Dr Z

And another WPIAL (Post Gazette)

Every year the world endures that eternal question. Who is the #1 college football team in the nation? In 1989, the Tom Bowl stepped up to answer that question. Before the BCS Before any talk of a playoff system There was... The Tom Bowl. Click here and page down to see the Zips Bowl Game

Another great job of a "cut and paste" from GoZips.com a day later. Way to go YSU guy (David). The Beacon has one crack staff.

Let's say that statement is true. JP Losman (Bills pick) was chosen with the 22 pick overall (4th QB taken). Most contracts now a days are based on the previous years contract plus a percent increase. With that in mind Charlie is looking at about 5.5 million guaranteed. Way to go Charlie. Take note future recruits...Come to Akron, get 5 mill. source for Losman's contract PS Charlie, if you want 7 mill bonus and a 30 million dollar contract, contact me. I only charge 7%.

From talks of getting fired to talks of moving on... From outhouse to penthouse

A COY, no, I have never turned on a bowl game and said, "man I want to see if John Copper can do it" But I have watched many bowl games to check out an individual that I thought might be drafted by my favorite NFL team. Charlie back on Mel's board. He was off for a while. Top QB taken ? #5 is #20 as of 12-01-04

This seems to be of interest to some: Seven current I-A schools averaged less than 15,000 in home attendance this season. Rank TeamAverage111. Louisiana-Monroe 14,717112. Eastern Michigan 14,387113. Ball State 14,300114. Middle Tenn. St. 13,388115. Can't State 12,877116. Buffalo 12,185117. San Jose State 10,948 Also Florida Atlantic 9,415 Florida International 7,366Source: NCAA source Go Michigan State !!!

If it comes down to Michigan St having to beat Hawaii in Hawaii 11:30 pm Saturday on ESPN2, the stats don't look too good for us. I think Michigan St is favored by 6 right now. Mich St (1-4 road) Hawaii (6-1 home)

Nov 27th Mock Draft Charlie Frye to back up Farve? Wasn't that Tim Couch's job at one time??? I know these things are silly, but still fun

Now that's funny I would highly doubt Walt Harris is going to get fired after the payday he just scored. BCS Bowls pay big bucks (somebody tell BC)

I don't care if Jeff Long drove to your house and told you in person "don't tell anybody, but we are going to fire Walt Harris and rehire a guy that used to be here that we let go that just stole our back-up QB that has been a head coach for 1 year in the MAC to coach our team" You are had better lay of the mushrooms dude!

I would LOVE to know where you got this information from. Is this your opinion?

Today's 'Caption This!' on SI's website: Cleeek here to play along (bottom left)

Good time to be a Zip fan. Everything seems to be going our way right now. Weather clears up for kickoff (kleeek here)

I just can't believe the BJ sent a photographer all the way down there to take a photo ! WOW

If you want to find out who will win just play the game on your x-box at home. That is just as relevant. Go back and figure out all those numbers for the Marshall game before Akron beat them. Write it down on a piece of paper, wad it up, and then throw it out the window ! If you like these numbers so much, bet em ! AVERAGE SCORE VS. COMMON OPPONENTS Miami: 36-18.8 (+17.2) Akron: 31.2-21.6 (+9.6) Final Score Miami 27.6 Akron 20 Difference 7.6, the spread is 8, so take Akron and the 8. you can order your new car today.

I agree, thank you to the players and coaching staff for their hard work. Keep it up. Thank you to the AD and his staff for setting our standards at a higher level. I'm just giddy over the fact that we can have a discussion and read about bowl games. NOBODY could have predicted this. Perfect world Akron pounds OSU in a bowl game. Next to perfect, Akron pounds Pitt in a bowl game.

Hope this is good luck. Zips 8.5 underdog against Miami. Over / Under 57 Zips Odds makers

Can't home. Hands down. I thought it was some kind of special occasion for them to pull out those ugly things.

