mes102

1 ) I apologize for anything I've said or may say in the future that may be damaging to anyone else. 2 ) There's always fine lines between being invited to hang out and going too far(this is not a speculation, it's just a generic term off for anything in life). 3 ) I'd rather have UA and the athletic department take action than to be immoral about the situation. All I can base my opinions off of is by looking at past history. And past history tells me that Ms. King would be kicked off the team if she did anything wrong. Look at friday night's game for example. A women's basketball player was suspended for that game due to "violation of team rules". In fact, Coach Kest didn't even allow her to be on the bench. It was probably something like a missed class or something. The women's basketball program holds themselves accountable for everything. So that's why I do not agree with you that there is more to this than what you think there is...

Akronzips71, really? So many things against your "blinded" opinion. Ms. King is a star in her own right as a women's basketball player, so your double standard argument is so off base. Also, who knows what happened there but we can base it off history. Of all people, you should know that(unless you were faking that you were a law enforcement officer for 30 yrs just to try and make an insane point). Who is the repeat offender here? And if Ms. King ever did anything to violate team/university conduct policy, or even against the law, she wouldn't be on the Akron women's basketball team right now. It's just that simple. Coach Kest doesn't put up with that. Anyone that saw her first year as Zips' head coach can vouch for that statement. I am done with this program. Things Dambrot has done(or not done) with recruiting, coaching, and mentoring student athletes, are just repetitive and annoying. The list just keeps growing and growing on suspensions in this program. Then on the court, the student athletes hardly get better in their careers. When he recruits them, they basically are the player they are when they arrive and when they graduate(or transfer, go to jail, etc). Now, on the who told who about this, if Ms. King declined a phone call, why would she say anything about it? She wouldn't want that attention. Lady Zips had a game Friday AND Saturday. So when they're getting ready for the game, her peers could have noticed, told Coach Kest or asked her themselves, and it went from there. Especially since if the day before those "minor" injuries weren't there, but were there the next day. It would concern some people, especially her teammates that are on a team that get along on and off the court. It's a family. If someone within that family is hurt, then word will get around one way or another. I think it wasn't brought to attention until someone else on her team noticed it after Saturday's game. That would explain why he wasn't suspended until late saturday/early sunday morning. I feel bad for Ms. King because her name was put out there by a guy that covers Can't State. No agenda there SMH... Anyways, It hurts me to see her name out there because of comments people will say like akronzips71. I understand some people disagree with my opinions, and that's fine with me. That's why this board/forum is here, to discuss our passion for the University of Akron and their athletics. But if someone is going to say that this is as much of Ms. King's fault as Mr. Treadwell's, you're on my block list.

Lady Zips 82 NKU 49 Each of the first two games, this team comes out slow. But they get better in the game as the game goes along. Except for garbage time today, which is understandable with a young team, the defense was much, much better. Offensively, this is normal. AKR Scorers: Anita Brown(JR) 22, Sina King(SR) 17, Hannah Plybon(SO) 16, Kerri McMahan 10(FR), DiAndra Gibson(JR) 6, Megan Barilla(JR) 3, Alex Ricketts(SO) 3, Lauren Hung(FR) 3, Katie Nunan(JR) 2. Very excited for Tuesday's game. Hopefully the snow ends before or holds off until the game ends so I don't have to go to my second work instead of the game.

I think Alli Ball could be a good replacement for Rachel Tecca, but most people will say "you can't replace her". I believe Ball, and if needed, Greta Burry, can produce Tecca numbers. I think the position that intrigues me the most is the 3(SF) position. The player tree has been incredible. Murphy teaching Luburgh, Luburgh teaching Brown, and eventually I see Brown teaching Sefcik. I've been saying this quietly to just my friends, but willing to say it openly now. I think this freshmen class has the ability to win MULTIPLE postseason games in the NCAA tournament. Before Kaitlyn Flowers walked on, I kept hearing the freshmen calling themselves #FabFive. The fact they know the reference tells you what basketball junkies they are and the self-confidence they have while playing basketball. I fully expect them all to impact this team this year, which means great depth again this season. That's the only reason why we're not back-to-back MAC champions. CMU just had more depth than us in that 2013 MAC Championship game. I can name at least 10 players that can have a big game on any given night. Now that's called depth. The fact this team averaged 82 PPG last year, losing Tecca/Cassell/Luburgh/Young/Guyton, freshmen playing a huge role, and you still scored 80 points in your first game tells you this team can improve a lot. Sure, the other team probably helped in the 80 point performance, but you can say that in scenarios last season as well. I can't wait to watch this game today on video stream while on my plowing break. I'm very intrigued to see the journey this team makes this season. There will be ups and downs(and by that, not small ones. Canyon deep and mountain peak type of ups and downs), but I see the potential reward being greater at the end of the season. The veteran presence and youthful "swag", make this an interesting team to watch this season.

