UAZip0510

I can tell you with full confidence that the trip was taken this summer because of the need for extra "live game action" for our young team.

“I want to win the rest of the games because I think we could get an at-large bid,” he said. “No one’s talking about us, but if we win the rest of the games that would make us 24-7 and that would mean that we went 21-2 after starting 3-5 and we’d have some quality wins.” - Keith Dambrot prior to the OR game That's "begging"...? What do you want him to say? If they had won out, why wouldn't they have been under consideration? This is a young team (16th youngest in Division I). We know there would be growing pains this season. So did the coaching staff, which is why they took the Canada trip. We've dealt with injuries, suspensions, and players forced into playing out of their natural positions. They have also been faced with trying to gel a team with three new starters and four rotation players who didn't play college basketball last year. With all of that in their way, they are 19-8 overall, 11-1 in the MAC, and in the driver's seat for the #1 seed in the MAC Tournament, while facing the toughest schedule in recent program history. Not as good as we thought? This year scared the hell out of me to start with, and that was before it seemed like it was all falling apart (Abreu's injury, Harney and Treadwell's suspensions, etc). Many teams would have folded under the same adversity, but the Zips fought through it. Not as good as we thought? Bullshit...they're better than I thought they were.

In the VCU game Zeke played a season-high 37 minutes. Ever since that game, Dambrot's goal has seemed to be to play Zeke more. The problem is that too often, Zeke can't keep himself out of foul trouble. The Zips have played 14 games since the VCU game. Zeke has played less than 28 minutes in 8 of those games. In 5 of those contests, Zeke recorded 4 fouls. He only played 24 minutes against Eastern Michigan, but that was a 30 point victory. The only 2 games he has played less than 28 minutes in without being in foul trouble have been the Can't State and Bowling Green games. He was ineffective in the BG game, and Dambrot rolled with the bench crew for much of the 2nd half in the Can't State game. Zeke's Last 14 Games 28+ Minutes Miami, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Buffalo, OU, Miami Under 28 Minutes Oral Roberts - 27 minutes - 4 fouls Northern Illinois - 14 minutes - 4 fouls Eastern Michigan - 24 minutes - 2 fouls (Zips were up by 20+) Toledo - 24 minutes - 4 fouls Ball State - 27 minutes - 4 fouls Marshall - 23 minutes - 4 fouls Bowling Green - 24 minutes - 2 fouls Can't State - 21 minutes - 2 fouls I think the plan IS to play Zeke 28+ minutes. However, for Dambrot to do so, Zeke has to do his part in staying out of foul trouble.

That argument would have the same credibility as Cleveland fans thinking Akron people should cheer for their teams.

Can anyone find a picture of him wearing Akron Zips stuff? Seems like he supports Ohio State more than his hometown's university. OSU even gets his specialized gear. At least he tweets about us on occasion...

One or two games in 5 years = minimal.

Ridiculous. I have never heard anyone from Cleveland saying that they expected people from Akron to cheer for their sports teams. Ever.

+1. The accomplishments of this program have everything to do with Keith Dambrot, his coaching staff, and our players, and nothing to do with LBJ.

I remember when LeBron James said he would have gone to Ohio State had he gone to college. I remember looking at this link and realizing our partnership with Nike didn't have much to do with LeBron, considering Ball State is a Nike school as well (and Adidas was/is an option for sponsorship). I remember reading the news a few weeks back that he was moving his summer camp "temporarily" to Las Vegas (sorry guys, it's not coming back here). I remember zero recruits signing with Akron that listed LBJ's small connection to the school as a reason for why they came. I remember the number of times the "big fish donor" has given money to our university because unless I'm mistaken, it has happened zero times. I remember LeBron being at zero Zips home games since Travis and Joyce graduated. I remember "The Decision" being one of the most egotistical, narcissistic moves ever made by a professional athlete. Finally, I remember both of the last two NCAA Tournament appearances where the hard work of our players and our coaching staff was overlooked because of a perceived connection to LeBron James. Listen, I appreciate that he has donated bikes and money to different charities. You certainly can't fault him for that. But I also think it's silly to say a person doesn't have self-respect if they don't bow down to the self-proclaimed King. He's a selfish, egotistical person who uses our facilities at times during the summer and tweets about UA on occasion ("Every chance he gets" is a stretch). But let's be clear - he hasn't delivered us recruits and he hasn't donated money to the school...his overall impact on this program has been minimal at best. You are free to support him if you'd like, and I can certainly respect that...but let's stop acting like there is something wrong with a person if they don't like LBJ.

I don't think anyone is afraid of Can't, Buffalo, or anyone else. Do I think Akron is the best team in the MAC and can beat anyone? Of course. Do I think they'll win the Tourney? Definitely. Would I want to get a bye to the semis and have weaker MAC teams on our side of the bracket? Absolutely.

Are we better off with Buffalo or Can't winning tomorrow? I'm thinking Buffalo. Assuming Akron beats Miami, a Bulls win would put Akron 3 games ahead of Can't, Ohio, and Bowling Green with 4 MAC games left. This would give Akron an incredible advantage in grabbing a #1 or #2 seed, either of which would earn them a bye to the MAC Semi-Finals.

