Blue & Gold

We're glad you're part of our family! One thing you'll quickly notice about us Zips fans is that if you're practicing and playing hard, we're gonna love you no matter the outcome of a game! We're the biggest group of die-hard homers you'll ever meet and we're most definitely in your corner!And congratulations on receiving a D-1 college athletic scholarship! Your parents must be proud! Less than 1% of high school athletes are talented enough to play at this level. Imagine that, less than 1%! So again, congratulations!Also, I hope you're looking forward to playing in the beautiful new stadium! (After the last year at the Rubberbowl I know you will be! )

That plasma center is an embarrassment. It attracts the kind of people that we don't need hanging around our university students; the sort of person that any good parent wouldn't feel very comfortable knowing their son/daughter must walk by on their way to class everyday. Man, that sounded insensitive but I'm just tellin' it like it is.

I'm not sure I understand how the substitutions work. Is Chase supposed to always watch for another LB coming on the field and know that he's the one being replaced? Couldn't/shouldn't the incoming player notify whoever he's replacing to make sure he gets out? Or did he miss a signal from the sideline? Why was all the blame on Chase...shouldn't it be a coordinated effort?I'm probably biased, but I don't think it was really Blackburn's fault. I noticed that after the incident, Tom Coughlin wasn't upset at Chase, but was sure chewing out his Special Teams Coach. I think it was probably more of a coaching error thingy.

I'll toss out my opinion: J-Wood's the man. He's our MVP. His statistics still bear it out, even though he's currently playing on a gimp knee. But even if he wasn't statistically lighting it up, his presence out there alters the way teams can and do play us. Wood is often triple teamed! I don't think you can say that about anyone else in our conference. I think all the coaches know he's the best player in the league. I just hope his knee starts shaping up.

Not to mention Jason Taylor geting early recognition.Yeah, what a night for the Zips! We need to bring those guys in and recognize them at the Rubberbowl next year.

Didn't Can't already stomp GU earlier this year? And GU's still talking smack? Whatever.

Here's what we need downtown! This is the link to the soon-to-be-open Bank of Kentucky Center. The Center is the new arena for the Northern Kentucky University basketball program (has anyone ever heard of that school?!) as well as concerts and other events. It's a 10,000 seat structure and looks great!http://www.bankofkentuckycenter.com/

Wasn't Taylor 6-6, 220 lbs. till about his senior year, when I believe he was 6-6, 240?Of course, I believe Taylor came in as a very tall LB, and grew into a DE, right?

Can you say... "First-Team All-Ohio!"GoZips, you're the man at keeping us posted on the progress of our b-ball recruits! Much thanks!

The allegations I've heard are extremely serious. I've heard the girls were extremely underaged - not just your typical jailbait, 'Oh my gosh, she said she was 18' kinds of girls. From what I've heard it involved middle school girls. We don't need someone like that anywhere near a Zips uniform.

5 days till Signing Day and Dominik Britt hasn't verballed anywhere yet. Keeping your fingers crossed?http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewp...sp?pr_key=55746

I saw EMU play in the MAC tourney in Cleveland last year. They lost the game, but this guy was quite a load in the paint:http://www.emueagles.com/roster.asp?playerid=602&sport=2Justin Dobbins, 6-8, 232 lbs., Soph. Not flushy. But steady and big and used his weight well.

I've heard that Devoe Torrence & a few (?) other Massillon high players are quite busted for having sex w/ considerably under-aged girls. That's what I've heard; don't know if it's true. Maybe Devoe just doesn't believe in Santa and Jim Tressel just doesn't like that, I don't know. But if the rumor is true, he's in some serious trouble. I don't think we want him in a Zips uniform. We've learned our lesson, right JD? We want to sign players that will set foot on the field.

Could someone post pictures of Carroll Hall & Memorial Hall. I don't know them by name but I know I'd recognize them if I saw them. And is there a link to what the new Educational building is going to look like?

