Bleacher Bum

I'm thinking the same spot as last week will work. I plan on getting there around 7 again, so I'll block off a few spots for ya. We can set up the canopies and the beer garden again. That just kind of happened because the weather was so crummy, but it sure was a great place to party. Also, Zip81, I think I have your umbrella. You might have left it by my truck last weekend. If that's the case, I'll bring it next week. If not, sweet, free umbrella!Oh, by the way, the current outlook is 74 and partly cloudy. Hopefully that didn't just jinx it.

Another Link - ESPN Page 2 -- Linky Link

I think we'll be making Grilled Cardinal (Chicken) on a Stick and "Beat Ball State - Meat Ball Subs." And of course............Beer. Probably Nosferatu, and word on the street from RowdyZip is that I may have a certain beer from a certain brewery that is the oldest in the country from Pennsylvania from the ride home from the Cuse with my name on it.

In true Bleacher Bum fashion:Zips - 8,477Ball State - 4 (Yes, that's 2 safeties.)

Good Call. By the way, I think I'm retiring the get-up this year. Last year was a transition phase and I think I'm officially just an "Oldie" now.

Makes sense. Just call it a throwback.

Mmmm.......Pierogis, Polish Boys, and Sauerkraut.......[insert Homer Simpson drool noise here]

I think you used to be able to get them at the JAR. GoZips.com still has custom basketball jerseys, so they may have football as well. I suggest calling the team shop. Also, it looks like they still have game worn jerseys for $17. No one I've ever heard of before, but a $17 jersey ain't a bad deal.

I'm gonna try to keep a few spots open near us. Just look for the Fear the Roo Flag and the Blue Pop-Up Tent (Yea, I know everyone's got a Fear the Roo Flag and a Blue Pop-Up Tent.)

I'm still trying to figure out the menu. I'll take a stroll around the West Side Market on Friday and see what I come up with. It will most likely be some sort of bird.

Any of the Oldies planning on tailgating for the Testicle Tech game? I'll be there around 7AM along the fence as close as I can get to the stadium, that's our usual spot. Don, do you know of any "official" Oldies tailgates going on anywhere?

Great, 3 teams from our schedule on the list and one on the waiting list. There is no way we should not be bowl eligible this year.

It's not exactly "new." I found it in the parking lot after an Eric Clapton concert. It still seems to work though. Ground Score!

If you guys run any over on the way in, stop, pick them up, and swing by my tailgate party. I need to try out the new grill.

