Let'sGoZips94

Shall we turn this into a "Look Alike" thread? Did Flash make an appearance in this movie?

Birds Do Not Have Teeth Zippy Will Restore The Norm Knock Those Dang Teeth Out

2 or more technicals. Jimmy gets at least 1. Senderoff gets 1. 50+ points for the trio. And of course, the Zips win.

We'd be lucky to catch the "4 seed" Mountaineers. And by that I mean at their best, they are more of a 2 seed in my opinion. If we did draw them, I'd want some Level A trolling from the Zips. Bring something to remind them of their incredible choke job the other night in Lawrence.

Jimmy Hall is one of my least favorite Can't players of all time - and I strongly dislike 100% of them. He really got rattled last year, and I'm looking for more of the same from him this year. I'm not sure Senderoff survives this year. Akron needs to put the whoopin' on them, and make sure the Clown doesn't come back next year. On second thought... Can't has really sucked under him. Maybe we beat them by just enough to keep him around.

If there are basketball-related perks, such as a couple guaranteed home games for MAC schools throughout the season, I'd be ok with this. Make UCONN play the MAC Tourney Champion at the MAC school's gym. The runner-up gets to play UCONN at UCONN. Then take the other 2, top 4 schools and either split home and away, or send them both to UCONN to give UCONN some incentive to agree to this. Otherwise, the MAC needs to grow a spine and a pair, and tell UCONN to go pound salt.

I'm not on the marketing team, so I'm not 100% sure how their contracts and sponsorships are set up. As far as the two moments within the final 8 minutes goes, just have a solid supply of items ready to go. I'd set up a season-long sponsorship deal that says Company A buys a calculated X amount of items for giveaways towards the end of the game when the Zips go on a run. A certain number of items is allotted per timeout. If you have a leftover supply at the end of the season, the University can use it to giveaway to students on campus, promoting each of the University, Zips Athletics, and Company A. As for the situation that a game doesn't have such moments, I don't know. I'll let the people who get paid to figure that out, solve that dilemma. Maybe you go through the schedule and pick out the 10 or so most anticipated home games?

Winner Winner, Blue & Gold DINNER! Go Zips!

I like the idea of limiting contests to scheduled media timeouts. A lot. What if they marketed/sold "hype" slots? Have a Zips Rally Towel giveaway, where the cheerleaders and dance team throw Rally Towels to the crowd to wave around. Maybe do this during moments like last night, where the Zips were down by 11 and stormed back? Then have another item giveaway for when the Zips go on a nice run to extend their lead - not sure exactly what item this would be, since the MAC prohibits noise-makers. Obviously on the items, put a big Zips logo in the middle, with the sponsors logo in the corner or on the back. The first 30-45 seconds would be letting Zombie Nation play to keep the crowd hype, then keep Zombie Nation playing, or switch to WE WILL ROCK YOU for the remaining of the timeout, and have Willy announce the giveaway, but coupled with his usual hype speeches.

For those in the Akron area trying to watch on ESPN3... The game is BLACKED OUT. So pissed.

Excellent videos. A couple thoughts... 1) I agree that the shot at students who wear OSU gear is great. I also agree that the soccer promotion was top notch. 2) Frieda and Flash would have ugly hatchlings. I mean would they have teeth, would they not have teeth...? It's an anomaly to say the least. 3) How many "Zippy" costumes does the University have? I hope this was an old one that they were getting ready to throw out anyways. Since Flash touched it, I'd burn the dang thing just for good measure. 4) Rufus wishes Zippy were in his league.

I will say this. I think the University itself does a pretty pee poor job of getting their students engaged in athletics, especially with basketball. Again, this goes back to my previous comment regarding the layout of the JAR, but they stick the Rowdies - 50 or so students - in one end of the court behind a freaking basketball that you have to look around to see the other side. The rest are thrown up above, again on the end where you have to look over or through a basket to see a lot of the action. Get them on the side of the court and involved in the game. Give them signs, pom poms, etc. If I were on the AK-Rowdies leadership team, here are some things I would do... - Have theme nights. This is Marketing 101. It may sound a bit high schoolish, but it could be very effective. Kick it up a notch from the usual high school crap (camo night, etc.), and relate the themes to either the University, MAC, or NCAA as a whole. I could see something like Grayson Allen night, where students are asked to make all of their signs relate to "tripping". I'm not saying that's a theme the Rowdies should do because we don't play Duke, but it's edgy and would catch some national attention I'd assume. This is where getting the Rubberducks involved would be phenomenal. They are one of the best minor league organizations when it comes to marketing. They thread the needle with some of their themes, but they never cross the line and are absolutely terrific. - Have a committee of "retired" Rowdies that aid the current student Rowdies leadership team. Have the "retired" Rowdies committee help select the leaders, and coach them in how to get students involved, how to get national attention, etc. I remember 10 years ago (+/-), the Rowdies were talked about on national broadcasts. Their bus trips made a difference, and the media loved them. I don't know what the Rowdies do now as far as bus trips, but this is an area where former Rowdy leaders could be of much assistance. Not sure the retired Rowdies would do something like this, but if it's being mentioned that a large part of the current Rowdy contingent is made up of graduates, I feel like some would step up and help. - Get in sync with the rest of the students/crowd/band. Send people to the upper bowl to help organize a LET'S GO ZIPS chant, or Z-I-P-S or ZI-PS chant. If other students are reluctant to participate with the 50 or so Rowdies on the floor, get the crowd involved and force the hand of the other students. - Lastly, be creative. Come up with some game-time antic - within the rules - that gets you noticed. Do something that makes people want to join in. I forget which college student section does it (Nebraska maybe?) but the students sway side to side, with every other row going one direction, and the other rows going the opposite, during opponents' free throw attempts. That wouldn't work for us the way the JAR is set up, but you get the idea. Just my 2 cents.

