Kangaroo Craig

Yea, those plates are just awful! When thinking of all the numbskulls who work for the license bureau the answer becomes fairly obvious. Every time I go there the first thing that comes to mind is: How many monkeys does it take to screw in a light bulb? or in this case, issue new plates.

Will Zips Nation all be sitting in the same section? If so, where? I am goping to try to make it. Definitely better in person than on the tube. Plus, those announcers for cable 23 suck!

Here is the link to a story that is found on the Senior Bowl website. it is in regards to the three quarterbacks who will be calling the signals for the north squad on January 29th. www.seniorbowl.com/2005/news/2005northqbs.htm The story starts out touting Frye as the top NFL prospect followed by Orlovsky and then Orton. Here's hoping that Charlie has a great game followed by an outstanding workout out the NFL combine next month in Indianapolis. Does anyone know if Charlie will be holding a private workout for NFL scouts?

The point about Solich being the Savior in Athens is an interesting one. I recall reading all of the preseason rags last summer that said UCF would challenge for the east title because of their new high profile coach George O'Leary. Look where that got them. If OU is going to challenge next year they are going to need to get some more talent.

Mel Kiper Jr. currently has Charlie Frye rated as the 17th best overall prospect. He is rated the top overall quarterback. I believe that this list includes only the players who are either seniors or are underclassmen who have declared themselves eligible for next years draft. The only underclassman currently listed is SC's Mike Williams, who as we all know, got screwed by following the lead of Maurice Clarrett. Here is the link to Mel's list: http://espn.go.com/melkiper/

He'll probably want about $2.5 - $3M. per year. The Browns need some help at that position. They should cut their ties with Griffith and Little and bring in Smith to compliment last years number two pick Sean Jones of Georgia who missed the entire season with an injury. They could have a nice starting secondary with Smith, Jones, McCutcheon, and Henry.

That's hillarious JP. I'm laughing my A*# off here! What an idiot the David Lee Morgan is. Sad thing is, that's probably exactly what happened!

I was tailgating with a friend before yesterday's Browns game and noticed a guy a couple of cars over wearing a Zips Football hooded sweatshirt so I decided to go over to him and introduce myself. Turns out that he was one of the members of the Zips football team. There were two others with him (All starters). I am not going to reveal any of their names in order to protect the innocent. I asked them to tell me a little bit about JD and how he compares to LO. They told me that JD works his tail off and is always available if one of the players needs to see him. They said that Lee Owens spent more time on the golf course than in his office. Its a wonder that they even won close to half of their games under Owens. The players are all confident that JD Brookhart will turn this thing around in a hurry. Two of these three guys will be back next year. They are very excited to get it going again. I am looking forward to eight to ten wins and a bowl berth next year.

I will be tailgating with the Lambda Chi contingent. Word has it that the Greeks and Greek alumni will be showing strong. As long as the rain holds off, I will be optimistic and predict 27,000. Go Zips!

The best game I have seen at the Rubber Bowl. That last four minutes was unbelievable. Kudos to the fans as well. 29,000 plus! Way to show up and support the Zips! We now need 13,000 for the Miami game to make the 15K number. I heard Steve French on the radio say that there is a rumor out there that ESPN is considering moving the Miami game to Friday November 19th for another nationally televised game. If that happens, don't be suprised if the bowl sells completely out! I can't wait for that one. I have not been so hyped about the Zips since our move to 1A! Great job boys!

Great pick up, but I was thinking the same thing. Seems like were getting a lot of QB's. I would hope that they start stocking up on good offensive and defensive linemen. We certainly could use some receivers too. Hard to beleive that it is a weakness now.

As far as locker room fodder, it wasn't anything written or said by Marshall coaches or players. It is still a definite motivating factor though because it gives the Zips a chance to prove to the nation, on national TV, that they are not the bottom dwellers that Buffalo, Can't, and UCF are. Right now I would say they on the level of OU which is just a step below Miami and Marshall. In two weeks they have the opportunity to "step up" to the big boys. The Zips beat them here two years ago and knocked out Leftwich. The Rubber Bowl should be full, and the fans and team will be fired up. Lets take care of business with BSU and then give the Blundering Terd something to remember the Zips by when they go to Conference USA. Go Zips!

