Blue & Gold

Those properties are going to block the construction of the new residence halls, correct? IMO the residence halls add a lot to the stadium's ambience in the architectural renderings. That jury really shot this community in the foot. 3 million dollars for slum lord urban blight?

I agree. As I look at our roster I'm truly impressed. I think we've got the talent equivalent of any non-elite Big 10 school. But it will all come down to QB play: if we see the same QB play as we did last year then we'll finish at the bottom of the MAC East; if we receive (much) better QB play then we can win the Motor City Bowl.Last year really opened my eyes as to the true vitality of the QB. Unless you've got Barry Sanders there's just no getting around lousy QB play.

that should be it's own thread, a thread where everyone posts zips stories so we can all comment on them and make the papers see that we want zips coverage and not can't state articles.That's a good idea. Now that you mention it, I was looking at Syracuse's Scout.com forum and they have a daily thread for news stories involving the university and its athletics, and posting comments in the links is encouraged.I second that. It's a great idea that is so seemingly obvious I'm surprised we didn't think of that years ago!

I think you hit the nail on the head - I see him playing one of our hybid positions (Rover, Sam or Bandit - whatever the heck those things are.) At RB he's surely no better than Pinky Johnson, and if Pinky is 3rd string going into camp... well, you get the picture. I think DT would serve the team much better on the defensive side of the ball.

Well put. As I look at our roster I really think we are quite stacked with talent - except for the all-important QB position. If we get the same QB play we received last year then we'll finish near the bottom of the MAC East; if we get good QB play then we'll win the MACC. IMHO.

And some people on here always think we are a lot better than we are.I doubt we beat Syracuse. I think we lose by at least 14.I agree. As much as I hate to say it and as I am well aware of how down the 'Cuse is presently, we were just so awful last year that I'd have to consider beating the 'Cuse an upset.

I'm also excited to see Swiech out there! I used to enjoy watching Swiech shake hands w/ the other teams following games last year - he usually dwarfed anyone on the opposing team! I absolutely loved Jeremiah Wood but I can't wait to get a 6-10, 250, long-armed body out there!!!

Vince Hill... what an unstable flake.

This is kind of surprising to me. With 14 rotation worthy players on the roster and 5 of them being freshman you would think more than 2 would be redshirted. I can't imagine we would run with a 12 man rotation. If you're not going to use 1 or 2 of those guys why not redshirt them and get an extra year out of them?I agree. It pains me to watch a player burn a possilbe red-shirt year and yet only play 30 seconds a game. I don't think that helps the team, let alone the players' confidence & development much.

Sounds good. I take it Big Brother cannot keep people from smoking inside the new club since it will be a private establishment?

Zipsrifle, what were you speaking of with this quote. Did I miss an announcement or something, or have you noticed a trend over the past couple of years that escaped me?It's more a trend than anything, at Akron:2000: 2001: OSU, Purdue2002: Iowa2003: Wisconsin2004: Penn State2005: Purdue2006: Penn State2007: OSU, Indiana2008: Wisconsin2009: IndianaDoing a little research:BGSU:2000: Mich2001: NW'n2002: 2003: Purdue2004: 2005: Wisconsin 2006: Wisconsin, OSU2007: Minn, MSU2008: MinnesotaBSU:2000: 2001: 2002: 2003: 2004: Purdue2005: Iowa2006: Indiana, Purdue, Mich2007: Illinois, Indiana2008: IndianaBuffalo:2000: 2001: 2002: Minnesota2003: Iowa2004: 2005: 2006: Wisconsin 2007: PSU2008: CMU:2000: Purdue2001: MSU2002: Indiana 2003: Michigan2004: Indiana, MSU2005: Indiana, PSU2006: Michigan2007: PSU2008: Purdue, IndianaEMU:2000: 2001: 2002: MSU2003: 2004: 2005: Mich.2006: MSU, NW'n 2007: Mich. NW'n2008: MSUCan't:2000: Purdue 2001: Iowa2002: OSU2003: PSU2004: Iowa2005: MSU 2006: Minnesota2007: OSU2008: Miami:2000: OSU 2001: Mich., Iowa2002: Iowa2003: Iowa, NW'n2004: Mich.2005: OSU 2006: NW'n, Purdue2007: Minnesota2008: MichNIU:2000: NW'n2001: Illinois2002: Wisconsin2003: 2004: 2005: Mich, NW'n2006: OSU, Iowa2007: Iowa, Wisconsin2008: MinnesotaOU:2000: Minnesota2001: 2002: 2003: Minnesota2004: 2005: NW'n2006: Illinois2007: 2008: OSU, NW'nTemple:2000: 2001: 2002: 2003: PSU2004: 2005: Wisconsin2006: Minnesota, PSU2007: PSU2008: PSUToledo:2000: PSU 2001: Minnesota2002: Minnesota2003: 2004: Minnesota2005: 2006: 2007: Purdue2008: MichiganWMU:2000: Wisconsin, Iowa2001: Mich.2002: Mich, Purdue2003: MSU2004: Illinois2005: MSU2006: Indiana2007: Indiana, Iowa2008: IllinoisSo, yea, Each MAC school plays just about 1 B11 opponent every year since 2000. Looks like almost every MAC school has scheduled a B11 opponent for the last 4 years (including this year). When is Toledo gonna step up and play OSU? I thought the OSU signed a deal to play every Ohio MAC team? And whats with Indiana and Minnesota playing all the MAC teams? Also, I'm amazed at how WMU got Indiana at home last year and Illinois at home this year!Oh, dude, you're so right. My question was a complete brain freeze - when you said Big 11 I was thinking you meant the Big 12. Yeah, of course you meant the Big 11(10). My bad. Dumb question.

