skip-zip

With the Patriot Bowl being only 6 days away, I want to start a thread again so that all of us Zips fans can gather together.Most people I am hearing from do not want to go to the "official" party, and would rather just hang out with other Zips fans in a parking lot area somewhere.I do recall a previous thread talking about a location on the West side of the river as a possibility.

I think there's a good chance that Jackson will transfer. Lets face it, he came here to be the starting QB. He could have gone to bigger schools to play other positions. So, if he isn't going to be the starter at QB, he'll probably look elsewhere.

zipboy....I'm sure you'll get arguments that talent in the MAC East is not equal. If it were, Temple and Buffalo would have just as much of a chance as everyone else. Lets hope that's not the case. Hopefully, we win this game and show some promise for the coming season. My only problem is that I keep having flushbacks to the way they manhandled us 2 years ago.The game attendance (ticket sales) will show 25,000-30,000 thousand, but less than 20,000 people will be in the stands. Can't did the right thing by skipping the Patriot Bowl next year, and keeping their game with Boston College at home.

I guess that's a pretty fair way to look at it. We're not making any money, AND we don't have a chance to win. That's a pretty good argument for not playing a game like this at all.

At one time, I really thought he was going to be our starter. I really would rather see a guy stick around and compete, rather than give up and go somewhere else. But, it was evident that he wanted to play some football this year, and this was his chance. Although I wish him luck, if he ends up popping up as a good QB at another D-1A program down the road, wouldn't that make us question our decision to bench him?

I think the best we can hope for in this situation is that we learn a lesson.Maybe we know now that it's best to wait awhile when scheduling what could be big-money games. It certainly appears as if we might have cost ourselves some much-needed athletic revenue by scheduling this game far in advance.

I'm with you Buckzip. Garrett Wolfe has tremendous "football instincts", and lateral movement.Bobby Hendry (not Henry) had incredible attitude and determination.Brett Biggs was short, but otherwise had everything you'd want in a running back.All we know about this kid is that he can run. If I recall, the article about him mentioned nobody with interest in him, other than a couple of MAC schools. There has to be a reason for that. Don't you think?

His speed could put him in the MAC. But his size could really be a serious liability.

I picked up a Street and Smith's at the store today. It lists Kemme and Mackey as the two Zips on the All-MAC team.I'm happy to see Mackey get regarded so highly. Most of the publications don't even list him at all. I really believe that he is the heart and soul of that defense.Congratulations John.

Competition can indeed make players better. But it can also leave your eventual starters less prepared for the start of a season.I know a lot of coaches, and they say it can go either way. Lets hope the strategy pays off for Akron.

LOL...if only this meant something. It's just funny that Akron got 668 votes, and Can't got 29.

I'm not surprised that GP1 shows his lack of knowledge about football by stooping even lower, to the "why hasn't Charlie done anything for the Browns?" argument.Apparently you see the Browns as a very capable football team, and the QB is the problem.Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? I guess you've decided to believe whatever you want to believe, and keep telling yourself over and over again that you are accurate, regardless of the facts. That's certainly your choice.

I noticed that too. It can't be right. It's a reflection of a percentage of gate receipts. And Can't could not have been offered twice as much as us. They wouldn't have to do that to lure Can't.

First of all, I made no mention of us getting screwed by anyone.Its this simple. The only thing we can do to help ourselves is to schedule higher ranked opponents. Sure, it exposes you to the possibility that you'll lose 10 games. But it also gives you more ammunition in the recruiting battles, draws more fan interest, makes your team better, and upgrades your program.Without it, we're faced with what looks to be a one-team conference in the NCAA tournament for quite a few years to come.

scottditzen...I agree with you. Let GP1's comment about Frye categorize itself, which puts it in the "idiotic" category, at best. Everyone knows how bad some of those teams would have been without the leadership (and sometimes heroics) of Charlie Frye.Looking back at that 2001 team, we need to keep in mind that we played the Suckeyes at a really, really, really weak point in their existence. Our 2001 team was typical of most of Owens teams...they beat a handful of bad teams, but could not beat anyone else.I think that possibly we were a little bit more talented offensively than we will be this year, but that era brought us some of the most sorry excuses for defenses as this program will hopefully ever see. So, I'd certainly take today's team over 2001.

Wow. If this is true, I am a little surprised. Although, I do agree that it's the best thing for the team since Jackson can help us out at WR.

uaakronkid... I don't think any MAC teams are getting rejected by the tournament committees for not having enough wins, as you say. Last year, I don't think a couple more regular season wins would have made any difference. It's all about schedule strength. And if we can't get that in our conference, we have to go and get it in our OOC schedule. If we don't do this, we'll be sitting here every year scratching our heads. The MAC rates too low as a conference, and besides moving to another league, the only thing we have any kind of control over is our OOC scheduling.

Dayton? Temple? Wyoming? - Teams that combined for about a .500 record last year, and all were well beyond the top 100 in computer rankings. And even if you want to consider those good matchups for us, couple those games together with teams like these below, and you get the picture.South Carolina UpstatePortland StateIUPUIBinghamtonNorth Carolina CentralNorth Carolina A&TNIT, at best, if we win 25 games, and do not win the MAC. Is that what everyone wanted to see as our best possibility this year?Only time will tell how this shakes out, but it's likely going to be far from being good enough to get us any kind of notice come March. But of course, we won't know until the OOC SOS figures start coming out. Plus, the bracket buster didn't help us at all last year. Lets hope for a better matchup this time around.

Pluto always seemed very partial to Owens. I'm not surprised if he meant that to be a "Brookhart won his first two years because he had Owens' players" reference.My observations tell a different story. I think JD did one heck of a job picking up a mess of a program from the ashes to produce results very quickly. However, I do recognize that Owens had some good players that JD was able to use effectively.

This is a long way away from anything that's going to impress tournament committees in March.

equins. Sorry. The Patriot Bowl games are games that include a service academy. Better check your sources.

flipthezip I avoided the library too. But not because I ever saw anyone get hit.

Sure, it's nice to think that those teams will come when the new stadium is built, but there's a lot of history that shows that they tend to buy themselves out of the agreement when it comes time to play the road game. When you play a 2 and 1, you need to make every effort to get the "1" at your place first. Although, I give Virginia Tech credit for holding up their end of the 2 and 1 with us about 10 years ago. Heck, Purdue is playing Toledo at the Glass Bowl. If any of you have been there, it's only a step ahead of the RB in terms of it's condition. I think you need to find these kinds of games, and take them whenever you can get them.All I know is... I am going to be pretty upset when Can't is playing BC in Can't. And I'll be even more ticked when I see BG playing the Suckeyes in Browns Stadium next year.

Buckzip Well, I will say this.....The walks across campus during the winter were pretty bad back in the early 80's, during my time at the U., and we had to wait at stop lights to cross Brown Buchtel and Carroll.But I must say, as the campus expands, those walks are getting much longer. However, since they say that the youth of America is getting more obese, maybe that's a good thing.

Hmmm...Can't manages to get a Big East power at home? Bowling Green gets Ohio State next year at Browns Stadium? NIU plays Iowa in Chicago? Toledo has a home game this year, in the Glass Bowl, against a Big Ten team? Meanwhile, Akron plays the worst team in 1-A at a neutral site. I'm beside myself.Now I ask myself....Did Can't manage to "use" our game at Browns Stadium against Army as a measuring stick to see how good it was going to draw, and then make their decision to pull out of their opportunity next year?Plus, why would Can't give up a game against a Big East power on their own home turf?