ZachTheZip

It was more that than anything else. You take a cheap shot on our player and get him injured, and then do a dance on the sidelines celebrating it? That deserves an ejection more than the hit would.

Having just gotten back from the game, a few observations:JD was fired up the entire game. It's almost as if one of the Rowdies was out there on the sideline willing the team on and yelling and screaming and stirring up his players. He was a motivator tonight. I heard him say that someone asked him if his players would just give up or had already given up on him since they were out of the title hunt, and that really bothered him. Sometimes somebody has to stop being nice and ask the tough questions and tell it like it is from an outsider's point of view. JD has answered that question, beyond a shadow of a doubt. His players are pumped up and ready to play again. They are expecting to win, if you listened to them it was evident.JD seems to have given his coordinators a talking to. We have weapons on both offense and defense, and we have actually started to use them. Too bad we didn't figure this out three games ago.The Zips played as a COMPLETE TEAM today. When one part of the team was struggling, another part would come through and keep it going. That's how you win. If the defense struggles, the offense needs to put up more points. If the offense struggles, the D needs to tighten up. Special teams needs to perform well at all times.What a f*cking cheap shot made by the OU player on that return after the fair catch was signaled. And then to do a dance?! Jackass. After watching the WMU-CMU game yesterday, I think he should have been ejected for that, as it was far worse and far more bush-league than what the ejected player did yesterday.I don't know how empty the RB looked on camera, but the AK-Rowdies turned up in better numbers than I had hoped. We got to storm the field after the win and celebrate with the team. Hopefully more people show up tomorrow to the basketball game.Well, we're 4-6, with two more weekday games left. @Miami will be tough, but CMU coming to the RB will be easier I think. Zips can play spoiler and possible become bowl-eligible if they win out, which is a tall order to ask, but after talking to the players they're up to the task and the coaches seem ready to be leaders again.

http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/11073356.htmleacon Journal staff reportA former employee of the University of Akron has been indicted on suspicion of burglary, voyeurism and extortion in residence halls.Shaun Harkness, 28, of Western Springs, Ill., will be extradited to Akron to face local charges issued Tuesday by a Summit County grand jury — 10 counts of burglary, two counts of extortion and two counts of voyeurism.Harkness joined UA's Office of Residence Life and Housing in July 2003. He is accused of going into female students' rooms without their permission and stealing photographs. He also is accused of placing a camera in a women'sshower in Orr Hall.He left UA in June 2006 to take a similar job at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb. Shortly before he left, a female UA student told university police that she had received threatening e-mails about stolen photographs.On Oct. 21, Harkness was arrested on charges of intimidation and telecommunications harassment at Northern Illinois. In examining his computer, NIU police found videos of female UA students taking showers, said UA Police Chief Paul Callahan.All identified subjects of the photos have been informed, he said. He said he did not know how many women were videotaped.Since the allegations were made at UA, university police have increased security in residence halls.Callahan said they regularly examine bathrooms and showers and have installed combination locks on shower areas. Only residents are given the combination, which is changed periodically.Harkness did not have a criminal record when he joined UA, Callahan said.Harkness will face the local charges after the ones in Illinois are resolved, Callahan said.

Vote for:SEYMOUR over Monte -- Monte is far more dangerous than Seymour.ZIPPY over Big Red -- Duh.JOE BRUIN over Hairy Dawg -- Hairy Dawg has momentum and an edge in overall votes that must be stopped.OTTO over Cocky -- Cocky is also very dangerous and Otto has been weak.CAVMAN over Cosmo -- This one's a tossup, but Cosmo scares me more.HOKIEBIRD over Goldy -- Goldy has been our toughest competition since the beginning, it seems like.

The fact is that Domonkos thought he had dropped the class, but technically, he never did. It was an honest mistake that was not caught by anyone.That's a problem with the athletic department's academic eligibility branch. Somebody should have been there to catch that. Domonkos should have been required to report it to an academic advisor, talk it over, and then been walked through the process of dropping the class. This is why we can't maintain our recruits' eligibility (if they qualify in the first place) -- there's nobody there to help them.

This is a must-win for OU. They still have something left to play for. Akron does not.I'm going to be in attendance because they are my team and I won't quit on them, even while they quit on themselves. They'll get an earful from me and other fans. They still have their pride as competitors to play for. No real competitor gives up just because things aren't going his way. This game will reveal who the real competitors on the team are. By Thursday we'll know which players are there to play the game, and which players are there to play only if they win. I want players that never say die, regardless of what people tell them. They shouldn't care if the season is ruined or if their own coaches have given up. They should still go out there and give it everything they have because they showed up to play, just like I will show up to cheer them on no matter what. Some players are capable of willing a team on to victory. That willpower is more important than athletic ability or size. It is second only to play execution, which comes directly from the willpower to complete the play. They better be fired up - especially the seniors who are putting on a show for NFL scouts on national television.

