RowdyZip

I was of the opinion that things have gone well enough since the installation of Rob Ianello's pigskin holocaust that the guy deserves to stick around until we see what happens with Bowden at the helm a couple more seasons. Then I got to thinking...doesn't athletics marketing (or in our case, lack thereof)fall under his scope of responsibility? Why has ZILCH been done for promotions/advertising since Brad Swanson left for Illinois? Hell, steal the Rubber Ducks' marketing guy...at least he's creative!

I had planned on attending this today as my usual work schedule (downtown Akron) ends at 3:30 and I could easily pop out an hour early. I replied to athletics' Facebook post inquiring on a safe place to park where I could avoid a ticket. They replied back that they were working with parking services and would get back to me. Never did. So I guess I'll see what I can on the laptop when I get home. Even when they do something right, they manage to screw it up somehow. Maybe in the future they could do something later in the evening for working fans. Just a thought.

I guess I'll try my hand at remembering to put these game threads up... So here we are at the beginning of the final full month of the regular season. Not many of us thought our Zips would be in first place at this point following the loss of Demetrius Treadwell. Probably even less thought we'd find our green-clad basketball rivals struggling to escape the MAC basement. OU did pull off a win over UB in the convo, and they always play us tough there, so this certainly is no "gimmie" for a young squad. There probably aren't any of those the rest of the way, as evidenced by the NIU loss. It sure is fun to watch these guys grow as a team. Looking forward to watching this one on ESPN 3 from my nice warm couch. Thoughts?

Gameday. Zips and (shockingly) Bowling Green will be playing for a share of first place on the last day of January after Buffalo exposed the K-ent mirage. Vegas opened this at Zips getting 4.5, it has since shifted to Akron +3.5. We all know the history of this series, but of course that means nothing going into this game as BG is much improved this year. If the Zips can successfully take Richaun Holmes out of the game as they did at the JAR a couple weeks back, we should have a fairly solid shot at another #roadkill. Thoughts?

Antino was absolutely leveled by a moving screen and then did nothing but jump and put his hands on his head. Technical was called with absolutely no warning. Very strange officiating.

Very inconsistently called game on both ends. Deji's 3rd foul he was clearly shoved out of the way by Tava. Coach Hawkins not happy either as evidenced by the T with absolutely no warning. We're going to run out of big bodies quickly if they continue to call the game so tightly.

Pat and Jake are both here and dressed. Neither participating in pregame activities. Looks like neither will be going. Anyone listening to Frenchy?

We made the trip to Kalamazoo... Jake is in warmups, not participating in pregame shoot around. No sighting of Pat...

Jake got popped pretty good. Seemed eerily similar to the play @UB where he got a concussion last year. At least this time he wasn't called for a foul on the play. He was clearly woozy as he was helped off the court by the training staff. If this is another concussion, I would not be surprised if his career was over. I recall an article a while back where Jake said he had a couple concussions back in high school in addition to the injuries here in bball. At some point it just isn't worth it.

This is a huge deal for me. I've seen some great, LOUD games when that lower bowl is full. It stinks that all our donor/season ticket holders think that its enough to just buy and not use the tickets. The lower bowl is usually 50-60% full. I know UA offers a ticket exchange, but NOBODY USES IT! I'd be willing to upgrade for a game or two over my GA season tix but there's no real opportunity to do so. I even called to inquire about some lower seats for a game and was given some silly amounts unless I bought a 3 game pack, then they'd mark down 20%. Random suggestion of the day: Make any tickets left available 30 minutes prior to tip $10 ea, regardless of location. The Cavs used to do this back in the day with college IDs. Extra revenue plus full seats that look nice on TV/webcast. Win win.

Vegas says Akron -4. The West has significantly narrowed the gap, if not equalled the east these days. There are no gimmies anymore. Can't miss 15 FTs and win on the road. Can't coast for 30 minutes and still get the W. Thanks to the well-documented FT issues, I'll offer two predictions: Zips hit 65%+ FTs: Akron 74 NIU 62 Zips hit <65% FTs: Akron 63 NIU 62.

First off, congrats to the Buckeyes on their win. I've got to say, I was rooting for them to lose simply because with every W, the Cleveland media market grows its infatuation with OSU. While I'm not in the business of telling people who to cheer for, the last week has been pretty disgusting for me between UA athletics and their president wishing OSU "good luck" via their official twitter and Facebook accounts to stores like Rubber City Clothing selling buckeyes garbage...this game couldn't end soon enough. As far as the playoff, Trimmy hits it spot on. Division one college football is the ONLY college sport that more than 50% of teams have ZERO chance to win a championship BEFORE the season even has begun. There needs to be 12 or 16 teams included (which would still make it difficult for G5, but not 100% impossible) or another split within the ranks of FBS (I would prefer this less). Anyway...GO ZIPS! Here's to a few months of no Buckeye saturation!

