Ham

While most of us will tip a few to honor St. Patrick Monday, footballs will be flying. I'm looking forward to see how the red shirts fit into the mix. I won't be surprised to see a few crack the 2 deep. I could do without the daily recap if Coach B would feed us a more comprehensive weekly summary.

After last night, we should have some fun. Tree reaches new heights!

UB has a short memory. Can someone bring up the video for him?

One % of students attend games? I wonder what % have a clue about what is going on during the game? Win and they will come? Well, its fun to win. What can be done to make it fun to attend? Having the players interact with students on campus was a great idea! Its fun to watch someone you have a connection with. One idea won't touch everyone; so, lets keep that up and add many more to it. The "shoot for prizes" events get people engaged. Its fun. Could we have an intermural game woven into the event. This could get dorms and greeks involved. Before every time out, the cheerleaders could choose a "buddy" from the student section to help lead the cheer. Have a costume contest with contestants selected throughput the game. The winner could be chosen by cheer during the under 4 TO. That may drive the introverted student to hide with those 80 year olds, but the wildly animated extroverts are the ones we want in the student section. In my HS days, I'll bet close to 90% of the students went to BB games because there was a dance after the game. I know that many here would attend an evening game; then go home to bed. Many student recreational activities don't start until 9 or 10. Could a post game show that would appeal to the students be added?

MAC Indoor championship: gozips.com lists Hakeem Lawrence 3rd 6.78 & Bryce Cheek 7th 6.68. The finish order must be right, but consider that Can't hosted the meet.

I noticed that Bryce won the 60m at the Zip Invite! I wonder if he will compete in the outdoor season and fore go spring football? With the way spring practices are spaced out, he may be able to do both.

I'm with you Dave. I think if it was really serious, Nick would not have been at practice at all.

What about Lauro & Drew?

Has Kincade or any JC's enrolled for spring semester?

It will be way cool to have the leader of the free world attend their game. His mojo factor favoring the Beavers is a concern. I also wonder about the neutral court. Oregon State has a football game in Hawaii on the 24th. I would guess that many of their fans would double up and take in some BB games too. Can Big Zip round up some equalizers?

The rules expert gave a very good explanation of the interference call on NI attempt. The next day, I watched Auburn do the same thing with no call. Both kicks were game changers. Were the MAC officials right or were the SEC guys right?

That was several run-on-thoughts. I thought the ROTC units could honor the vets on 11/11 ish. Another idea was to have a military theme for every home game. More than one idea could be used for every game.

get them there before the game for "prelims", then final qualifier determined at half time. If punt, pass, and kick is too kids stuff, set up a stage in the open end, bring in a local rock band, and have it a dance contest. It could be a costume contest making little "Zippys" that could be on the side lines all game to help get the crowd into the game. How about getting these student groups organized in a couple empty sections on the visitors side to put on a card display. Get the ROTC units to march in the pregame, halftime, and post game for our home date closest to 11/11. We could a whole battalion present the colors before each game and give them a section next to the regular student section. Then conduct a cheering contest at various breaks. That could even include ex-military joining in from regular seating. Or we could invite a company or two national guard troupes to sit with the ROTC students to help them out. Sixty or so free seats would be a small price to pay if we get some new fans from those reserves. With the program turning around, I'm confident the team would put on a show that would get many of the new butts in the seats to return for more fun.

I've been away from the area for a looong time, but back in the 60's, if you wanted student involvement, you got the Greeks involved. Perhaps a punt, pass, and kick completion including Greeks and housing complexes. Qualifiers could be held at every home game culminating at the finally. Involve the student leaders to help devise a prize structure the would excite the students. The completion should be held on the field. If it couldn't be squeezed in the time right before kickoff, something would need to be going on to keep the students involved right up to kick off. I realize this would not appeal to every student, but the ones with a bit of athletic completion in their blood are the ones the we would have a chance to get out for games. This could help create a fun atmosphere that would rub off on Joe & Jane NE Ohioan. When they find out that they can have just as much fun at a Zip game as the sheep in Columbus, Tickets will become a hot item. Lot 9 is doing a good job showing fans entering that side of the stadium what fun can be had. The tailgating needs to spread to the lot on the other side of the stadium.

I don't think one more off topic comment is worth a new thread. We have a top 10 WR from our HS headed to Iowa State next year. He is a big, athletic kid with speed, but I would have rated him as a DB. He runs down field and the QB heaves a ball in his direction and he closes to make a catch. It just looks more like a DB going after an int. Maybe he shows route running skills in camps where there are better QB's. I hope they redshirt this kid; so you all can see him when ISU visits Akron.(Wait a min. that game may be in '19.)

One good thing about the draw, we will be able to lay claim to the undisputed "mythical" Big 10 championship with a win Thursday!

I don't know much about soccer, but I did notice the west coast teams were well spread out in the brackets. It just looks like someone wants to make sure the west coast will have the best chance to be represented in the later rounds. Where they were bunched, it seems that those were the weaker teams from the west.

What's up with the radio feed over the computer?

I think we would have been in the MAC decades ago if the Flushes hadn't "black balled" us. At the time, we were a municipal university, and they used that as an excuse to exclude us from the MAC.

We knock the monkey off our back! Zips 31 Falcons 27

I watched the video earlier this morning, and had a similar reaction to others. If Tree had slammed it down, a "ho hum" reaction could be expected, but this is a freshman! We are just starting preseason practice. What are we going to see come March? Can you imagine an opponent stepping up to take a charge? The after shock has been felt in Iowa!

The La game was my one trip from Iowa to see them in person. That makes evaluating performance a whole lot better than TV, but still way behind watching film. KP16 can make some throws, but it would be fun to watch those first 2 passes with him in the film room. Still exceeds. JC7 looked good, but when he took on 2 defenders head on and fell forward pushed him to slightly exceeds. D transfers didn't impress that much. I don't agree with those calling for more Mizel; 44 looked far better than I expected from comments that I have read here. Jt55 looked engaged this year, but he still has a long way to go to reach his potential. O line just doesn't seem to be able to get the push we need to get our running game moving, but pass blocking was better. On offense, we were like a heavy weight fighter, hesitant to throw a punch in early rounds, content to avoid harm. Don't worry about setting up your left hook. We just need to come out punching! I watched the D give up 35, but they still exceeded. Looking ahead, I believe we have the talent to play with our next 8 foes. Will we make an 8 - 0 run? I'm not smoking anything funny, but I think we will win half of them!

Our speed at DE will force QB to commit early slowing the option. Look for JT55 to have a big game. Zips 30 / Cajins 24

It should go without saying that everyone on this board would hope for a W. I still hope to see our best at the Info beating the Cagins. As for let down; Michigan will absolutely have a let down. The mere premise of the question sets them up. Think about how often a track athlete sets a personal best at a tune up meet. Our guys on the other hand will be set up for their best effort. I don't think we will be intimidated there, but crowd noise could be a factor.

Show up with A game. Make it a game. Don't get anyone hurt!