A new thing from Joe Lunardi. Ranking the teams that he thinks will play in the NCAA tournament from #65 down to #1 Akron is number 51, and It's nice to see that members of the media still remember us and how we got screwed. This year, I have a feeling that we won't leave our postseason chances up to fate.For the past few years, one of our favorite Bracketology columns has been the 65-to-1 countdown of teams posted on the eve of the NCAA Tournament. Last March, this gave us three-quarters of the Final Four, seven members of the Elite Eight and the occasional random gem (e.g., "If a No. 1 seed loses before the Sweet 16, it will be Ohio State against Xavier." But the Buckeyes escaped in overtime.). Hoping for a few more gems -- but knowing there are thousands of games to be played between now and April 7 in San Antonio -- a 65-to-1 countdown of teams might be the perfect way to start a new season of NCAA projections. It's also fun, which, after all, is the main reason we're here. 65. ALABAMA STATE. The truth is that it is easier to list the SWAC teams that can't win the league's automatic bid than those that can. The Hornets own two prior NCAA trips this decade (2001 and 2004). 64. MCNEESE STATE. The Cowboys last won the Southland in 2002. This would be the third NCAA appearance in school history. 63. HAMPTON. This would be the fourth NCAA trip for the Pirates since 2001. Who can forget that year's upset of Iowa State? 62. SACRED HEART. The Pioneers look to complete a four-year climb from the Northeast Conference basement and secure the school's first NCAA Tournament bid. 61. BOSTON UNIVERSITY. The America East race is wide open. We like B.U. to resume (and survive) a rivalry with Vermont. 60. MONTANA. The Grizzlies look for their third NCAA appearance in four years out of the Big Sky. 59. CORNELL. The last Ivy League champion not named Penn or Princeton came all the way back in 1988. And it was Cornell. Call it the 20-year itch. 58. BELMONT. Three starters return for the Bruins, who are looking for a third straight NCAA appearance out of the Atlantic Sun. East Tennessee State, which won the regular season title in 2007, is the main challenger. 57. HOLY CROSS. The Crusaders were 13-1 in Patriot League play last season. This season's race figures to be tighter, but Holy Cross has enough to repeat. 56. UC SANTA BARBARA. The Gauchos look to move up one spot after taking second in the Big West last season. UCSB has not been dancing since 2002, and the school's only NCAA Tournament win came over Houston in 1990. 55. SIENA. At least three teams -- Siena, Loyola (Md.) and defending champion Niagara -- would be a legitimate preseason favorite in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. We like the Saints to survive the MAAC and give Syracuse a real scare in the season opener for both on Nov. 12. 54. WINTHROP. Even with all the losses -- players and coach -- the gap between Winthrop and the rest of the Big South still is substantial. 53. ORAL ROBERTS. Valparaiso's move to the Horizon League leaves one less challenger for ORU in the new Summit (formerly Mid-Continent) League. 52. AUSTIN PEAY. The Governors ran away with the regular season Ohio Valley title in 2007. This season, they hope to finish the job with a conference tournament crown and NCAA bid. 51. AKRON. The biggest postseason snub in all my years of Bracketology was Akron (26-7) being skipped for the 2007 NIT. Simply put, somebody goofed. 50. BYU. The Cougars were among the nation's real success stories in 2006-07. This time, we have them as the very last at-large team in the NCAA field. 49. UTAH. The Mountain West is wide open in 2007-08, so why not a return to prominence for its long-time kingpin? The frontcourt is reminiscent of the Majerus years, so the onus is squarely on juco transfer Tyler Kepkay at the point.

Rifle swept a five-team tournament over the weekend and are off to a great start in the MAC (Mid-Atlantic Conference).http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_...;ATCLID=1302612AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron rifle team swept the competition in a five-team home tournament this weekend, posting key Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC) victories over the Virginia Military Institute and John Jay College. “The MAC is a strong conference and both VMI and John Jay are very competitive schools who are on the upswing,” UA head coach Newt Engle said. “We didn’t take them lightly and knew we could not afford to slack up.”With a combined score of 4,526 out of a possible 4,800 the Zips claimed top honors, followed by VMI (4,408), John Jay College (4,068), VMI Mixed (4,051) and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (3,653).Junior Julie DeBrita (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia Glenville) fired a 570 in the smallbore for a second-place finish and fell in a tiebreaker to teammate Megan Reinking (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) for the top slot in the air rifle competition with each shooter tallying 571 points. In all, UA dominated each category with four of the top five shooters in the smallbore and nine of the top ten scores in the air rifle. Freshman Rebecca Gerevics (Darien Center, N.Y./Alden Central) turned in another impressive weekend with third-place finishes in both the smallbore (565) and the air rifle (568) events. “We had some impressive individual performances in specific areas at this match, but overall we were kind of flat as a team,” Engle said. “We know to win the conference we need to consistently be in the upper 570’s and to have a chance at the NCAA’s, we need to be in the low to mid 580’s. Every one of our athletes has fired these types of scores. Our challenge is to establish an upward and consistent trend.”The Zips will next host the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in another MAC contest this Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. in Shrank Hall South. TEAM RESULTS1. University of Akron, 4,5262. Virginia Military Institute, 4,4083. John Jay College, 4,0684. Virginia Military Institute (Mixed), 4.5015. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 3,653Way to go!

