Regarding alternatives, I like an old idea that Joe Dunn mentioned on 1350 am Big Time Sports yesterday. Let's have the 4 NE Ohio hoops teams (UA, CSU, YSU, K.E.N.T.) play a mid-season mini-tourney. So what if it means we have to possibly play K.E.N.T. 5 times a year. The mini-tourney games would obviously count as OOC games. If you want to avoid additonal YSU-CSU and UA-K.E.N.T. clashes, you could alternate two of the four teams year-to-year and bring in 2 bigger names instead.
It sounded good at the time
With the BE TV money being much less than anticipated, it wouldn't surprise me to see the whole conference collapse here before long. If it does, they should let the hoops-heavy schools keep the name for old time's sake.
It's not a MAC coaching change, but since it indirectly relates to a couple of ex-Zip head coaches, I'll place THIS here.
And to think that Ianello was supposedly on SJSU's radar before they hired MacIntyre
Of course, JD Brookhart was part of the Colorado staff that MacIntyre will be replacing.
After a poor outing against Syracuse earlier this week, EMU's group of transfers bounces back with a nice home win over Purdue 47-44. Sure, the Boilers are a little down this year and the Eagles look to be offensively challenged, but after watching them against the Orange, I'd say thay have a pretty nice collection of athletes (long and quick). This is the kind of team that would have been a bad match-up for the old Zip teams. But the 2012-13 Zips should be able to handle them.
Apparently, the MAC will need to win a few of these bowl games or else people will go back to thinking "same old MAC". I see that not a single MAC team is favored and all are at least 4 point underdogs. Granted, there are no easy outs for the MAC this year. Several of the opponents have a quasi-home field advantage. I think a 3-4 record might be a pretty decent showing. Of course, an NIU upset victory would make up for any of the other losses. I look forward to watching. I'd even watch if I was in TRACTION.
Thanks for the tip on Dale's, K92. I've seen it while shopping at the Big Bird and had wondered how it was. Canned beer is definitely making a bit of a comeback.
Lately, I've been trying a seasonal offering from Southern Tier, a favorite microbrew of DZ84 (AKA Mrs JZ84). It's considered a strong american ale, and it has some unusual flavors (fig is noticeable) as compared to GL Christmas Ale or 12 Dogs.
I picked the 2012 team to place 4th in 2005, because I think they would have easily beaten those poor K.E.N.T. and Buffalo teams from that era.
I picked the 2005 team to place 3rd in 2012, because I think between K.E.N.T., BG, and OU, two of them would have finished higher than the 2005 Zips.
I'm sure you already know I wholeheartedly agree. I also emailed GT requesting the same. The only think I can figure is that coaches might generally stay away from providing this information. Maybe they think it shines a negative light on the program? Maybe they don't want to alert other schools to these player's eligibility issues? I'm grasping at straws here.
OK, since I haven't heard much about the non-qualifiers of 2012 lately, I did some digging up on William. This is a little confusing, so please stay with me. The first link mentions him at a Big Red banquet of sorts. It reports him playing well as a FR at a junior college in California (led ALL junior college players in sacks).
Link 1
The second link is the 2012 Gavilan CC football roster. There is no William Houst, but #52 is William Lee from Steubenville. I think it's a safe bet that William goes by that name at this point.
Link 2
The third link shows his stats for 2012. It looks like he had a pretty good year, especially rushing the passer. I hope there's another chance to bring him to Akron after all. We could use some more Big Red blood (following walk-on QB Marcus Prather).
Link 3
I agree. A huge key for the Zips in the 2005 season was BG's Omar Jacobs. He missed the game against us at Doyt Perry (Zips won 24-14), but played against Miami two weeks later in Oxford (Falcons won 42-14). And then Toledo (lead by Brad Gradkowski) did us a huge favor by beating rival BG (with Jacobs playing) 44-41 in OT at BG.
Feel free to explain your vote. The second poll is the 2012 Zips facing the 2005 schedule (assuming the strength of the MAC in 2005 is just as it was in 2005)
I almost can't believe this, but HERE is why a coach needs to grab the opportunities when he can. It's unbelievable that, just last year, Mario Cristobal reportedly turned down Pitt and Rutgers to stay at FIU. Thanks for nothing!
On a related note, that makes numerous 2012 Zip opponents who will have a new coach in 2013:
FIU
Tennessee
Morgan St
K.E.N.T.
NIU
I expected a few more wins, but that was before I knew how good the MAC would be this year. I agree it's completely off-base to compare Ianello's 1-11 with Bowden's 1-11. If you can't recognize and acknowledge the improvement seen on the football field this year, I don't know what to tell you (zen).
BTW, I don't think Durham or any other player will leave K.E.N.T. and I don't think they'll slide too far NEXT year. It's after that where I see them (hopefully) sliding back into the abyss (no Nix or Archer). Maybe the Zips can hasten that slide with a fantastic victory at the Info in 2013?