Class of 82

Nice job!!!! Go Zips

Quote from KD in the Plain Dealer... My thoughts exactly! Havoc hinges greatly on made baskets by VCU. Solid Akron defense can trump Havoc and turn this game into a battle of match-ups. And if it's a battle of match-ups, Akron should have the advantage everywhere but point guard. Let's go, Zips!

FWIW, try the Beer Haus on Merriman/Riverview just north of the Liberty Commons area on the west side of the street. Very accommodating staff. Excellent array of hi-def TVs. Killer selection of brews, and nice food (though a little pricey). Usually a much older crowd than the Liberty Commons scene, and I'm sure they'd be happy to have some Zips fans in the haus! On the Rocks on Portage Path (next to the Getaway and Fiesta Pizza) would be another option. I'd recommend the Getaway as well, but they have live music on Thursday nights.

Agreed. One thing that will be interesting is how many Michigan fans stick around for a 9:45 game... especially if S. Dakota St. pulls off the upset. (They're pretty good.) Always enjoy your input here, District. I wish we were playing somebody else, because I like Shaka and VCU quite a lot.

I don't think it will matter much. At most, it could help offset the national media already hyping a VCU-Michigan match-up in the next round. Virtually no one, other than the die-hards here and the Zips themselves, give Akron a snowball's chance in this game. So there's no way Shaka can get a bigger chip on his team's shoulders than the one already on the Zips' shoulders. And the Rams won't be the underdog neutral crowd darling this time around; the Zips will assume that role. I still think it comes down to the Rams outside shooting, because Akron is going to protect the paint and the rim at all costs on defense. If the Rams start making a bunch of outside shots to set up their press on a tee all night, Akron could easily be in for a major thump job. If not... well, I actually think Akron has a really good shot at winning this game.

While I am certainly wary (and very respectful) of VCU's Havoc pressure, I thought I'd throw out that one of the key ways to overcome that style of play has little-to-nothing to do with ball-handling. You play great defense yourself, keep them at a low percentage of made buckets, protect the rim, dominate the defensive glass, and push the ball with outlet passes. The Zips are a very good defensive team... they are a very good rebounding team with a significant height advantage at virtually every position but one... and have one of the best shot-blockers in the tournament. VCU is probably a better shooting squad than they showed in the A-10 final, but their poor shooting in that game took a significant amount of sting out of their pressure game. If they shoot like that against Akron (and Akron can definitely have a formidable say in that stat), I think the Zips can beat these guys. I have a lot of faith in this team and in this coach. I think they will be coached up and ready for battle. They will not be an easy out. GO ZIPS!

I can relate, MDZip. My first reaction was shock/disbelief. Anger followed close behind. But if the team and the staff can move on and keep plugging, all the while hoping the best for their friend and teammate, I suppose that's all I can do as a fan as well. I was very moved by the team's effort against Can't and even more so by KD's comments afterward. Many coaches might have thrown Alex under the bus, and a lot of people might have thought they had good reason. But not this coach. A young man he genuinely loves is in serious trouble, and that's his major concern. That, and continuing to teach and guide the rest of the guys on the roster. As fans, we're lucky to have a guy like this coaching our team. But I came away from watching that presser knowing that his players are even luckier. And not just Alex. That whole bunch will be better people from having been around this guy. When he says he cares about the kids in his program, they can kniow with absolute certainty that he really does mean it. So, I'm not angry anymore. And, ironically, I even have a renewed pride in a program that's faced no small amount of adversity and bad publicity this season. Anyway, don't sell these kids short. They still have a boatload of ability. Their dream can still come true, and I'll be pulling for them with everything I've got. Keep the faith, bro!

Absolutely. Having to say goodbye to old friends at the end of every season is one of the features that makes high school and college athletics so special. It's always bittersweet. And I agree that this is a special group of seniors. It should be a very emotional night.

Good post, Dave. I'm still of the opinion that Akron has to win the MACC to get in. Rankings are really nice, but the NCAA is the NCAA and the selection process is what it is. Good, deserving teams are always left out. They will be this year, too. Depending on possible conference tourney upsets around the country, there could be more deseerving teams than usual left out in this topsy-turvy season of college basketball. But the bottom line for me is that there is absolutely no reason not to believe Akron will win the MACC. They're the best, deepest team in the conference. Anyways, one game at a time. Right now, I just want to see Akron beat Buffalo on Saturday. And then on to the next one. GO ZIPS!