Current Standings 1. Akron (12-2); Remaining: UB, @Can't State 2. Ohio U (10-4); Remaining: @Can't State, @MIA 3. Buffalo (10-4); Remaining: @UA, BG 4. Can't State (9-5); Remaining: OU, UA 5. Bowling Green (8-6); Remaining: MIA, @UB 6. Eastern Michigan (8-6); Remaining: @WMU, @TOL

First and foremost, I believe the Zips are the best team in the MAC and I'm not afraid of playing anyone in Cleveland. With that said, there are always teams you'd rather see on the other side of the bracket. So my question is this - who are those teams and why?

This is pretty much true...

To be honest, I didn't think they could make bobbleheads of current players. Maybe because they are "free" giveaways?

I have no idea why the Zips haven't done a Keith Dambrot bobblehead giveaway. Get Diet Coke to sponsor it!

This move wasn't made on a whim. This came after several months of discussion that surely including several months of LP considering the pros and cons of hiring Tressel. LP isn't going to let everything he worked for with this university go up in flames. He certainly has his flaws, but one of LP's greatest traits is he is a planner that has long-term vision of what he wants to accomplish. After careful consideration, he decided that Jim Tressel could help him achieve those goals. Jim Tressel isn't a bad person. Some of you demonize him, but I've never heard a former player talk negatively about him. He has broken rules in the past. Some, like me, believe he did so because he thought he could simply handle everything in-house. Others believe he did so to keep his National Title hopes alive. Unless you're Jim Tressel, we're all just guessing. Maybe it was even a little of both. If you don't think 95% of BCS head coaches have handled an infraction in-house instead of self-reporting, I'm just not sure you're in touch with college sports. Some say that's an excuse, but I call it reality. Tressel's biggest mistake was lying once the infraction was discovered by the NCAA. Because of that terrible decision, he lost everything. Had he come clean, he'd probably still be at Ohio State. Back to Dr. Proenza. There is absolutely no way LP is going to let Tressel anywhere near the athletic department and/or recruits in the near future. However, he can still help athletics in a roundabout way. If Jim Tressel can raise money from donors and increase the profile of the University, that money can go toward academics. The additional academic money will then allow LP to reallocate to athletic-related projects, such as a new basketball arena. Akron gets improvements to the athletic program with indirect help from Tressel. Tressel repairs his image and becomes a head coach or athletic director here or somewhere else in 3-5 years. It's a win-win for both parties involved. I'm not going to engage in debate with people who will clearly hate Ohio State so much that they cannot possibly consider the upside to this. I respect your opinions, I just believe them to be short-sighted and emotional. Debating them will get us nowhere. Instead, I'll just think of you when I'm sitting in the brand new, 10,000 arena that will be built thanks in large part to the fundraising of that Devil Jim Tressel.

The NCAA certainly looks the other way quite a bit with the SEC. It will be interesting to see if Meyer employs "SEC-style" recruiting tactics - like the ridiculous oversigning - in the Big Ten.

Yeah, Cam Newton was innocent too... If you know about the Auburn football program and think that no violations occurred in Bowden's time there, I'm not sure what to tell you. It's good to see you aren't against the hire though.

100% agree on this. UA is going to keep all public Tressel-related discussion about the academic side of things. Tressel will obviously be working to help athletics in a roundabout way, but they'll do their best to avoid direct connections.

Do you two have a problem with the hiring of Terry Bowden, who, according to the ESPN report that I linked, admitted that there were violations that were taking place when he started at Auburn that he did not report to the NCAA? Side note: Before anyone rips me, I have zero issue with the Bowden hire. I love Terry Bowden being Akron's coach. I'm simply illustrating that some are letting OSU hate stand in the way of logic.

Translation: I'm going to overlook/ignore all logical potential benefits of hiring Tressel because I hate Ohio State. It's good to see that the majority of Zips fans have the common sense to set aside any hatred they hold for Ohio State and have realized the things this university may/should be able to accomplish with Tressel now on board.

Jim Tressel found out that his players were involved in breaking NCAA rules. Instead of reporting the infractions, he handled the situation in-house and lied to the NCAA about his knowledge of them once they were uncovered. This eventually cost him his job. Many here have said that, because of these actions, they cannot respect him and/or support him at UA. According to an ESPN report, Terry Bowden allegedly found out in 1993 that Auburn was paying players to sign. He did not say whether or not he reported it to the NCAA, but considering they were already on probation and nothing happened, it's safe to say he didn't. Terry handled the situation in-house, saying he put a stop to the practice. When reporters asked him about it, Bowden said the comments were off the record and that he had no comment. We have accepted Bowden with open arms. Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1617370 For both men, this is somewhat of a 2nd chance. For Bowden, to prove he can once again lead a respected, winning D1 football program. For Tressel, to prove that he has learned from his critical error in judgement, and that he once again deserves to be in a leadership role at a university. I hope we can all come together to support them both. They may be able to help take UA athletics to a level that we have never seen before.

You are killing me with this stuff...I need to know!

I don't think he did that the 1st time. Seemed to me like some in the area created rumors that spun out of control. I think it's extremely telling that UA came out with a statement right away and did nothing but add to the fire.