johnnyzip84

Sounds great!Here is another source, one that specifically mentions that discussions have taken place regarding an arena for UA.

Made my day with #1. You had Doug at #1. If I had any marketing sense, I would have saved the Suel news for last!

Tidbits from ZipsLive:1) Suel is playing this week!!!!! 2) Bice and Kasparek will be out this week, but will both be back soon3) Add Sheldon Miller to Hazime as "out for the year".....the rest of the defense is healthy4) No specific mention on The Chisel......has me concerned for this week anyway 5) Punter Zach Paul is redshirting and expected to take over for Campbell when he's done6) They recruited heavily the past 2 weeks......look for a LOT of OL and DL recruits in this next class

I'm pretty sure I just heard KD say on ZipsLive that the following individuals would be graduating NEXT year:1) Zeke2) Quincy3) Chauncey Gilliam4) Brian WalshSo Walsh must only have 2 years left if I heard him correctly.

@jupitertoo: I honestly didn't mean to question your information. I just thought it might show a little more in the spread. Thanks for the details. Hopefully the Zips can take advantage. If I knew The Chisel was 100%, I'd be pretty excited.@Lee Adams: Just because someone pays attention to the line doesn't mean they're necessarily interested in betting. It also provides an indication of what "the street" thinks about a team.

I thought ribs were scheduled for CMU and chili for Can't.And anything goes for OU (just trying to bait CK into posting the first chair bonger once again )?

I bought a number of "odds and ends" singles over the weekend to hopefully boost the total I need some confirmation on the tailgate plans for OU. Is this the unofficial rib burn off?

Thanks for the info DiG, as this clarifies things perfectly. It didn't seem likely that the strongest guy in the NBA could only muster 19 reps of 185 lbs. There's a lot of good info in there

This is obviously a huge game if iCoach wants to get the ship turned this year.Opening odds have the Zips as just about 2 TD underdogs. I thought the spread might be a little lower with the Bobcats supposedly being banged up a little.

Speaking of weightlifting, I talked to Zeke on Saturday and he (and the coaches) told me that Zeke benched 185 pounds (which is the NBA combine weight) 15 times. In comparison, the top NBA player did 19 last year.Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt the numbers you're reporting for Zeke and I think it's OUTSTANDING that he's obviously been as dedicated as he has been in improving in this area. It's the last statement (in bold) that has me puzzled. Is this the highest number of reps at last year's combine? Is it the most any player in the NBA can lift? If it's the latter, I find that a little hard to believe. It seems way too low for some of the bigger guys in the "Association".I echo the sentiment that it's all good for UA that these guys are working out locally.

PD reporter dyslexia is the more likely culprit?

I could have placed this in a number of threads, but decided it fits as well here as any other. I pay a fair amount of attention to the "lower level" of FBS football, mainly because I'm always curious about how others programs with similar challenges to UA are managing. Lately I've found myself following UL-Lafayette, primarily because of the terrific job Hudspeth is doing in his 1st year there as HC. Dave in Green has pointed out on numerous occasions that none of us can say with great certainty whether a successful lower division HC or a BCS level coordinator/assistant will make a better head coaching hire at a school like UA. Fair enough. But what if you could hire a guy who is BOTH? Well UL-Lafayette did just that when they hired former Mississippi St passing coodinator/WR coach Mark Hudspeth, who also had considerable success as HC at D-2 North Alabama. I realize you're cutting your hiring pool way down by only looking at individuals with BOTH qualifications, but the Ragin' Cajuns success this year does give me cause to wonder. Also check out the attendence figures at ULL's 1st 4 games at Cajun Field:Nicholls State 28,741Florida Atlantic 26,339Troy State 29,775North Texas 32,823 - largest crowd ever for a game between 2 Sun Belt Conference members (conference game)Compare this to last year's home crowds:Arkansas State 15,103Middle Tennessee State 17,249Oklahoma State 25,881Western Kentucky 15,641Florida International 13,041This is how a program is turned around. I don't know if we have the same level of "dormant fandom" here in Akron, but I'd sure like to find out some day.And just to bring this full circle, UL-Lafayette travels to Tuscon to face the Wildcats the last regular season game of 2011.

