Z.I.P.

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.

Yeah, thanks. What I meant though, was IF they beat Little Rock, and TT beats whoever... WHEN will the game take place (what time) Tuesday?I'm anxious -- I have to take off work that afternoon to watch.

ACTUALLY, there are only 62 spots left. Hawai'i accepted their tenth home game of the season (the Hawai'i Bowl host) prior to Navy accepting.Interestingly, unless UCLA goes undefeated in three underdog games, and Washington (with four straight losses) beats Stanford AND Washington State, the Hawai'i Bowl will be looking for an at-large opponent for the Warriors. That will be the case for several other non-BCS bowls as well. A seven-win Akron team will almost certainly go somewhere -- but it could be San Diego, SanFrancisco, Boise, or God-knows-where. The International Bowl in Toronto vs Pitt (as CBS Sportsline predicted before the season) would be my preference. There will be anywhere between 64 and 70 total bowl-eligible teams. Two years ago, UA was the only bowl-eligible team not bowling (have we forgotten so soon?). I think 6 wins makes Akron a 40-60 pick. Seven wins, and it goes to 80-20.One of those we have to thank for this is TOLEDO! They gave the Huskies a crack in the fog Thursday NIU is singing the Blues again.

I read somewhere on Gozips.com that if UA defeats UA-LR, the game @ TTU will be broadcast on ESPN2. It's not indicated in the schedule, and the gametime is not listed.Anyone have any info?

From a true frontcourt legend and Windex All-Star. Welcome to the blogosphere Paddy!

Simply put, Sarah Tokodi, West Virginia Ms Basketball, is the best guard the school has ever recruited. She is the one who will eventually make the engine purr. She can put the ball in the hoop bigtime, and lead the defensive pressure that is Jody Kest's bread and butter. If things work out, we could see both our men's and women's teams playing agressive defensive -- and winning -- basketball.Yet more simply, Go Zips!

I'm not exactly sure what goals and standards we are playing by/for. Winning the MAC East again would be a great accomplishment. But yes, it IS a longshot -- IOW Zips don't control their own destiny. On the other hand, even if we don't win the East, there is still the chance to play in another bowl game. As I've said at leat a couple times already -- there are 64 spots for bowl teams out of a total of just 119 (118?) I-A teams -- what is that, about 55% of all schools going bowling? There's no reason Akron can't be one of those with seven, or even possibly six wins. Personally, I'm crossing my fingers for a possible Akron trip to either the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego -- the only at-large bowl spot (vs the MWC's #2), or even possibly the Hawai'i Bowl. The PAC-10 #6 team is supposed to go, but it's unlikely the league can fill the spot, with the winner in the BCS spot. Or how about the San Fran Bowl at McCovey's Cove? NIU played there two years ago vs Troy -- in front of about 5k.