Class of 82

This seems like one heckuva get to me, assuming of course that isn't just a load of premature fabrication. This is the first test for the new AD. I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt, and I'll support whoever he brings in.GO ZIPS!

Expecting to beat a lousy Indiana team at home is unrealistic? I sure don't think so. Talent-wise, they are no better than Akron, in my opinion.As for me, I'm going to let the season play out and hope the team and coaches are successful at trying to get better as we move along.When the season is over, it will be time to evaluate where the program is and what steps need to be taken

And the No.-1 team on the waiting list is..... Marshall's Lumbering Turd!I still can't stop laughing.

I'm not at all surprised by that line, or the lofty over-under. Our defense is getting no respect. Nor should they, until they prove otherwise.My heart wants to predict an upset, but my head tells me merely to predict a legitimately entertaining football game against a very talented opponent in a very intimidating environment.I think it'll be fairly close at halftime, with the Lions pulling away in the second half.Penn State 38, Akron 20.

Ummm... so what? I mean, seriously. I can't think of a more irrelevant statistic.But look. All of these rankings are little more than a measure of perceptions about various schools, with a built-in bias against public universities that have open enrollment. They also are a great way to sell magazines.The sad thing, truly, is that there are educated people who actually buy into this sort of statistical hocus-pocus masquerading as some sort of legitimate measure of quality. But then, the way the science of statistics has come to be routinely and purposefully butchered by people who know-- or ought to know-- better is one of the real tragedies of modern America.All I can tell you is that the quality of education available to undergraduate and graduate students at Akron is quite high, and certainly the equal to what can be had at OU. I know, because when I attended graduate school at a "Tier-1" university in California, I was as well prepared as my peers who had not come from lowly Akron. In quite a few cases, I was better prepared.Education is largely what you, as a student, want to make of it. And that's true no matter what school you attend.

The only question in confidence that I'm feeling revolves around the defense. Can they finally step up and be a consistent force? CJ and the O put up 30 a game last year, and Akron still went 5-7.So maybe I'm in the minority, but I expect CJacq and the offense to have a fine season. He has more than enough talent, and he has the weapons around him to help Akron score on virtually everyone on the schedule.I like that he's confident, and think he has pretty solid reason to be.

Look at any of the academic rankings lately? The new U.S. News & World Report places Akron in the lowest category ("Tier 4") and Ohio in Tier 1. Do you "get" that?Hey cat-breath,Yeah. I've seen the "rankings." And they are utter bullsh*t.Open-enrollment institutions will always be ranked low, because the "rankings" punish public institutions who offer a chance at a college education to everyone. The rankings say nothing instructive about the quality of education at Akron, or any other university that offers open enrollment.

As people have already pointed out on the espn site, teams that have actually won national championships (ie. BYU and Minnesota) are currently left out of this idiotic poll. And it is totally idiotic.Personally, I'd like to see the BCS folks actually try to pull something like this. Their very existance is a violation of federal anti-trust law, but they currently get a pass. They try to pull something like this, and there'd be political and legal hell to pay. Orrin Hatch, top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is already pissed off about the Utah thing. If they pitched BYU out of the FBS, I think he'd go absolutely postal. ANd for good reason.

I seem to detect a direct correlation between the horrors that are Indians and Pirates baseball with the mid-July interest in college football.How else to explain our Pennzoil State guests? :)By the way, welcome Pennzoilers!

You know what's sweet about being laughed at?The satisfaction of laughing last.Our day will come. And so will their nightmare. If I were Brookhart, this kind of stuff would be all over training camp. Zippy may be cute and cuddly, but our football team ought to have a gigantic chip on their collective shoulders. They ought to be mad as hell and ready to severely punish the a**hole in front of them. Nobody's gonna give our Zips respect. It's up to them to take it!GO ZIPS!

Our mascot is a kangaroo, but we're not and our athletes are not either. We-- and they-- are Zips.To the age-old, dismissive, insulting question of, "What the hell's a Zip?," my answer from now on is, "You're worst fricking nightmare, pal. Your worst fricking nightmare."

The impact of any marketing effort is almost always at the margin of ticket sales, not at the core, as some people here seem to think. The core marketing of Akron football is the product itself, which either draws fans with wins or repels fans with losses. And that is one area totally outside the marketing department's control.What I'm really looking for out of the marketing department this year won't be evident until Sept. 5. It is critical (especially for season ticket sales next year) that they manage an absolutely high-quality gameday experience for fans coming to the Info, especially since it's a new venue and so many people will be attending Akron games for the first time. You only get one chance to make a first impression. You have to make it a good one.

The last thing they'll do is be up front about it. I hope Penn State prepares with the expectation of the same old stack and sees something entirely different.But quite honestly, I expect that the stack will remain the basic defensive set. Why? Because JD seems to believe in it, even if we all think he's out of his mind. That said, with the extra size and depth at DL, I bet we see a few more wrinkles on a situational and/or game-by-game basis than we have in past seasons.But heck, as a fan all I wanna see them do is stop somebody. I don't care much how they line up or what they call the defense.GO ZIPS!