ESPN ArticleSoaring over the competitionBy Kyle WhellistonSpecial to ESPN.comIt's going to be the biggest falcon statue in the world. At 23 feet tall, it'll be the first thing you see when you approach the Stroh Center on the Bowling Green campus upon its completion in 2012. "I just heard about that statue just the other day," said Bowling Green head coach Louis Orr. "That's going to be a big falcon." For the next four years, however, the Falcons will add a few final chapters to the 4,700-seat Anderson Arena. It's a venerable fieldhouse, opened in 1960, that former Marshall star J.R. VanHoose once said was so intimate that fans can "pick the hair off your legs." "In the heyday of Anderson Arena, they called it 'The House That Roars,' " said Orr. "We don't want to lose that strong homecourt feeling. But it's all about finances these days, you know. Having a new arena with modern amenities, a practice facility, that's really going to help this program. I hope we can keep that intimacy … hopefully it'll be the best of both worlds for us." In his first season at Bowling Green after five years at Seton Hall, Orr helped recapture some of that roar. The Falcons won six MAC games at home, including victories over three of the four teams that represented the league in the postseason (Can't, Ohio and Miami). Overall, he led the Falcons to a four-game turnaround, recalling the time Jim Larranaga took the program from 5-13 in the MAC to 10-6 in his first season back in 1986-87. And no home win resonated like the victory over Can't State on March 1. The Golden flushes came into Anderson on a six-game winning streak, ranked No. 23 by the Associated Press after a BracketBusters win over Saint Mary's. Backed by 24 points from Brian Moten and a 21-point, 12-assist performance by Joe Jakubowski, the Falcons overcame late pressure and knocked Can't straight out of the polls with an 89-83 victory. Any good team, anyone with NCAA expectations has to be able to win on the road. … That's what we've got to learn to do. It's what's separating us from greatness right now. --Louis Orr"When we played Can't State at home, they were on a roll," Orr recalled. "But that day, the building had that feeling people talk about when they talk about Anderson Arena. Before other teams get there to play you, they're on the bus thinking about how tough it's going to be." The next step in BG's development will have to do with its own bus. An increase in road toughness is needed after a 13-17 (7-9) MAC season that featured eight wins in white jerseys but a 4-10 record in opponents' buildings. The Falcons scored just 60.4 points on the road, their lowest total since 1994-95. "Any good team, anyone with NCAA expectations has to be able to win on the road," said Orr. "In my past experience, the good teams I've had were good road teams. If you can go .500 in the league on the road and win most of your home games, you have a chance to really do something in March. But you have to be confident, prepared and believe in your team. That's what we've got to learn to do. It's what's separating us from greatness right now." But the good news is that the entire team will be back to try again. When senior point guard Ryne Hamblet was declared academically ineligible in December, the Falcons lost five of eight before regaining their bearings with a junior-heavy starting lineup and a sophomore-laden bench. The 2008-09 squad will be led by senior Nate Miller, a former UNC Wilmington transfer who led the team in scoring with 13.2 ppg a season ago. Moten and three-time letterman Darryl Clements will also provide senior leadership. With steady improvement in the coming years, the Falcons might have another championship banner or two to bring into the Stroh Center, so BG won't have to rely on a giant bird to scare opponents away from its sparkling new building. "Foundation-building is a good way to put it," said Orr. "It's not dry cement yet, but I think our players have a feel for what is expected, a feel for the foundation we're laying in this program. We're going to build attention to detail and toughness and a defensive mindset over that." Five Things To Watch in '08-09By Kyle WhellistonSpecial to ESPN.com• Coles coming backCharlie Coles, head coach of 2007 MAC champions Miami (Ohio), is a timeless league icon. He played for Miami in the mid-1960s, then returned as an assistant in 1994. Two years later, when Herb Sendek was lured away to NC State, Coles assumed the head job. It's been his ever since, and he's coached 538 games for the Redskins-turned-RedHawks. Health issues have hampered Coles in recent years. Now 66 years old, he nearly died after a heart attack suffered during a MAC tournament game in 1998, and in March he checked himself into a local hospital in the thick of the league race. On March 11, he had heart bypass surgery, the day before the RedHawks took a No. 5 seed into the conference tourney. Assistant coaches took over day-to-day duties for the remainder of the season and led the team into the CBI. But after a summer of recovery, which included delegation of recruiting duties to his assistants, Coles is eager to get back on the sidelines. "I'm feeling a lot better," said the head RedHawk. "But it took a while. God willing, I'll be out there again in November. That's been the plan and the goal all along." • New-look MACThe 2008-09 Mid-American Conference season will include a snappy new logo and a green and blue official color scheme, and it will also feature three new head coaches. Geno Ford, who joined the Can't State staff for a second stint last summer, took over when Jim Christian parlayed six seasons of MAC success (including two NCAA trips) into a position at Mountain West school TCU. Tim O'Shea opted for the down escalator, leaving Ohio to build a program at Bryant, a Rhode Island school that's playing its first Division I schedule this season. So the 2008-09 Bobcats will be led by John Groce, a respected X-and-O man who spent the past four seasons as an assistant and associate at Ohio State. Toledo's eight-game tumble to 11-19 (7-8 MAC) was enough for the school to end the 12-year tenure of Stan Joplin, just a year removed from his conference coach of the year award for leading the Rockets to the top of the West division. The school turned to Notre Dame assistant Gene Cross, who will get his first shot at a head job after previous stints at Virginia and DePaul. He'll take over a program attempting to distance itself as much as possible from its recent past -- in early August, federal authorities charged former Rocket Sammy Villegas with conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. • A time of mourningNorthern Illinois' on-court challenges (6-21, 3-11 MAC) came into harsh perspective when a Feb. 14 campus shooting stunned the DeKalb campus. A former NIU student murdered five in a school auditorium before taking his own life, and the school cancelled all sporting events for a week. Two league games and the Huskies' BracketBusters matchup were called off. The conference honored the victims by turning one of the zeroes in "2008" on the court at the league tourney into a black ribbon. "You can never stop something like that from happening," said NIU associate head coach Dennis Gates. "But Northern Illinois is one of the safest campuses in the country now because it just happened and the awareness of tragedy's effect is so high. Between the community and the police, people here are trying very hard to make sure something like that doesn't happen again." Gates has been a witness to a lot of adversity in the past six months. After the season concluded, he served as assistant coach to a team of SEC players representing the sports ministry Reach USA. The squad's May tour of China coincided with the devastating 8.0 earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people in the Sichuan province. Gates said he and the team were close enough that they felt aftershocks. The remainder of the trip was cancelled when the government enacted a mourning period and entertainment ban. • Feeling ZipAkron has earned an impressive 73 wins over the past three seasons. But a few of the 28 losses during that stretch have come at the most inopportune moments, and the Zips are still seeking their first NCAA berth since 1986. This past spring, Keith Dambrot's charges lost to Can't State in the MAC title game, but their 23 overall wins earned Akron a trip to the NIT. Sent to Florida State, the Zips overcame a double-digit rebounding deficit and 38 percent shooting to win 65-50 in overtime. A five-point loss at eventual runner-up Massachusetts later that week was the last game for three double-figure-scoring starters, including 6-7 Jeremiah Wood (14.1 ppg and 7.7 rpg, both team highs). Can Akron keep up its momentum? Losing 35.7 points' worth of production always makes things difficult. Senior 6-7 forward Nate Linhart will be the team's returning leading scorer at 8.5 ppg, and he suffered through a severe shooting slump late in conference play, going 7-for-32 (22 percent) over one five-game stretch. A 20-win season would be a major accomplishment for these rebuilding Zips. • Yearning for more postseason loveThe MAC sent four teams to the national postseason -- a full one-third of the conference. Can't State earned the league's first single-digit NCAA seed since 1996 (Eastern Michigan, a 9-seed). Akron was invited to the NIT, and Ohio and Miami participated in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational. But the league is still searching for that elusive talisman of national respect, the NCAA at-large invite. This season will be the 10th anniversary of the last two-bid year, when Miami and Can't both represented the MAC at the Big Dance. Miami earned that 1999 at-large after winning the MAC regular-season title, but lost to Can't in a 49-43 defensive struggle. With 22 wins and an RPI of 21, the committee couldn't keep the team, then known as the Redskins, out of the Big Dance. Out of a No. 10 seed, Miami beat Washington and Utah to reach the Sweet 16. "In order for a league like ours to get two bids, there has to be a very good team, and that team has to get beat," Miami's Coles said. "But that's not going to happen every year. Everybody was raving about the Missouri Valley a couple of years ago, but things have changed since then. They were scheduling, buying games, doing this, doing that. What did they get last year, one bid? Everyone thought the Missouri Valley had the answer. If you're not the power boys, you don't have the answer."

