Dr Z

I TOTALLY agree. In watching the Toledo game yesterday, I would play tight D on Villegas.Bang him around a few times early. You shut him down and I think the rest takes care of itself.

That's GREAT. I'm happy for Hixon, he seems like a nice guy.The more guys the Zips can put in the NFL, the better it is for our recruiting.

I'm hoping to see more AK-Rowdies there today.I think yesterday's afternoon game hurt their attendance.

Confirmed: Christian fears the roo.

For the BG fans, looks like Omar before BruceFirst or second round??? Franchise QB????

Does that mean commando style under the kilt? Nice pic!From SI's student photos of the dayEven ugly girls at Can't (is that redundant) made it, someone has GOT to send some in

Some of you guys need to dress up like Roddy

Thanks ITZ Dana ChambersAssistant CoachSecond Season(Central Missouri State, 1983) No stranger to Division I-AA or Gateway Football, Dana Chambers is in his second season as a member of the Youngstown State coaching staff. Chambers is the Penguins' defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator along with Mike Kolakowski. Last season, Chambers was part of a defensive staff that changed from a 3-4 to a 4-3 scheme to take advantage of the squad's quickness. The unit improved throughout the season and helped the team win two of its final three games. As a result of the new system, defensive end Brandon Brown was named honorable-mention All-Gateway. Chambers has spent eight years on the Division I-AA level, including five in the Gateway. He spent four years as the defensive line coach at Southwest Missouri State and three as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois. Before coming to YSU, Chambers was part of an Upper Iowa program in 2003, which moved up to Division II status after competing at the Division III level. Chambers spent four seasons on Randy Ball's staff working with the Bears from 1999-2002 as the defensive line coach. Under Chambers, SMS had three All-Gateway defensive-line selections in his four campaigns. While on the Bears' coaching staff he took part in the NFL's Minority Coaching Fellowship Program spending the 2001 training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He worked closely with the defensive line during his internship. He joined SMS in 1999 after spending two years at Roosevelt High School in St. Louis, Mo. At Roosevelt, he served on the staff in many capacities as the defensive coordinator, defensive line, offensive line and special teams coach. Prior to taking his position at Roosevelt, he was a mainstay on the coaching staff at Western Michigan. Chambers spent 10 seasons with the Broncos program from 1987-1997. During his tenure, he served as the defensive ends coach, defensive line coach and special teams coordinator. From 1991-97, he coached the defensive linemen and was in charge of special teams while from 1987-1991 he was the coach of the defensive ends. At Western Michigan, Chambers worked with the Broncos' defensive ends his first four years with the program and spent his final six seasons as defensive line coach and special teams coordinator, all under Coach Al Molde. Chambers began his coaching career at the collegiate level as he worked the 1983 season as a student assistant coach at Central Missouri State, working with the outside linebackers. After a year at Centaurus High School in Lafayette, Colo., as assistant football and basketball coach, Chambers moved with Molde to Eastern Illinois in 1984. There, Chambers spent three seasons working with the Panthers' outside linebackers. A native of Fulton, Mo., he was a three-sport standout at Fulton High, competing in football, basketball and track and earning all-state honors on the gridiron. Chambers played two years at Highland (Kan.) Community College and finished his career at Central Missouri State, serving as team captain his senior year. He earned a Physical Education degree from CMSU in 1983. Chambers and his wife Amy have three children, Dana Jr., LaQuisha and Parker. Dana is a cousin of former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Bake McBride.

Ut oh, more than one Dr in the house.

I spoke to Hixon on Saturday at the bball game.His pro day is Friday. He has the same agent as Charlieand he told me that the Browns and Bears showed interest in him.Seemed exited to talk about it. I wish him luck.

The two IP addresses are indeed different. Glad to have you aboard.I'm sure your future posts will verify who you are.

When I was sitting behind the hoop some odd years ago, I had a referee (Mr Clean looking guy)tell me he was going to kick me out for yelling at the opposing team trying to inbound a pass next to me.I wasn't cursing or anything. Back then, I was the only one yelling though.PS Z-Pouch brought up a good point when we were sitting at BW3's the other day.Can some of you Rowdies complain about the lack of Akron paraphernalia in that place?It's right next to the campus, put up a fear the roo poster or something. A logoed bar sign.I crappy mirror with a roo on it. Make it look like an AKRON bar. There is not one sign of the Zips anywhere.