Some surprising results in the MAC yesterday: Eastern Michigan 127, Can't State-Tuscarawas 40 = First, the only reason why I know Can't State-T has a team is because someone from my alma mater is on the team there. They only brought five players to the game I believe, and it wasn't pretty. It's pathetic on what EMU did here. Why are you even scheduling this as a game?!?!?!? I understand an exhibition(or maybe a game near finals week in December), but a game(to start the season)?!??!?!?!?!?! Ohio 111, Murray State 60 = From what I read, Ohio just couldn't miss from 3. I had them as my sleeper team in the MAC because of their coach, but I'm not sure if they can be considered sleepers by the time MAC play starts up. Western Michigan 63, Illinois State 41 = WMU had a problem scoring early on, but they got going and never looked back in the 2nd half. Very similar to the Akron game. Only difference here is WMU played without two of their better players. Northern Illinois 55, Illinois State 51 = I don't expect much from the Huskies, but it's a bit of a in-state rivalry game, and first time in a long time that NIU women's basketball program has beaten Illinois State two years in a row. Purdue 66, Ball State 60 = I feel like Ball State is the best team on paper, and yes this was in Muncie, but they had every opportunity to beat Purdue. I think they will be the favorites to win the MAC, and if it's not the Lady Zips, I hope it's them. Their coach is a classy guy, and does things the right way. Plus, he's a really good coach and his team plays well against big schools all the time. Bucknell 53, Bowling Green 52 = BG won't be as good as last year, but you have to expect that after losing Rogers and Halfhill. I expect their transfer players to start improving as the season goes on, but we'll see how much they improve this season. Siena 58, Buffalo 50 = I expect them to be a team that will contend for the MAC East title. This game surprised me that they lost it. Still wrapping my head around this one. Cleveland State 81, Toledo 71 = Lady Rockets just aren't the same like they used to be in WBB. They're in a rebuilding mode, and young players with growing pains. We will see how they do, but not expecting much from them. North Dakota State 74, Can't State 68 = Their problem was they haven't had talent there in the past couple years. They got some young talent now, but still not good enough to compete for anything other than spoiling other programs' seasons. More and more I'm starting to think that Akron may win the MAC East. With their MAC schedule, it favors them to only have a maximum of 3-5 losses in the conference. It'll be interesting to see how they do here in non-conference play. Hopefully they keep improving, and make another magical run during the MAC tournament.

Anyone going to the women's game, expect to see some growing pains. At least one freshmen will be starting, and two-three others should be contributing off the bench. One is injured and another is a walk-on, so I'm not sure if all freshmen will play this year. It won't be as smooth offensively as years' past, but they should still be decent. Should be fun for anyone going to the game. I wish I could go, but I end up having to work tonight and tomorrow(I hate this snow). Will be listening on the radio though. Go Zips!

I thought Kerri McMahan and Alli Ball would be two key freshmen this year, but like Plybon last year, I just didn't expect the freshmen to catch on this quickly to Coach Kest's demands of her team. I thought coming off the bench would be where they would be and then come maybe come MAC time, they would be good enough to start potentially. I liked what I saw in the freshmen and the veteran players. Very excited to see where this team can go. Here's how I feel the MAC is at right now. The MAC West is a two team race, and I believe that the MAC East is a three, maybe four team race. My early predictions: MAC West: 1. Ball State, 2. Central Michigan, 3. Toledo, 4. Western Michigan, 5. Northern Illinois, 6. Eastern Michigan MAC East: 1. Bowling Green, 2. Buffalo, 3. Akron, 4. Ohio, 5. Can't State, 6. Miami(OH) Tourney seeds: #1 Ball St, #2 Central Michigan, #3 Bowling Green, #4 Buffalo, #5 Akron, #6 Ohio, #7 Toledo, #8 Western Michigan, #9 Northern Illinois, #10 Eastern Michigan, #11 Can't State, #12 Miami(OH)