Sorry for adding to the whining on the WIU game thread, just wanted to let the usual suspects know that I could now sympathize with them. As a season ticket holder for about 10 years now, I've probably attended 98% of our home games. This is the first time that I can recall not being able to attend (illness) where I was at home and able to attempt to access a UA stream. What a hot mess. I watched the "blindfolded kid finds Zippy" timeout contest twice due to that strange skip-back glitch, before giving up and going to bed with a huge lead before bedtime. I think where we start here is with the question "Who is 'Sidearm Sports'?" Are these guys being paid to supply this product? Did UA sign a contract with them? Is the problem attributable to the provider or UA equipment/infrastructure? As a public institution, I'd think the contract question would be reasonably easy to dig up for someone with knowledge...

Wife, child and I are sick. Decided to stay home, not use the season tix for the first time thus year, and watch the webcast. Made it 6 minutes into the half. It is UNWATCHABLE. I see now what you guys are harping about. Consistent 3-5 freezes, no on screen graphics for score or time, and magical transportation back in time to re-watch 10-15 seconds of things that already happened due to yet another glitch. I feel sorry for out-of-state/area alumni. You guys, and the rest of us, deserve better. Hell, the PROGRAM deserves better than this garbage.

Probably a pipe dream, but I would love it if they made lot 9 a first-come, first-serve tailgate lot. "Relegate" all the donors to the paved surface lots by the ONAT. Still very close to the stadium entrances and then you really foster a tailgate atmosphere. If it was done that way, you'd have the closest thing to the inclusiveness of the Rubber Bowl parking/tailgate scene. Never thought I'd say it, but I miss those days. There's nothing more frustrating as a fan than to be told that I can be placed on a "wait list" for a lot 9 pass and then when I attend each game, it's filled to about 60% (or less later in the year) of capacity. He'll, charge $20/car and I'd still probably pay it. If you up the price, how much are you really losing monetarily? Not much compared to what you're gaining in fostering a friendly tailgate community. Don't get me wrong, the tailgaters of lot 9 do it right. The problem is that it's so difficult to join them. We hosted most of our tailgates in the visitor lot over at the NW corner of Spicer and Carroll.

FWIW, ESPN3 is listing tip time as 8pm.

Haven't posted much lately but I'm always on the board reading. I heard this sad news earlier in the day from a friend. RIP coach Peters. Truly a fighter and an inspiration to all of us of Zipsnation and beyond. Thoughts and prayers to the family.

Got the tix and hotel for this one. I'm bringing 6 more with me and staying at the Cambria Suites downtown. We hope to be tailgating by 9am. Send me a pm if you'd like to join up. GO ZIPS!

I'm not denying that people do it. That's why programs like Fuel Perks are genius. Overpay for your groceries and we'll save you $2 on a tank of gas once a month. I'd still hope, probably stupidly, that the majority would be smart enough to calculate simple math. Oh well. As a fan, I hope it happens. As a taxpayer, I'm on the fence. Won't hurt me much, but I'm sure it would hurt some on tighter budgets.

I guess it's a perception thing then. I don't often go to the mall and spend the close to $2,000 it would take me to save enough to pay for the gallon of gas to get there and back.

It's perfectly possible. Did you see the halftime "talent" last night? I hope the young lady was a student. She had zero basketball knowledge and certainly no knowledge of the conference. As she stumbled through her words "checking the scoreboard" she had no clue that Monday's tournament results were not from earlier that day. Honestly, if this is what TWC produces regularly, I'd rather watch crappy school feeds.

If the Zips advance, they'll play at 6:30 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Just read Bo Boroski is officiating tonight. Why would the MAC pass up a chance to embarrass itself on national TV? Buckle up, Zips fans!

So here we go. The rivalry renewed, again. Less than 500 tickets remain. Zips were upset on the road in the previous meeting by a fluke banked 3. Win this and wipe that game from memory while clinching the #4 and a bye to the quarterfinals. Lose, and its likely #5 and a much longer, and unlikely, road to CLE and Saturday night. No pressure. The team showed that it is capable of beating the top of the league, even shorthanded. Can they do it consistently? Ken+ will probably show up for this one. Add to it that George Thomas is reporting Kretzer is like done for the season, this is as close to a must-win as possible. Lets hope the big crowd is as electric as the 3,220 from Tuesday's game.

My feed was OK until the 2nd half. It froze up about 4 or 5 times and I fell behind a friend, also streaming the game, by about 10-15 sec. Zips should be charged with robbery. We're in EMU's head. Might be helpful if we see them in CLE.