Blue & Gold

Definitely check out the Ohio.com link; EXCELLENT pictures! Here is a picture of Bowser's absolutely amazing catch!

I was very interested in last night's game and watched it in it's entirety. Before last night's game I was still a little unsure about where our Zips' team stood: expected, but well played losses to Wisky & Ball State; expected beatdowns of lowly Syracuse & Army, followed the strong and very entertaining game against equally tough-to-peg Cincy. I'm no longer doubtful. Cincy put the hurt on Marshall last night; made them look real bad. Marshall's lone td came on a long, blown-coverage pass to start the 2nd half. Other than that single play they really couldn't muster much O against the Bearcats at all. Additionally, due to Pike's injury, UC was starting a red-shirt freshman QB getting his very first snaps on the collegiate level.Thirdly, toward the end of the game UC fumbled the ball around the 5 yard line as they were driving in for another score. Thus, the score easily could have / should have been 40 - 10. Complete domination. The Zips' D has been playing extremely well the past 2 weeks making this team for real. We beat down Ball State the next time we play them... in Detroit! Fear the Roo!

It's funny you mention grey in the uniforms. I've thought for a couple years now we should toy around w/ using grey. A few years ago I saw a grey Cleveland Cavs jersey. The grey jersey w/ blue and gold numbers and lettering was sweet.

True, true! Gold-sequined Speedos would be so hot! Steam would be rising from the pool! I know Zipmeister would be a season ticket holder!

Not bad!Thanks Zip81! That is a sharp helmet!

Beanie, you seem to know quite a bit about this. As far as the gold on our helmets go, is there an "industry standard" for the gold color? I.e., is our gold the same as Army's, Notre Dame's, Florida State's, etc., gold?Oh, and any word on what the new home jerseys are gonna look like?

You mention the numbers being too big. I think you're definitely right. I mentioned earlier that our blue uni's look a little gaudy. As I look more critically at them, I think the only thing that really makes them look garish are in fact the huge numbers.

Zip81, great job w/ those helmets! Could you doctor this up a bit? Could you take Zippy out of this logo, simply use the words, The University of Akron, enlarge it & put it on the side of the helmet? It may look pretty sweet. (And I have absolutely no clue how to do that.) Thanks!But I did figure out how to paste the pic - I didn't think it'd be that simple.

Then leave the gold helmets alone! Don't change a thing! I'm all for the gold helmets! Let's just talk about maybe changing the sticker logo on the side.The white away jerseys are nice.Any idea what the new home blues will look like?

Ha! That's it. Thank you!

Good post. I understand what you're saying about appealing to the next generation. And we're on the same page w/ the Colorado uni's! In fact, I almost mentioned Colorado's uniforms in my first post!But as for the logo, as Colorado has a buffalo on the sides of their helmets, could we possibly go with the jumping kangaroo on the sides of ours? I believe we have a logo w/ the jumping Zippy with Akron written just below it. That may make a really nice helmet logo that is recognizeable and distinguishable on television. I don't know where to find a copy of those logos, nor do I know how to post a picture anyway!

I just really love the gold. I'm quite open-minded w/ everything else. But the gold? That's where I take a stand! I was honestly PISSED when Lee Owens changed the colors from gold to yellow! Yes, that mad. The gold is so traditional and classy, not to mention good looking. That's actually one thing I wish our basketball team did MUCH more often, if not for EVERY home game - wear gold uni's. They're so cool! I hope our new Nike/LBJ23's come in gold! My checkbook is waiting!!!

