Z.I.P.

After attending one team practice it's clear to me why we were able to keep at least SOME of our players from escaping to PA. Damn! This Groce guy is a motivational leader. Two hour full contact session at UH Gym 2 from 10:30 - 12:30, and there were a couple of elbows to the chops in the lane. Everyone came out no worse for the ware. Coach G is a totally positive force on his players -- the only words of criticism on the floor were from #0, who for good or bad -- and I think it's the former -- is the vocal leader of this club. I did wonder if the attitude is similar to some of us -- "We have nowhere to go but up.", but I imagine the team's expectations are higher than that, as I could sense a belief in their chemistry and confidence to compete vs a recent top 15 team on the court Friday. 'E' Olajakpoke was throwing down just like in game, and didn't even miss "bunnies". Steve French be warned. Want to hear a name to be looking out for in the future -- if not necessarily this weekend? That guy #13, the new JC transfer can play with a smooth presence on the court, and puts up three-pointers with more confidence than, e.g., Virshon who will be good but isn't quite there after just two months. BUT, I have to say he played tough hard-nose defense today, and that will be important vs USC's guards like McLaughlin who you HAVE to keep away from the ball. BTW, the reason #13's not on the GoZips.com roster is because he does not have a head-shot photo yet that is required for consistency with the rest of the players. I swear, that's what I was told was the reason! From the way Coach talked to his troops -- especially about errant passes underneath that the Trojans big man will mark "return to sender" -- it seems he expects USC to be at full strength personnel wise. One more shorter no-contact session tomorrow and a walk-through in the arena at the same time on Thursday. Coach Groce is attending a Coaches Against Cancer fund-raiser tonight with Hawai'i coach Aran Ganot and I guess the other tournament coaches. An opportunity to tell the Dan Peters Story to a wider audience. #ForPetesSake. Aloha and mahalo for reading!

I'll be sure and tell that to coach Groce when I meet him tomorrow. Or not...

Somehow, Princeton had enough left over to defeat the Trojans in overtime 103-93, which Bill Walton said is probably a school scoring record for a team known for 58-56 or similar results. Tigers shot 52%, made 14 of 36 three-point attempts. For USC, Chimezie Metu is a BEAST! 25 points and 10 rebounds tonight for the 6-11 power forward. First round NBA selection. Hoping to attend Zips practice session in the morning...

Well, Princeton has blown the lead down the stretch, allowing USC to outscore them 10-3 in the final 2 minutes. They're going to overtime tied at 86. Jordan McLaughlin had followed his 19 assist performance with 24 points tonight.

In the second half, Bill Walton is announcing the game on PAC-12 network as the school of 42 Nobel Prize winners!, the Tigers of Princeton have come from behind to take a 55-48 lead on the Fighting Condoms of USC. Benny Boatright and Jonah Matthews are out of action currently for USC and NOW the backup post player, Rakocevich has gone down for USC! WOW! We may be handed a BIG advantage for Friday's game, BUT, still have to play 100% to compete with our opponent. Princeton has now gone up by ELEVEN at 59-48. Is this good for Akron, or a wake-up call for USC? We'll see!

USC is playing Princeton tonight in a on-campus game of the Diamond Head Classic at USC's Galen Center. Very inconsistent performance by the Trojans, in which they hold a 36-33 lead at the half. I believe Akron is a better team than the Ivy Leaguers, and can pull the big surprise on this directional school on Friday afternoon in Honolulu. Let's pull it off guys!

Team arrived safely in Honolulu. Shame they didn't go to practice gym instead of watching football game! ?

I tweeted: #NFLsuspensionNCAAnada!

Our old buddy, Brian Walsh is Miller's Director of Operations now. Went from ass't DBO at Dayton to chief team nanny in the B1G. I could see him jumping to a MAC assistant job in a year or two.

They think this board is just too partisan and combative. Well, something like that was said to some FAU partisans on Twitter. But, hey, I don't want to start a partisan divide between Zips fans. It's the holiday season, after all. Happy holidays, everyone!

Thanks. Perfessor! I saw President Wilson's tweet that the U is starting a new "gaming" program. Ground floor opportunity for massive profits!

SPOILER ALERT!! SPOILER ALERT!! Oops. Too late, and thanks a lot. Might as well stay home now!

I'm glad to know the area of the former Coliseum is now a nature reserve. But as I recall, in 1982 they could still hold a single grad ceremony ay EJ Thomas.