Maybe some of you former b-ball players and coaches can help me with this one: there are 2 things about KD's coaching that puzzle me:1) It seems to me that as soon as a player makes a mistake he gets pulled from the game. As a former athlete, I know that that would really shake my confidence. I always needed to feel like the coach would stick w/ me even through rough play in order to play w/o anxiety. I never played at this level though. So maybe you can shed some light for me here. KD doesn't do this all the time - he really stuck w/ McNees @ Can't. But I think he does do this more often than not.2) This is the one that really gets me: have you guys noticed how quite often, as soon as a player makes a GOOD play they get pulled from the game? Doesn't that defeat the old b-ball maxim of feeding the hot man? Just tonight, as soon as Dials hit a 3 he was pulled from the game. Again, KD doesn't do this every time, but quite often.I'm not criticizing KD at all. I think he's an absolutely great coach. But maybe some of you former b-ball players can shed some light on this. What's the thinking behind these strategies?

I was wondering the same. Neither Rivals nor Scouts are incredibly up-to-date, so the fact that Rivals reports that Larry has 3 offers on the table doesn't sway me. It's 6 days till signing day and he hasn't verballed anywhere yet? I would bet that he doesn't actually have any offers.

Here's a really nice story in today's ABJ. It was given tons of front page space (it was today's featured story) and continued on with considerable page 4 space. It's a nice, quite in-depth article where Tom Gaffney even gives his opinion on where the Zips need to improve/make changes - which I think is nice to see; usually the ABJ articles on the Zips are merely factual, rather than opinion pieces. http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/14897246.html

Once again, this appears to be a very, very good class. Good grief, I hope Matt Rodgers is the man. It sickened me last season to see such talent wasted away by awful QB play.

I still keep waiting for Chris McKnight to break out. He played well at Can't. I don't know, it may not happen till next year. Do you guys remember that Romeo didn't really blossom until J.Wood tore his ACL and was out for a year? Wood is so dominant that he may be overshadowing Chris in much the same way. Romeo went on to become one of the best Zips ever, and Chris McKnight was a higher profile recruit than Rome coming out of high school. Who knows?

KD has said repeatedly that you don't win with freshmen and sophomores. Next year we'll probably see that played out. Oh, well. It'll still be a fun team to watch and cheer for. It'll also be fun to watch them develop.

I'd live in a cardboard box under a freeway bridge... if it were in Hawaii! Akron? Not so much.

Ha! Sadly, quite true! It's why we're such a close-knit community, a bunch of unbelievable diehards! But we're all gonna be able to say that we were here from the beginning - before being a Zips fan was the cool trend - before The Info is built and we average 25K a game and (eventually) crack into a Top 25 ranking!I believe my favorite Zip memory is also a loss. I loved the MAC championship game in Detroit, didn't we all. But I actually believe my favorite Zips memory is our narrow loss to nationally ranked (14th?) Virginia Tech at the Rubber Bowl about 15ish years ago. We were down by, oh, 10-14 points, maybe, with about 1 minute to go. No chance of winning, really, but it just seemed like everyone in the stadium was so proud of how well both our O and D had played up to that point, that no one in the stadium was down on the team at all. (I believe we may have lost in Blacksburg the previous year by 40, or something gawdawful like that.) Then Willie Spencer hit someone for a 20-25 yard TD pass and the Rubberbowl just absolutely exploded! Even though we still had no chance of actually winning the game. That's how sports should be - it's far from life and death. Everyone yelling and jumping and giving high-fives to absolute strangers even though we knew we were still gonna lose. That's the coolest experience of die hard Zips community I've ever experienced. Winning is easy (Buckeyes ); lots of frontrunners and posers there. That's human nature. But sticking through losing together, ah, now that's real community! That's ZipsNation! Zip for life!

If he's a Zip, that kinda gives us an extra scholarship right? Doesn't he go to Akron for free since his dad is an employee?

Next year we're gonna have 4 incredibly athletic guards - Steward, Humpty, Roberts & Sullivan plus a more seasoned McKnees - all of whom can handle the ball and score it. We'll also have Brett McKnight - he's gonna be a special player. But I think next year's success will ultimately depend upon the play of our 2 interior players, Chris McKnight & Sweich. If they both live up to their potential I think we'll be fine. I'm gonna really miss watching the trinity of Wood, Dials & Ced though! Gotta take advantage of having those 3 and enjoy watching every game this year!