ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net

Wow!See, it IS possible to cheer the program like a front runner but also be demanding and aspire to bigger and better for the program! Many of us here are living proof. STZ

I have been WAY pessimistic this week. Please please let me be off by a mile this week.CMU: 48UA: 13If I am right, and please please let me be wrong, Saturday night marks the start of the ZN semi-official JD Death Pool. <<--[Herein I clarify that by Death Pool, I refer only to his being unceremoniously fired by Wistrcill during mid-season.]By the way, for Zips Win and other eternal optimists on the board, look, I'M CHEERING FOR THE ZIPS! I'M CHEERING FOR THE ZIPS!!! GO ZIPS!!! STZ

Wow, I certainly hope this isn't the coach I'm thinking of...STZ

I agree with you. I will never give up on this team. I would never walk out early on them. Yes it is painful to watch 4 interceptions in a singel game. But we will move on and get better. I believe JD has built a talented team with good coaches. It is only a matter of a short time before things turn around for us. And when they do, I hope people will rally this team to the MAC Championship and beyond. I know some ZN may think I'm overly optimistic, but I really do believe in this team and will not go down without a fight. It would take a punch from Mike Tyson to put me down, and then I'd probably STILL be able to get back up and Bitch-Slap him!! GO ZIPS!!!!! BTW -I just want to say that I for one, was pretty impressed with how Devoe Torrence ran the ball. I thought he showed a lot of toughness and running skill. I think he's gonna give us a real threat with our running game. I love Bowser and LeFrance. But now we just need Devoe to be un-leashed! I'm confident he's gonna bring a lot of smiles to us. I say Devoe is "Dreal Deal". Go Bowser, Go LaFrance, Go Rodgers, Go Almondo, Go Devoe, Go Everyone, GO ZIPS!!! I also liked what I saw this weekend from DeVoe, Dreal. It might have been mop up time but with the state of our running game I hope the staff will give him meaningful carries this weekend. I want to start to see what we have, or don't have, in DeVoe. By the way, dude there is something great about your West Coast Sunshine Cup Half Full Fight To Win Never Give Up posts. Keep them up bro.STZ

He and the team are thinking about the weeks ahead...how about we do the same?What the hell are you talking about? Does it make you feel like a better fan to put on a zippity dooda happy face, speak no evil, see no evil, wish that all fellow fans would fall in line? Are you some sort of happy times fan police? Does it displease you that some of us are pissed and worried about selling this program when the on-the-field product sucks so hard? Keep whistling man, keep whistling...STZ

The definition of insanity is continuing to take the same actions while expecting different results. How many years of .500-ish football are we supposed to accept from JD and this crew? There's not a fan on here who doesn't cheer on Zips teams and wish for the best. We are three games in, staring at another loss this coming weekend, and would you like all of us to fall into some sort of blind loyalty thing to this team? Are you serious? With what is at stake this year? JD has had more than enough time to make this thing happen. He's recruited all of the kids here, including Jacq the Smokestacq, and guess what? He's still playing that crappy 3-3-5, he's still spending time and energy on quite a few recruits who never make the field, he's still running that crappy slow-developing handoff and run up the middle that never, ever works. Knowing that we'll all be there cheering, win or lose, the rational thing to do on these fan boards is to ADVOCATE for what we'd like to see to make things better. You can whistle dixie all you want but I'm going to boost when it's appropriate and bitch and moan when it's appropriate, and right now is an appropriate time to be pissed at the performance of this team in a year when all the chips are down.You tell me, what do you suppose Wistrcill is doing this week? Happily cruising along knowing he's come into great facilities, or pushing like hell to get teams to perform in those facilities so he can sell tickets? I'd bet you a paycheck it's the latter.STZ

G-mann I liked your post overall, but in this new era of UA football, the MAC being the MAC will not work anymore. You want to draw NE Ohio fans? Typical MAC middling football will not work. JD is about to have his neck broken as his head snaps after he's fired mid-season. Proenza will not allow Wistrcill to allow this team to stumble along. That stadium you (and I) love so much also brings with it obligations, AND aspirations. JD's slack-ass team won't cut it anymore. They quit in the 4th quarter yesterday. Unacceptable. Regarding the facilities, G-Mann I'm with you 100%. The Info is beautiful. It really is. If the Info isn't goof enough for certain fans, it's those fans, not the Info. Lastly, I have seen NOTHING to make me think the university is trying to keep students down or to suppress fans in general. STZ