I will add three gripes. I only add these because I always hope to see the Zip athletic events being pulled together competently and professionally, and when I don't I get irked. 1. I entered through the upper gates approximately 30 minutes before kickoff (I enjoy watching the teams warm up) and there was no one selling programs on the upper level. I had to walk down to the main gates to purchase a program. There was an old, rickety, wooden folding table where they usually sell the programs, but no one was there. That's just stupid.2. We could do a whole lot more and a whole lot better with our ROTC students. I was in a junior Air Force ROTC program in high school (I know, how nerdy) and our drill instructor would have absolutely chewed our a$$es if we weren't crip, sharp, exacting and synchronized with our marching and flag-bearing. Our ROTC students look like they don't really know what their doing. What's up with that? These are college students, for crying out loud. We were just stupid, pimply-faced, brace-wearing high schoolers. Kick that unit up a few notches, Sarge. Also, get more of them out there. Have them do push ups after scores. Get them involved with the gameday festivities. Show off the program. It can be put on display for the whole stadium to see. Have some PRIDE!3. Did you guys see the pregame show? Did you see how the band lined up and how the team got confused about the band's formation? It looked like the band was trying to funnel the team towards the sideline, while they normally congregate around the 35-yard line. The team sort of tip-toed through the band to get together on the 35 to mosh & jump around. The first two Akron players leading the team actually tip-toed through the band and jogged over to the 50-yard line but then saw that the coin toss was still taking place. The rest of the team meandered over to the 35. Man, talk about an anti-climactic moment. The home team running onto the field is supposed to be one of the kick-a$$, pump-me-up moments of the evening but unfortunately it was just bush league and tragically comical. I hate to say it, but man, it was just so typical UA bush. Do the coaches and band director communicate about anything at all? Not only are these supposedly intelligent men, but they represent an institution of higher learning, for crying out loud. Everything, absolutely EVERYTHING, should be done with excellence.I hope that EVERYONE involved with gameday execution puts A LOT of forethought and planning into the gameday structure and environment once we move into the Info. I'll be pissed if the incompetence continues.To end on a positive note, I really like the 3:30 start time! I hope we do more of that in the future! There was plenty of time to tailgate in the morning and early afternoon before the game (I just can't party too much before 12:00 noon like some of you diehard tailgaters do) and then the game is over early enough to unwind & get dinner at a restaurant after the game. (My group went to the Ohio Brewing Company after the game.) This would be perfect for The Info when we could get dinner at a number of downtown establishments! Plus, in a few weeks it starts getting AWFULLY cold for those 6:00 p.m. starts. The afternoons are usually pretty nice though.

Also, as with the solid helmets (w/o any stripe), I also like solid pants; no stripe.

I belive you guys are correct - next year we'll still be wearing adidas football unis.I like this topic & give it thought on a regular basis. I also hope we go with a traditional, old-school look. The uni's this year have grown to be a little gaudy. I hope they simplify the look; clean it up a bit. I really like the BC uni's you pasted above. However, I do like the solid gold helmet w/o a stripe. But if they put a stripe on the helmet I'm not going to mind greatly. But if I had my drothers, I'd probably keep the solid gold. The year we won the MAC I really liked the blue stripe outlined w/ white stripes that we wore during the throwback games @ the RubberBowl.Apparently you didn't like the blue jersey w/ blue pants combo they wore on Saturday? I really like that look. I think they should make the blue jersey w/ gold pants their standard uni, but I'd also like to see them keep us guessing just a bit w/ occasionally going w/ the all blue look as well as the white pants look.I'd go w/ these combos:Home:blue jersey/gold pants (3 games; standard uniform)blue jersey/blue pants (2 games)blue jersey/white pants (1 game)Away:White jersey/gold pants (3 games; standard uniform)white jersey/blue pants (2 games)white jersey/white pants (1 game)and what about the possibility of a gold jersey? I've seen both Georgia Tech and UCF sport the gold jersey look now, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. And lastly, I STILL don't really like our signature logo. I've been hoping it'd grow on me, but it hasn't yet. I still think the "A" is obscure and that Zippy looks more like a donkey than a kangaroo. Also, from a distance it just looks like a blob. Could we go w/ the entire kangaroo silouette logo that we have? Or how about the vertical UA logo that the university generally uses. That logo is in a nice font & is sharp.