Full article-----------------None of the eight Division I-A football teams cited by the NCAA hail from one of the six BCS power conferences, while only one such program, new Big East member DePaul, was among the 15 flagged in men's basketball. (Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas and Texas A&M are still appealing their results and could well show up on the final list.)This peculiarity would seem to contradict the widely-held belief that the nation's big-money football and basketball factories are the ones making a mockery of academics. If you believe this report, the real problem lies in places like the MAC (Toledo, Western Michigan, Buffalo and Northern Illinois underperformed in football), the WAC (Hawaii and New Mexico State) and, most notably, at historically black colleges like the MEAC's Florida A&M, Hampton, South Carolina State and Maryland-Eastern Shore.-----------------By contrast, Toledo's athletic department, one of those penalized Wednesday, has three full-time staff members in its academic advising department. The obvious suggestion would be to hire more, but that's easier said than done when your athletic budget is a more modest $14.8 million. "It's more difficult for schools in our position to find funding for tutorial support and summer school," said Brian Lutz, Toledo's assistant athletic director for compliance. "It's a challenge to find enough hours in the day for our academic advisors to devote to all the student-athletes that require attention."------------------MAC commissioner Rick Chryst believes the playing field will be leveled once penalties become tied to the NCAA's new Graduation Success Rate -- an improved version of the old federal graduation rate, which didn't take into account players who transfer and graduate at another school -- in 2008. His league was one of the most heavily penalized Wednesday, and yet in the first GSR report released late last year, the MAC and the ACC were the only football leagues whose public-school teams all graduated at least 50 percent of their players."We're supportive of the APR as a tool, but it's still just a snapshot in time," said Chryst. "Publicly, the dominant measure should be graduation.

I actually saw a mock draft that had the Browns selecting him.A lot of mock drafts have White going to Baltimore at 13 and DeAngelo going at 17 to Minny.Not that mock drafts mean a whole lot. 95% of them are WAY off anyway.I love printing them out and seeing how far they are off.

Get the ORIGINAL Rowdy to lead all cheers !

