Blue & Gold

Does anyone know why Marcus Johnson wanted to play at Dayton instead of stay home and represent? He knows KD, Rome & Dru and I just thought it would be a great fit. His athleticism could have really been an asset last season. Now he's in Dayton playing in a league with a bunch of Catholic schools that aren't any better than the MAC. (I'm assuming we offered him, maybe we didn't?)

There are a lot of talented players on this team. If we add Lance Jeter and Darryl Roberts next year (okay, Jeter would not be eligible till the following season, but for the sake of these numbers I'm going to include him) as well as preferred walk-ons Eric Coblentz and Andrew Moss, look at this roster:1. Mike Bardo2. Tim Carroll3. Jimmy Conyers4. Nick Dials5. Nick Goddard6. Nate Linhart7. Chris McKnight8. Steve McNees9. Cedrick Middleton10. Quade Milum11. John Rybak12. Jeremy Sallee13. Zach Sowers14. Jeremiah Wood, plus...15. Steven Sweich16. Brett McKnight17. Ronnie Steward, plus...18. Darryl Roberts19. Lance Jeter20. Andrew Moss21. Eric CoblentzThat's a lot of players!However, after next season we'd lose Dials, Goddard, Middleton, Milum, Sallee, Sowers and Wood, so it might not be as deep as it looks. That would leave us:1. Mike Bardo2. Tim Carroll3. Jimmy Conyers4. Nate Linhart5. Chris McKnight6. Steve McNees7. John Rybak8. Ronnie Steward9. Brett McKnight10. Steven Sweich11. Darryl Roberts 12. Lance Jeter13. Eric Coblentz14. Andrew MossSo that's more like it. There'll be a log jam this next season, but the following year, things will be thinning out quite a bit.

Check it out. Jason Taylor's little brother is a senior in high school this year. He's on the Zips' radar, but according to Rivals we have yet to offer him. Knowing he comes from the same gene pool that produced Jason, I say we offer him... YESTERDAY!!!http://www.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=63000

I heard from a reliable source today that Lake HS shooting guard Eric Coblentz is talking with Keith Dambrot today about walking on to the team. Eric is a very good student so will be given an academic scholarship, instead of an athletic scholarship. Eric is a very good player. He's 6-3, was named 2nd Team D-2 All-Ohio and averaged 24 points per game, 5 rebounds per game and 3 assists per game. From what I hear he really wants to play for Akron. Earlier this season he was offered a scholarship by Liberty University, but turned it down. Considering we would not be using an athletic scholarship with Eric, this would be a very solid pick up for the Zips!

Between the new fieldhouse and Exchange St.

Maybe they were just trying to spread the wealth a little bit.

Toledo and Akron are both building their programs to compete with mid and lower level BCS schools. We both are building Top 25 caliber rosters. But, with those high goals, both of our programs have accepted a few players of incredible talent but questionable character. Oh, well. What are we gonna do? We simply can't be as selective as OSU, Texas, USC or Florida. We would have probably been thrilled if he would have enrolled at Akron and then we'd be the program w/ red faces. Hopefully Toledo can clean things up a bit.

This is huge! We need a bigger, athletic shooting guard and Jeter fits that role perfectly! It would be amazing to see him running out there after next season!PG - Ronnie Steward 5-10 or Steve McNees 6-2SG - Lance Jeter 6-3SF - Brett McKnight 6-6PF - Chris McKnight 6-7C - Steven Sweich - 6-9That's a sweet 16 lineup!

I wish the game were still on Saturday. I'm not going to be able to make it this year.

Dru's has NBA range, but he shoots the ball from his shoulders and not from above his head = too tought to get that shot off in the league. Also, Dru has NBA handles, but he's not explosive/quick enough for the league. Actually, he wasn't explosive enough for the MAC! With the exception of Cedrick, we didn't have any guards who could regularly beat their defender off the dribble and get into the paint. That's why I'm excited to see what Ronnie Steward brings next season! He should give us some needed quickness at the PG spot, which will open things up for everyone else. And if Darryl Roberts is eligible and playing, all the better!

We need more FBI agents to investigate programs like Toledo! Just joking! Toledo's a great institution as well.UA's School of Law is one of the finest you will find. I have an acquaintance who is a graduate of the UA School of Law. He finished the Bar Exam with the highest score in the state of Ohio, was employed directly out of school, and is now employed (quite lucratively) right here in our fair city.I also have a friend who is a graduate of UA's accounting program. She was also employed directly out of school, and is now a young and successful accountant out on the west side of town.UA is a great school; Akron is a city in the process of a very real renaissance; and the U is on the cusp of building a truly special athletics program. We'd love for your son to be a part of our community!Also, I must say, that we Zips fans are an awfully loyal group of people. It is exceedingly rare that we EVER get down on ANY student athlete. Of course we all want to win, but honestly, as long as the student-athlete is hustling and giving it his/her all, that's the primary concern and source of pride for most Zips fans. We are absolutely NOT a fair-weather crowd.While on your visit, if by chance you are shown any pictures or architectural renderings of the new football stadium, would you come back to ZipsNation and share with us what you saw?! We are all extremely eager to see what the architects have drawn up and for our new stadium to be built!