What is the minimum seating requirement for 1A. I thought it was 30,000. If the endzone area comprises 10% of the seats then they're going to still need to add some seats somewhere else. If the design calls for 20,000 plus an additional 3000 in club seats and luxury boxes, then they would need to be able to seat 7,000 between that end zone and standing room only. Might be possible. I am just afraid that the school is trying to take the cheapest approach possible. The JAR is not a bonifide D1 facility. It was originally designed for 12,000. They scaled it back to 7K in a cost saving measure. I know, you guys are going to say that it doesn't sell out anyway so that isn't a big deal, but nice facilities are a good recruiting tool. If JD is the real deal that I hope he is, then were going to wish we had the extra seating when we try to get duckets and they are not available. I just don't want to see them make the same mistake twice. The indoor practice facility is the best I have ever seen. Good start! Lets now build a large enough stadium to attract quality opponents and more importantly, quality athletes.

The initial design looks good, but why not just spend a few more dollars and add seats in the end zone instead of casual seating. Then we would have something very similar in capacity to the Rubber Bowl, but much more modern and more importantly on campus. Can you imagine what that end zone casual seating would look like in the rain? What a muddy mess! Of course, no one sits there anyway unless the rest of the seats are full. I hope it moves forward soon. Another great recruiting tool right next door to the practice facility.

I do not understand the argument that everyone tries to make about players that come out of the MAC are unproven because they don't play against so called "top notch competition". If the media is going to make that argument, then why don't they also say that MAC players who achieve lofty goals are better than those from BCS schools because they are also surrounded by 10 inferior players. After all, anyone could look good when they are on a great team. As shitty as Ringer is, he would probably rush for 1000 yards behind OSU or Michigan's line. Why don't they ever look at it both ways? The reason why MAC players succeed in the NFL is because the NFL does have a clue when it comes to identifying talent. I take that back. Every team except for the Browns. What a piss poor game against NYG. War Charlie Frye going to the Browns next year!

I attended the Golden Ticket practice tonight at the new athletic field house. This practice was reserved for only season ticket holders. This was my first look at the place and I would have to say that it rivals that facility in Berea used by the Browns. After practice I spoke with JD and told him that. He said that when the Denver Broncos used it to prepare for the HOF game, Mike Shanahan commented to JD that "This place is better than many of the NFL practice facilities. After practice JD addressed the sparse crowd (About 200) and said that the new digs are better than Pitt's and theirs was state of the art four years ago when it was built. JD said that our place is a good 20 yards longer and wider than Pitt's facility. JD also commented that Charlie Frye is head and shoulders over any quarterback he's ever coached. He said that it is just amazing how quickly he has grasped the new system. JD said that so far he's happy with the changes made this offseason to the defense. He fell short of making any predictions though. I think thats just his style. He strikes me as being an honest and straight forward kind of guy. I understand that he used to work in sales. Its very evident in his positive approach to everything. He's a no BS guy. Here are some random thoughts on the practice: The rushing game and looked ok, but it was hard to really gauge anything considering that the team was in shells and not going full out. Charlie looked good as usual hitting almost everything within 20 yards. His long balls were thrown only where the receivers could catch them, but unfortunately most of the long balls were just slightly overthrown (By less than a yard). A little extra work on timing and we're going to see more big plays like last year. The defense did bend, but stiffend up nicely in the two minute offense. They actually forced Charlie into a sack. Of course we'll never know if it would have actually been a sack since in practice the defense only has to touch the quarterback to get him down. Nonetheless the pressure was there. For me the highlight of the night was getting my mini roo helmet signed by both JD and #5. It'll be worth something when both become famous.

