johnnyzip84

Good: Alcorn's game winning FG (56 YD?) against Too-lee-doo, BEATING Marshall on their last two trips (including the chance to talk to Jason Taylor on the sidelines with my youngest and his friend), MAC East clinching Snow Bowl over Can't, Thursday Night ESPN game against Murray St. (Cowboy Cheerleaders amd Gerry's Kids), trouncing Cincinnati 31-0 in 1989 (think how shocking THAT score would look in 2008), 3 OT 65-62 win over EMU, hanging tough with Va Tech on defense and special teams play alone, and anytime Narducci's Penguins visited.Bad: Losing 17-0 in pouring rain to Middle Tennessee in a game in which UA could have secured their 1st (and only) OVC crown, getting BLOWN OUT by DELAWARE STATE (NOT Delaware!!!), Schifino dropping probable 1st down pass against Marshall late in the game to set up Herd rally in 2000, blowing lead to UConn the week before, opening loss to Can't in 2003, blowing lead to Temple last year, and anytime Tressel's Penguins visited.Ugly: Loser Bowl in 1994 against OU (at least we won!), Faust premiere against Salem (though Salem QB Jimbo Fisher DID manage to distinguish himself after this 35-0 loss to the Zippers), the "Black Hole" closed end zone, the ubiquitous troughs/light poles, and HS playoff games (particularly involving Massillon or McKinley or both) usually out-drawing the Zips.

Just looking over some future football schedules made me think of a wild nominee for potential MAC expansion. The typical Ohio resident's affinity towards the Myrtle Beach area is well known. How about inviting the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers to become MAC members? Throw in either Fla Atlantic or Fla International and we'd had a couple of nice road destinations As evident in this year's NCAA baseball tourney, the Chants (gotta love that name) have an excellent baseball program, a decent basketball program and an up-and-coming FCS football program. We can get a close look at them next year (2009) when Can't hosts them in the 1st game of the year. OK, so maybe it's far fetched. It still might be fun to get CCU jerseys and wear them over Zip gear and go root for them in Dix stadium, because of course

Taking a line from Bill Lumbergh, "aaaah I'm gonna have to sort of...hmmm....disagree with you on this one". WKU has consistently contended in the 1-AA (FCS whatever) playoffs, and they faired pretty well in their "transition" season last year (7-5). I see NO reason why they would not be competetive in the MAC from the outset.

I am actually pretty surprised that JD is not a 2.5 or 3.0 on this list, given the stakes (new stadium, etc.). Either I got up on the wrong side of the bed OR I've been a Zip fan for too long, BUT when I look at this schedule I see that the two weakest foes could very well be Army and EMU. Having said that, I have rarely been confident enough to predict a Zip road victory. Therefore, I truly do not see a single "gimme" on the entire schedule. I DO have high hopes for this defense, though, IF they can stay healthy throught the early part of the year. The first seven games are very tough and I only see three wins coming out of it. If we split the rest, UA winds up 5-7 and I think that puts JD in some hot water. A 7-5 season would be a very good accomplishment in my mind and 6-6 is enough to assure he is here to open the Info in 2009.

Now THAT is a hoot, w00t!How about Dwight Lowery?

I know it's kind of sad to have to step outside of the realm of player and coaches, BUT how about the only person (in the public's eyes anyway) who has followed the program closely from Dennison to Faust to Owens to Brookhart?STEVE FRENCH - Long Time "Voice of the Zips"

Actually I did. I said that it was Toledo. BUT, I added that the things happening at UA could make a differece here soon. But as of RIGHT NOW I think it's Toledo.

Interesting possiblility. But I think UMass will eventually follow UConn and move up to 1-A or BCS or whatever fairly soon. I also would not count out Toledo in any of these discussions. A previous post posed the question which MAC school is the most appealing to other conferences, and in spite of a few down years I think that is still Toledo. This may change quickly with the way things are going here at UA however.

Good idea! We might have to crop/resize but I'm sure we can work out those issues when the time comes. It's too bad that Cam #3 seems to be out half of the time though

Althought ECU football has been historically pretty decent, I agree with this sentiment. Another factor is the central Florida TV market is just a wee bit bigger (hear the thick sarcasm) than the Greenville, NC TV market And we know the Big East has been a "market driven" conference from day 1. Plus, UCF gives USF a natural, in-conference rival.

