Blue & Gold

Remember, no one has "signed" yet, nothing is certain until signing day in February (and things can change after that, such as kids not qualifying academically, getting into legal trouble, etc.). Don't get too hung up on "multi-star" players. Rivals.com, Scout.com, and others are businesses that feed into fan recruiting mania. You can be a great player, but if you don't go to their camps, you may get ignored. There are plenty of "no star" players that would help most any team, but for one reason or another aren't ranked by them. For example, in my state (I don't live in Ohio) the best running back wasn't even ranked in the Rivals.com "stars" list. Why? He didn't go to their camp. At some point you have to trust the coaching staff. From what I have seen MAC coaches work harder than BCS coaches at recruiting because they have to. Fans can help alert coaches to potential talent, especially fans who live outside the normal recruiting area. Nice info! Thanks for the lowdown!

Ha! I just don't think most of us are excited enough about the coaching of this FB team to summon the energy and commitment required to win one of those online polls. It really took a concentrated effort to help Zippy win.

Thanks for another great recap, GoZips!

Does anyone know if there are any architectural drawings floating around the web somewhere that show the layout of the concourse areas - concession stands, restrooms, etc.?

Hey ZW or GZ, do you, or does anyone know when the next inter-squad scimmage is? I'd really like to make it to one!Thanks!

I am not an OSU fan, and frankly, it is due to jealousy - I turn green with envy and rage everytime OSU is featured on the front page of our local paper, which is about 7 days a week. (So, needless to say, I am not in a healthy state!)However, as much as it pains me to do so, I generally try to keep those sentiments to myself. Currently, I don't think it does much good to try to make life-long OSU fans feel like they must choose between either Akron or OSU. If painted into that corner, I think 99% of greater Akron area sports fans will choose OSU. (Maybe right now, OSU deserves that following - they've been a successful program for nearly 100 years. Here at Akron, we are growing a program.) My hope is that we add to our numbers OSU fans who will also begin to follow the Zips. If, one day, they wake up and say to themselves, "Know what, I actually like the Zips more than the Sucks" great! If not, well... that's okay too; we Zips fans can't be too picky about who our fans are.I remember going to a restaurant a couple of years ago to watch the Zips - NC State game. OSU was on tv after the Zips, so toward the end of the game some OSU fans began filing into the restaurant. Some of them were seated @ the table next to mine. One of them got on his cell phone and called someone, telling them rather excitedly that Akron was actually on tv! Apparently he hadn't heard (again, presently that's okay; it's our reality - we all on this board fish for Zips info, but, currently, we are a rare breed.) When Akron scored the touchdown to beat NC State the OSU fans were cheering, arms raised to the sky, as if OSU had just beaten Michigan for the umpteenth time in a row. So, presently, I think it is probably a strategic error to make lifelong OSU fans feel as if they must completely abandon their love of the Sucks in order to be Zips fans. I'm hoping the next generation - our kids - will be raised PROPERLY and be true to their hometown team. But that's another 20 years away. Right now, I think I'm satisfied with growing the Zips fan base, even if many in that fan base still consider themselves to also be Buckeyes fans.

I don't have any idea. I'll bet there will be some tickets to purchase at the Akron boxoffice, but I have no idea how many. Also, I'd be willing to bet you could get walkup tickets @ Pitt's Peterson Events Center - it's a pretty big joint. It's the nicest basketball arena I've ever seen. It is basketball specific arena - not a multi-purpose arena - so there isn't a bad seat in the house.Also, I'm sure you could get tickets online directly from Pitt & have them waiting for you at will call.

I hesitate to respond to a question about recruiting because there are so many on this board who are much more knowledgeable than I and who seem to always have inside information that I am totally oblivious to. But, having said that, I'm not real excited about our recruiting efforts this year. Rivals.com is really my only source of information, besides Rasor's blog. We only have signed 3 players thus far, and two are pretty small guys 5-9 & 5-10 WR's. Here is the link to the Rivals site:http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/commi...100&Sport=1However, we have recently gotten so many top caliber players via JUCO and transfer that I'm actually a little more interested if JD has any more of those up his sleave rather than following the high school recruiting so much. We'll see; it's still early in the process. Honestly though, I thought our beautiful new stadium would make recruiting take off seemingly more than it has. Perhaps the recruits have to see the stadium rather than pictures and a hole in the ground?Also, I really do like our last few recruiting classes. I think JD definitely has this program heading in the right direction. I've never seen so much talent on a Zips roster as I currently see. It's quite impressive.

Hey ZW or GZ, how did the McKnight brothers look?Thanks!

I haven't been to a soccer match yet this year, so I haven't seen the Rowdies first hand. But I like the fact that they are indeed, well, rowdy! Soccer hooligans are supposed to be tough! By the sound of things, we may have the rowdiest soccer crowd in the nation?! And perhaps soccer could really use a new rule to help limit all this flopping that I constantly hear of. Commentators were complaining about this at the previous World Cup tourney. Maybe NCAA soccer needs a rule that if a player interupts play due to an injury, that player must remain on the sidelines for at least the next 15 minutes of play? That sounds fair, doesn't it? If the player is truly injured, he's probably not going to feel like running on a blown-out knee for at least 15 minutes And this would probably stop the flopping, which does ruin the natural flow of the game.