We tailgated in Lot 4 and the mounted Sheriff deputies came by. At least a couple of us, including me, walked up to them and chatted while petting the horses and holding red cups full of beer. Nothing but smiles and idle chatter. They were great, and we had a really nice time. Lot 4 is a quiet, hidden gem IMO. Right behind the rec center, sandwiched between Delta Gamma and Phi Tau houses. We scored a grassy area under a tree, met up with MDZip, did a little grilling, some brew, snacks. I was surprised at the small turnout of tailgaters. I suppose it's just going to take time for Saturday afternoons to become a full-on college football thing downtown. If cops were in fact ticketing in the lots, that is complete bulls--t. It has been made clear over and over that beverages in plastic cups, accompanied by good behavior, would be no problem. Which police agency was it doing the ticketing? UAPD, APD or SCSO?STZ

On the Ohio.com site, there are numerous comments left underneath the article about Jacq's suspension. There were at least a couple that referred to Jacq having been caught stealing, and the last comment on the board is from a poster called ZIPINSIDER, wherein he comments on the stealing rumor:"Mischief: I know this is true, well a portion of it is true.I worked for the football team the past two months and the athletic department for several years dating back to 2005. The team has been plagued by a thief since the start of camp back in august. Not only has several items been stolen out of the locker room, but personal items have been stoled from coaches and GA's. One item for certain was the wallet of our offensive line GA. Not only once but at least twice. He has reportedly lost almost 1,000 dollars in the incident.Players were not at all concerned with the loss of jac, considering that he was not a "team player". He has not attitude and shows no emotion on or off the field. Given rodgers poor showing saturday, I have watched him now for several months and I will tell you he has "it" and I talking the "it" that the one frye with the same number had several years ago. Akron will probably lose to a very good central michigan team next week and probably several other games this year. But Rodgers is the future."

IMO JD should be shown the exit if the team is torched next weekend. It's time to start letting the fans know that UA football will not be allowed to limp along anymore. I know that dumping the coach in mid-season can cause major problems, from recruiting to morale problems on the team. Knowing that, I'd still love to see Wistrcill make an unambiguous statement to all of us that says that this administration expects winning, expects better on the field, and that one way or another, we're going to arrive at a better place. Come to think of it, who can talk to us about Harris's recruiting with other programs? If the reigns were handed to him, I wonder whether recruiting would take a shot or not. The more I see of the players recruited by JD so far, the less excited I am. Who am I supposed to love on this team, outside of Bowser, Wagner, maybe Sewell and Lemon? Supposing we limp through the rest of the season, would that be preferable to the potential chaos that would come with the firing of JD?