This might be a good time to bring up the old question of why aren't Zips football and basketball games on WZIP. We had this discussion a couple years back, but I remember what the reasoning was. Doesn't it just seem logical and obvious to put our flagship sports broadcasts on the university's station?

Last year I was expecting Johnny Long to have a breakout year, but then he rarely ended up seeing any PT.

True, but I'm hoping Williams takes over at RB. We need a more explosive option than Kennedy and Williams is the man!

I posted this elsewhere, but FYI, Roberts was 1st Team D-1 All-Ohio at PG last year. If he makes the grades that would give us three 1st Team D-1 All-Ohio and one 1st Team D-2 All-Ohio players on the roster next year! Plus Wood! Plus Sweich! Holy cow!

Never mind, I just saw the Roberts post further down the page. Yeah, Roberts was 1st Team D-1 All-Ohio PG last year!!! I was excited about him last year but he didn't end up graduating from high school, or something ridiculous like that, so he was, needless to say, ineligible. He would be a TREMENDOUS addition!!!

Who the heck is Roberts? This is the first I've heard him mentioned.

There is a Steve & Barry's in Alliance and though I haven't been to the store recently, it was full of Zips gear before Christmas.

When was that article in the paper? I tried to endorse the article by voting for it at the bottom of the page, but I was denied. It said I could only vote on today's or yesterday's stories.Q: Why didn't the Beacon cover this?!?!Q: Was there any coverage in the Canton Suppository?Observation: The Massillon Indy seems to be giving us pretty good coverage. They also recently ran a very nice story concerning the plans for our new stadium.

Just my opinion, but I think a John Williams show would be a lot of fun! A few pages back I posted an idea for a popular movie score show and listed Star Wars, Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Those are all the work of John Williams, aren't they? That would rock, everyone would be familiar with the music, and all of those scores would kinda get people excited too (it's what they were designed to do!)And when we start our new pre-game band rally at the JAR, we should stick with some John Williams fare!

I've never seen a team quit on (and apparently despise) a head coach like Hipsher's team did. A team featuring talents such as Ryan Andrick, Jimmal Ball and Jamie Bosley. Something was not right there.

You're probably right. But after surfing the net and looking at other arenas in cities similar in population with Akron, I believe a 12,000 seat facility would be appropriate. Akron is a rather large metropolitan area, but we truly lack a quality civic center/arena facility. I believe a facility like this would be beneficial to the entire city, and could possibly be constructed in such a manner as to connect with the John S. Knight Convention Center. However, it should be designed with various seating arrangments, so as to make possible the draping off of the upper sections, so that when the lower bowl alone is used, it has a capacity of around 7000. Just my thoughts. Arenas I checked out were: Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids Michigan - capacity: 12,000 Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, RI - capacity: 14,500Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT - capacity: 16,295Other great arenas:University of Rhode Island's new Ryan Center - capacity: 7,657University of Pittsburgh's Peterson Events Center - capacity: 12,500 (my personal favorite!)

When Huggins was at Cincy the Sucks categorically refused to ever play Cincy. However, now that Huggie Bear is gone, and Cincy's really struggling right now, well, what do ya know, the Sucks will be glad to play 'em. Screw OSU.

I disagree. High step and swing can sound good: watch this1990 pregame video Man! I got goosebumps just watching that on my little computer screen!!! Too cool! If that doesn't give you pumped up nothing will! Holy Big Crowd Batman! I was thinking the same thing! Did you guys notice the crowd in the 1990 pregame video?! If JD can string a couple championship seasons together, along with the new stadium, I believe we should definitely have that kind of support again... and more!What led to the pitiful attendance dropoff? Would you guys say it was solely the losing under Lee Owens?

I've felt the same way for about 12 years now. I know, I know, the band has officially been called "Ohio's Pride" since before history began, but that label is one tradition that should mercifully be put out of its misery. It just doesn't fit... AT ALL! It only makes people roll their eyes. It's embarassing, really.Akron's Pride would be much, much better.And as far as high stepping: could the band high step their way onto the field for pregame and then march conventionally during the rest of the show?