sgm405

And I'll be cheering for Akron...so who the hell cares if I root for OSU in every game before and after that? It makes no sense...it's either jealousy or just OSU haters venting and using being an Akron fan as a disguise...

So they did it one game...the team did a lot of exciting things this year...I mean, undefeated at home and basically pounding everyone in the process...should have been more then the Can't game. Where are the rest of the students? Sitting up in the bleachers or sitting at home because you can't see jack sitting in those bleachers...that's where. But at least the alumni got on another team for 1/13 games...

Here we go again with this silly Akron-OSU stuff. I'm not from Akron and was raised a Buckeye fan, like many others. I watch both teams, I support both teams, and on the rare occasion the two teams actually play, I cheer for the school I graduated from, Akron. Why should I stop cheering for the Buckeyes? They are in a different conference, we rarely play, and let's face it, we're on two different levels. Our football nor or basketball team will ever compete for a National Title...sad, but realistic. I know the argument is that we go after the same recruits...really? Was Chris Wells really considering Akron's football team or OSU's? Was Greg Oden really going back and forth between OSU's and Akron's basketball programs? OSU goes after the top talent in the country and in Ohio, and they will continue to get it. If you were a star Ohio high school running back and want a shot at the pros one day, where are you really going to go? OSU...bottom line, they get the premier talent. As for Akron, they have to scout a little harder. They're not going to get a McDonald's All-American. They're not going to get the top running back in the nation. They have to find the players that the major schools overlook, or at guys who may not have reached their potential and fly under the radar. That's just how it is...You can root for Michigan, you can cheer against OSU, you can try to knock those who support both OSU and Akron...whatever. But you need to accept that no matter what Akron does, OSU will always have dibs. So unless we move into the same conference or are playing each other, I'm going to accept that and hope Akron can have half of the amount of success OSU has had in athletics...GO ZIPS AND GO BUCKEYES!

I'll chime in, because this has been something that has always bothered me. The alumni who sit in the lower levels frustrated the living heck out of me. You want a good laugh? Watch how frustrated they get when the Zips don't score right away and they have to remain standing...and how fast they fall into their seats when they do. Look, I understand that they can't be standing the entire game, jumping up and down, and doing the other things the students sections do. But can't they chime in a bit more on the "defense" and "let's go zips" chants? Heck, do it every other play. Can't they stand and cheer from time to time, when the Zips make a big run or need a confidence boost from the crowd when things aren't going well? Do the cheers, yell a little bit...Just do SOMETHING.

I thought one of the new stipulations of the NIT was that the regular season champ from a conference automatically qualifies if they don't make it into the NCAA's. That would be why you see Miami instead of Toledo. Miami didn't win the conference...

Antonio I gottwa give you credit...I expected you to be annoying and to gloat...props to you for handling it with class.

