ZachTheZip

Coach Dambrot: You've talked about your team lacking what you call "mental toughness". What are you and your coaching staff doing to instill it in your players?Coach Kest: The last few years, it seems like your team has had more players leave or transfer after each season than those who stick around. Is some type of "addition by subtraction" happening, and will losing so many players affect the program's Academic Progress rating?

I think that the only "real" coverage that we're missing is mentions on the local TV news channels. The Beacon Journal has really stepped up this year, although they still resort to their usual shenanigans every so often. I couldn't ask for much more from ISP, either. Getting the football games on a major FM station was beyond any expectations that I had, and this announcement is even more wonderful news from them.

That is AWESOME! I can probably think of a few "hardball" questions to ask certain coaches.

One thing that could be done without changing the system at all would be a cap on home games. 7 seems like enough. No more seeing teams buy 4 cupcake home games and then only playing 4 road games in their conference.And get rid of the 1-AA counting towards bowl-eligibility thing. That was a move made purely to benefit teams that can afford to buy more home games.

ESPN's story: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id...caa&cc=3888Beacon's story: http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/37368499.htmlLet them know how you really feel.

The problem is that it would be a Division I playoff, not a FBS playoff. That means that you would have to include all D-I conferences, such as the Ivy League.The NCAA needs to have more than 3 divisions. There are over 350 D-I basketball teams in 32 conferences. Could you imagine that working in football?

Don't you still have to pay out the contract if you fire a coach?I think a better solution is to have a buyout clause that's worth more than the actual contract. If they're leaving for more money, they can afford it and the school gets some cash.

Bardo's major contributions mostly don't show up on the stat sheets. He does lead the Zips in blocked shots, however.What he does is shut down the opposing team's center. Look at the play-by-plays of the other team's low post production when he's in compared to when he's out. He might not score many points, but he won't let his defensive assignment score many, either. While I would love to see him develop into a scoring threat, defense buys playing time with KD so don't expect him to be benched any time soon.

Are there even any scholarships left?

UA has nothing to do with this project, as far as I can tell. The apartments are supposed to attract students and young professionals to live downtown.

I wouldn't mind a 16-team playoff. 5 at-large teams would be fair, and you can set it up so that it takes the same amount of time as the bowl season. You can even keep a few of the better bowls as rewards to the teams that were eliminated in the playoffs. No more of this 6-6 teams bowling crap. Nobody wants to watch that.

It's a good thing. I want to see Utah blow away Alabama so there is absolutely no doubt who the better team is.This is the BCS committee's worst nightmare. Boise State was not as bad, since it was a very close game and you could say they got lucky to win.

It's not about getting noticed, it's about winning games and getting to a bowl. That's the ultimate goal for a MAC team: to go bowling.

:blink: god no I-AA teams please!!!I agree. No FCS (or 1-AA) teams! I like the fact while everybody else has been watering down many of their non-conference games that the Zips have not. In addition, it is something that I have been able to hold over the fans of that school down here in Central Ohio the last couple of years and they all say they wish they didn't play 1-AA schools.If playing an FCS school is the only way to get a home game then maybe you have to, BUT I don't think it is the only way to get a home game. I remember schools like North Texas and Middle Tennessee State playing in Akron not that long ago and they all at least carry the same number of scholarship players as the Zips do. The way to get home games is home-and-home contracts with FBS (1-A) schools. I'd like to see some from BCS conferences if possible, but FBS is a necessity for respect reasons.I don't like it either, but there is a reason everyone is doing it now. 6 wins = bowl game. I-AA teams count now toward the total of 6. Everyone else is doing so we need to do it to keep pace with everyone else. It seems as if it is necessary now to schedule at least one guarantee win with a I-AA team.It is necessary to schedule at least one guaranteed win per year. It would also do some good to stop playing top 10 teams to open the season. Getting bashed by Penn State is not the wat to get people excitedfor your home opener. Replace those with a mid-level BCS team that we can at least hang with through half time. It's not like that game was some contract made 10 years ago. It was formed only a few months ago.Akron schedules too strong for their own good. Indiana, Syracuse, and Penn State is overkill. I really wish we would play two non-BCS teams a year, like C-USA teams or Sunbelt teams.