I like the idea of a two-level facility with the concourse/concessions/restrooms, etc., at street level. I'm totally not down with loges/club level/press box separating the upper seats from lower bowl. I would hope we'd learn our lesson from that idiotic track that needlessly ruins more than half the seats in the JAR. We need a place where all of the fans are as close as possible to the court. Capacity for 7,000 to 8,000. A decent team shop. Plenty of restrooms. Well-thought-out concessions areas. Easy to exit after games.

It's always fun to speculate, but holding out hope for an at-large bid is pretty much begging for disappointment. IMO, our only realistic at-large chances blew up in Puerto Rico. That tournament was ours for the taking with Tree and Harney playing. C'est la vie. I'd like to see us win out the regular season. It would be an unbelievable achievement, especially considering we still have Ohio and Buffalo on the road. Still, the Zips have a realistic shot to pull off something really special. But I believe they'll still have to win the MAC tournament to make the NCAA. This is the MAC. Nobody's going to give this team any crumbs or feel sorry for them. To get what those boys (and we) want, they're going to have to take it. And I hope that's their mindset. GO ZIPS!

Could not agree more about Zeke's steady improvement on the court. If one objectively looks at what he has achieved as a Zip and how Zeke has helped make the team better throughout his tenure, you come away certain that he has had one of the best careers of any Zip ever. But that's simply not how many of his critics judge him. They don't compare, and have never compared, him with the kid from McKeesport who came here. Rather, they compare him to some figment of their imaginations based on what they wanted him to become, and they miss what a nice career he's had. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but I don't see Zeke as an underachiever at all. He's already on my all-time list of favorite Zips, and I'm old enough that Bill Turner is on that list. Plus, how the heck can you not just like this guy? He's not only a heckuva player but also a really nice, respectable young man.

Wow... that was a pretty entertaining football game. A fitting end to an impressive season of MAC football. And the better team, by far, won out. I thought NIU had the perfect game plan on defense. Take away Archer and the running game and put all the load on Spencer Keith. Against that defense, it was eventually just more than Keith could handle in the end. Especially with that mind-bogglingly horrific call for a tight-end reverse... or whatever it was... on 3rd and 1 in the first OT. Finally, Jordan Lynch is just a terrific college football player. Can't has a fine defense, but it seemed like every time they had to stop Lynch they just couldn't. The MAC POY played like the POY. P.S. While a BCS bid seems remote (at best) now, it will be interesting to see how many MAC teams go bowling and what the ultimate paydays prove to be.

Agreed. I think having Marshall in the MAC was great, and for precisely the reasons you provide. I'd add, too, that Miami and (especially) Ohio U were and still are their natural rivals. Them moving to that fiasco known as C-USA was a real negative for the MAC, but it hasn't been very good for Marshall, either. (I wish a few Akron fans would consider Marshall's experience as an object lesson of grass not always being greener elsewhere.) I just found it funny that a forum poll... unscientific as it is... would show a plurality in favor of rejoining a conference that the vast majority couldn't wait to get out of just a few short years ago. P.S. Coming from behind to beat Marshall in 2004 was one of the best games I never saw at the Rubber Bowl. Under-dressed and freezing our kiesters off, we left midway through the third quarter and watched the stunning last few minutes on ESPN at the bar.

The numbers may change, but this poll and its thread almost made me spit my coffee I laughed so hard. http://marshall.rivals.com/forum.asp?fid=2236 Hope y'all enjoy this as much as I did.

I'll predict NIU 31 Can't State 21 But I'll be rooting for K.e.n.t. Not because I like them (I don't... at all) but because it keeps the pressure squarely and unmistakeably on Akron to get the program on track. Plus, a K.e.n.t win should prove decisively that there can be light at the end of a pretty dark tunnel.

Wow... 8-tracks. I put one in my first car (beat-up 1962 Ford Falcon). We thought they were so cool. Yet, they hissed like snakes on playback and almost invariably cut at least one song in half. Among the tapes in my collection at the time were Jethro Tull's Aqualung, Led Zeppelin III, Cream's Disraeli Gears, Rolling Stones Let It Bleed, and David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. And Dr. Z... thanks for embedding the vid!