Media Day press conference yesterday:

If we would have won one or both of the last two games, this game wouldn't be as huge as it now. But that's the past, and it has to stay that way. This is time to show up big tonight on national television. I know we started off well last year in BG, and then fell off as the game went along. With more depth, I think it favors us tonight. Pohl might be a bit shaky to start, but extra days of preparation to get back in rhythm with the receivers and running backs. I'll be there tonight. My rain gear isn't black, so i may have to buy one or make one. Zips 26 BG 21

I saw this topic had new posts yesterday and was hoping it was a positive update. Couldn't make myself look at it until today. Very sad day in ZipsNation. We've had a really tough year with coaches(and/or family members of coaches) passing away this past year. I remember a few seasons ago, I came to a couple practices in the Fall and it was my first time sitting in on one of their practices. I was nervous, and there wasn't many people there so I wasn't sure if I should have been there or not. I saw Coach Peters and went up to ask him to make sure it was okay for me to be down here to watch the practice. I never talked to him before or anything, just knew he was on the staff. When I asked him, he replied back by saying "Just as long as you're not a scout from K.e.n.t." I couldn't help but smile with that response. He impacted so many people's lives positively, whether it was a one time conversation or an entire life of friendship, family, and/or mentoring. My thoughts and prayers will be with him and his friends, family, and colleagues.

The difference is that you can just tell when the game is swinging the other way and there's no way to turn it back the other way. It got to a point where we still had the lead, but you knew it was a matter of time before we lost that game. I had that feeling at Ohio too. I didn't have that feeling at Pittsburgh or Michigan last season. I would hate to see what Woodson would have looked in that game. Not as efficient is my guess. Part of me feels that Ball State's coverage in first half was to see what Woodson could and couldn't do when reading defenses, scrambling ability, throwing abilty, etc. They made the adjustments at halftime, and the rest was history. Unlike most people, I expected a big season this year. I thought we would beat Howard and Pittsburgh. I thought we would lose to Marshall. I thought we would give Penn State a game. I expected a 6-2 MAC record, and thought 8-4/9-3 was very reasonable this season. Apparently I was wrong. My expectations are too high for this team, and on this board too apparently.

If Pohl didn't have enough time to be prepared during the week due to not being cleared til Wednesday, then why was he the backup QB? Why not Hirschman? That couldn't have been worse. I still can't get over the fact that Bowden said Pohl didn't come in the game because "it wouldn't be fair", but he brought Woodson into the game at Pittsburgh, but that was "fair" because Pohl threw an INT in the endzone even though we didn't lose the lead???? When I watch the Zips, I feel more confident in Pohl. Woodson just looks like a deer in headlights most of the time when pressured and that's normal for an inexperienced QB. It's just when we have a better option, I don't understand keeping him out there.

My point is how can you explain that it's fair to put Woodson into the Pitt game when nothing was wrong with Pohl other than throwing an INT in the endzone. Woodson didn't do anything, and Pohl came back in. But putting Pohl in, which by everything I heard all week was healthy and ready to play in today's game. If he wasn't healthy or ready to play, you wouldn't hear me complaining. That's why I didn't understand why Bowden didn't do the same thing he did at Pittsburgh, especially this one that meant more for this season. This defense is MAC championship caliber, and I hate to see it wasted like this. If Pohl came in and didn't produce, I would have applauded Bowden for at least trying to get a spark and go from there. Just don't understand how this was "unfair" to Pohl, but benching him in a Pittsburgh game that he was leading when benched isn't "unfair"? Like GP1 said, Woodson is Bowden's project.

In my opinion, I want to see Milwee fired and see how the team looks then for a season. IF it's not better after that season, then I might be persuade to jump off the Bowden bandwagon. Just can't get it out of my head that he'll bench Pohl for Woodson in the Pittsburgh game, go back to Pohl, but won't do that in a game that means more in terms of this season with Woodson being benched. We all know now who Bowden prefers at QB....