Part of the credit for that should go to former Akron coach Lee Owens, who recruited the likes of John Fuller, Domenik Hixon, Dwayne LeFall and Frye, who all have emerged as team leaders. I had to look up what the Randel EL you were speaking of. I can't believe I am about to defend Terry Pluto but, he is right, Lee did recruit Charlie and Hixon. How much credit he should get for the victory can be questioned. I agree with you, in the same situation I don't think Lee's staff comes through there. I wonder how long before we stop referencing Lee's coaching ability with every win or loss? For those of you that don't read the Beacon here is the whole article: Discipline helps Zips succeed By Terry Pluto Hang on to the ball -- or bear crawl. That's one of the messages that Akron Zips football coach J.D. Brookhart delivers to his players. If you have the ball in practice, hold it tight. ``You never know when one of the coaches or even the managers will come up behind you and try to knock it loose,'' Brookhart said. ``It could happen in a drill, or maybe just when you least expect it.'' And if you fumble? Down on all fours, and get ready to crawl for a while. Works great for a bear. Of course, the rest of us do much better on two legs. ``It's about discipline,'' Brookhart said. And what are the results of that focus? ``(In Mid-American Conference play) our turnovers are excellent. We've forced three more than we've made.'' That's just part of the reason the Zips are the MAC's surprise team, owning a 5-1 league record and tied for the East Division lead with Miami and Marshall. The Zips have won four in a row, including Friday's stunning 31-28 victory over powerful Marshall at the Rubber Bowl. In that game, the Zips kept their cool after falling behind 28-7 in the third quarter. Marshall seemed to wilt and appear disorganized as Zips quarterback Charlie Frye led an amazing fourth-quarter comeback. Brookhart praised the composure of his players. ``We have the fewest penalties in the MAC,'' he said. ``I'm proud of that, too. It comes from practice. If you jump offside, you do grass drills.'' That means you run in place until a coach whistles, then you drop to the ground. Then you get up -- and then go down again. ``No fun,'' Brookhart said. The coach said his team has grown so football savvy, the offense can start plays with different snap counts -- something that requires tremendous concentration. Brookhart said he could never do that when he was coaching previously at Pitt. Part of the credit for that should go to former Akron coach Lee Owens, who recruited the likes of John Fuller, Domenik Hixon, Dwayne LeFall and Frye, who all have emerged as team leaders. ``Frye, Fuller and some other guys never wavered,'' Brookhart said. ``We had some seniors who sort of had one foot in with what we were doing, one foot out. But they hung in there, and now they are leading the underclassmen, too. These seniors have a real sense of urgency to do something special.'' Brookhart talked about defensive lineman Kiki Gonzalez, ``who would quit in some of the drills during the spring. Now, he's pushing himself hard and pushing the other guys.'' Brookhart knows he did not inherit a team in turmoil. The Zips were 7-5 last season, 5-3 in the MAC. They lost their top receivers and runners, but did have future NFL draft pick Frye returning at quarterback and some experienced linemen back, too. The Zips had no excessive academic or behavioral problems. Brookhart wanted to put his own stamp on the team, to stress ``accountability,'' one of his favorite words. Miss a class or study hall, be ready to run at 6 a.m. In the office and at meetings, players wear no caps. They dress neatly. Brookhart said when he was a young assistant at Pitt, coach Walt Harris had several rules that seemed like nothing more than nitpicking. ``I told myself I wouldn't do that,'' he said. ``But now that I sit in that head coach's chair, I do it. And I understand why Walt did it. You want to establish a culture, a mind-set.'' He believes these qualities helped the Zips come back from a 1-4 season start, where they were crushed at Penn State (48-10), Virginia (51-0) and Northern Illinois (48-18). ``These are tough-minded guys,'' he said. ``They have been through a lot. They have a high desire (to please), to succeed. Our defense had felt like step-children for years. Now they are helping us win games. I'm proud to coach this team.''

Vegas eh? Didn't have to go all the way to Vegas to bet on the game. Hope you took the Zips straight up and got 4:1 odds like me. I honestly forgot about my bet until after celebrating on the field. I was walking out of the stadium and thought, oh yeah, I just won money on that game. Now you know the game was good for me to forget about money Hey Z-P, did you see me on ESPN2 with Charlie in Vegas? No kidding.