Kudos to BG(STD)-- sorry had to throw that in. That's big for the conference. After OU beat them a couple of years ago, I'm sure Dave (provided he still has a job) will stop scheduling MAC schools as tune ups.

Just spent 25 minutes on the phone with a guy from Time Warner only to hear "It's not being broadcast in your area." Luckily OSU is on 17 channels. Assholes!

It's taking place at the Ohio Brewing Company /Damons on Main Street in Akron (Next to Barley House I think) from 11 AM - 5 PM. Wear Zips gear and get 1/2 price appetizers, $2 pints of Verich Gold Lager, and a $9.95 AYCE Wing & Pizza Buffet.If you're on Facebook, click here. http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=22820634460

Anyone know if you can get any of the Big Ten Network games at www.channelsurfing.net? I've used that site before to see some games that were on ESPN360 (it's not carried where I live), or one of the GamePlan packages, but I've never tried for B10 Network. The site can by iffy once in a while, but it might be worth a shot, at least as a last resort.

Someone will need to check this to make sure it's legit, but, I have heard there may be a watch party for Zips road games that are on TV at the Ohio Brewing Co./Damons on Main Street (Near Barley House). It may be held by the Alumni Association. I don't know if anything's official or how many they are expecting, this is just what I heard.

If the game really is Nov. 18 and you're in the area and taking home some Great Lakes, I HIGHLY recommend some Christmas Ale. Of course, that's if it's not sold out everywhere by then. If you can't find that, they may still have Nosferatu leftover from Halloween, but my current favorite is the Blackout Stout.

Mine's got drawings from local kids as well. The Testicle Tech ticket still says 6 PM.

Well, my tailgating time just went from 11 hours to 5 hours. Looks like I may be showing up at 2 AM instead.

I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything. Seriously though, that's not cool. Kinda funny...but not cool.

Just one more reason I'll miss the Rubber Bowl.