Kangaroo Craig

Hopefully our attendance improves. Because if it doesn't, the NCAA will threaten to relegate us to 1AA status. We need to fill the bowl every week. I'll be there and I am certain everyone else on this board will be there as well. It's the other 250,000 folks in this area, and particularly the students and alumni who root for the Suckeyes, that concerns me. History shows that winning puts butts in the seats. If that is the case, then this years attendance should be agood barometer for what to expect in the future. Building a new stadium helps too. Damn we need to get that project going!

Interesting read. Justin King is inexperienced, but according to the story, he was the tob DB in the nation his senior year in high school so the guy definitely has talent. Hopefully his lack of experience will out weigh his talent in the opener and he will figure it out by the time they play Ohio State.

Damn! Your right! I totally forgot about that. I have one, but I'll bet that most of the students and recent grads do not. I think it costs about $80 - $100 the first time and maybe $60 - $80 to renew. This will definitely put a damper on ticket sales here in the states!

You guys are both correct. I don't care too much about what the national pundits think. All of their predictions are based on two things, last years record and more importantly (To them), tradition. its going to take a number of winning seasons before we get their respect. Once that happens, they'll automatically rank us high even in years when we don't deserve it.I recently saw Sagarin's ratings for the upcoming year. He is totally pathetic! I think he had something like 10 1AA schools rated ahead of the Zips and four to five MAC schools. Someone needs to explain to me how a computer can make preseason ratings. If it were truly a computer poll, then all 119 schools would be rated exactly the same before any games were played. That thing is nothing more than a bass ackwards glorified poll designed to make the haves look better then they are and the have nots look a lot worse than they are!The Zips and the rest of the MAC will play the games and we'll all be happy come January!

That's always been a pet peeve of mine too!

I picked up a USA today, turned to the sports section, and found Danny Sheridan's odds for the opening weekend of college football. They are as follows:PENN STATE (-16) vs. AkronNorthwestern (-3) vs. MIAMI (Ohio)Boston College (-13) vs. CENTRAL MICHIGANBUFFALO (-6.5) vs. TempleMinnesota (-16.5) vs. Can'tIOWA STATE (-7.5) vs. ToledoOHIO STATE (-19) vs. Northern IllinoisWisconsin (-10) vs. BOWLING GREEN (At Cleveland Browns Stadium)INDIANA (-3) vs. Western Michiganand, our Home opening opponent:TEXAS (-41) vs. North Texasthoughts ---1. We are certainly getting more respect from the national media and Las Vegas than in years past and deservingly so. Tempting to take Akron and the points, but I would say that this is a pretty fair line either way. If I were picking that game, I would probably say that we loose by 17. 2. Take Minnesota and give the points.3. Take Northern Illinois and the points4. Can Temple get any worse?

In a really good sports town, fans don't think like this. In a good sports town, like Pittsburgh, people say, "I would accept losing twice to the Browns as long as they were the only two loses and we ended the season 14-2 with home field throughout the playoffs and a chance to win the Super Bowl." That's how winners think. I'd be miserable if the Steelers only won two games in a single season even if they were against the Browns. By the way, the Ravens are the Steelers #1 rival, not the Browns. Yeah, it would be miserable, but at least I would have some solace in knowing that all of Steeler nation would be miserable right along with me.

I would accept 2-14 if both victories were against Pittsburgh and especially if it cost them the playoffs.

They list Dwight Smith and Jason Taylor as retired in 2004. Smith was recently cut by the Saints, but signed with the Vikings. Taylor, of course, is still in Miami and has a chance to be a hall of famer.

I agree, but it is going to ba a little bit tougher for him now that his best lineman LeCharles Bentley has been lost for the season with a torn patella tendon. He injured it on the very first play of the first practice. Kenny Roda, a local sportstalk host in Cleveland calls it the OIC Jinx. OIC stands for Only In Cleveland.