They had no problem switching Pohl for Woodson and then switch back to Pohl, but you won't give Pohl a chance? Yeah, that's great locker room dynamics SMH. This team is looking for a spark. That could be it. If the coaching staff isn't motivated to win every down, quarter, half, and game, then why should the players?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

Pohl would have executed that throw

Coaching staff being stubborn. They kept Stein on the sideline, and look how that hurt us early on in the Penn State game. Now Pohl is being kept on the sideline, while we blow another winnable game.

On the road with a backup quarterback, and you have him throw it 40+ times? I'm sorry, but that's not balanced. Bowden says he wants a balanced attack, but how can you have one when you're not calling a balanced one? There is no excuse that Hundley and Chisholm can't get yards. Even if it doesn't work at times, you can't throw it away and go pass all the time. All those passes stopped the clock on the incomplete passes which meant our defense had the possibility for being on the field for long periods of time and being worn down. This game is strictly on Coach Bowden and Coach Milwee.

For anyone wanting to see highlights of these freshmen, here's some I found: Megan Sefcik Alli Ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8IIpmK0c4Q Kerri McMahan (Couldn't find any basketball related video) http://highschoolsports.mlive.com/news/article/-7353301790799097236/novi-beats-rival-northville-43-27-in-girls-basketball-as-kerri-mcmahan-takes-over-second-half/ Greta Burry (#33 purple in video freshmen yr) Lauren Hung Kaitlyn Flowers http://lompocrecord.com/sports/high-school/basketball/flowers-battles-back-from-injury/article_1dc301e6-75c8-11e3-a28f-0019bb2963f4.html (great article) http://santamariatimes.com/sports/high-school/basketball/kaitlyn-flowers-heading-to-akron/article_80915c5b-3be6-52c7-82de-c6ffd300aebf.html (great article)

From what I know, Sina King has been looking really good in practice so far. She's THE leader of this team. There's other players coming back that didn't get the quality minutes like Cassell, Luburgh, Tecca, and Young did last season, but still got a good chunk of minutes and were productive. Roster breakdown(* next to my projected starters) : Seniors(1) : Sina King* Juniors(5) : Megan Barilla, Anita Brown*, Therany Dunnigan, DiAndra Gibson*, Katie Nunan* Sophomores(4) : Hannah Plybon*, Alex Ricketts, Hannah Scipio, Sophia Simone Freshmen(6) : Alli Ball, Greta Burry, Kaitlyn Flowers, Lauren Hung, Kerri McMahan, Megan Sefcik, I think this team will have growing pains, but they'll still finish in top half of the MAC. Do I see them repeating as MAC Tournament Champs? Of course not. But I think they could spoil it for a couple teams. I think Plybon will start at PG. Barilla may start the season at PG, but I think Plybon will eventually take over the starting PG position and Barilla will provide a spark off the bench. I have Brown at the 2, Gibson at the 3, King at the 4, and Nunan at the 5. If you're looking for players that nobody really knows anything about that could make a big impact on this team, I'll give you four names. Personally, I think anyone on this roster that's a sophomore or freshmen can surprise people, these are the four I believe have the best chance this season to have a big impact. Alex Ricketts, Hannah Scipio, Alli Ball, and Kerri McMahan. I think Hung, Sefcik, Burry, and Simone can contribute as well, but as in for an entire season, these may be the best bets. Didn't know about Flowers until a week ago, so I'll have to see her a little bit more to know what she can contribute to the program, but this team is definitely not low on talent. It's all up to the coaching staff now to develop them, and I don't know anyone I trust more than Coach Kest & staff.

Didn't we start the season 1-0? Doesn't that count as "above .500"? So answer would be 2014.

I know it's not Zips soccer, but it wouldn't surprise me if some of these players turn into Zips so that's why I am sharing this: http://www.nscaatv.com/rankings/3420/Fall/men/National/Poll4 If you haven't seen Copley play, I recommend seeing them play. I went to their game at St. Ignatius(it was #1 vs #3 in DI) and they won 2-0 on St. Ignatius's field. They are well-coached and playing well right now. Here's a little more about the #1 team in the state and #8 in the nation : http://usatodayhss.com/2014/09/boys-soccer-copley-dominating-opponents-with-attacking-style