Thanx. Good Work. I looked for something like this in the Beacon today I pick (I) SI gives some Props to Frye

Maybe Zip fans are tired of Marshall fans posted photos of Goddard on their board. You can debate all day who had a better game. Fact is Frye put up over 300+ yards passing and the Zips put up 500+ yards of offense on Mr Goddard. One thing you can NOT debate is: Frye = W Goddard = L

Just do what most Marshall fans do. Hook up your trailer and park it at the Rubber Bowl. Sleep there that night. I think last time, the APD turned their sirens on at 9am the next morning to boot everybody out.

Little help, Mr. President? University of Akron could sure use about $60 million to replace 64-year-old Rubber Bowl By Tom Reed OK, President Bush, the Ohio voters -- 51 percent of them anyway -- helped secure your re-election. Now, in the immortal words of Caddyshack's Carl the Greenskeeper: ``How about a little somethin' for the effort?'' We need jobs. We need better health care. We need about $60 million to replace the concrete eyesore that is the Rubber Bowl. Send the check in care of Mike Thomas, University of Akron athletic director, and consider it the first investment in your ``No Athletic Program Left Behind'' initiative. The Zips, who have ranked no higher than 108th in Division I-A football attendance since 2000, would certainly qualify. You are familiar with the decaying 64-year-old Rubber Bowl, aren't you, Mr. President? Someone had to give you a guided tour on one of your 250 trips to the Buckeye State in the past four months. You already have spent more time in Northeast Ohio than Browns owner Randy Lerner. As a virtual resident, you must know about tonight's Zips game against Marshall to be played here before a national television audience. The program has one of the nation's best quarterbacks in Charlie Frye. The Zips have a bright new coach in J.D. Brookhart, who has them contending for a Mid-American Conference East Division title. Only one problem -- the game is at the 35,202-seat Rubber Bowl. As a former major-league baseball team owner, you understand the importance of a fan-friendly facility. The Rubber Bowl radiates the warmth and charm of Prince Charles without the royal lineage. Any wonder why ESPN hasn't televised from here in 18 years? The university ran an ad slogan to ``Fill the Bowl'' for the 1986 contest against Murray State. The game drew 18,402 fans. Network cameramen are forever looking for the Rubber Bowl's good side. So are UA coaches who must take prospects to the stadium on recruiting visits seven miles from campus. It's too bad, Mr. President, because there are lots of good things going on at the UA campus. The university recently celebrated the opening of five new buildings: the Student Recreational Wellness Center, the Honors Complex, Simmons Hall, the second phase of the Student Union and the $12 million Athletic Fieldhouse. How deflating it must be to show potential recruits all that progress and then take them to the Rubber Bowl, built in 1940. There are some great old American stadiums and arenas still standing. This isn't one of them. The location is remote. The seats are uncomfortable. A climb to the pressbox rivals an ascent to the Empire State Building observation deck. Then there is the traffic, Mr. President. For major high school playoff games, it's a nightmare. There are Massillon football fans still searching for a parking space for the 2001 state semifinal game against Cleveland St. Ignatius. Unfortunately for the Zips, that's seldom a problem. Thomas remains frustrated by the program's inability to engage its estimated 80,000 alumni in Northeast Ohio. Not fielding a consistent winner obviously contributes. So does the fact that the MAC historically struggles to draw fans. Last season the Zips ranked 110th in attendance (averaging 13,812 fans) out of 117 Division I-A programs. They finished ahead of four fellow conference schools, including nearby Can't State. Thomas knows a modern, on-campus stadium would make a significant difference for the program and how it's perceived. He believes it could be done at a cost of between $40 million and $60 million. A consulting firm that toured UA last month echoed those comments. UA president Luis Proenza, however, has said there is no funding in place to act on the project and he doesn't want to pass on a large portion to the student body. That's where you come in, Mr. President. In two consecutive elections, Ohio -- for better or worse -- has been your lead blocker to the White House. It's time to reach for the checkbook. It will be our little secret. Let's just tell everyone that ESPN, while removing those light poles this week, dropped them on the stands causing structural damage. You swoop in and declare the Rubber Bowl a disaster area. It's hardly a stretch.