Since May 1 I've been keeping a WORD file where I have been placing screen captures of the webcams every other day or so. I want to have my own "photo history" of the contruction process. There's a big difference already in the pics from May 1 versus today. Pretty exciting stuff for us Zip fans.

Looks like lots of activity out there today!

I realize it's tough to expect a transfer to be placed on a "watch list", but I would be willing to bet that Ryan Bain will have as good a season in 2008 as any of the players listed here.

I'll agree it's hard to imagine Nate all of a sudden playing every down like a fire's been lit under him, but maybe, just MAYBE, a mild slam from the Cap'n is all it will take for him to prove us all wrong I will add that the Giants seem to be a good fit. Close to home and the support of a couple of Zips.

Nice find! Maybe it's happened already and I haven't seen it, but I have to believe that at some point a few schools are going to be whining about how the LeBron factor is an unfair recruiting advantage for the Zips. Especially since KD is not shy at all about discussing it. I hate to say it, but maybe the BCS schools that lost out on Zeke will get the ball rolling?

I understand that some folks are calling this the "Zeke Marshall" rule

Maybe they don't want Ezekiel to be forced to walk in a path that is inline with the center of the arch?

I stumbled upon this rather bizarre picture (attached) that looks to be a possible design modification to the green space arches that now populate UA's attractive campus. If I'm looking at this correctly, the red lines represent an increase in clearance but I have no idea why this would be at all necessary

Let me just say that this is really no surprise to me. I have mentioned before in other posts how poorly UA is known, much less revered, in the Western PA region. This is slowly changing however. I can tell you from personal experience that UA was a perfect fit for me when I left Western PA for college life. I could have gone to Pitt to study engineering, but I chose Akron for a number of reasons and I have no regrets. 2 hours is a perfect distance IMHO, because it's close enough for family visits (either way) but far enough that a student learns a lot of responsibility on their own. That's what the college experience is all about after all!

What a wonderful story!! When I was an undergrad at UA from 1979-1984, I used to return to my home in the Pittsburgh area only to find that many locals had never even HEARD of UA let alone acknowledge it for either sports or academics. This situation has gradually changed over the years with many Western Pa recruits filling the hoop and gridiron ranks in particular at UA in recent years. I see the verbal commitment from Zeke as a crowning jewel in this transformation. I will walk a little taller on my subsequent trips "home" I can assure you of that!Great to have you Zeke! The Akron area will treat you well I can assure you. Go Zips!!!!

Today's BJ article has a few more details. It looks like UA BARELY missed the mark (920 vs requirement of 925). Also it looks like 3 transfers (out of the program) for this year will account for most of the reduction in scholarships.Link

Sure, he's a long way from being the athlete that Gates is, but there's is no question he has the body/mentality for football. Makes me think of the numerous college hoops guys who went on to have significant NFL careers. The board is still a little slow, so here are a few names to get the ball rolling. For now I'm only listing guys who did NOT play college football, so this excludes Chief TE Tony Gonzalez.1) Preston Pearson - Steeler/Cowboy RB played b-ball at Illinois2) Gates - played something somewhere but I can't recall right now3) Sam Clancy - DE for Browns et al played BB at Pitt (and I'm pretty sure he played at old Fifth Avenue HS in Pittsburgh before it was closed in the 70's)

This adds a little more credence to my initial suspicion. I have to believe that the Zips will be playing host to Jamie Dixon's Pitt Panthers at the Q next season. A lot of us remember the Jerome Lane-lead Panthers eeking out a close win over Huggins crew in the 80's. If true, I think this is a great matchup/opportunity. But, having grown up in Western Pa, I might be a little biased.

Lowery had better watch out. I understand Davanzo didn't take his (Lowery) being drafted too kindly. These guys will probably be sick of seeing each other on the field.

I hope big Nate can give everything he's got with the G-Men. The only thing stopping him is Nate. BTW, it looks like Kasparek signed with the Fins and Tate with the Jets.Link