I guess nobody is intrigued by DeAngelo the way I am.I'm just guessing that everytime I see him run in the NFL, I will think of the Zips in the Motor City Bowl.Crowded market could lead to bargain huntingBy John ClaytonINDIANAPOLIS -- DeAngelo Williams has been dodging defenders as a halfback seemingly since birth.At Memphis, he rushed for 1,430, 1,948 and 1,964 yards in the past three years. His 6,026 career rushing yards trail only the totals registered by Ron Dayne, Ricky Williams and Tony Dorsett in the NCAA record book. Though he has to reluctantly concede that Reggie Bush will likely be the top pick and first running back taken, he isn't looking back in the second most competitive running back draft in the new millennium."I'm not one of those guys that's looking back," Williams said. "I'm not looking for LenDale White to pass me or Reggie Bush to pass me. I turned my rear view mirror off a long time ago. I'm chasing."But timing is everything. Williams enters the NFL at the same time as the greatest veteran free agent running back class ever. Shaun Alexander is an MVP. Edgerrin James put up Pro Football Hall of Fame-bound numbers in Indianapolis. Then there's Jamal Lewis, Ahman Green, Chester Taylor and Michael Bennett. The Panthers took themselves out of the backfield market by transitioning DeShaun Foster.How does he view that all-star lineup?"In my side view mirror," Williams said.Running backs better enter the NFL offseason with their heads on swivels and their eyes looking in all directions. The musical chairs for running backs is about to begin and there aren't enough chairs for the talent available. A few backs are going to go at bargain prices … or at bargain positions in the draft.Williams is competing against first-round candidates Bush, White and Laurence Maroney to convince teams to draft them in the first round and there are no guarantees backfields will be in motion. It didn't help backs when word came out of Arizona that the Cardinals aren't going to jump into the high end of salary to play for a running back.Cardinals vice president Rod Graves said this week it's unlikely the team will sign a free agent at the "very top of the market." That would surely depress the market for Alexander, James and Lewis. The Cardinals were considered the main team with cap room in the true market to add a feature back.The next group of teams -- Pittsburgh, Jacksonville and Tennessee -- in the market for a back would only be looking for upgrades and they may look at other priorities instead of investing heavy on backs. With the Panthers blocking Foster's freedom, five teams that let backs hit the market -- Seattle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Green Bay and Minnesota -- have the options of re-signing their own, outbidding the other or drafting one of the top four backs.One of the fun parts of the combine is scouts trying to figure out how the drafted backs compare to backs from the current league or past. Is Bush a Barry Sanders or a Marshall Faulk? White has that Jerome Bettis look about him. Williams is elusive but not tall, much like former Buffalo Bill Thurman Thomas.Williams joked how pleased he was at his weigh-in and his measurements."Teams want to know that I'm not 5-foot-8 ½, that I'm 5-9," Williams said. "I just want to be an exciting player. I want to help to contribute to their team's success. I want to be utilized."Maroney made an interesting observation this week. He describes his game as being patient as a runner. That's drawn comparisons to Alexander. Maroney disagrees."No. I don't see that at all," Maroney said. "That's two different styles of runner. He has a nice style but I feel his style and my style do not go together."All right, Laurence, how about James."I could see that," he said. "He's a downhill runner with good hands and speed."White, of course, has the most interesting perspective. He played in the shadows of Bush at USC. Unlike the rest of the backs in the draft who are smaller, White is unique. He's big checking into the combine at 238 pounds. The rest of the top backs are 210 or less."That's what helps me a lot in this draft, just because how big I am," White said. "DeAngelo and Reggie are in a class of their own and then you have the in-betweens like (Laurence) Maroney. And I think how big I am and how strong I am helps me out a lot. I'm kind of happy to be in this class because you get a lot more touchdowns when you're big."Maroney didn't hurt himself by showing up at the combine at 5-11, 217. Normally, he's between 210-212 pounds. His plan is to play between 215-220 pounds in the pros.Maroney hurt a hamstring in workouts in preparation for the combine so he isn't running. White, Bush and Williams are saving themselves for their individual workouts.Each back will be checking their mirrors to see which teams sign the veterans and possibly take themselves out of the market for first-round choices from the backfield. It leaves a lot of uncertainty."I really don't know because we have a lot of great backs coming out after Reggie Bush. LenDale, DeAngelo," Maroney said. "There are a lot of great backs out there. Right now, there's no telling where I will get picked."source

AWESOME !!!I have waited for that post for a long time.

Can't loses cloutby Mike Rasor If you don't have tickets for Saturday's sold-out game against Can't State, you are missing the end of an era.It will be the last regular season game in which Can't State is favored over the Zips.If you haven't heard, Can't State will lose two men's basketball scholarships for next year because some of its players transferred from the university with poor grades. Can't State has one of the 10 worst academic ratings in the country, according to the new NCAA guidelines that punish teams for having players who fail classes.So Can't State will be unable to offer scholarships to two players that it would have otherwise. This year is probably the worst year to have this happen for the Golden flushes.After this season, coach Jim Christian will have to replace four senior starters. Those four seniors make up about 60 percent of Can't State's offense and virtually all of its leadership. Next year, Can't State will return only three players who averaged more than 15 minutes per game. The flushes' three freshmen look decent but have played sparsely this season.But Zips fans should not take joy in Can't State's future misery yet. This year the flushes have one of their most dominant teams of the past decade. Guards Jay Youngblood and DeAndre Haynes make up the Mid-American Conference's best backcourt. They combine to average 28 points per game. What's worse is that Youngblood and Haynes always seem to score when the flushes need it most.Can't State is 22-7. They are even better than that. The team got off to a 6-5 record this season. Since the calendar changed to 2006, the flushes are 16-2. They have won 15 out of 17 MAC games, including wins at Ohio, Miami and Buffalo.The flushes have the conference's second-best offense, fifth-best defense and second-best scoring margin, beating teams by an average of 7.4 points.Can't State plays great perimeter defense, rebounds well and has forced the most turnovers in the MAC. As seen in the flushes' 63-57 home win over Akron, Can't State is well-balanced and shoots best when the game is at stake.However, don't pencil in Can't State as your MAC Champion just yet. Akron's stats are even better. The Zips have the conference's best offense, fourth-best defense and best scoring margin, winning by an average of 8.4 points.The Zips certainly must be mentioned when listing the MAC's elite teams. They play well on the road. They are even better at home, with a 26-1 record under coach Keith Dambrot at Rhodes Arena.Still, in the past two years, Akron is 0-3 against the flushes. Dambrot's only home loss came against the flushes last year. And just because the game is at Rhodes Arena on Saturday doesn't mean Akron is assured a home-court advantage. Hundreds of flushes fans are expected to be part of the sold-out Rhodes Arena crowd.Both teams have already clinched first-round byes in the MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Can't State sealed up the No. 1 seed. Akron will either be third or fourth.Because of that, some may say Saturday's game is meaningless.I disagree.The Zips need the third seed so they can avoid seeing Can't State until the tournament final.This game is crucial. A win will help in the tournament seeding. A win will give the Zips confidence in Cleveland. And a win could give Akron the last laugh before Can't State tailspins into mediocrity. from the buchtelite

