Keith Dambrot (as quoted by UA Sports Information officials):"We haven't been able to play with the High majors. We stayed in it with Clemson and Creighton last year, but those are just prestigious names and not top-level teams. We got beat convincingly by Cal and Louisville last year, and now Nevada. At least we know we can play with the top caliber schools."Nick Fazekus:"Last year they came out to our place and didn't play very well. They watched the tape of that game and were better prepared this time around. Akron is not a bad team and they definitely got my respect after almost taking this one."Yes -- Fazekus (a lottery pick after this season) SAID Akron earned his respect, but you can tell it is begrudging respect at best.But the way Keith speaks about Creighton and Nevada shows that our coach seems to be putting his own team and school in a subservient position in relation to what should --and I would say MUST be considered our equals. The Missouri Valley and Western Athletic Conferences are categorized by the experts -- just like the MAC -- as "Mid-Major" basketball leagues. Yes -- the Valley will get its five NCAA berths, and the MAC will get just one -- but here is where the significance comes in: Akron is most likely going to be playing another member of one of these two conferences at home in February on ESPN. Do you want to play a Butler or Fresno State from a position of strength with the home court advantage, or do you accept second-class basketball citizenship by stating publically that these teams are on a level above your own?When you take the position that your own program is inferior to your opponents, you end up negotiating yourself into a position of inferiority which takes away your own advantages. I know and admire my classmate Keith Dambrot, but dammit man -- you gotta show a little more strength and confidence in your own league, team and future of your program. Don't give away the ship before you sail!Army strong? Zip Strong!

I think this is absolute nonsense. "To purchase the rights to sell Zips apparel" is not a significant consideration to retailers. It consists of a small percentage of royalties on sales. Every NCAA school has virtually the same legal rights, which prevent copycat merchandise. I'll bet you OSU makes a higher % of sales than any MAC school (remember the war between Cowlumbus and OU over the rights to the letter "O"?), yet that doesn't prevent them from making something like $100M/year from merchandising.Now to get back to 81's original post: Imagine if a student actually took this "Buckeye Holiday" to its politically correct OSU-hating end, and arrived at school decked out in Florida orange! That might be playing with fire -- like the kid who was suspended for wearing a Pepsi T-shirt to school on Coke day. Happy politically correct holidays all!

As long as Go Zips keeps visiting, our economy will keep rolling along! Here's a pic of his most recent visit:

Chris Leatigaga, a Scout.com 3-star JC Defensive Lineman from Foothills Junior College out of San Jose, CA was shown with Akron, Arizona, Arizona State and I think Oregon on his final list. Well, he verballed to play for June Jones' Hawai'i Warriors this week. He has family in the islands, and a chance to start here immediately next season.Zip in Paradise

Okay, I'll chime in with my story:At Portland for the Pilots' soccer invitational in 2000, as Akron warmed up to play U of P in the first game, the guy in front of me grabbed his cell phone to frantically call home to his wife in Seattle. "Honey, you're not gonna believe who's playing the first game -- IT'S THE ZIPS!" he shouted into his phone -- almost in tears. Ends up, he's a UA alum, and his son played for U Dub (that's Washington for non-Norwesterners). Not sure what his emotions were the next day, when his son's Huskies blitzed Akron 4-0.Zips did score 2 second-half goals to draw vs UP, when Conor Casey was away with the Olympic team.

Thanks for the nice words of praise, Packer. It will be interesting for me to see the Pack come into the Sheriff Center at UH in about 3.5 weeks (1/13?) to take on Riley Wallace's rejuvenated Rainbow Warriors. UH plays Creighton on Saturday night in the Rainbow Classic final. Team has blown huge leads vs USF and Nebraska last two nights, but still won easily. Good opportunity to compare Hawaii and Akron, as Zips lost in NIT 2nd round @ Creighton last year. CU played about as good a game as I've ever seen by a so-called Mid-major in nailing a really good Houston team tonight.Believe it or not -- Hawaii vs Akron could come off as a bracket-buster at JAR. Bows played Kennot State @ MAC Ctr in 02 I think it was - winning a cliff-hanger. And that would mean a return match in 07 here in the home of The Zip in Paradise. Mahalo for finishing my screed Ohioans. Are you yet? Aloha aikane mai! p.s.; The MAC will get as many NCAA berths as the WAC is supposed to: ONE. Though Reggie Theus' Aggies are looking good -- as are the FSU Bulldogs. Hawaii probably has to win the tourney, though a win over Creighton would be helpful.

Obviously you are not from Akron, or you would too, like everyone from Akron does. Say, you're not the chap from Pepper Pike are you?

I would really love for you to explain what on Earth you are talking about that would show you have a clue what you are talking about.NE Ohio has not HAD a professional outdoor soccer team since the Cleveland Cobras in the 1970s, and has NEVER had a world class club (i.e. MLS).Good luck if you accept your mission.

So, have we gotten over the "Don't kill the baby, just let it starve to death" stage of post-season recovery yet?

Hey Rowdies, and all UA WBB fans! I wanna challenge you to turn out in a UA WBB record (what would that be -- 800?) on Jan 3rd when the Lady Zippers face BGSU.The Falcons defeated Indiana (the one in the Big Ten -- not the one in Pennsylvania) by 35 tonight, and their only loss was an OT affair @ Notre Dame. By the time they come to town, the Lady Bee Gees could be a top 20 squad.Let's try out some bird-oriented Rowdie squalks to shoot down the Falcons.

