K92

Won't be heading to Can't tomorrow. But there will be no sadness. There will be no sorrow. You see, When you start to venture east of Summit You'll find the IQ's begin to plummet. Culture shock sets in and you just might stare When you see that first chick sportin' pit hair. Although I love the team And I love my Zippy The trip ain't worth sitting next to a smelly hippie. So thank God for ESPN And STO. Fewer dreads and less B.O. I'll be watching In my den And the Zips will be beating That Can't State ass AGAIN

One of my favorite seasonal is now available in Central PA. Tentative release date in Ohio is February 4. If you haven't tried this one, you should!

I hope that someday I can be as smart as you.

I agree about Chis. He is not the prototypical back for this offense, but he is one of what? 2 guys? that had any type of "explosive" play for the Zips in '12. (Quentin Hines run in the Tennessee game is the only other big play I can think of right off the top) My only knock on Jawon is his habit of stepping out of bounds when there are additional yards there. That really bothers me, but he is a good back nevertheless.

Astute observations by JZ as always. I am very leery about the NQ's from last year. Numerous questions about the statuses of these players have all gone unanswered, so I don't hold out a lot of hope for these guys suiting up. I hope I am wrong, but it's not looking real promising. I agree with your assessments of the defense and the players that need to step up. Losing KM8 leaves a big hole to fill. Jatavis Brown & Justin March definitely showed flashes of brilliance in '12 and hopefully both come back stronger this year, but we will miss the leadership and stability of #8, no doubt. Griggs was a pretty steady performer as well, and someone who could slide inside to give NC58 & CG36 a much-needed blow. JT55 could be a real force, but nothing has made me believe he will ever realize his potential. I watched his body language and interaction with his teammates a lot last year and he never seemed the least bit integrated into the team. He seemed aloof, detached from the game & generally in the dog house. I will continue to root for him & hope it all finally "clicks". Most concerning to me is the defense will be paper thin again. The lack of depth was a concern voiced in the post-game presser after every Zips loss last year. Even if our returnees play lights out, they need some capable back ups to spell them if the defense is going to be improved in '13. If the defense doesn't make some huge strides, the offense will need to be more efficient if the Zips hope to increase the win total. I also have high hopes for KP16 taking over the reins at QB. However...if the expectation is for him to take over for DW13 and be even better is to expect a QB with 0 career starts to become the Zips' all-time single-season passing leader. Catching that QB lightning in a bottle two years in a row is a tall order. I hope Kyle gets it done, but it won't be easy. Who will replace the production of MS15? That guy was a money player for the Zips and he definitely kept a lot of drives alive with clutch grabs. I am very hopeful Zach D'Orazio can make a full recovery and step into this void, but that is a big question mark. Before his injury he was making some clutch grabs, himself. He looked fearless over the middle. The offense is in need of some playmakers. Dire need. I hope for more downfield throws this year and I hope L.T. Smith turns out to be one of those playmakers we need. I realize it is extremely premature to make any predictions or to have any expectations for the 2013 Zips. But my preliminary gut feeling is that it is up to the offense to crank it up a couple more notches if we are going to see any more wins. Good things happened when the game was sped up last year. Things definitely slowed as the season progressed. I hope to see the quick pace return, even though that pace places additional pressure on our thin defense. I think an extremely efficient offense is the best opportunity for a win. The Zips will win more 66-60 games than they will 28-24 games. Most alarming of all is that we only have 13 schollys to give. 13 is not a good number for a team that lacks depth like ours does. In October, I hope that we can look back on this post and call me Chicken Little...

Looks like a good get. Good job by the staff. Keep it rolling, Zips!

I fully understand just how important 2013 is and I am worried. Unless there are some guys from last year's greyshirts or from this small upcoming class that can step up and make a huge difference, we are in trouble. Big trouble. I hope I am wrong, but I am catching a bad vibe.

That is an incredible find, Doctor. I was under the impression that no 3 Floyds 12 ouncers were distributed in Ohio.

Jonas got a haircut.

Yep. No difference between NIU & Toledo vs. EMU & Buffalo. Get real.

Wow. That's a tough schedule. Add in tough road games to Michigan & UCF along with ULL & JMU in non-conference and it equals MEAT GRINDER. Only silver lining is UM & BGSU... ROAD TRIP!

No argument there. Poor design and dated information is a terrible combination.

Which would you advertise: "Former National Coach of the Year" or "Current Head Coach of the Akron Zips"?

I think that's the brother of the kid who transferred.

Me too, since they only won 11.

Did they have a contest amongst the fashion majors to see who could come up with the dumbest helmet design of all time? Love it.

Moving this thread to the off topic folder doesn't hide it from anyone. When you use the "View new posts" button it brings up all threads that have been added to since your last visit, even those from the off topic folder. As a matter of fact, I see 2 threads in the OT folder with more views than this one at first glance.

+1 Can't blows.

Last weekend I attended a wedding in the Toledo area. One of my wife's cousins made the trip up from Georgia for the wedding but also visited her boyfriend's family in Kalamazoo a couple days before. They were nice enough to bring me a bottle of Bells Eccentric Ale which was quite different. On the way home, we stopped at The Anderson's in Maumee since I had heard so many talk about it. Their selection was huge, but not a lot of American craft beer I hadn't already seen elsewhere. Picked up a few good ones for New Years though. Yesterday, I stopped by Wayne's Country Market in Mansfield and they had installed draft beer sales since I had last visited. I brought home a growler of Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout which was delicious. They are offering Great Lakes non-bottled brews which was surprising. They had Cleveland Brown Ale & have already gone through kegs of Pumpkin Ale and Blackout Stout. Speaking of surprised, imagine what I thought when I found these at the Ashland Buehler's... A toast goes out to Dr. Z when I try these tonight!

I agree. If it weren't for basketball, the Big 64® might already be a reality. I would live to be a fly on the wall in one of the ivory towers when the CFB power brokers speak candidly about their nefarious plans.

Am I an elitist for being one of the minority who enjoys MAC games? I have never had delusions of grandeur about the Zips. I have always been against the delusional pipe dream of moving to another conference like BE or C-USA. The people who think Akron is somehow better than the MAC are the ones you should direct your venom toward, not me.

I guess it is ok for you to make your smart ass comments, but you don't extend the same courtesy to others with different viewpoints.

Not what I said at all. Akron IS where they belong, the MAC. Whether or not the other 100 teams not on "the list" are where they belong is another question. And you can take this to the bank: A independent move down will make a lot of Zips fans stop watching.