Can't State fails to score with NCAAThursday, March 02, 2006Elton AlexanderPlain Dealer ReporterCan't State's men's basketball team must cut two scholarships next season because of penalties assessed under the NCAA's new Academic Performance Program.Can't State athletic administrators termed the penalties "our anomaly."The NCAA announced Thursday that Can't State's men's basketball and 43 other teams in men's and women's basketball and football nationwide will lose at least one scholarship under the guidelines. The new rules penalize teams that do not reach certain academic standards by restricting their scholarships.The convergence of the NCAA's new academic progress rate report rules and the transfer of five basketball players after the 2004-2005 season put Can't State in this position.Four Mid-American Conference football teams - Buffalo, Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan - took up to six scholarship hits for substandard APR reports.No other Can't State sports were sanctioned.Two basketball players signed by Can't State in November will not lose their scholarships.But the two scholarships Can't's basketball staff held back to sign players in the spring are now not available.Can't State basketball coach Jim Christian deferred all questions to Athletic Director Laing Kennedy."When we had our trial data, [in February 2005] we were fine," Kennedy said. "Then, in May [2005], we had the anomaly of five student-athletes requesting to transfer. Based on the information we had, we granted the transfers thinking they were leaving - except in one case - in good academic standing." Yet, when the semester ended, two players who were academically fine at mid-term finished ineligible.Under normal circumstances, a summer school session would have remedied the problem, but the athletes were already gone. It wasn't until after the summer session, when the data had to be sent to the NCAA, that Can't State realized it had a problem."If they had stayed, four of the five for sure would have been eligible," Kennedy said.Overall, Can't has one of the better academic records in the MAC. It ranks fourth in the league over a 10-year period with a 91 percent graduation rate for students who exhausted their eligibility; and owns a 77 percent graduation success rate overall.This will only be a one-year penalty."Our [athletic] program has maintained a very healthy graduation rate anywhere from 15 to 18 percentage points higher than the student average," Kennedy said. "The men's basketball program has a graduation rate of 75 percent. That's second in the MAC."Still, Wednesday's announcement was an administrative embarrassment considering Can't's high profile within the NCAA.Kennedy is in his first year as a member of the prestigious NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee. Outgoing Can't State President Carol Cartwright is ending tenures on both the Knight Commission, which has led the charge for NCAA academic reform; and the NCAA executive counsel.Kennedy said Can't State appealed to the NCAA twice, not for a return of the scholarships, but for the penalty to be spread out over two seasons."We were not asking for forgiveness, just for time," he said.Can't State was denied.As for next season, Can't will lose four seniors and return six players who have seen action. Can't also has two players sitting out the season as redshirt freshmen and a transfer.Add two signed recruits from fall 2005 - guards Rodriguez Sutton of Indianapolis and Thurman Sutton of Wilmington, Calif. - and Can't and will actually have more players in uniform next season, 11, than this one, 10.

NCAA says Can't State basketball team must suspend two scholarships3:35 p.m.Elton AlexanderPlain Dealer ReporterCan't State's men's basketball team must suspend two scholarships next season because of penalties assessed under the NCAA's new Academic Performance Program. The NCAA announced today that 44 teams in various sports nationwide will lose at least one scholarship under the guidelines. The new rules penalize teams that do not reach certain academic standards by restricting their scholarships.The two scholarships suspended will be ones not designated to a current player or an incoming student-athlete who has already signed a letter of intent.Can't State athletic administrators said the convergence of the NCAA academic program and the transfer of five men's basketball players after the 2004-2005 season put the program in this position.Three other Mid-American Conference schools were penalized, all in football. Toledo must suspend six scholarships, Western Michigan 5 and Buffalo 3.No teams in the Big Ten Conference, of which Ohio State is a member, or the Horizon League, of which Cleveland State is a member, were penalized.