Zipsrifle, what were you speaking of with this quote. Did I miss an announcement or something, or have you noticed a trend over the past couple of years that escaped me?

Good idea. I've been saying for a couple of years now that we should intentionally try to stoke up a rivalry w/ Toledo. It's a natural rivalry-in-the-making. And, aside from the last 2 years, they have had an outstanding FB program.

Can't we ask Goodyear to fly the real blimp over The Info for our home games? It's certainly going to be a community event and I see the blimp out flying around all the time anyway.

Can Brett McKnight play the 2-guard spot? That would give us a huuuuge starting lineup:C - 6-10 SweichPF - 6-8 CMacSF - 6-8 Linhart2G - 6-5 BMacPG - 5-10 Steward

I always used to feel as if we had a shot in any game when we had a good QB (Charlie Frye), but last year's absolutely lousy QB play still haunts me in my dreams. I don't think we're going to be able to consistently run the ball against Wisky, so, yeah, I think we're in trouble. I just can't get over how disappointed I am/was in the QBs last season. I've never seen anything so poor in D-1 ball. I'm hoping that Matt Rogers is a revelation and winds up being MAC Frosh of the year. Other than QB this team is incredibly talented (w/ questionable WR's, but I'm optimistic.) But even if Matt Rogers is a revelation, Wisky will be his first D-1 game and I wouldn't really expect him to start getting real comfortable in the offense until about week 3 or 4 anyway.If we get good QB play we win the MAC; if we get the same QB play we got last year we go 0-6 in the MAC East.

Yep. Pitt, 'Cuse, Louisville & Cincy. I agree; those are exactly the teams we should be playing.

How could you have missed MALONE?! Come on, now!

I was thinking the same thing. I'm the same size as this kid. When I go to a D-1 college football game I want to see skilled position athletes that blow me away! I want to pay money to see athletes that leave me in shock-and-awe; athletes that cause me to say, "Whoa! How on earth does someone that size move like that?!?!" I'm 5'8" 175 and pretty athletic (if I do say so myself ). But I have no doubt that this kid could certainly run circles around me. But I wanna see WR's that can run circles around me and that are 6'2". I want to take friends to Zips' games that normally don't go to Zips games and have them be blown away by the athletes on the field, not look at the roster and say, "Man, he's small." It just adds to the area's disgusting misconception that, "ANYONE can play at Akron, right? A 3rd stringer from McKinley could start at Akron, right? Massillon would beat UA by 4 touchdowns, right?" Maybe this dude will be another David Harvey (athletically - not academically!). David was an underwhelming physical specimen but, man-oh-man, a flat-out player. But 5'9" 170 just doesn't pass the D-1 eyeball test. Sounds more like a Malone, Walsh, Mount Union or Can't WR.

Thanks for the invite, TexanMark! I'll reply too, so you don't feel shafted... but I'm not going to be able to make the 'Cuse trip either. I'm pretty busy on weekends and don't often have the ability to make road trips. But again, thank you for the invite & have fun!

Wow, what horrible news. I was planning on making a couple CVCA matches this year to see Ben play. Here's to a quick and full recovery.

He is so the man. What did we, the good citizens of this city, do to have the good fortune of having the greatest basketball player on the planet also be the most generous homeboy one could possibly imagine?

I think the Akron/YSU rivalry would be a good thing. A great way to start the year. I'd be more excited over that rivalry game than just hoping we can keep it close w/ Wisky for 3 quarters. We'd probably win 8 out of 10 games w/ YSU. They'd win once in a while, which would be a good thing for the interest of the rivalry.

Though there is a lot of disagreement about this on the board, I've thought for years that we should open up each season, AT HOME, against YSU. 1. It gives us another good weather home game - not many of those to be had in Akron, 2. Start the season w/ a W instead of an L. 3. YSU would make a natural rival w/ a good attendance 4. College programs don't get to scrimmage, or have pre-season games, so IMHO going off and playing your 1st game of the year against an elite program is just asking for a loss. Play YSU 1st, get some of the bugs out, and then go on the road to Wisky or OSU.

Yup. If we get good QB play we win the MAC. If we get poor QB play we'll be lucky to get to .500. Easy as that.