Hey GoZips,I know you went to today's scrimmage. Can you give us a rundown?Thanks!

Another great sign idea is (I don't remember if I read it somewhere on ZipsNation or on Rasor's blog) K-ent State Golden Felons.

Thanks for the update; Live Stats wasn't loading for me for some reason. Nice win! If anyone was in attendance, can you give us a rundown on the atmosphere @ the game? How was the crowd on such a cold, Wednesday night?

Did anyone out there attend the UM game tonight? If so, what was the outcome? Thanks!

Last season Temple shredded our D. Only our D could make Temple's offense look good!

Witnessing Jac's lack of mobility, I find it really hard to believe he was originally recruited to play WR. Is there any truth to that rumor?

Wow. That was hilarious! I laughed out loud for about 30 seconds when I read that.

Which would then require the coining of another term "Can't yourself'. "We've Kented ourselves twice this year."Ha! Very well said!

I hate that reality, but I think you're right. My dream is that the ABJ would cover the living daylights out of Zips athletics which would THEN ignite our communities interest about the program. However, the ABJ has to primarily be concerned with selling papers and right now more people in greater Akron are more interested in the Buckeyes than the Zips. The only way that will change is to start winning. Why do people prefer Ohio State over Ohio U? Because OSU is a consistent winner, and has been for as long as anyone can remember. Just to get little barbs in on some of my OSU fan-friends, I ask them, if they're truly "state of Ohio" fans, why they don't root for Ohio University. They can't ever answer that with an honest, straight answer. That's because the truthful answer is that people are naturally band wagon jumpers on. The fact of the matter is that people just want to be associated with a winner. It's human nature; makes us feel better about ourselves and, quite frankly, is much more fun than following a losing program. Winning, unfortunately, comes before coverage. It's not a chicken-or-egg situation. This is a very important time for the football program. The Info will be worthy of much coverage and community attention. Now we MUST put a winner on the field! It is an absolute imperative. If we put a winner on the field and average 25k a game, the ABJ will be happy to write more stories about us.The Cleveland television media is a different story. I don't have much hope in them. But, know what, that's FINE, because I don't know many people who aren't grey haired and in assisted living homes that even watch the local 6:00 news anymore. The ole channel 3, 5 and 8 times are slipping away. It's the age of the internet, baby! And I'm excited about that!

Here ya go. It doesn't get any better than this, does it? Can we do better than this?! That had better be our goal! Except for the playing of the OSU fight song, the remainder of the Skull Session goes quickly downhill from here.Note that the most important song the band plays is the FIGHT song. Not an artistic interpretation song.Go as military as all get out and get us psyched out of our minds.

That's where most people's problem with the band comes from, I think. It's just not the type of stuff you want to hear from a college marching band at a football game. If the fans wanted to hear that, they could just pump it in over the loudspeakers.again one world trying to entertain the otherThen the band better know why they're there - to pump up a crowd for a violent, hard-hitting football game. Save artsy-fartsy for E.J. Thomas Hall.

Well, count me in as one that does think that the band plays a large part in the color and tradition of a college football game. This topic was discussed in detail last Spring in a thread I started named 'UA Traditions'. It was an interesting discussion and good reading for those of you that did not see it.Football is a game that has many war metaphors. This is the reason that many fans like to hear some military music and see military marching formations prior to a game. It would be exciting to hear a drum line from far off and then see a military march of 100 or so in the band approaching the field of battle (Infocision). I don't see why we could not do this, despite what instruments we have in the band. Stage at the Stiles field house (or JAR) next year and march (parade) to the stadium to drums and an occasional 'to arms' military bugal number. It would get everyone very excited and involved. I really like our fight song and how Akron's band plays it. You hear the quality of the sound of our band when the National Anthem is played. At halftime the band could show off its musical expertise, but before the game we need them to get us all worked up.EXACTLY. Has anyone here ever been to the Skull Session before an OSU football game? The first 2 minutes of the Skull Session are absolutely thrilling. The remaining 20 minutes are completely boring. Why? Well, firstly, the band marches in to that sweet @ss drum cadence that just absolutely gets your adrenaline pumping through your veins (see war symbolism above - football is a very violent sport btw.) And secondly, they follow it up with the OSU fight song (once again, get my adrenaline pumping so much I feel like my head is gonna explode and I wanna hit something!!! IT'S FOOTBALL/WAR!!!) The remainder of the Skull Session sucks because they just play whatever. The Band needs to PUMP PEOPLE UP FOR WAR!

That's the style of ball he liked to run @ St.V/M.

I voted we win because EMU stinks. We're fortunate we miss both WMU and CMU.

One thing I would absolutely do away with before moving into Info next season is dotting the "i" in Zips. Wow!!!!!! That is an absolutely embarrassing and el-cheapo knock off of we-all-know-who. It's downright humiliating and shameful. Whoever had the idea to do that is never allowed to volunteer any ideas ever again. Also, the band has really got to work on their formation when the team runs onto the field. It still seems confusing out there and is embarrassing. The band should funnel the team towards the 40 or 50 yard line - not towards the sideline. It's just not working.