Z.I.P.

You got it Cap'n (and darn you for beating me to the classic "Fly's open, let's go Peay"). No question, the Rowdies should have a field day for this one. Don't forget the alzo sprach classico: "Show us your Peayness"! NO, NO, NO!"I do share the chorus' amazement at the selection, however. Especially if LeBron U gets screwed out of a national TV appearance by Toledo and Ohio. But, NMSU is a great draw for Bubba & Co. Have a nice stay in Las Cruces, ninos, and don't forget to enjoy the chilis relleno from La Posta! Remember, it could have been the Zips heading to the Sun and Fun Capitol of Lower New Mexico. BUT, next year Herb Pope plays to the O-Zone.

Gotta say, I was always surprised that people didn't seize on the obvious about James Rhodes Arena, and refer to it as "Murderer's Lane".

Okay! Time for my favorite Zippy, maybe favorite Zips' story (pardon if you've read it before):Akron players, staff, cheerleaders get to the Outrigger East in Waikiki back in December, 1991. I'm sitting on Mac Yates' (SID then), bed, and I hear the chick who plays Zippy in the hallway, say to the cheerleading coach, "Okay, I got Zippy's head. Where did you put his tail?" Needless to say, it was too late to FedEx half a mascot to the Hawaiian Isles for a weekend, so she got a free trip.Folks in the room were giving their own as they knew the "leave" was no accident, just as they knew Zippy was getting it on with the trainer on the side. lol!

Please allow me my own The world isn't limited by the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Neither should be the Zips' "territory". If Gonzaga is willing to travel to play top teams, perhaps so should Akron.Here's hoping our NCAA bid is in San Diego or Seattle (not sure if those are host cities), as was Can't State (SD) about 3 or 4 years ago. Otherwise, I'm left watching the last 30 seconds of each half on CBS, and wondering if I make a trip to Anchorage in November. Brrrrr.Zip in Paradise

And when did they play at Loyola Marymount. LA Zip and I woulda been screamin'!

Hopefully he develops better than the former Oakland city high hurdles champ. OK -- what the heck WAS his name??

I hope someone invites Steve Swiech! Might be a nice touch if he can sit on the bench. Assuming he's not playing that night himself.

Herb Pope to NMSU??? :blink: Wow! I look forward to seeing him in the WAC! Sorry to my bud Jamie Dixon.

Jason Taylor's response to my question, at a Pro Bowl autograph session, about what assistance he was providing to JD in recruiting: "Not much" (shrug).

MacReport, I have to question your numbers for the WAC coaching salaries (averages, as they are). Hawaii's June Jones is reported in Honolulu newspapers to have a salary in excess of 800k annually (contract signed little over a year ago). If his #s are reported in these, then the rest of the WAC coaches must be getting meal money only --and I know that the Fresno coach makes over a half mill, and Peterson in Boise must be close behind. So Hal Mumme has to work for tips?

For me, the difference between the two boils down to this.The more I watch Nate, the more I like him, the more I watched Tarver the less I liked him. Hopefully that statement will still be true in a few years. For me, the difference between the two boils down to this. Derrick Tarver, like him or not, was a go to guy. Nate Linhart is a role player. A good player...but a role player.No other Akron player has been offered a scholarship by the likes of Bobby Knight or Fresno State and I think UNLV. For all he lacks, D-Tarv had some tremendous ability offensively.So where's he at now? Update us, Captain!

Do you know something we don't? When did he verbal to Akron???

Can anyone out there verify the factuality of this statement? As I understand it, this is no longer the rule, since the move to 12-game schedules (13 for Hawai'i Warriors and opponents).

Are you sure that wasn't their new President you met at S&S? Gotta make some extra money -- and pad the resume! Never had this rivalry in my day -- never played 'em. So let me get with it:

He's had a great career, and I might see his last game at Aloha Stadium in Feb. I too hope he comes back for more -- his Bro-in law isn't hanging it up. On the other hand, it has to be tough to play through the chaos that is the Miami Dolphins complex. Shame he's been around for the toughest period in franchise history. That's one thing that will keep him out of Canton. He needs 3 or 4 more years like this one to head down I-77.

Can anybody give us the story on Alleman's status for the Hula Bowl, or other post-season all-star games? I thought it was announced he was invited to Hawai'i, but his name's not on the rosters in our paper.Will he play in any others?

Here's an interesting point about Boise State: Their overall athletic budget was about 13M three years ago -- its now about 15M. That is SOLID MAC Country.No reason a program like Akron can't repeat what they've done -- and their basketball pretty much sucks. Take away coach Karl's kid, and they're in CMU's category.BTW -- CMU hires WVU's WR coach? Look for them to fall below BSU shortly.

Ummmmhh. First off, could someone correct the headline? I thought from what it says that he was a player from Oxford, Ohio. THAT is where Miami U is located after all.And, as he has just one year of eligibility, I'm surprised JD didn't leave him to the Penguinis. Maybe only the past season's injuries make one year of him look favorable. I hope he can push the opthers -- at least.

Well, it was sure nice to hear the other guys whining about non-calls for a change!Akron wins by nine. Held on late after leading by at least 18. Wood and Travis fouling out late didn't help, but Milum had another fine performance. Kudos to Keith and staff for taking this athlete and turning him into a bb player. Nice job!

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!