ZachTheZip

We better hope he's good. Has he even played this season?

A link to the gametracker, for those interested.

I think it's time to put in the reserves. No subs for the Zips yet.

Nice. Now let's hope they don't take their feet off the gas this time. Full-speed for 90 minutes. That makes 24 goals scored in 9 games. Mattocks now has 6 goals to lead the team.

What's one wheel when all four of ours have already fallen off?

There's a game this week? Could have fooled me.

Official press release. Glad to see Tim Carroll back as a GA.

Of course the main reason would be for men's basketball. I just wanted to point out that there are other things in consideration as well. It becomes easier to justify an expense or to gather donations when you say it will benefit more than one sport. It also keeps the Title IX zealots off your back.

Upgrading the JAR affects more than just men's basketball. It also helps women's basketball and volleyball. Just like the soccer stadium also helps women's soccer. Think of it as a three-sport investment. Both women's basketball and volleyball are on the rise, and all three sports using the JAR are what the MAC has identified as "cornerstone" sports, the other being football. Upgrading the JAR means investing into 3 out of 4 of the most important sports in the MAC, and maybe giving them the boost they need to push things up a level. The JAR isn't terrible as is, but an upgrade can be done relatively cheap; the design allows for lots of potential improvements. It's not unworkable like the rubber Bowl was and it gets much more use by the athletes.

David Murrow, a midfielder from Strongsville HS has verballed to the Zips, according to ESPNRise. He plays for the Cleveland Internationals club team. Welcome aboard, David!

We have no incoming RBs, and both AA and Nate Burney are graduating. That leaves Dale Martin, Broderick Alexander, and Jawon Chisholm as our only running backs for 2011.

Yep. http://www.ougrizzlies.com/sports/m-soccer.../100510aaa.html Ultimate Soccer Arenas website. Their address is at 876 South Blvd. Pontiac, MI 48341. It should be familiar for our players, because it is the home of the Michigan Bucks PDL team, which quite a few of our players were on over the summer. Interestingly enough, they also have a youth program with a kangaroo mascot.

OT Paul Gaughan verbals to Boston College

Zach, would you want to join in my group? Sure! How many people are in your group?

He made up his mind after four games? Maybe he wanted to be a star who doesn't have to earn his playing time on special teams. Bowers is an Ianello recruit. This is not good news. I was expecting Brookhart players to be the ones who want out.

Looks like it's turning into a pseudo-Hard Rock Cafe?

I was thinking about going, but lack transportation.

iCoach is supposed to call in to Bruce Drennan on STO today around 5:00 PM.

I'll tell you the real reason. As someone who has been on the north side down low for 4 straight years I can tell you that the police on hand as well as the staff on the floor discourages anything close to being "rowdy" or "havoc like". I've organized balloons to be passed out that we blew up our selves, harassed opposing players, and even looked up funny personal information (gf names, cell phones of players, etc) and have been not only yelled at for this but told that i would be removed from the game if it happened again or continued(in fact i actually was removed from a game last year for calling Chris Singletary a "thug" on an inbounds play). I don't want to knock the Rowdies because they have done everything in their power to create a good atmosphere but the University threatens the Rowdies' higher ups as well as the average Rowdie when things actually do start to get good. One thing that is interesting is that we've been warned multiple times for using the players names, yes! Using their names. So basically this is where the real problem is, and it definitely turns people away as it is not nearly as fun as the atmosphere at the soccer games. I figure the reason it's not enforced as well at soccer games is it's much harder to control that HUGE crowd than the basketball games where 80 students are in a neat row and surrounded by staff waiting to tone things down. My suggestion is people at the U need to lighten up a bit and/or the leaders in the Rowdies just need to say "hey this is what we are about, if you dont like it tough". Do you think the Cameron Crazies get yelled at for these sort of things? I think not. This is what college basketball is all about. It's easy to single out a student in such a small section, especially when everyone else is being quiet (far too quiet, really). This is why they need to consolidate the student sections into a single large area. No more being split in three between the upper section and two lower sections. Look at soccer for the perfect example. Every student is behind the goal, and they are able to create an atmosphere that is entertaining to fans and intimidating to the opposing team. They can't really do that at the JAR with the way it's currently set up.

I wondered why we didn't see a minor exodus of Brookhart players when the new coach came in and changed everything. Now I think I understand. The disgruntled players knew they weren't talented enough to make it on another team as a scholarship player, so they are sticking around to get a free education. The problem with this is that they aren't putting in the effort for football anymore, which has made those mediocre players even worse. They constantly complain and work against team cohesion, and make it difficult to practice. It's like trying to get some work done with a bunch of whining kids always getting in your way. This is a sentiment I've heard expressed by some players, players whose efforts to win are evident on the field. Maybe it's time to do a little addition by subtraction after this season. Ianello seems like a pretty neutral guy. He doesn't get fired up one way or the other, but it's time to become a hard-ass and tell these players to either get it together or get out. He might need to threaten to pull some scholarships and even make an example out of the worst three or four offenders. It would also open up some scholarships with what looks to be a very small senior class graduating, which should help him since he is supposed to be "a great recruiter".

He's got a laundry-list of offers from quality mid-majors.

You might recognize his name as a high school teammate of Zips freshman Dakotah Euton 6'4" 188lbs with offers from Akron, EKU, James Madison, and Marshall.

http://www.midmajority.com/tmm100 We are the 28th best mid-major over the past six years, according to Mid-Majority's objective, cumulative ranking formula. We're ahead of some good mid-major teams.

Did anybody listen to the show???

... chairbacks for all, PLEASE?!?! That would be a big one. One of the main reasons the JAR gets compared to a high school gym is the abundance of wooden bleachers. Fill the whole arena with chairbacks and while you decrease capacity (some would say excess capacity) you make the experience a nicer one. It also allows you to move the students to one unified section behind the benches without using up a significant portion of your money-making seats. Move the upper seats closer and put up a row or two behind the tallest we have now to add a few more seats while also improving sight lines for 80% of the arena. You can also take the entire south upper section, knock it out and turn it into a luxury suite that connects to the Tommy Evans lounge.