I keep hearing this 34,000 figure (give or take a few hundred), and every time I shake my head and ask where that number comes from. I've made this comment before, so this will hopefully be the last time -- but where did the other ten thousand or so seats disappear to, that were there during my youth in Summit County?The Acme-Zip and Cleveland Browns attendance records show that over thirty-five thousand have been in the Bowl a couple dozen times, and several times I attended games where the announced attendance was more than 38k, and there were clearly open sections in the end zone. Were they lying about the attendance all those years? Did the house shrink? Somebody tell me. An old fart's gotta know.

I have read comments like this so many times on this board -- and the anti-Faust tirades that go along with it, that I can no longer hold my tongue! I studied at UA near the end of the Dennison era, and I truly respected and appreciated the coaching job that he did at UA, and I believe he was the veritable fine man and all that Schlemiel.But how can anyone who attacks the Terry Pluto "low expectations" mindset possibly be upset at what happened at Akron when Dr Muse arrived? Muse was the first person to step into Buchtel Hall with the idea that Akron could be something more than the veritable City College of Akron paradigm that most people in the area have still been unable to overcome. In this way, Muse should be considered the pioneer in Akron's athletic development. I'd say he should be in the Hall of Fame, Circle of Honor, or whatever they call it around the JAR.Now if it weren't for Muses's arrival with a new bigger perspective on the university's potential, we would have kept Jim Dennison as FB coach, and we would quite possibly still be fighting with rivals like Youngstown State and Wayne State for the right to play new Hampshire in the playoffs. Jim Dennison was committed to the University of Akron -- committed to keeping it as a small college athletic program. Is that what you all really would like?

Where was that game played --- NMSU vs LMU? I'm assuming it was in LA, as NMSt is #2 in the WAC to Nevada. As I've said -- I watched LMU in the Rainbow Classic last year, and they were just a bunch of big goons with no athleticism at all. The crummy '05 WMU team beat 'em, and outquicked em at all positions. BUT -- their size could still present lots of problems to an Akron team that plays like a bunch of pussies too often. Go Zips Beat Tiffin!!!

Hmmm! Any relation to the Laube's whose farm at Boettler and S Arlington in Green is being turned into about a kazillion $$ worth of estates? The memory of my youth is pocked with images of hauling hay from their farm to our garden down the road.

Perchance, could a 5-5 football team have anything to do with that??

Correct me if I'm wrong (like someone isn't going to ) but don't we have 29 regular season games with Tiffin and the Bracketbuster? I see Akron losing from 4-6 games in the regular season.Here is my MAC season outlookEast Division1. Akron 2. K ent State3. Ohio4. Miami5. Buffalo6. Bowling GreenWestern Division1. Western Michigan2. Toledo3. Ball State4. No. Illinois5. Eastern Michigan6. Central MichiganTournament champions: AkronMAC POY: Joe Reitz (WMU)MAC ROY: David Kool (WMU)MAC COY: Keith Dambrot (UA)

Sure beats the 38k we pay our head women's soccer coach!

Doesn't look like the media guides list attandance records anymore -- maybe afraid it will make recent years look bad by comparison.HOWEVER -- I was at the last Browns game vs the Giants in 1972 or 73?? There were more than 44 thousand in the stands. I remember walking through the back of the end zone to get to the far stands while the Giants were warming up. I walked within five feet of DB Spider Lockhart, and believe it or not I was almost the same height as the all-pro Spider. I'm sure I was no more than 5-4 then (14 y.o.?).My cousin later married the Giants backup QB from that game, Tom Kennedy. I'm trying to remember their starter, was it Norm Sneed? The only play I remember was Don Cockroft throwing about a thirty yard pass on fourth down for a first that led to a TD. Amazing that I remember that much! What's my daughter's birthday again? Uh-Oh! November 11th!

Ohio's other games are vs Miami and Eastern Michigan. Maybe they can afford to lose to Akron, and still win the East, thanks to our friends in Portage County. Miami game at Oxford though is rivalry game -- Hippies vs Yuppies.Don't tell that to JD and the kids though -- we need a win -- and seven victories to ensure a bowl game.

For the throng of one Zip who showed for our weekly meeting at Eastside Grill on University Avenue in Honolulu, the show we watched on ESPN-U was not one to share with recruits or non-Akron fans (the other 800 thousand + on O'ahu). There were a dozen or so waiting for the UL-Rutgers game to start, and they had no other sports to watch but the Zips vs the Bulls. First the good news. David Harvey is as good a freshman WR as you will find anywhere in America. Getsy seems to be capable against crummy defenses -- hurray at least for that. AND Buffalo lost that gawdawful whale, cloud, or whatever used to be on the side of their helmets -- replaced with a simple UB. They still have perhaps the worst unis in Div 1, though.Now for the sad truth. Twice in the third quarter the camera panned the stands! Gasp!Our athletic director must put a clause in all future contracts with ESPN (and all other broadcasters) that that is strictly forbidden at the Rubber Bowl. Mygawd, what an unprecedented embarassment! And I'm not talking so much about the fact that no more than a couple thousand people came out on a 65 degree November evening. The worst part was seeing the dilapidated condition of the stands. One local guy was looking at the screen at the time, and said to me "Man, your stadium looks like its about to collapse! Are the bleachers gnawed through by the rats, or what?"Please, Mr AD, get us a real stadium. That place is a laughing stock.

Well, let's see now...If the liberal estimate of 3000 people at Thursday's game was equal at 14,512...they should need only maybe 2000 to produce a figure of 11,028.Let's be honest -- this whole NCAA attendance requirement is a farce magnifique.