I don't yet, but now that you mention it, I should probably purchase them from our athletic department, right? I want to support Can't Statecks as little as possible!

Bottom line. Akron lost. It was not a good day.Eh, I still think it was a good day. At the end of the season this may be the most painful of all our losses, but, in a way, doesn't that make it a good day - feeling the exhilarating highs and painful lows is the distraction that sports is all about, right? A bad day is a "Blah, we had no chance from 5-minutes into the 1st quarter," day. We haven't had one of those days in a really long time, have we? This program is competitive on a high level. And (this is a good thing) most of us are coming to the point of expecting that! And I think Jac played a very good game. I know the last 3 minutes were a disappointment, but he kept us in the game (we should have won!) for 57 minutes. I'm a Jac defender now because I doubted him before the season began and believed that JD was blowing smoke when he'd say how much Jac's progressed as a QB. And I said as much on this board. I've been proven wrong so now I'll defend Jac on the board. He's a very good MAC QB and far exceeding my low preseason expectations. (Btw, if Rogers is right on his heels, then we've got it made at QB for the next 4 years!)It was the kicking game that lost this one for us. 5 points left on the field by the kicking team today. Also, IMHO, what was most important for me, is that I brought 3 friends to the game - one friend who had never been to the Rubber Bowl before! - and all 3 had a great time and want to return! In fact, my friend who'd never been to a Zips' game asked me when the next game was before I ever suggested he may want to come to the next game! That's progress! I also drove him by The Info after the game and he was gawking @ how big the stadium is and was wondering about season tickets!!! I feel we are most definitely on the right path w/ this program! Go Zips!

Not talking smack, but in all honesty, why wouldn't they? It'd be a good move for them. They'd probably do quite well @ that level (though their recruiting would drop off a bit from where it is now) and they wouldn't have to put up w/ weekly humiliations. Their program is literally an embarassment to their university. Again, I'm not talking smack, I'm being real. And as far as competing w/ us in football?... honestly, the death bell tolls for their program and I really believe their decision makers have to know this. The Info is going to give us some of the finest facilities in the entire nation, bar none, and have our sights set on moving up to a bigger conference. Moving down a level wouldn't be a bad move on their part. We could still play them once a year (I like the rivalry) but they'd have a lot more success at D-1AA.

Don't worry about PG. Humpty was a better PG last year as a senior in high school than either Dials or Ced (bless those guys; they're both natural 2-G's.) If we had Humpty running the point last year we would have beaten UMass in the NIT.

I just saw this article on Dante. It's by Rivals.com but I saw it on the front page of Yahoo.http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...p&type=lgns

This is going to be emotionally devastating to Dante. I hope his family and friends circle around and give him the unconditional support he's going to need over the next couple of years.

Agreed! I liked our 4 DL look against Army. IMHO the most disruptive thing a defense can do is put pressure on the QB - even if they don't get a sack all night, disrupting the QB's rhythm and the timing of both passing and running plays is vital. I watch the 3-3-5 and just see most of our players at least 3 yards off the line of scrimmage waiting for the RB to get to them. It very rarely produces tackles for loss.To give JD and his staff credit where credit is due, I thought the D played great against Army and I really appreciaed their flexibility to make the adjustment to the 4 down linemen!

If that happens again this year it will really demonstrate that Kelley is a much better coach than JD. Kelley (and his staff) made some very real and effective in-game adjustments 2 years ago while the Zips made, as far as we could all tell, absolutely none. IMO, in-game adjustments are one of the more important qualities of a good coach (and staff) & we've had some mild rumblings around ZipsNation about our lack of them.

I didn't catch that! What all were they saying about it?

To any Ball State fans reading this board, can you please keep us updated on Dante's condition and recovery? It would be greatly appreciated by everyone here @ ZipsNation. Thanks. Be assured he and his family are in my prayers.