None of the sports could immediately compete in the Big East, with the exception of Men's Soccer which would easily win that conference every year. Football would take a few years to get up to speed, just look at Cinci and UConn for examples. Cinci was easily the worst football team in the country, but the Big East saw a large market with no BCS team, and look what happened to them with a little better financial backing. Basketball would have their struggles, but you can't tell me that just by having the Big East association we wouldn't start pulling in a whole new caliber of recruits.The thing is, it's not about competing. It's about money. We offer a largely untapped major media market for them to tap into, and they offer us BCS money for football and better TV deals, which greatly reduces the strain on the athletic budget which can then be focused on better marketing or going after better recruits.The Big East has a history of taking crappy sports schools with tons of potential and turning them into winners. Few schools have the kind of potential that Akron boasts at the moment.Either way, don't expect anything to happen at least until the BCS contract expires, and some conferences are forced to restructure themselves.

The game is on Saturday. It's the team't last chance to show that they are ready to compete in the MAC.URI Message BoardI think we'll compete well. It will be a close game either way, and I'm hoping for the win.

Name one college coach in the country who would even think about redshirting the country's 8th highest rated center in his high school class. That's my point!Imagine having a 17-man roster with no redshirts. Playing time will be tight. Then again, there should never be a game where the Zips get too tired because of the depth at every position.

In the first of the games, the Zips win 75-53, a 22-point victory.They exceeded my expectations for the margin of victory, but not for the game played. Lots of teams will start running the press against us if we can't find a way to beat it. Maybe getting Ronnie Steward back will help, but something needs to be done.I would consider winning one of the next two games to be a good thing, but I would prefer to beat Miami over beating URI, if it can be helped. MAC road wins are simply too precious to pass up.

I always loved seeing a big poster of John Heisman with a caption something like "Head Coach, Akron 1893-1894" when I walked in.

The East is always tough, but every team is having a down year. Can't has the worst RPI in the East at 215. Akron is at 105.In the West, it's Ball State, and then everybody else.

These next three games on the road will define the season.First off is UNC-Greensboro, who really aren't that good. It's the final chance to work out some problems with the Zips' game.Next is a trip to play Rhode Island. A very good team, but they are beatable.Finally, it's off to Oxford to play Miami to open the MAC season. They lost one of their best players to a wrist injury, but they are still the most dangerous team in the MAC right now.For UNC Greenboro, I am expecting a 20 point win. This isn't a prediction, but an expectation. If they win by more, they have exceeded my expectations, and if they win by less or choke and lose, they have underachieved.I'll have more expectations before each game.

GoZips.com is not anywhere near the quality that it needs to be. I don't know who's in charge of maintaining and improving the website, but my guess would be sports marketing. What needs to happen is for GoZips.com to have it's own division within the athletic department, called "electronic promotions" or something. This is the internet age, and your website should be the primary way of connecting with whomever it is you're trying to sell things to. I think UA promotions is stuck in the old business model of face-to-face business transactions, kind of like big retail stores that are complaining about how they're suffering from some kind of economic downturn while websites like amazon.com are reporting their best holiday seasons ever. The writing is on the wall. It's tme for the athletic department (and the university) to invest more into their websites and less into other, old-fashioned forms of communication (like billboards, unless they have the website printed on them).

People might laugh at this, but I think that Akron might be the best team in the MAC right now. I am obviously biased, but just looking around, I don't see another team that you could definitely say is better than Akron. Of course, it's all useless speculation until conference play starts, and it will start pretty tough for us.The best part is that the Zips have so much more potential than any other team for improvement, too.

Drawing 41,399 fans also points to soild future as well. It drew over 60,000 plus last year for Purdue and Central Michigan. I would say the MCB future looks very bright indeed. They'll get sponsors even in this bad economy as long they they field an entertaining game draw like they have as of late.Who do you think will be sponsoring the game next year? I'll bet it isn't any of the "big" three or the carpenters union which replaced Chrysler this year. I vote for Extenz, Trojan condoms, and KY lubricant for a bigger, safer Bowl next year.That would only work if they moved the game to a remodeled Rubber Bowl.

Nate can do it all. He's closing in on all four of the major statistical milestones of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, and 200 steals. Nobody at UA has ever reached all four before, and he's on pace to hit them all before the regular season is over.