Blue & Gold

I'm sure it is a dream-come-true for him to play in Detroit. Hopefully it works out for him.It would be a dream-come-true for me to play football in Siberia for 5M for 2 years!!!

Good for Romeo. I guess that makes me one of the "older people?"

IMO the NCAA selection committee doesn't have any standards/criteria for selecting or denying the mid-major programs. IMO I truly believe that the NCAA selection committee actually looks for any reason to keep the mid-majors out. The NCAA tourney is a racket.

Ha. That sounds so mean, but skip-zip's right. That's an accurate statement when he says most people don't even know VCU is a school. I became a little embarrassed and aggravated when I would tell my friends who we were playing in the Bracketbuster game - trying to hype the game and get them to come out - because without fail every one of them said, "Who?" I'd tell them, "Remember, they beat Duke in the NCAA tourney last year?!" And they'd respond, "Oh. Uh.. I think I kinda remember that." Oh, well. We mid-majors definitely have it rough. At least the Zippers got Temple & Dayton this year and then Ohio, Miami & K.e.n.t. twice every year, so that's a really good schedule - definitely worth the price of season tickets. Throw in VCU and Winthrop and IMHO that's a great mid-major schedule.

Exactly. Our schedule is fine. Losing to Duke and NC does nothing for you. One has to remember that on top of losing to VCU, Winthrop, K.e.n.t. & Dayton we also have bad losses against N.Illinois and Central Michigan. Western Michigan is an understandable loss, but 1) they pounded us and 2) K.e.n.t. beat them! So right now K.e.n.t. is 1) winning games they should win / not losing games they shouldn't lose, and 2) winning the toss-up games. In our program's history we have been inconsistent w/ #1 and completely unsuccessful w/ #2. No wonder K.e.n.t. is in the Top 25. They deserve it. We don't. The schedule's not the issue. If we had accomplished what Can't has w/ both points 1 and 2 above, we'd be in the Top 25 right now too.

So did I. He must have been drafted in a late round and thought that another free year of college was worth more than what he'd make playing in the minors?

Can someone out there w/ more basketball knowledge than I help me out? What kind of offense do we run? We don't seem to do ANYTHING but look to hoist up 3-pointers. IMHO that's not a quality offense. What was with that Dials 3 at the end there? I understand letting your athletes & shooters make plays, but I just don't really see any offensive strategy going on out on the floor. Kinda like coach Brown of the CAVS just giving the ball to LeBron at the end of games and seeing what happens. I understand letting your best players do what they do best, but that doesn't seem to require much coaching, per se.

Great game. Very intense! Lots of fun. Maynor is the real deal! Very smooth. VCU look like a Sweet 16 team!

I hope the Wisky game's not back on. Though I am growing weary and bored of seeing Army on the schedule every year, I do like the idea of scheduling Cincy & Syracuse level opponents. I really think it would be wise to take additional smaller-steps like those (Cincy & 'Cuse) to build up the competitive/winning culture of our program more before taking on the upper-echelon, elite BCS schools. I say take on anyone from the ACC (excluding Miami) and anyone from the Big East (I'd be all for scheduling as many Big East opponents as possible!). IMO, stear completely away from the SEC (except for Kentucky and Vanderbilt). And as far as the Big 10 goes, I say schedule Northwestern, Michigan State, Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois & Purdue, but steer clear of Wisky, Michigan, Iowa, OSU & Penn State.Additionally, to build a winning culture on the team, I'm for scheduling a I-AA opponent every year to start the season. A lot of teams do that! A lot of elite BCS schools do that! Since there are no scrimmages allowed in college ball (?!) I think it's a good idea! Get a win under your belt right off the bat. Experiment w/ the playbook. See what gametime talent you've got on the field. Do our fans a favor by taking advantage of the nice weather of early September. And bring in some nice, marketable opponents. Some great I-AA draws could be Youngstown State (why not have a rivalry w/ them - for the sake of attendance we need as many rivalry games as possible), UMass, Rhode Island, Delaware, Appalachian State, Indiana State, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Missouri State. I think all those schools would make for marketable games. And most importantly - WINNABLE.