Bruce Gradkowski of Toledo also threw the ball well. His passes were crisp and well-timed. And though there're questions about Gradkowski's arm strength, he showed good flow and rhythm.Draft prospects who improved their status

Will this hurt or help Buffalo?

Coach likes guard on court, admires him off of itby Michael BeavenCedrick Middleton applies a half-court press.The sophomore guard is averaging 7.6 points per game off the bench this season.University of Akron basketball coach Keith Dambrot loves to recruit players with strong character.The coach not only looks for excellent athletic ability from a recruit, he also looks for morals and values that make the player a solid person.Cedrick Middleton fits that mold."Cedrick is one of the highest quality people I have ever had in my time as a coach," Dambrot said. "He's a super kid."Dambrot credits a solid family environment for Middleton's personality."He comes from a tremendous upbringing and a great family," Dambrot said. "He's just a high character kid. If I had all Cedrick Middletons, I'd coach the rest of my life. I've had a lot of great guys, but he might be the best guy I have had."Middleton, a native of Illinois, provides a spark off the bench with senior center Rob Preston. The tandem brings athleticism and 3-point shooting. Middleton provides Dambrot with a solid reserve to junior Dru Joyce and sophomore Nick Dials."He's the first guy off the bench at his positon," Dambrot said. "He plays a lot in crunch time. He is really like an extra starter, both him and Rob are.""I don't view him any differently than I do Dru or Nick," Dambrot said. "He has great athleticism and now his skill level is catching up."Middleton was vital in the Akron's 76-61 triumph over Ohio on Saturday at Rhodes Arena. The 6-foot sophomore guard scored 13 points and had four assists."Cedrick played a great game," Dambrot said. "We didn't even know if he would play in (Saturday's) game. His knee locked up (in pre-game warm ups) and he was questionable."Middleton was key in the closing minutes of the victory over the Bobcats, making a jumper and converting a fast-break layup to help Akron improve to 20-7 overall and 13-3 in the Mid-American Conference."He got hot in the second half, making some big 3's," Joyce said. "He sped the game up and tired (Ohio sophomore point guard) Antonio Chatman out."Middleton was a standout at Marian Catholic High in Illinois, graduating as the school's all-time leading scorer. After a year at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, he landed in Akron.This season, he saw a spike in play after the Dec. 28 departure of sophomore guard Bubba Walther, who elected to transfer to Ohio. Since that date Middleton has scored in double figures in 10 of 19 games.On Jan. 14, he tied his career high with 17 points in a 86-73 win over Northern Illinois. He previously set the career high last season, on March 5 at Buffalo, the Zips' opponent on Wednesday evening.All of the Zips' contests with Buffalo hold extra meaning for the sophomore guard. Cedrick's older brother, Roderick Middleton, is a senior guard for the Bulls."Buffalo isn't going to be easy," Dambrot said. "It's going to be a difficult game. We never play really well at Buffalo. It used to be no one was at Buffalo games, now, everyone is at the games."They'll come out extra hard because it's going to be senior night. Plus you have Rod and Ced playing in the game. I think Cedrick gets that extra spark, that extra juice, when he plays his brother."Middleton credits much of the Zips' success to better practices."It's definitely more competitive in practice this year," Middleton said. "It's more fun and we enjoy the winning feeling."Following the Buffalo game, Akron closes the regular season on Saturday at home against rival Can't State."We know these last two games are huge for us," Middleton said. "We want to win the conference and get an NCAA berth. We came out of the woods last year when we were in first and second place. This year, it's just expected of us and not a surprise."

Per Rasor:Major news within the athletic departmentMiscellaneousI have heard that a senior administrator may be following Mike Thomas to Cincinnati. I will attempt to confirm this in the morning.------------------------------------------------------------------------If this is true, I wish him well. A GREAT help to the University

"TAKE YOUR SON OUT"...still echoes in the JAR once in a while.