Let's all agree that UA's success on the field will be tied to the financial success of the university much more than it ever has before. The university just erected a beautiful stadium that seats 30K with overflow. Let's all agree that it's beautiful and is in the perfect location. More importantly, UA has invested a large sum of money here and therefore in the football program itself. While I don't know the numbers offhand, UA is committed to making large payments on debt incurred in the construction of the Info. In years past, Proenza could easily live with craptacular football played in an even worse stadium because there was no real financial penalty to be paid by the university for the product. He also could live with the lack of prestige because hey, that was the way UA football had always been. It was that kinda fun thing happening miles and miles away, in the mud of the crappy Rubber Bowl, a few weeks a year. Ignorance was bliss. Now, Proenza's personal legacy, his own personal prestige, not to mention the financial health of the university to which he has saddled his career, are all deeply intertwined with this football program. How do you suppose he felt yesterday as he watched the fans practically running out of the stadium in the 3rd quarter? Remember, he attended the soccer game the night before. How's THAT for a contrast in performance and enthusiasm? From his own personal box, surrounded by friends and business partners, he surveyed the stench and stink that has been deeply ground into this football program. The losing, the apathy, the team quitting in the 4th quarter. While personally upsetting, he HAD to be deeply concerned about the financial implications of this game too. How does UA meet its financial obligations to the stadium debt without planting bodies in the seats? How much does UA lose on concessions, parking, team merchandise with each crappy on-the-field performance? How many prospective top-shelf players decide that maybe Akron won't be the best fit for them after watching yesterday's game?NEW GAME, NEW PARADIGM, NEW RULES. Yesterday set this program back, a LOT in my opinion. You just don't have many opportunities like UA had yesterday, to build for the present AND the future. Last night, maybe this morning, I truly believe that Proenza was pushing HARD for better, MUCH better from Wistrcill. You know, the MARKETING AD whose job it will be to fill those seats that nobody in NE Ohio was interested in by the 3rd quarter yesterday. Wistrcill came here with absolutely NO ties to JD or the other "offensive gurus" behind this impotent UA offense. I believe that UA's approach to football has completely changed with the construction of the Info, and that Proenza is going to be pushing HARD for success on the field as part of his growth plans for UA, and I expect that Wistrcill is likely kicking JD's ass this morning.I'm reminded here of the little video clip that Wistrcill put out this week with JD and Caleb promoting this weekend's games. Caleb and JD seemed uncomfortable doing the video, but at least Caleb took his team out onto the field and PERFORMED. JD's team sucked, hard, and were boring to boot. Wistrcill can't afford for this program to fail, and right now, it's failing, absolutely. NEW GAME, NEW PARADIGM, NEW RULES. The notion that hey, this is crappy MAC football and that JD will be allowed to stumble through another mediocre season is laughable to me. Nobody builds THAT stadium for middling football. UA could easily have built a small 20K-capacity glorified HS stadium, which would have proven more than sufficient for any team that sees itself as a long term MAC program. UA practically staked its continued growth on this project. IF JD hasn't realized that the game has completely changed and that he MUST win or be gone, soon, well then we're all about to witness a mid-season firing. With serious money now at stake, with the continued growth of the university at stake, with the UA President's own credibility and prestige now at stake for the first time in UA football history, we can expect bombshells sooner rather than later, based on yesterday's performance. JD, how is your home's curb appeal?

The stands looked fuller than 18K to me, so it was quite disappointing to see the actual number. Regardless of the crowd size, I love seeing fans (students) on that south hill. That needs to continue, because it adds a "feel" to the game that I love. I think that it's sinking in this morning that UA football will be a longer-developing, tougher-to-sell program than any of us believed. I for one thought/believed that the Info would essentially "sell itself" and that at least the first year would sell out, for novelty/location reasons that would be independent of the quality of football played on the turf. I was wrong.We are battling decades of apathy, of Akron residents knowing all too well the UA/Rubberbowl product. It was glorified high school football to be truthful, in their minds (and mine), and some of that "stink" is going to stick with the product for many years. Also, I hate to say, as an Akron resident, that many/most NE Ohio football fans are front running d-bags, and consider themselves to be "major league" fans. The Browns, the Indians (kind of), LeBron & Co., and yes, OSWho, are all close enough that Akron d-bags seem to believe themselves somehow too good to follow anything not at those levels. Yes, it's a ridiculous way to look at the sports world, considering that Akron is fast becoming a smallish and glorified college town. But those sentiments, reinforced by decades of the old UA/Rubberbowl stench, are going to have to be overcome. It's going to be tougher than I thought, and yesterday's game was a demoralizing and devastating reinforcement to those who think of UA football as small time. Every Akronite who picks up the paper this morning, and remembers the craptastic show that UA put on in the Rubberbowl for all those years will sneer at UA this morning. "UA built that stadium for THAT? They'll never be real, big-time college football." I won't rant much more here, but the paragraph above is why I was so incredibly angry at JD and the coaching staff after the game yesterday. How many shots will be there be to showcase the program in the brand new Infocision stadium? How many home game dates will include such incredibly beautiful weather? How many games in such situations will be played against "name" opponents the week after another big home win? This will sound overwrought and overly emotional, but I really felt yesterday that this coaching staff and team had set the program back significantly by not at least playing entertaining football, by losing SO badly. I could feel the energy being drained from the Info by early in the 3rd quarter.Tom Wistrcill should be swallowing hard this morning as he searches for answers....