Is it just me, or is December 2 is too long to wait for more Zips basketball? If you remember that video, you're an old f@rt like me. Hope everyone had a nice turkey day. Class of 82

Huge, impressive win for K.e.n.t today. I think NIU should beat the Flushes, but that will be a fun game to watch. Congratulations, Flashers, but don't get too cocky. Enjoy this while you can, 'cause our day is coming soon.

Very nice performance today against a decent opponent. Hope it puts to rest some of the doom and gloom. Observations: 1. CG... obviously feeling a little better! 2. Abreu still not 100%, but played like a leader. Zeke... solid presence in the paint. Huge having Tree and Harney back, and they both contributed nicely. They showed just how much we missed them at Coastal and against Okla. St. the other morning. Walsh... played like a senior leader, just like CG and Zeke. I really like Kretzer. Just scratching the surface with this kid. I still expect great things from this group this year. Let's go get the next one! GO ZIPS!

So what? K.e.n.t football hasn't won a MAC championship in 40-plus years... and lost 12 out of 15 Wagon Wheel games not too long ago (all, by the way in that 25-year period you keep harping on). They're making a pretty credible run at a championship now, and they've had a good Wagon Wheel run of late. Yet, you're just so certain that Akron can't do exactly the same? You say those who reject your take are the ones being unrealistic? Good grief.

Well, at least the cat's out of the bag now, eh? This is just more of the same pessimism and negativity that drives me crazy about Akron. The glass is always half empty here. No belief in a bright future. No vision of the possible. "Where we belong" is always something lesser. I get that you're discouraged and down. I mean, fine. I really do get it. We're all disappointed. But you'll have to pardon a lot of us for not buying what you're selling.

Well, what consistent leadership and vision have we had? Very little, if you ask me. And what kind of real credibility have we had? Until TB, I think the answer is the same. Because we have a credible coach who I believed kids will want to play for. I still believe that, and we'll know better next February whether or not that is the case. I still think Winters would have been a good hire, but I'm convinced TB was a far better one. Paul could have helped us turn things around for the very reasons you state. But I think TB has a better shot to do it far more quickly simply because he is a guy with a ton of charisma and credibility. Same with his staff. I'll look forward to your analysis! Keep the faith, bro!

Akron has merely proved that facilities, by themselves, are neither the deal maker nor the deal breaker. Leadership and vision are, ultimately, what kids want to be associated with. We have had that in soccer with Lolla and Porter. We have had that in basketball with KD. Now, we hope we have it with TB, and I don't think that hope is misplaced. (By the way, anyone old enough to remember the Coleman Crawford days knows that our basketball program was once pretty much where football finds itself now.) I don't believe that for one second. I don't know. I think a lot of fans, me included, failed to grasp fully just how low the football program had fallen. We hoped competent coaching could result in squeezing out a few more wins. But the program was, obviously, beyond a couple of tweaks here and there. Were we better? Yes, we were. But the league got better, too. There's still more work to do. But a couple of good classes and some key transfers will make a huge difference. It certainly has for K.e.n.t. It will for us, too. Anyway, I get that the "weather" seems a lot crappier than usual this week, but the sky isn't falling.

Hi Wally, First, a frustrating football season with so many areas of marked improvement... other than in wins. PLUS a disappointing loss by the basketball team = ... doom and gloom. Throw in the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers, and every northeast Ohio frustration of the past (along with future ones that many people are certain will occur but haven't happened... yet) comes bubbling to the surface and spilling doo doo all over our front porch. But I'm with you. I get tired of it as well. As Captain Kangaroo explained to his heartbroken son, it isn't easy being a Zips fan. It will be painful, and it will be hard. And it will be tempting to just chuck it to the side and fine some other wagon to jump on. A lot of people have. Some people will. But I can't do that. I won't do that. Lots of reasons for it, with loyalty being the first that comes to mind. But a close second is the certainty, first, that a better day will come and, second, that today's bitter pill will eventually make tomorrow's sweet success even sweeter. I don't know exactly when our day will come, but it will. And I'm going to be there come what may. All the best to you, Class of 82 P.S. GO ZIPS!