72 Roo

Skip, I love your posts. You have more than enough sanity to balance out the rest of us. Next year may not be great for us, but it also won't be horrible. We do need someone to step it up next season. For my money that is big Mike, but only towards the end of the season. The loss of Josh will not affect us. He could only shoot the 3. His D was nonexistent. He could not dribble and his decision-making was flawed. With quickness being an issue he needs to be at a lower profile program. I wish him well and will always consider him a Zip. I am impressed with all the posts praising his character. Keith needs to go back to fundamentals and instill discipline in his teams. That will gain us more wins than any new player we could recruit.

Conference leading fan base?????? Spare me.

Kent still sucks.

Make that two. Let's celebrate his life! Tiffany, you and your family are in our prayers. Zips are always marathon friends.

I, too, knew Fred a little but knew of Fred a lot. Let's just say he had his ways, but they were always rooted in a deep and abiding love of the Zips. If there is anything that our ZNO crowd is going to do to remember him count me in. Could we make a donation to the Z-Fund in his name to go to the basketball progrum? Just a thought.

I agree with Skip in that the ESPN contract lets ESPN do whatever they want to fill time slots and offer viewers some entertainment. All in exchange for a lot of money that the MAC isn't accustomed to. It's only when you look at the long term effects of this contract do you see that it ultimately will not help grow the conference. On the contrary, it cements the MAC as a starving, non-competitive conference that will do anything to get on TV. When viewers tune in they see bad weather, empty stadiums, no excitement and coaches who are auditioning for better jobs. The money is not worth it. Akron vs Kent Tuesday of Thanksgiving week makes me sick. If Kent can get 20,000 at their place we can get 25,000 with good weather mid season. The fact that this happened only tells me that fans, players, alumni, and rivalries don't really matter. Money does and only ESPN wins.

Damn right. No one wants to play Kent and OU in November. There goes our attendance. The MAC cannot get any worse .... or can they? They are inept.

This team is one of the most disappointing editions we have seen in a long time. Miami illustrates the point. The biggest frustration that I have is that they are not a disciplined squad. We can talk about all the issues, but I believe they all boil down to discipline. That's something that is developed in practice and shown in games. You can't show what you don't have. That's on Keith, whom I love and want as our coach. He needs to adopt some changes. I like the comment about Geno Auriemma's coaching style. The commentator said "he does not practice until the players get it right, he practices until the players can't get it wrong." That's far from our team.

I heard from a senior administrator that baseball will never come back. He cited costs of operation more so than scholarships and coaches salaries. He said the university was not willing to put money into the practice and game facilities needed to run class operation in baseball. He also cited the effect adding baseball would have on the Title IX relationship of men's sports expenditures to women's sports expenditures. In other words, not having baseball makes the ratios look better. They must be comparable. I think we should have seen this coming when the owner of the Rubber Ducks offered to let the Zips use his stadium for most home games provided the university sink a half million dollars in locker rooms and offices needed to accommodate game day activities. The AD declined. Too bad.

Agreed. He made his social media farewell all about others and not himself. That's rare with today's pro athlete's self-centered world view. I wish him well.

I couldn't agree with this proposal more. It can save college soccer because it is in miserable state right now. It will be better for the athletes physically, academically and developmentally. It could also turn the sport into a revenue stream and help produce better American players. A poll of Division I coaches showed overwhelming support for the Fall/Spring season. We all know the NCAA has done virtually nothing to market its post season tournament. With the finals in the spring all universities could be potential playoff sites and excitement for the tourney could be built over months not the last week of the season as it is now. This would be much like Ball is done now. Because this makes way too much sense and there is no money upfront look for the NCAA to do nothing intelligent.

Thanks for putting this together CK. Ya gotta love these cartoons. Big Dog should watch them for motivation if not just top laugh his ass off. Come Friday night let's bury the PCCC Flushes.

Skip, You are a genius. I couldn't agree more , but I am from an age when I sat with the Bleacher Bums............ and had a ball.