I'm not sure if they'll get an NIT bid or not, but let's all throw out our report cards for the Zips this season. Here is mine:ROMEO TRAVISCOMMENTS: Romeo had a solid year and had some very nice games. Sadly, he is nothing more than a very good college player. He's no star, not even for the MAC. He's still soft inside, struggles with free throws at times, and lacks the ability to take over a ballgame. As I said, very good college player, but not the leader this team desperately leads. Still, he gets a B for a solid year. GRADE: BDRU JOYCECOMMENTS: Dru has turned out to be a much better player than I imagined he would be. He doesn't turn the ball over (except last night), can hit some big time threes, and controls the team well. He does have the tendency to pound the ball too much at the top of the key, drive with no real chance of finishing, and gets beat quite a bit by quicker, bigger players. Still, he had a solid seasonGRADE: BNICK DIALSCOMMENTS: Nick was a welcome addition this year. I loved his hustle, his spark, his fire...it's always good to see a guy play the game with passion. He put up decent numbers, even though I do believe he struggled late in the season due to fatigue. He does get cold at times, and he played poorly yesterday, but I’m excited about 2 more years of Dials. Again…another guy who’s not a star, but a solid effort.GRADE: BCEDRIC MIDDLETONCOMMENTS: My breakthrough player of the year for this team. Ced seemed to get better with each game. He accepted his role off the bench and provided a spark plug every game. He became a better outside shooter, played great defense, and like Dials, hustled his ass off. In fact, I believe Ced should start next season…but more on that later. GRADE: A-ROB PRESTONCOMMENTS: Rob was much more important to this team that I expected him to be. He’s quick for a big guy, while also being an outside threat. His only downside is being a bit soft inside, and his inability to make a good foul when needed (how many and-one’s did he allow Can't State to get in Can't?). He’ll be missed next year…a very solid role player. GRADE: B-DARRYL PETERSONCOMMENTS: What do you say here? Darryl can be thanked for the Can't game and a few other performances, but aside from that wasn’t much of a factor…but that wasn’t his fault. Don’t buy the injuries BS...Dambrot simply didn’t like the guy. Sad to see his Zips career end like this…it was once very, very promising. GRADE: INCOMPLETENATE LINHARTCOMMENTS: I think when looking at Linhart you have to remember…he wasn’t supposed to play this much so fast. Bubba was supposed to be there as was Jimmy Conyers…Linhart should have been a 10 minute-a-game guy this year. He does some things well…pretty good rebounder. I think he was the potential to be a Rick-McFadden-like role player for this team, with more athleticism than Ricky gave us. GRADE: CMATT FUTCHCOMMENTS: Matt Futch is another who was placed in a role he shouldn’t be in, as starting center. That was supposed to be Jeremiah Wood, with Futch being a great backup. Still, he played well at times and provided a desperately needed presence down-low. GRADE: C+QUADE MILUMCOMMENTS: I wish Quade would start hanging out with Barry Bonds. He was decent at times, but didn’t bring too much to the table. His potential is off the charts if he ever gets bigger…but will he? GRADE: D+CHAD MRAZ, JOHN RYBAK, ZACK SOWERS, NICK GODDARDCOMMENTS: Mraz played for the right high school, so he got a little bit of game time. He doesn’t really do much and really isn’t a D1 player. Rybak gets a lot of love from those who have seen him in practice every day, but I just don’t see it in games. I cringe when he enters games. Hopefully it’s just nerves that will wear off and these Rybak supports will be proven right. Sowers didn’t get much action, while Goddard got some in garbage time. Both would be wise to transfer to a smaller school where they could be major players…neither has much of a future here. GRADE: INCOMPLETEKEITH DAMBROTCOMMENTS: I think those who have hated on KD need to look at the bigger picture. He won 22 games this year with a young team without a true star player. We played some tougher teams and hung in with most, and only suffered losses to good teams. (Yes, Toledo is a good team). We stayed undefeated at home, beat Can't once and almost twice, and made it further in the MAC Tourney than ever before. And we did this while dealing with losing Wood and Conyers before the season (HUGE) and dealing with the transfer of Bubba Walther. He is a great coach who will do wonders for this university. That’s not to say he didn’t have his negatives…the whole not playing DP thing was stupid (MAC regular season champs if DP starts), and a few times his substitutions had me scratching my head. But he is a winner and has more basketball knowledge in his pinky finger than I do in my entire body…so I’ll remain faithful in the guy. He needs a strong recruiting class next year to keep building the momentum. GRADE: A-THE FANSCOMMENTS: This year overall was a step up for fans. When I started at Akron in 2000, the athletic department had to beg kids to sit down low. Compare this to the year end game against Can't, where tons of students stood outside for an hour (or 5 minutes if you were one of the shithead cutters) to get down low. The AK-Rowdies came alive at times, although it’s obviously a work in progress. For the most part, we were loud and proud, having a serious affect on the game. The Can't thing was great…probably didn’t work out like exactly planned, but the Can't State students were still in shock. I’m not sure the cheer sheets are the way to go…seems to me like it’s a waste of a tree, especially when the player chants (Romeo, Dials) and regular chants (defense, Duke’s noise making, let’s go Akron, etc) work just fine. We need to stay classy. I was upset to hear a few bullshit chants, along with some people yelling “Fuck Can'tâ€. Don’t do that, that’s not us…that’s Can't. Please, God, don’t let us become as classless as their student section, where all we can do is yell that everything sucks while swearing and throwing up middle fingers. We’re better than that. We also need a bit more common sense. Yesterday we have everyone together in one section. Although it was a little higher up, everyone was together. So what do we do (including a few leaders of the team)? Spread out! So instead of having everyone together in one section, which would have led to organized, loud cheers, we have people spread out over the different sections, often times doing two different cheers. Props to Newhouse though for getting the ball rolling in a big way…we finally have a student section that matters. GRADE: BOverall it was a great year, a big step forward. This wasn’t supposed to be the year…next year was. And yet, this year came close to being it. Just think, a 22 win team gaining more experience, a healthy Jeremiah Wood, an eligible Jimmy Conyers, and a (hopefully) good recruiting class? Next year should be very, every memorable folks!Oh yeah, my depth chart for next year:C-Wood/Recruit/PF-Travus/Recruit/MilumSF-Conyers/Linhart/RybakSG-Middleton/DialsPG-Joyce/RecruitNOW YOU FILL OUT YOUR REPORT CARD AND/OR DEPTH CHART FOR 06-07!

can u make that a mpeg file?

