Blue & Gold

Just wanted to try this...Linhart LinkSweet! Thanks Dr. Z!

I'm actually excited about our future and our place in the MAC. Not only do we have some natural rivals in the MAC that we love to hate - Miami, OU & Can't, but we also are honestly putting ourselves in a position to dominate the conference. If we dominate the MAC like Boise State does the WAC in football and Memphis does C-USA in basketball, then we'll receive plenty of national attention. I honestly don't think we're too far from pulling this off.

Here is a link to a story in The Buchtellite on Nate Linhart. I haven't read the article yet, but it's by Vincent Dorsey so I'm sure it'll be very good!http://media.www.buchtelite.com/media/stor...tmlemaileditionP.s. Could someone try to explain to me how I can simply change the name of a link like so many of you on ZN are able to do?

Nate has been a pleasure to watch. He's got a high basketball IQ and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. CK said it best about Nate's hustle: 100%. Infofan mentioned that without Nate we would yet to have a 20-win season. Couldn't be more true. Nate has been at the core of this team for years. He will truly be missed on the court next season, but he'll always be a member of the Zips family!My favorite Nate moment: last year's last-second, follow-up tip-in to beat OU! Priceless! Nate will remember that the rest of his life! So will I.

In cams 2 & 3 I believe you can see a cement-filled trench that looks like it should be the eastern sideline of the playing field?

Oops, I see the Captain beat me to posting a link to this article! Sorry for stepping on toes!

Here is a link to yet another interesting story in the ABJ about the new coaches @ spring drills.http://www.ohio.com/sports/40694842.htmlAs an aside (perhaps I should start a separate thread for this next point & question) but the Beacon's coverage has been what I would consider excellent for quite a while now. I've been upset with the BJ for years for lack of Zips coverage. But I'm a softy and they've won me back. However, to the more cynical out there, am I being naive and will I have my heart broken again, or has the BJ truly changed their philosophy and are they really focussing on Akron as opposed to Columbus and Cleveland as we had all hoped they would?

I was able to see him play on one of the ESPN channels about a month ago. He had a great game! If I remember correctly he was the game's leading scorer.

Wow, that is an awesome prize!But a 4-hour practice on Saturday?! Good grief, that seems like a long practice to me. How long does a normal practice last? I would guess 2 hours?

I don't think anyone knows yet. Welcome to the frustration!

It would be nice if they'd put the model in the foyer of the JAR on Thursday for people to gawk at. You'd think they'd try to expose the model to AMAP - As Many People As Possible. (Or does that just make way too much sense for our athletics marketing staff?)

I agree. I think we may be expecting a bit too much from a true-freshman Zeke. He'll be good, no doubt, but still developing. Which is completely natural; we have to be patient. He may not hit his stride right away. None-the-less I expect he'll fit right in and be a contributor next season (though, honestly, I had the same high expectations for Steven Sweich).

That's what I've heard too. Mike Rasor reported it on his Zips' blog @ Ohio.com. I don't know much about the 3-4. Are the 3 down linemen all DT size?

JT's fire for football was cooling last season. Isn't JT looking for a few gigs in Hollywood? If not we could always use a DL coach! With the quality of our current staff he'd fit right in!

Gamechanger has said similar things a couple of times on ZN. So Ray is probably spot-on in his observations. Thanks for the article, Ray!

I know I should be satisfied with simply getting rid of the 3-3-5, but I want to hear JD proclaim that, "We're going to line up and run the good old fashioned and proven 4-3. We're simply gonna get the big uglies on the freaking line of scrimmage and we're going to kick your ass. Here we come. Be afraid."

I'm with you, Dave in Green. I can never understand it when big men don't dunk! I'm only 5'8" and used to be able to almost dunk a volleyball. Dunk the freaking ball! Of course, being only 5'8" I was always pretty coordinated, which can be much more difficult for someone a foot taller than me. I understand that. But none-the-less, they are D-1 scholarship basketball players who work on their games everyday. Nothing frustrates me more than big men who don't attack the rim hard and don't want to just absolutely crush it home and tear the thing down!

Btw, I just read KD's post game comments concerning the McKnights and I didn't get the feeling he was throwing them under the proverbial bus. I thought he was just being matter-of-fact that the McKnight bros. both had below average performances, that sometimes that happens, that sometimes the ball doesn't fall and that it probably wouldn't happen again. And I was always a pretty psychologically sensitive athlete - I always needed encourament from a coach. But if I was one of the McKnight bros I wouldn't take offense to what KD said.

I LOVE to hate Can't, Miami and Ohio. Those schools are why I actually enjoy being in the MAC. If we'd look to another conference I really would miss those rivalries. These rivalries are also why I'm more for just trying to dominate the MAC rather than jump ship. I think if we'd become the Boise State of the MAC we'd have great attendance averages. People love to follow a winner and we haven't won much of anything yet - even though those of us who follow the program more closely realize how far we have come.However, for the sake of this discussion, I think our "newer" rivalries should be with other metropolitan/urban universities. I'm excited about the budding rivalry with Buffalo! I think we should stoke the natural rivalry with Toledo. This is also one reason I actually enjoy having Temple in the MAC - though I agree with many of you that we should require them to join for all sports. I also think we should work on keeping games with Syracuse and Cincy (yet more urban universities) and try to get a little something going with Pitt (though I honestly think Pitt may be a little afraid to start scheduling us - they don't have much to gain but a lot to lose in playing us.)

THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!

When Penn State joined the Big 10 the athletic directors got together to create rivalry matchups. Penn State and other Big 10 teams created special trophies to play for (like our Wagon Wheel game). So, yeah, you can sometimes stoke a rivalry up.So who is PSU's rivals now???? When they used to play Pitt, THAT was a rival.You can make all the crappy trophies you want.Marshall was our best chance at another "Ken+"Marshall most certainly could have been another rival - though I suspect it was only a one-way rivalry, as we loved to beat them, but I'm not so sure they had the same animosity towards us as we had towards them?You're right, I'm sure PSU's new Big 10 rivals aren't as fierce as the old Pitt rivalry. But I think if you'd ask PSU fans who their big rivals are now they'd say OSU and Michigan State.

With the depth we have on the DL why wouldn't we just employ the good ol' smash-mouth 4-3? I guess that both Baltimore and Pittsburgh have been successful employing the 3-4, but both those teams have enjoyed the services of an all-world linebacker; Ray Lewis with Baltimore and James Harrison with Pittsburgh (I'm drawing a blank on the name of the Pittsburgh all-world LB that Harrison replaced.) I can't help but think that may be a component to running a dominant 3-4. The odds of getting a LB like that are slim-to-none. So I think we should just run the 4-3.

When Penn State joined the Big 10 the athletic directors got together to create rivalry matchups. Penn State and other Big 10 teams created special trophies to play for (like our Wagon Wheel game). So, yeah, you can sometimes stoke a rivalry up.

I voted for Toledo. I think both universities should attempt to stoke this natural rivalry more. Can't is no doubt our main rival. I already consider Miami and Ohio big-time rivals and schools that I love to hate.

Oh, I totally agree with you! I'm pumped for this game and am enjoying watching it online. I think we're gonna keep our 20-win season streak alive and have the 3 best freshmen in the MAC this year in Humpty, McClanahan & Nikola!