Here's what really shocked me!: They hold two separate graduation ceremonies?!? How long has that been going on?? Is it due to the size of the class and facility? Very strange! Sorry, I misspoke/typed! There are THREE ceremonies! ?. Yikes...

That IS scary! ? I would give as an additional reason for the demise of the event was that the only teams that benefited at all from it were those -- what, ten percent of the total teams involved? -- who received a televised game on ESPN. For the rest it was a drudgery of having to either travel often long distances, or play a sudden non-conference game against a school with no name recognition. I can't remember ever hearing a favorable comment about bracket busters from a Hawaii Rainbow Warrior fan -- even when they had the great gift of traveling to play at the MAC Center against the Golden Flashes... Akron was one of the few schools who had fairly regular TV appearances and games against teams who participated in the post-season. I personally enjoyed not just our team's involvement, but the televised mid-major games across the country. I think the only way to fashion something similar would be for the MAC to partner with another conference like the MVC or similar for a "challenge" type event. Would ESPN or CBSCS be interested in showing that? Maybe - maybe not...

I just saw the DHC "official" bracket and it says that all tournament games will be broadcast on ESPNU, except the second round game between the losers of Akron vs USC and Princeton vs MTSU -- which is on ESPN3. That game's at midnight EST Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Our first round opponent, the Trojans of Southern Cal (I prefer to use their directional indicator nomenclature, as we are very accustomed to beating directional schools) defeated a good UC-Santa Barbara team at home tonight (Sunday). The condoms shot lights-out from early in the evening, running out to a 52-33 halftime lead in winning their second game in a row after dropping three-straight. They made 12 of 23 3-pointers, even missing the last two. Trojans PG Jordan McLaughlin had 19 assists in the game, which is the most in NCAA action since 2012, and tied a PAC-12 record. Clearly, the Zips must defend the motion offense out to 20+ feet from the hoop, while fighting their screens and boxing out underneath. Nick Rakocevich, their 6-11 post had 12 pts and the same number of rebounds. USC is favored to play undefeated Miami in the Classic championship game. I just hope and pray I don't have to attend the 7am Christmas morning game. I believe all games will be broadcast on one or another of the ESPN family of stations.

And BTW, notice how they ripped off the Buffalo Bills with the logo?

Tecos is my equipo favorito Jalisqueno, BUT, if you've seen the FIFA game, or my shirt drawer, Guadalajara's third team, Atlas has the Akron Fast Lube sponsor on their jerseys.

What did I tell y'all about Emmanuel a couple weeks ago? If he makes those "bunnies" (tip of the cap to our radio guy), he can score double figures EVERY game! Here is is at 11 points, nine rebounds, 2 PFs in 21 minutes.

That's worked for the Delta Devils -- they've used 14 players! Just nine by Groce & Co.

I have not followed this thread much at all, considering my distance from the JAR or any threoretical new arena. However, I thought you all would like to read the word from the top. The folks who run the ZipsNation Twitter account have started a blog, and their first entry is a conversation with President Matt Wilson. Here is the entire blog entry to read. http://zipsnation.blogspot.com/2017/12/recently-we-interviewed-president.html Most significant for this Zips Nation thread however, is the response to a question about "building a new arena..." Short and sweet answer from the CEO: "We recently just raised money to support a $1.8 million scoreboard, sound system, and experience in the JAR. If you haven’t stopped by, you need to check it out. We are working to raise money to renovate the JAR and invite our alums and supporters to help out. Together, we can create a special space that will serve students for decades to come."

I'm seeing contradictory information as to whether Disney is acquiring the Fox regional sports networks. BBC story states that all of Murdoch's TV news, business and sports nets will be consolidated into a spinoff company. Deadline says that Disney WILL pick off the sports networks. Either way the business changes immensely with the end of the Murdoch empire.

Don't look now folks, but the gutting of Portland Timbers continues, with the trade of Darlington Nagbe to Atlanta United for allocation $$$ and a 2018 international slot. Holy cow!

Not sure where you're getting those two 2017 opponents from. Princeton and NM State are included in the Diamond Head Classic field. We could play Princeton in second round -- we play USC, while the Tigers play Middle Tennessee in the next bracket segment. However, NMSU is on the opposite side of the bracket and we couldn't face them, even potentially until X-Mas day, the final day of the tournament.