Gradkowski has proven that he may be on par with Frye. I would say that Stan Hill is still probably a step below those two. Unfortunately for Frye, Akron is not the perennial powerhouse that Toledo and Marshall are so Frye's accomplishments sometimes go unnoticed. If the Zips can come out of the gate say 4-0 or 3-1, and at least one victory over PSU or VA, then he will start to get some national praise. If the Zips win the MAC this year and he passes for over 3500 yards again, then Frye almost certainly becomes a top 10, maybe even a top 5 draft choice next year. He is a first rounder if he just gets the yardage. Considering the national bias against the MAC, he could wind up being one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time and not even get a single vote in the Heisman race. Don't be surprised if the Heisman trophy winner this year gets drafted below Frye. The NFL doesn't use bias when making draft picks. They can't afford to. To me the Heisman is sometimes a joke because many times the best player doesn't win. Remember Steve McNair of Alcorn State? How about Jerry Rice from Mississippi Valley State? Who won the Heisman when those two were Seniors?

I was just browsing the NFL.com website and saw a plug for Dwight Smith who will be aired live on NFL Network tonight (212 on Directv). He will be on Bucs Cam tonight between 7 - 8:00 pm. For all you Browns fans out there, Jim Brown will be live in studio during the show.

Sorry Captain. That last reply was by me, Kangaroo Craig. Forgot to log in. I agree, Roger Brown is an Ass! I think we are all hopeful that JD makes him eat his words come December.

He did play an awsome game against us, but we lost because of the usual reason - Our defense couldn't hold em when we had a lead in the last two minutes. I am confident that JD will make our D better. They looked fired up during the spring game this year.

A good portion of the money would come from the Wolstien family who was going to pay for the new crib anyway. If UA could strike a deal with these guys and cover a third or even half of the cost, then everybody wins. The biggest issue here is whether or not the MLS would be willing to field a team in Akron instead of Cleveland. History says that Summit County will support it. Lets face it, the cavs should have never left Richfield.

That's funny! I hate Suckeye fan. Especially the ones who graduated from MAC schools, but follow the Suckeyes because their front runners. They claim that they can be Suckeye fans because they live in Ohio. Somebody please explain that rediculous logic to me. These people have absolutely no ties to that school down south. Do any of you guys remember Kendall Lewis AKA "The BSK" formerly of WKNR Sports Radio? I used to hate it when he would get on the radio and start pimping the Suckeyes. Especially since he went to OU. Dude is Bobcat!

Last night I heard some very sad news regarding the passing of Bart Wolstein. Does anybody know what implications this will have on bringing MLS soccer to northeast Ohio? I know that there were some rumors floating around earlier this year that said that Mr. Wolstein had discussions with Mr. Thomas about a multi sport venue near the U of A that could double as a new field for the Zips. Of course we also heard that he was interested in building something in Boston Heights. That would be a big mistake! Wilma Smith said last night that Bart's oldest son was still pursuing this, but no confirmation.

I am soooooooo tired of mediocrity! Thomas already fired a very average football coach, who doesn't know anything about defense, earlier this year. Now it is time for him to purge a down right bad basketball coach whose players don't respond to him. Dan must go! The next question becomes "Who do we replace him with?" Are there any budding Bob Huggins' out there?

I don't think that Mike Thomas and the rest of the Akron brain trust are stupid enough to consider anything that is not right on or very very close to campus, say downtown Akron near the ballpark. I am concerned that they might consider a 25,000 seat facility though. In the early 1980's the JAR arena was originally designed for 8 - 10,000, but was scaled down as a cost saving move. You can only speculate, but a bigger facility back then probably would have brought in better players. The same thing can be said for a high class football stadium. Rat Fink is right. It would be a I-AA class stadium. If the Zips have any dreams of becoming an upper echolon program in the MAC, and I know they do. They had better build something in the 40,000 range similar to what Connecticut recently did. I believe the Rubber Bowl holds about 36,000 so we're basically talking in the same size range. Based upon what they are doing regarding the new fieldhouse, I think that there is reason for optimisim. I just hope and pray that they make the right decision. Memo to Dr Proenza and Mr. Thomas: Don't be neanderthals about this. It is an extremely important decision.