MDZip, thanks for the recap. Where I'm at I can't get the game on radio or internet. Your description of the last few seconds was outstanding. Keep it going Zips!

I am watching the Superbowl at Fidel Murphy's, an Irish bar on West bay road on Cayman Island. The Falcons are leading the Pats 21-3 at half and all I can think of is that the Zips need to have a hell of a Fall season, which I think they can do. TB's class this year is good but not great. He is far more shrewd than we give him credit. I believe he knows the chips are down and he is under-promising and over-delivering this fall. We could have a dynamic team that is improved on both O and D. My biggest concern is that he is committed to Milwee as his OC. I think Milwee is not capable of delivering what we need. History supports my feelings but that is TB's decision not mine and I support TB. I support TB and believe he is the best Akron can do. We are not he best progrum in the MAC. We are the best potential progrum in the MAC, but all on this site know that. I can't wait for the fall and hope the Zips will be kicking some serious ass. Keep the faith ZNO. Now back to another Caybrew Ironshore Bock. The best beer on Grand Cayman. Go Zips!

Blue and Gold, if Bubba is such a good player, as evidenced by his Plain dealer defensive POY, how did we get him as a walk on and no scholly? Not trying to be a smart ass here, just trying to see how we did it. perhaps you know.

Glad to have Bentley on board, even if I am a Hoban grad. This class is getting stronger and I hope we find a few transfers at DT to make it even better. Did anyone listen to TB on the radio tonight at 7:00? Did he or Williams have anything new to say? I only go in for the end of Williams interview. Larry does a nice job representing athletics. I think he will prove to be a winner.

I hope so too.

Damn right. Let's get some competition at the QB position. TW has more to give and he is capable of outstanding play. If he wants to coast I hope other guys take advantage.

Perhaps I'm out of it, but who decommits immediately after a visit that he describes as going well? Could he have been told we are loaded at LB? Did we want to free up a scholly? Good luck wherever you go Will, but we will get this turned around and will be something special soon.

Baylor is a dumpster fire, no doubt. It is so sad that a school strongly affiliated with the Baptist faith tradition has clearly lost it's way. This isn't over yet. It goes far deeper than we realize. Baylor paid a dear price to have success in football. They sold their school's soul to the gods of football celebrity and so-called top 20 recognition. I hope we never sink that low.

Hate to see us lose out on this young man. I've followed him, being a Hoban grad, and feel he would be a class addition to our progrum. He is a great athlete who will help us on the D line, a good character guy and a great locker room presence. I wish him well but would have loved to see him join the other local signees who have such a bright future.

The resemblance is scary. Thank God Fred and Wilma are Zip fans ...... as is all of Bedrock.

I want to thank all the little people who helped me win this prestigious award. I also want to thank my parents and friends who supported me thru the lean years until my genius was recognized. Most of all I want to thank the Zip BBallers who are making us all ready to follow them anywhere. Win baby win. It's great to be a Zip!

I disagree. A change that could be made for future lower bowl seats is that the university reserve the right to fill those seats, at it's discretion, if they are not occupied by the 10:00 mark of the first half. Any seat holder who arrives after that time will be seated in the best possible seats the university can find. This language would be part of the purchase agreement and made known at the time of sale. It could be done and has been done at other schools. There will be some negative reaction by blue hairs and corporate no shows but that will be more than offset by the positives of seeing the lower bowl filled. It will look better for both TV and the energy the players need to feed off from a crowded courtside. The positive image of a full lower bowl will drive more ticket sales because it will look like a place fans want to be. I may be showing my age but I remember my dad trying to get tickets to the Tony Laterza era teams and it was damn hard to do. People wanted to be part of that atmosphere despite playing very poor Ohio Conference opposition. I remember sitting in the aisles, that is before the fire marshall stopped that practice. It could happen at the JAR with some policy changes, better treatment of the students and marketing. If the students come Joe Akron will follow because he will want to be part of a happening.