Let's hope this makes them money, and they can have an extra pile of cash made for us on the side.

Give me 1000 of him all day every day. I think something the University needs to look into when it comes to renovating the JAR, is creating 2 levels in the lower bowl, and putting the students in the lower level of that lower bowl - Duke style. Make the first row in the second level of the lower bowl high enough as to not have a view obstructed by the heads of the students in front of them. I know I always enjoy watching a game from a more elevated seat, so this might even be more enjoyable for the big donors and season ticket holders that occupy the current lower bowl. This would give the students more of a visually pleasing view of the game - not obstructed by a basketball hoop - and would create a more involved/inviting atmosphere for students. College basketball is all about the atmosphere. If it ain't loud, crazy, and fun, what's the draw? What would draw someone to Akron over Ohio State, if the atmosphere is lame at Akron along with the lack of quality competition? Z.I.-P.S. What the Bulls fan left out of the article was the cost of the bus trip was $5, but he'd have to buy his own passport. Probably why his ex-girlfriend thought he was insane. BUFFALO'S IN CANADA!

POY and MVP are 2 COMPLETELY different categories. This was a hot topic when Steph Curry won the MVP over LeBron and some other guys like Westbrook, Harden, etc. Keene should be the unanimous POY. The guy leads the NCAA in PPG by 7! Big Dog is the MAC MVP, but won't get the POY award.

I know it's probably impossible to confirm unless you were in the huddle before the shot, but was Big Dog supposed to take that shot? Or was the play designed to have Robotham pop out beyond the arc after the inbounds pass and get the ball back from Big Dog? Z.I.-P.S. That shot by Big Dog was a thing of beauty. Who knew he had that?

Men's Soccer had to gain respect somehow. If I remember correctly, it took road wins and tournament runs to garner enough respect to get ACC teams to come into our house. Granted the soccer program had a slightly more established foundation to begin with, but not much. It's still AKRON. To compare to a fellow "mid-major" men's basketball program... Gonzaga had to go beat teams on the road and win tourney games for teams to finally respect them enough to play the Zags AT Gonzaga.

[Argument for Weaker Schedule to Secure 21+ wins] Take a page from the Men's Soccer handbook. I think it's page #1 or #2... "THE MAC BLOWS. ELIMINATE THAT HINDRANCE BY STRENGTHENING THE OOC SCHEDULE. IF THEY WILL NOT PLAY YOU AT YOUR PLACE, GO BEAT THEM AT THEIR'S."

Which included blowing a 21 point lead. I hope there's a bit of a hangover from that choke-job (OU pun intended ).

Wow the MAC is bad. Is this the worst the MAC has ever been? We are the only team in the top 100 RPI, and nobody else is even close. Nothing like some #MACtion to put a damper on your 18-3 start to the season.

Well, they travel to Akron once a year, and NEO 2-3 times a year - if you include Akron, Can't, and the MAC Tourney. I think it would be smart and efficient to combine their game travel obligations with a recruiting trip.

Step 1: Get ranked. Step 2: Back-up the ranking with an NCAA Tourney win... Or 2... Or 3... Etc. You should always strive to get ranked. But that ranking is meaningless if the end result is a laid egg in the NCAA Tourney.

I thought the same exact thing. Our marketing/in-game hype team needs to take a class on when/how to play certain songs to hype the crowd up, and when to leave certain promotions alone. I don't think schools like Kansas, Duke, UNC, etc., interrupt their high energy crowd with an in-game promotion. Willy (the MC) does a TREMENDOUS job at getting people hyped. Also, I was very disappointed in the Rowdies. I don't believe they did a "BUFFALO'S IN CANADA" chant all night. Willy went over to the band towards the end of the game, and started that chant with the band, but the Rowdies were MIA in that regard. Buffalo gave us their best game probably all season. We withstood their hot shooting barrage and still won. That was an impressive win by Akron. They pose matchup problems with their athleticism, but shooting wise that was a special night by them.

Halftime show: LeBron walks to half court and presents the president and AD with a huge check for a new arena. Just an idea... Or maybe more of a dream...

BRUCE! I used to wear a Weinkein jersey my mom made me when I was real little. Ended up staying in touch with Bruce and even Nate Schindewolf a bit throughout the years. I still have a game-worn jersey of Bruce's that will go in the man cave of my new house.