I like any defense that can get pressure on the QB. Nothing disrupts an offensive rhythm like blowing up a play in the backfield. I haven't seen the Zips doing much of that for a couple of years now. The 3-3-5 D seems like a "bend-but-don't-break" sort of D. But that really wears a D down. I think we'd all agree that over the last few years, by the end of games our D is completely exhausted. (Of course, that may just as well have to do w/ our lack of offensive production.) I guess we need to revamp both our defense and our offense!!!

Why wouldn't KD want B. McKnight driving to the basket?

What morning show? Are you on WZIP?

Haha! This is quite the controversy. I just can't think of Zippy as a 'she'. He's not a she, he's a he! Zippy's a dude. Mascots are quite often (more often than not?) idiosyncratic. Very quick examples: Can't's bird has teeth, Brutus Buckeye has a body and the Miami Dolphins are affectionately called "The Fish" - even though dolphins are mammals! And while all mascots are at least somewhat idiosyncratic, additionally, there's not a mascot is the world that is anatomically correct!!! So just 'casue Zippy has a pouch doesn't mean he's a girl. Who ever thinks of a kangaroo sans a pouch? No one! So Zippy, being a kangaroo mascot, is naturally going to have a pouch. I could even perhaps begin to accept it if Zippy were officially androgenous. But a girl? Never!!! Btw, Zippy's outfit is quite similar to Donald Duck's - nice shirt & hat, but no pants!

Thanks Zipstrumpet. I've asked this Q before but I don't think I've ever received an answer, so does anyone know whether the U is going to photo journal the process?

I voted. You know, for how excellent the graphics are nowadays, they still can't get Zippy right. He's looked like that for years - barely looks like Zippy.

You say "50-50"? Is Zeke deciding between Akron and Pitt? When I saw Zeke at the game a month-or-so ago, after the game I saw Chris & Brett McKnight's father talking to him. The McKnight's father looks like a really enthusiastic Akron supporter. (He actually seems like a really great guy - very supportive of both Chris and Brett.) I think the b-ball team has a real nice, friendly community feel - all the players really seem to get along well - and I hope Mr. McKnight's enthusiasm can help encourage Zeke to be a Zip!

Districtballer,How would you scheme against VCU? What's Akron have to do to win next Saturday? To beat the Zips it seems as though you have to pressure our guards from the time they inbound the ball, always have a hand in their face, don't give them any open looks, and in the half-court game pressure them up high - push them about a yard out from the 3 point line. With our big stud Jeremiah out it's been a lot (a TON!) easier for teams to do that.

I am not so sure we want to run with VCU, they looked awful quick and athletic. They play a tough aggressive defense. Maynor looked fantastic, hopefully Linhart can slow him down. But no matter who wins this one .......... Gosh....we played our worst game of the season. Sorry to put up that performance for you guys. Hopefully our game will be better.Ha! Join the club. Talk about playing the worst game of the season, we're currently playing as poor of ball as we've played over the last 3 seasons! We've really gotta tighten things up.

No. He won't be till about September. He's scheduled to have knee surgery when this basketball season is over. It's a shame.

I just got home and saw the last 7.4 seconds. It looked like Maynor (sp?) got fouled at the end there. Probably a tough foul to call. ESPN didn't have many camera angles on it and cut away as soon as the game was over to go to that stupid Dale Ernhardt movie. Man, we just need to get healthy. VCU looked very athletic - especially compared to out gimping, limping lineup. This season started w/ so much promise but we're a shell of ourselves; we're the walking wounded.

There, KD just did it again. I just turned the game on it sounded like Frenchy said Linhart has all 6 of our points and KD just took him out of the game. I just don't understand that strategy.

Go Rams!

Thanks nbs95! Please keep us posted on Zeke! We're all hoping he'll be a Zip!

I love the local guys too. How's about that RB from Firestone? I went to the Garfield - 'Stone game and that RB from 'Stone actually impressed me more than Larry. Larry ran very high (he looked pretty tall to begin with). I kept thinking he'd get pummelled if he played @ Akron. But Larry's got a lot of potential, so I hope he gets a walk-on invite. Maybe convert him to LB?