He calls our schedule a disaster. he is wrong. I told him so in a recent post. The first two games are tough. I don't think anyone would argue that. Having BG and Miami at home is good. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be able to run the table at home and win at least three road games. That prediction is based upon losing the first two against PSU and NC State. The only bad thing about the November games is that they hurt attendance if the weather is bad. Mr. Pluto obviously has no faith in the ability of this team. He is right that we got hosed on the negotiations regarding guaranteed money, but that is what happens sometimes when you negotiate based upon current market value rather than future. Note to Terry: "We are not Can't State!" Do you think he would be calling this a disaster schedule if the Buckeyes were playing it?Schedule unkind to ZipsUA only plays at Rubber Bowl two times before NovemberBy Terry PlutoDo you realize that the Akron Zips won't play their first home Mid-American Conference game this fall until Oct. 21?Or that the Zips have only two home games before November?Or that they have seven games on the road, just five at home?Or that they open the season at Penn State, ranked No. 3 at the end of last season?Or that they have three independent games -- at Penn State, at North Carolina State and at Cincinnati -- and for that tough triple, they are being paid a grand total of $875,000?That's well below the market for these types of games. Usually, the visitor gets $400,000 to $500,000 for each.``This is a very difficult schedule,'' said new Zips Athletic Director Mack Rhoades.Wrong, it's a disaster.Especially this season, when there is a lot of interest in the Zips, who are coming off a season where they defeated Northern Illinois to win the MAC title and played in the Motor City Bowl, losing 38-31 to Memphis in an exciting game.Breakout yearSo many good things are happening with the UA football program.There's former Zips quarterback Charlie Frye now starting for the Browns.Frye's successor, Luke Getsy, is returning for his senior season at UA.Preseason publications such as The Sporting News, Street & Smith's and Lindy's all picked the Zips to win the MAC East Division.UA has 16 starters back from a team that was riveting to watch last season.Getsy is the first-team preseason All-MAC quarterback choice and rated the nation's 10th-best quarterback by The Sporting News.Coach J.D. Brookhart believes defensive tackle Kiki Gonzalez and offensive lineman Andy Alleman of Massillon will follow wide receiver Domenik Hixon into next year's NFL Draft. Hixon was a fourth-round selection by the Denver Broncos last April.Canton McKinley product and defensive back Reggie Corner is a first-team All-MAC preseason choice by The Sporting News, as is offensive lineman Tim Crouch.The Zips do have talent, but the early schedule could be overwhelming.``It's not an easy schedule,'' Brookhart said, ``but we play the games that we're scheduled to play. We don't make excuses. We expect to win.''Pieced togetherRhoades was hired by Akron in the spring so this is not his schedule. He replaced Mike Thomas, who left for the University of Cincinnati. Football schedules are arranged years in advance. It's hard to figure out exactly how the 2006 opponents came together, because of previous athletic directors.But it's a bad schedule because it keeps the team on the road against tough independent competition. It also prevents a new fan base from seeing a team that has caught their attention.The only game that Rhoades scheduled is the Sept. 23 home opener when North Texas comes to the Rubber Bowl at 6 p.m.It's believed the Zips are paying North Texas about $250,000 for the visit to Akron. When the NCAA increased teams' regular season football schedules from 11 to 12 games, suddenly the Zips had to find someone.While North Texas was 2-9 last season, the Mean Green won four consecutive Sun Belt titles from 2001-2004, and they've been to bowl games in three of the past four years.North Texas returns Jamario Thomas, who was the 2004 national rushing champion. He missed part of last season with injuries. It's exactly the kind of team the Zips should be playing.``In the future, we want to get more games like this,'' said Rhoades. ``This is a quality opponent, it's at home and it makes for a good game for the fans.''Lions' denWhile games at Penn State and North Carolina State usually are only good because they bring cash for the Zips, the contracts drawn up years ago mean the games aren't even paying what is now market value.The Zips played at Penn State in 1999 and lost 70-24, then again in Brookhart's first game as coach in 2004 (a 48-10 loss). Akron has played at places such as Virginia (51-0 and 48-29), Wisconsin (48-31), Iowa (51-27), Maryland (44-14), Ohio State (28-14) and Purdue (49-29 and 33-14) since 2001.That's nine so-called ``money games'' in five years, all on the road and all losses. It's a financial fact of life that a program such as UA's must play at least one game of this type every season. But when a schedule seems tossed together as the one the Zips face this fall, it can be discouraging to everyone from the coaches to players to the fans.Even worse, three of Akron's five home games are in November.``I'm aware of that,'' said Rhoades. ``Our goal is to have six home games, six road games. And also to work with the MAC so that we have more home games earlier in the schedule.''UA has taken many serious steps to becoming a viable Division I football program. The training facilities and fieldhouse are first-rate. The talent is improving, as Brookhart has had the highest-rated MAC recruiting classes in each of the past two years according to many scouting services.Rhoades and Brookhart are discussing a contract extension for the coach.