I didn't find your post insulting, g-mann. I think you were dead on.Zips fans, as individuals, do indeed have it in their power to turn this whole thing around a lot more than any individuals in the UA's marketing department. And in the new stadium, you have been given the ideal tool. It WAS hard to get people to come down to the bowl. It will NOT be hard to get some friends to attend a game at the new stadium.What the marketing department needs to be doing is empowering Zips fans with even more tools and incentives to take a personal stake in marketing Zips athletics. What that might entail is limited only by NCAA rules and their own creativity, but the fans that they already have are the key to the fans that they want to have.My two cents.

Exactly right, skip. Of course we all know Indiana is no powerhouse and that beating them is, as you said, no more momentous than NC State or Syracuse were. But the eyes of the region will be on Akron that afternoon, in a way that hasn't happened, well, ever, as far as football is concerned. That's why I think the Zips will be feeling pressure like they've never felt it before.Throw in the pressure to win that IU will be under in their own right, and you have the makings for a whale of a college football game.

It's a huge game for both teams.For Indiana, it is an absolute must win. While a perennial also-ran in the Big 10 for the last 40 years, IU had never lost to a MAC team prior to last season, when they lost to both Ball State and Central Michigan. A loss at Akron would be, to say the least, a devastating blow to a program desperate to become competitive in the Big 10.For Akron, it's not only a legitimate shot to chalk up another win against a BCS opponent, it's the marquee game for the inaugural season at the Info. It's the chance to finally open the eyes of northeast Ohio football fans to what has long been one of the area's truly great entertainment values that now features an arguably unmatched venue.What makes this game most interesting to me is that for the first time in Akron football history, the Zips actually will be facing real pressure to win... and not just be competitive... against a BCS opponent. Who knows what the spread will be, but it doesn't really matter if Akron is favored or an underdog. They need this game. And they need it bad.And that's the only thing that worries me about the Morgan State game. Akron's not experienced enough or good enough to look past anybody, and I think the Zips will have a tough time not thinking about Sept. 12 while they're getting ready for Sept. 5.

I agree. Having seen a lot of California JUCO ball first hand, I know it's not Div-1 football. But I'll tell you what. There are some serious, serious players there. A guy dominating on the DL there can most definitely help a program like Akron's. That may or may not translate into domination, but I believe it absolutely will translate into solid play. And you can take that to the bank. I think the toughest thing for JUCO guys often is how they fit into team chemistry, especially when they're usually taking a spot or playing time from somebody who was recruited as a fresman and might have redshirted. Heck man. Nobody likes a mercenary, and sometimes that's how JUCO transfers are viewed, at least initially, by teammates.As for Henderson and Bain, I'm very optimistic that they can have an immediate impact as well. I mean geez. Look at what they've both been through over the last two years or so. Henderson's football fortunes went from the highest of heights to the lowest of lows almost overnight, and now he's got his shot at redemption. If he gets the classwork stuff worked out, I think you're likely looking at a guy with a motivation level that is off the charts... and the body and talent to do amazing things. Bain transferred to Akron looking for a place he could be happy and just play football. We all know the hell he's gone through. If he feels half of what I think I'd feel were I in his shoes, I pity the kids who get in this guy's way.I guess the common theme for all three of those guys is redemption. They've each got things to prove... to themselves and to people who have written them off. I hope they can do that. And I like their chances.

Wow. What an awesome kid!It's so easy to forget that college athletics is... in the end... really about kids who are going to college and starting out in life.I hope Kristen achieves everything she wants to do.GO ZIPS!

With the Bishops battling away in their pointy, mitre-shaped helmets, I'm afraid the Quakers would have little chance.As I understand it, Ohio Wesleyan invented "spearing," and that unassuming stadium in Delaware is grotesquely stained with the blood of countless victims.

Email bryanhu@uakron.edu, the Team Shop guy.I'm sure Bryan would be happy to answer any questions you have.

You might drop an e-mail to the AD's office to find out when or if the game-style jersey's you're looking for are or will be available to the public. They may know of a licensee that's making and selling them.Just so you know, somebody has to pony up the dough for the set-up fee, which for a high-end item like game jerseys can be pretty steep. Not a big deal if you're going to sell a million of them, but prohibitive if you can only sell a few hundred or even a couple thousand. It's quite possible the last licensee you got yours from lost his a** on Akron gear and quit offering them.Unfortunately, business is business. And Akron football simply isn't big business yet.

So a flush, Buckeye, Orange, and Mountaineer fall somwhere between the two?They're not Div-1, but I was always a little intimidated by the Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan.

Now THAT'S fantastic news... for the Zips and for Chris Henderson. The kid probably feels like he's been through the ringer and finally sees light at the end of the tunnel.Man, I just love mixing metaphors.

Deciding between Sky Way and Swensons' is extremely dangerous.If I recall correctly, that is precisely how they got HAL to self-immolate in 2001: A Space Odyssey.Throw Dilly's, the Corral and Bob's into the mix, and the potential for mass hysteria is incalcuable. Oh, the horror.Fortunately, Garner Brothers and the Hungry "I" are no longer around.

All hail Cheeser!Ooeygooeyness for all!