Hmmmm it didnt work right for me...

Who's going to be there tomorrow?

Talked to someone close to the team today. It seems as if when Dials went down, he actually was feeling some tingling in his toes...it was that serious. Normal procedure is for a player to be taken off on a stretcher in this case. They told this to Dials, who proceeded to tell them there was no way he was leaving on a stretcher. He took his time and walked off on his own, then vowing to return in the 2nd half. That, my friends, is a competitor. He struggled early, but he helped change the ballgame at the beginning of the 2nd half. He had two key defensive plays, hit at least one big three, and helped change a few plays with his hustle. He didn't play great by any means, but to say he stunk up the floor?...makes me wonder what game you were watching.

Haha my bad...but you could've corrected it!

Explain...? I didnt hear/see this

I think everyone is just confident...anyone with a brain knows it'll be a tough road for whoever wins the MAC tourney. As for your last comment, can you at least spell "recKon" right? A "recon" is a small genetic unit...nevermind, that crap is too advanced for a Can't student. Your post and your spelling skills did make me wonder...do you play basketball for Can't? Should I be thanking you for our rival losing two scholarships?

I saw him listed as online...no smart remarks? Excuses?

I liked...- Today's victory. It was ENORMOUS for the team's confidence going into the season. - How the team fought back...the refs were killing them, Romeo was in foul trouble and on the bench, Dials was knocked out...and still, they found a way to come back and beat a very good team. - Nick Dials' gutsy performance. He set the tone with some key defensive plays in the 2nd half. - Darryl Peterson...Coach...PLAY HIM!- Cedric Middleton...gets more impressive every game. - Matt Futch...who was that guy today? His game today was night and day between his performance at Can't State before he got hurt. - UA fans. I haven't heard the JAR get that loud EVER. MAYBE when Lebron did his in between the legs dunk as a high school senior...but I think today's topped it. The fans were loud, didn't give up, and except for a few instances, were mainly classy. - Can't State fans. I hate giving them props, but the ones who did show up that I ran into were annoying (I mean, they are from Can't) but classy. Much better than the middle-finger throwing, sailor-talking idiots I saw at Can't. I didn't like...- The referees was a joke. It has been a long, long time since I've seen a performance that bad by a set of officials.- One Akron fan standing outside before the game yelling a remark about the Can't State shootings. He was provoked by a Can't idiot, but why stoop to their level? - Speaking of fans, what's up with Ak-Rowdies cutting fellow AK-Rowdies in line? The people who got there early and waited in the cold deserved to go in first...no excuse for that guys. Have some respect for your fellow fans. The worst part is I saw a few guys who I know are in AK-Rowdy leadership roles that simply looked away...- Why not let the AK-Rowdies hit the floor after the game? Hold the ropes up until the end of the game, but when that final buzzer sounds let em go...let the kids who have been there game after game celebrate!

Is that a play on your oh-so-clever chant "We are...Can't State"...?

You had to figure Antonio would be over in no time. I wanted the regulaar season title, but let's be honest...no MAC team is getting an at large. We'll see you in Akron Saturday for your ass kicking, then we'll see you in Cleveland to give you another...enjoy your regular season title, because:1) You aren't winning the MAC Tourney2) You aren't getting an at large3) You have 4 important seniors leaving and just lost two scholarships that could've replaced them because your players can't get even mediocre grades. Next year, while your flushes go down, Akron will continue to rise, adding Wood, Conyers, and some stellar recruits. Nobody remembers the MAC regular season champ...only the team left standing in Cleveland.

It seems like every time they have a chance to step up they fall apart...I hope they realize the MAC Tourney isn't at the JAR

Pathetic

Akron down 13 with around 10 mins to go

This sucks...it's like a repeat of last year

39-32 Buffalo at half

French said Dials injured his ankle...trainer was looking at it. 35-24 Buffalo midway through the 1st half

Zips are playing like crap and getting pounded...Dials is hurt...C'mon guys...time to get tough