Tall, fast kid who can leap. The only negative is that he looks a little shady in his photo. Rivals rates him three stars. If he can get rid of his off the field discipline problems that he had with the last coaching staff, he could be a great asset for us.

Thanks for the link TXZipFan. Their coverage is pretty in depth. We're not going to be able to sneek up on anyone this year, but I don't see that as a problem. Our program seems to get a little bit better every year under JD. It won't be long before we knock off a BCS school. Hopefully this year. Go Zips!

I like where he has us rated. I find it hard to believe that Can't will win more games than BG or Miami. Can't's new motto: "On the hunt to win a game against a 1AA school".

On the hunt for a win against a 1AA school or Buffalo if they are lucky.

Since this is a home game for Toledo, and it will probably sell out, then I am guessing this will also count as a very big boost towards their average yearly attendence. That means that the Suckeye fans will make the Rockets home attendance look much better in 2009 than what it normally is.

Thanks Mike. Great work! There's an awful lot of talent on those lists. If we could get just a handful of the top players in that group then it would be an outstanding class again. Kasperek's brother is huge. I would love to see him anchoring our line in a few years.

If Ben can't go for part or all of 06' then that means they turn to Charlie Batch?, Omar Jacobs? Tim Couch is available.

Well said. I couldn't agree with you more.

He never considered the fact that the reason why the Zips lost so much under Frye is because they consistently had one of the worst defenses in the league under Lee Owens. In his senior year they won seven games because of the Marshall fantastic finish, but also because the D was starting to get better. What a dumbass! You can score 40+ every week, but if you give up 41+ in those games your going to lose. This guy probably graduated from Can'ts journalism school. That would explain why he conveniently forgot to mention Can't as a bottom dweller.

I figured I would stir up the pot with those comments. Sorry GP1. I guesss your one of the very few Steeler fans who lives in Northeast Ohio and actually is from Pittsburgh. The rest are all just front runners.I don't think anyone on this site questions whether or not Charlie Frye has NFL ability. All of the reports from Browns headquarters in Berea indicate that he has been an absolute workaholic since the close of the 2005 season. An article in today's Reakin quotes Phil Savage as saying Charlie comes to the building everyday and is here from sun up to sun down. If Mr. Frye develops into one of the top quarterbacks in the league, he is going to cause a lot of grief for the rest of the AFC north. It will be interesting to see how the Zip/ Steeler fans handle that. Will they become Frye haters?

In order to make a comment like that you have to be a squeeler fan. Probably the kind that lives in northeast ohio and has no ties to the confluence. I don't know how you can say that their offseason acquisitions were poor. Those were some of the best I have ever seen and certainly the best since 1999. As far as injuries - With the exception of the stupid K2 thing last year, injuries are just a matter of bad luck. Don't worry squeeler fan, things will turn around in Cleveland and you'll find yourself torn between rooting for Frye and that team that you have zero geographical ties to.

I'm not surprised by that. JD and Coach Shanahan are good friends. JD probably convinced him that Hixon was a good value pick in the fourth round.

Wow, that sucked! Is this guy for real?

Not only does he have the tools, he also has an incredible work ethic. He has been at Browns headquarters virtually every day this offseason studying game film and bulking up. He has also bonded with Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. I think a lot of Browns and Zips fans will be presently surprised by his level of maturity next season.