Thanks for the pics AZB. Terrible game, but beautiful day in a beautiful facility.STZ

Come on, someone CALL IT. Damn it, after today's terrible and painful game, I want to know what the hell Jacq did to get the boot. Stop cranking around and just tell what you've heard.STZ

Beating the dead carcass of the day, I voted no. I had hindsight aiding me in my vote.My head hurts. go zips go.....

OK, now I know who this guy is. Hoo Hoo is Bill Lynch's fluffer isn't he? THAT's what's happening in Hoo Hoo's basement. DEFENSE wins championships. I have that written on my "Glorious IU Football" wall in my basement. It's the credo that former MAC coach Bill Lynch has instilled into his team. He instructs his coaches to teach it. It is what separates the hunter(IU) vs. the hunted(Akron). Our championship level defense decided they had to make a stand and they did. The problem is that our offense did not score the 40+ points that Bill Lynch requested. He has fixed that problem this week in practice(see practice report above) and it will pay massive dividends in the game on Saturday. If you had played us last Saturday, we probably don't score 40 points but times have changed in Bloomington.I apologize if I sound cocky. I don't mean to be. I am just aware of the exponential increase in play of the HOO HOO HOOSIERS! I don't blame you all for doubting what I am saying. You haven't seen the practice reports from the previous week. It is ok. There are certain names that every household in America will be introduced to on Saturday. I won't ruin the surprise for you guys but a couple stars will be born on the gridiron in the municipality of Akron.HOO HOO HOOSIERS!

Also, assuming that the post wasn't a ZN set up, how much would it suck to be a fan of a long-time Big10 team and have to assert in a post that your defense is Big10 quality? Gee, Hoo Hoo, I would hope that your defense is Big10 quality, since you play in the Big10 and have for many, many years!GO ZIPS!STZ

Combining with G-Mann17 I propose the following moniker for the Hosers:The All Hoo Hoo Maroon And Cream Dream Team.Now THAT's the way to name a team from Indiana.GO ZIPS!STZ

Hey Hoosier, you DO realize that "hoo hoo" is how many women refer to their, um, lady bits right? Is that what you're calling your own team? I know I sure am."Lookie at those Hoo Hoos go! Wow, they are Huge Hoo Hoos."GO ZIPS!STZ

You know, we really could put a ZN All Kazoo Band to good use. I don't exactly know how, but there is something there. Maybe I will have figured it out after a couple of beers Saturday.STZ

I have an old trumpet and NO skill to bring to the table in representation of Lot 4. Of course, if Lot 4 proves too skilled I suppose I could always take my complete lack thereof to Lot 9. STZ

Sorry Buckzip but I think you're wrong about your assessment. With the recruiting draw that Akron is now, and is going to become with these new facilities, UA is a program on the rise. Behind the facilities, there is Proenza, who pushed these sports complexes as part of UA's growth strategy, and his hiring of Wistrcill the marketing guy reinforces UA's push to become relevant in college D-1 sports. They may lose to Indiana this weekend but UA will be better next year, and better than that the next year, and will continue to reflect the desire and commitment of those who have decided to make Akron D-1 sports a major part of UA's portfolio. Yes, I just used the word portfolio in a Zips post. BOO YEAH BABY!GO ZIPS!STZ

Yeah, but Zip Watcher didn't you see my complaint about the overly bright sun on the field and the fact that with my sunglasses on it wasn't quite bright enough? It was really, really upsetting.BOO YEAH GO ZIPS BABY! BEAT THE HOSERS!STZ

If JD and Porter didn't like it TOUGH PITOOTS! There is a certain part of their job that includes selling their programs and selling their university. I loved the video. GO TOM GO!STZ

ENERGY! I like it. Bring the marketing guy in, what's he gonna do? SELL, SELL, SELL! Exactly what these programs and this university need right now. I love it.STZ