Zippy is now 8-0 thanks to all the fans' hard work. Zippy has now clinched the best record possible for any mascot competing, as she is up by four with only three weeks left.This week Zippy faces that red what-ever-the-hell-it-is from Western Kentucky. We're already down in the vote count. Let's keep the streak alive and keep all the momentum by voting for Zippy!

Did anybody happen to overhear how the scrimmage went?

As it turns out, the NCAA has an RPI listing for Men's Soccer. Akron is 12th out of 202 teams, which is higher than any of our rankings in human polls. It shows their bias.It should go up since our last two wins have not yet been calculated. The updated standings will be out on Tuesday.

Congratulations! Now on to the MAC tourney. They have to win the tourney, because it doesn't matter how high we are ranked: we won't get an at-large from th idiots that select the seeds.

Dear JD,I have watched, or listened to, every game you have coached this season. I am very troubled by what I am seeing from your team right now. Let's go over te problems one by one.1.) Academic struggles -- Your recruits are not qualifying, or are getting suspended midway through he season, or flunk out after one semester. I know that UA doesn't have the budget to make sure that every single recruit that steps foot on campus gets a 3.0+ every semester like some other schools. There are actually two problems here: your recruiting strategies , which you have claimed to be fixed, and the Atletic Department's reluctance to spend money on keeping recruits qualified. You need to be vocal and complain to somebody that you can't run a team when your players aren't eligible. Make a comment on the pathetic academic support that you receive from the University. They want to be known as an academic juggernaut, and things like this tarnish their reputation. They will fix it if you let them know about it.2.) Team leadership -- Where are your leaders? Mackey was out for a few games, and the Defense lost it's heart and soul, but he's back and we lose in our worst blowout to a MAC tem in years. It goes deeper than that. And what about Offense? Who leads them? Jabari? He can't be the only one. You need players that are willing to be "Leaders of Men" out on the field, and off it as well. They have to have an attitude that the other players will follow them to whatever end may be. I see no one that has a commanding presence out there over your players. Last year you noted that you had no leaders on the field. This year looks like more of the same. But... Where is the overall leadership? Who leads the entire team? Shouldn't it be you? The coaches are supposed to lead the players, and the players on th field are supposed to emulate that leadership to their teammates. You have forsaken the Offense and the Defense by focusing on Special Teams. Moorhead and Fleming aren't leaders, and it would appear that you are not either. Hire somebody to lead the team, if you won't do it. Somebody that inspires confidence. Somebody that can call plays, too.3.) Offensive Playcalling -- Where to begin? Jackson is a running QB. Why did the offensive playcalling still seem like it was suited for Chris? Don't you adjust your plays to take advantage of what you have on the field, instead of what you wish you had? Do you change plays at halftime, or at the end of the quarters to take advantage of what the other team is giving you? I don't see it, and if things are changing, they need to be more pronounced. Sublty does not win football games.4.) The Defensive Scheme -- Why is the Nickel package our main scheme? That is a terrible idea. Other teams can run all over us, and if even a slow QB gets loose they can get a first down on a 3rd and long. We can't blitz at all, and it's because the personel we have are not in the right positions to make plays or get sacks. 3-3-5 defense is designed to stop the pass. Why are teams tearing us apart through the air, then? They run the ball a little, and suddenly we can't stop the pass either because the 3-3-5 doesn't allow you to prepare for all possible outcomes, or even one at a time. MAC teams use the option offense now. Find a Defense designed to stop it, and get with the times. They have our defense figured out.Well, there you go. I'm sure there are more problems than this but that's all I feel like going over for now. Any more and I'll become too frustrated to go on.JD: please don't prove points about a single player to the detriment of the entire team. Get your head out of your ass, dude.

What I meant to say is that Wyoming comes here this year, and then we go there next year, along with a trip to Gonzaga since it's almost there anyways. That means the next year after that, both Wyoming and Gonzaga come here.

How about WE'VE earned this national embarassment...even when we look this bad and I'm very critical of the performance I will still proudly be part of this fan base.Don't get me wrong, I'll be there on Wednesday. but I have the feeling that it's going to be very empty.

So... Who's going to the Basketball game on thursday?

The stadium is going to be dead empty on Wednesday. They've earned the national embarassment, though.

Listening to Mack Rhoades on the radio during half-time. He said that the light poles have been removed completely from the Rubber Bowl. Not sure how that will work out during night games...

Touchback on a fumble. BG Ball again.

Is the team waking up?

What you're seeing is Moorhead's offensive play calling not adjusting to the personnell on the field. I don't see the option offense, I see an offense that is suited better for CJ11. They don't even adjust the playcalling BEFORE the game begins!Also, the Defense has given up. They quit. They were the heart of the team with so many seniors, and they quit. What is with all the penalties called on them?

Please, please, please, JD, get rid of the 3-3-5 next year. And go recruit people that are willing to show up to play. Get back to me when you do that. Untill then, consider yourself on the hot-seat.

Big mistake not going for it on 4th and goal on the two. A QB sneak would have worked.

Was that a 3rd-down gong I heard?

BG thrives in shootouts. Any stop the defense can get will be huge. That was not the way to start the game.