The large MAC schedule is why I believe in the worst of rebuilding years we should be 6-6. If the scheduling is done properly, we get two OOC wins (vs. D1-AA and Sun Belt-esque team) and 4 in the MAC (Can't and UB need to be guaranteed every year and two other wins should not be hard to come up with especially if EMU is on the slate). Unfortunately, we've had the poor fortune of picking the wrong Sun Belt teams over the next few years. Unless Cristobal gets plucked away, FIU should be decent for a while. And has anyone else noticed to fantastic job Mark Hudspeth has done with the Ragin' Cajuns in his 1st year (more on him in one of the coaching threads). I personally think many of us MAC fans should have higher regard for the Sun Belt. They're basically at the same level now, and time is on their side.

Another PD column on the business of college sports. Porter's salary is discussed in detail, as is that of Miami's hockey coach. Looking at the salaries of all in-state men's hoop coaches (state schools only), KD doesn't fair too badly at all. And is iCoach's total compensation really 573K?!?!?

ESPN Scoreboard Both of the Zips next two opponents lose "winnable" home games. Ailing OU loses 23-20 to Ball St in Athens, and EMU defeats CMU 35-28 in Mount Pleasant. Edit: Sorry MDZip, I see you posted similar information in another thread. I figure it might deserve a new one nonetheless.

Winter's nemesis, the Ashland Eagles, end the Warriors 10-game undefeated streak, 20-17. LO has definitely had Paul's number in GLIAC confrontations. Wayne State remains in the GLIAC race and D-2 playoff picture, but there's little margin for error over the rest of the schedule. They likely face a must win at Hillsdale next Saturday.

Gaffney article on the opening of practice.

Please explain how a team that won twenty-one games last season and returns all five starters, and has a veteran, respected coach is 'overrated'. I seriously doubt that any MAC coach will take Western Michigan lightly. I spoke a little too quickly. Losing Juwan Howard JR might hurt a little, but they do have some quality players in Ward and Whitfield coming back. It seems to me that WMU under Steve Hawkins tends to excede expectations when they are low, and disappoint when the are raised. What's the highest finish for a Hawkins-coached team? Didn't they win the MAC tourney a while back? Edit: 2004

Please explain how a team that won twenty-one games last season and returns all five starters, and has a veteran, respected coach is 'overrated'. I seriously doubt that any MAC coach will take Western Michigan lightly. I spoke a little too quickly. Losing Juwan Howard JR might hurt a little, but they do have some quality players in Ward and Whitfield coming back.

McCrea would be my easy choice as pre-season POY as well. But this guy lists him as a GUARD on the all-conference team. Nothing about McCrea's game is guard-like in the least. I know it can be tough sometimes to squeeze the players you think are the 5 best into an "all-conference 1st team". I've said before that the MAC East is going to be extremely competitive this season, even more so than usual. My biggest beef with these predictions is the over-rating of WMU.

No love from a half-asked CBS MAC preview. They list the Zips 4th behind Ohio, Can't and Buffalo in the East. They also pretend WMU, minus Howard, is the best in the conference. Wow, no kidding. That review is almost baseless.

The truth hurts: 2007 Man you look at those scorres and realize that for the most part JD's teams were competetive in the games they 'should' have been. Temple always thrashes us. But the others weren't necessarily blowouts. While I tend to agree with you, another interesting statistic came to light when I was reviewing these scores. Now I realize strength of schedule has a big impact on the question I'm about to ask. But, when was the last time the Zips scored more total points in a season than they allowed? LO's final season (2004)

And they were very good (especially the bacon wrapped ones). Thanks for sharing. And to JZ84 and Zips_Win! for allowing me to mooch off them as well. You're always welcome, MDZip As long as you don't start wearing those wild & crazy Terp uniforms, that is

Tom Gaffney story in the Beacon

The truth hurts: 2007 Man you look at those scorres and realize that for the most part JD's teams were competetive in the games they 'should' have been. Temple always thrashes us. But the others weren't necessarily blowouts. While I tend to agree with you, another interesting statistic came to light when I was reviewing these scores. Now I realize strength of schedule has a big impact on the question I'm about to ask. But, when was the last time the Zips scored more total points in a season than they allowed?