72 Roo

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.

I like the gold pants. On all their pants I would love to see a Z on the upper thigh. Let's make it navy blue on our white and gold pants and on the black pants I'd love to see a gold Z similar in color to the numbers. Also make it big, like 6" so everyone can clearly see our brand. What do you think?

Thanks for sharing. Great pub for the Zips!

My concern about Williams is not his shooting but his decision-making. It's pee poor. I agree that he needs to work his problems out in practice because too many other Zips are playing better and deserving more playing time. Until something changes he could find himself on the bench or looking to transfer next year.

I had to listen to the game tonight on a Columbus radio station that carries OU's games in central Ohio. The OU announcers made the very point you raised regarding the crowd at the JAR. Or maybe I should say lack of a crowd. They were in highly respectful of the Zip team and openly questioned why the gym was not packed with the students back on campus, the weather so good and the team so strong. I also can't figure out the Akron area's lack of support. This was a great matchup!

Saw this kid against Hoban in the state final game. We can do better.

Thanks for sharing B & G. Love to hear good news about my hometown. When the city prospers so does UA. A vibrant partnership is one of the keys to separating ourselves from the myriad of state universities in the midwest. Keep growing Akron!

Damn right. Let's get that help we are desperate for on the D line.

How about playing on a team that had an offense that was lead by incoherent play calling and a defense that could not stop anyone. I hate to see him go. He was a very good left tackle and the only guy on the line who could run block. he actually drove his opponent back off the line when the D knew we were going to run. I also hate losing him because he came from a top 5 P5 conference team and, to me, that gave us a greater sense of legitimacy amongst college players seeking a promising program. best of luck and thanks for sticking thru a difficult season.

Two much appreciated posts. My thanks to Zip_ME87 and TennZip. We forget the good things we have and our soccer program, coaches and players are at the top of the list. I confess sometimes I've gone negative out of frustration because I can see a much better product than we are given. You remind us, though, that we still have a lot to be proud of. Thanks guys. Let me offer a point of clarification. The much better product I was referring to was other Zip sports, not soccer.

Two much appreciated posts. My thanks to Zip_ME87 and TennZip. We forget the good things we have and our soccer program, coaches and players are at the top of the list. I confess sometimes I've gone negative out of frustration because I can see a much better product than we are given. You remind us, though, that we still have a lot to be proud of. Thanks guys.

And how many were thrown to him? C'mon, you can't mean he got them as a receiver.

What strikes me immediately about the Cotton Bowl is that Wisconsin threw to its TE Fumagalli more times in one game than the Zips brilliant OC threw to our TE's in 12 games. Don't anyone buy the B---S--- that the TE is irrelevant in any particular offense. Coaches who are capable of good balanced play calling use all their weapons. Please TB, address this weakness.

Welcome to the board. I hope to read more of your posts. As regards your first post I, for one, feel Milwee is a detriment to the program when it comes to play calling. He appears to be a good recruiter but cost us too much when he runs the offense. He is better at stopping us than any defense. In fact he's damn good at it. I love the talent we are assembling, but the unfortunate fact of football life is that bad play calling can negate that talent. He proved it last season and I hope TB does something about it. Next season is critical for us to turn this around. Glad to hear Ball is returning. Hope it is official soon.

I think if the coaches can follow your wishes we have a shot at a good team next year. To me it all hinges on finding DT's and TB stepping in to change the offensive philosophy and play calling. On the offensive side of the ball I believe the greatest improvement this team faces is not in improving the talent but in improving the coaching. But make no mistake I would love to see a slew of DT's signed.

We are more of the same mind than not. I am also a TB supporter but I expect performance and continued improvement. We definitely did not get that in the second half of last season. I don't buy the excuse of injuries but I do accept that they make things more difficult in achieving our goals and I am willing to admit they were a factor. But coaches have to build depth and find solutuions. I hold them accountable for that. Where I may disagree with LAZip is that I do not think TW is a returning starter. He has great talent, I grant LA that. But I am worried about his leadership and his temperment. When things went south so did his attitude. His tweets bothered me and showed a side that I think is selfish and not team-oriented. He had to be constantly harassed to get into shape. No leader requires that. They do it for the good of the team and their own improvement. I like a dual threat QB and TW showed he had not bought into that. I relish an open competition next year. But guys, all this is for naught if Milwee is given the offense. He is incompetent as an OC no matter who we argue should be the QB. Bad coaching ruins good talent.

Unfortunately I don't share your optimism, altho limited, for the 2017 season. I see our O-line as good pass blockers and poor run blockers. They did not have one team in 2016 that they could knock back off the line. When we needed short yardage we could never get it by running. I agree as to the QB situation: I see TW as riding the pines behind Cato or Nick Johns. Our receivers will be very good. Our running backs need Ball back and a speedster to emerge. Too many questions there so I regard that area as fair-average. Any offense led by Milwee is too easy to stop. He is incompetent at our level. This year proved it. On D our DL needs too much help to be an area of strength next year. They will be below MAC standards, even with transfers. LB needs better talent. We can not count on transfers, who sat this season, to match Gilbert's standard. I see the DB's actually getting better than this year. The kicking game will also be better. All that said I see too many questions for us to expect to be dominant in the MAC. We may win a weak East, but the West will kick our butts.

Loved Ghoulardi! My age is showing but I don't care. He was so ahead of his time. Go ahead and "Pluck your magic twanger Froggy!"

"You and I and the other folks on this forum represent a very small minority that care about the University in any manner, nevermind athletics. It makes me very sad because I love the place and I wish everyone could feel the same warm feeling I have toward the institution." I believe that on ZNO there is no "very small minority" that love our university. I know that is not what you said but i want to point out that most of the people on this board are passionate about the university and its athletics. I know I am and have been for many decades. I'm grateful for these people and only wish that our passion was contagious and would grow like wildfire. To all of you who care I am thankful for your commitment. Merry Christmas. The best is yet to come. Keep the faith and keep demanding excellence.

I like the caution you have in your post. Freshmen rarely ever help, except possibly for depth. Moreover freshmen almost never make you better, at best they plug gaps. We don't have gaps on defense. We have canyons to fill. Kreed was right in reminding us this is the worst returning defense in the conference. If we can't get better there, thru transfers, redshirt freshmen and graduated senior transfers, we will have another disaster. This recruiting class is exciting to have but w/o a D that can stop people we are deluding ourselves in our passionate desire to see the Zips become a winner in football. I pray Terry is the guy to lead us to the promised land. I support him and his leadership except for one major area. We can sign all the hottest talent there is on offense but w/o an OC that knows how to use it those signings become a waste. I have zero confidence in Milwee. I believe history proves me right. Wish it wasn't so.