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Some very needless comments. Although, the inexperience of the offensive line, coupled with our ineffective running game last year, is a major concern of mine.

First of all, I don't think they have been able to fully evaluate Frye. Is everyone aware that he had a better QB rating in his first year as a starter than Peyton Manning did? But this is Cleveland. The most popular player on the Browns is always the backup quarterback. I was hoping that history wouldn't repeat iteself, but it did. Look at how people jumped on Derrick Anderson's bandwagon. After one decent half, in the same game that Charlie had a great first half. I don't get it. Let me make this point clear. If the Browns take ANY quarterback, he is going to get his butt kicked back there. And Trent Green is too old to take that kind of beating.If the Browns care about the future of their team, they take the Wisconsin OL with the #3 pick. If he is not available, then I would like to see them take Peterson, and take the OL's with the next couple of picks.

Let me add something else, while I am at it.....I was a student in the early 80's when Huggins was hired. I believe he was about 30 years old. I was also fortunate enough to still be a student when he took us to the NCAA tournament in 1986. It was an exciting time.I also recall hearing all the stories about how he used to be. He was a two-time academic all-american. I even know someone who played for him on his team that went to the NAIA championship game at Walsh College, and he remembers a different Huggins. He even used to make his Akron players, in the early days, come to the JAR at 7am to have a "study hall". He was just such a remarkable example of what college athletics was all about.I, however, have lost quite a bit of respect for him over the years. I think he now serves as a prime example of how money can change someone. He went from earning 50k a year in his early years at Akron, to being a millionaire. And I believe, all of his former principles went out the window when that happened.What a shame.

Thanks Zip81....that's something that I didn't know.

He's always had an escape clause in his contract that allows him to go to WVU. Even when he was coaching here. Someone mentioned that his family is from Morgantown. Fill me in. I recall that he is from down around the Newcomerstown, OH area, where his dad was a long-time high school coach. I'm only going to assume that he was not getting a good vibe about the Kansas State situation, and decided to bail out. I feel really bad for the players he recruited, and the fans.

I'm not going to make predictions after what happened last year, but I think we will win at least half of our games. And, I actually think that the away game at Miami is going to be one of our easiest conference games.

When he says, "We were down by 5 touchdowns".....those are the kinds of things I remember about the Owens ara. Ahhh...such fond memories

Sure, maybe all of the threads should be Zips-related. But I'm still not understanding why there is this minority on here who has a problem with people hoping that the Buckeyes lose? Sure, we complete with them for recruits. And when they are not having success, some of the big recruits in the state have looked at other schools, which helps our chances.But, we also compete with them for quite a bit more than that. So many things are negatively affected by the fact that we are a part of a University that is in the same state as an OSU.The fact that they are on the national stage in athletics gives them an added advantage in recruiting students and faculty as well. And believe me, they use this advantage to its fullest.In addition, our ability to get the word out about our 26-win season and our NCAA/NIT worthiness was certainly affected by our lack of media attention in our own region and state. And this problem is further enhanced when OSU is having a very successful year, and is cornering the media attention.Folks, there is nothing unusual about this. Every mid-major fights the same battle with the marquis program in their state. So why would one think it should be any different here? Bottom Line: When OSU is having success, it doesn't help our cause one bit. So, if you are really one of those people like me who has always wanted to see Akron Athletics grow into something special, why is it so bad to hope that OSU losses?

I'm still trying to figure out why some people think Heath is worth so much money.

Beautiful

This is great news for the Zips.The reason that liberal talk radio doesn't work is because people are pretty tired of a group that garners support by doing nothing but bashing the current government, and doesn't present any viable plans for an alternative. This movement died in the 60's. Let it R.I.P. Please.

Kennedy will be the starter, but Allen will get plenty of carries as his backup. Walker will see far less playing time this year due to Allen's return.Could this mean that Walker will eventually return to the defensive side of the ball?

Let's keep hoping though. If this had been true, it would have surpassed even Getsy's touchdown pass to Hixson as my greatest moment ever as a lifetime Zips fan.

And what if Brett McKnight starts scoring some points from that small forward spot? We didn't get much point production from that spot this year with Linhart in there. Or, maybe we'll just be playing 3 guards more often. Hard to tell. I guess it will depend upon how quickly the new guys come along.

All I can say is, "thank God for this recruiting class". I'm sure Keith would really like to be able to give more minutes to some guys on the bench, but not enough of them showed progress this year.I'm sure all of us feel the same way. Didn't we all expect to see more out of Conyers, Rybak, and McKnight this year?Will we be better next year? Who knows. But we'll certainly be deeper.

It irks me too. Heck, there's been plenty of years where Xavier and Cincinnati were better at a national level than the Suckeyes. But the ignorant national media still thinks that Ohio has only one college.

Well, I have to admit that I've been one of those people that's been saying that Dru and Rome have no chance of ever having their jersey retired. But I guess I'll have to change my mind about one of them.Romeo has been the best player on this team for the last 3 years, he's now part of 3 twenty win seasons, was on a team that won Akron's first ever postseason game at the D-1 level. And now, MAC POY and All-American honors.Sorry to reopen an old discussion, but I think you have to consider him for such an honor.And even with all of this, I still think that Jeremiah (Fear The) Wood is still going to have a better senior year than Romeo did.Already looking forward to next year.

What was very visible about the Hipsher-era teams was that they underachieved. You have no choice but to look at the coach when that happens. He gathered a group of talented young guys together as freshmen and sophomores (the players mentioned), and we all thought we'd see great things from them by the time they were seniors. And what did we get? A pretty decent team over the next few years that ended their careers by taking a first-round exit from the MAC tournament as seniors. It was really dissappointing. He never recovered from that. I remember an interview with Hipsher right after he finally won a MAC tournament game during one of this last seasons. And when he was questioned about why it took so long to win a MAC tournament game, he responded with something along the lines of "hey, it's the first time any Akron coach has won a MAC tournament game". As if it was some sort of great accomplishment. I knew at that moment that he didn't have the attitude to take us where we needed to go.

Programs like Arkansas are going to pull the trigger on a coach sooner rather than later when they don't see that they are moving towards "national championship" caliber. Sure, he was probably doing "a pretty good job", just like Tubby Smith. But at certain programs, "pretty good" is not what the school, or the fans want. I'm still rather amused at the fact that the previous two Can't coaches were derailed in their attempts to move into the big time ranks of college coaching. And it still amazes me that a seasoned athletic administrator like Frank Broyles would have chosed Heath after only one year as head coach, especially when his success had so much to do with the players he had returning. I'm no Hipsher fan either, but it would seem that he would at least be a candidate for the BG job considering his connection to the school. I think they'll be sorry if they pick him though.

What a great event!! He had to do something like this, but I wish that maybe a couple thousand people could have been there. I don't suppose that a 75 degree sunny afternoon helped the attendance.

Just a few notes here from someone who's been around basketball a long time, and comes from a basketball family of players and coaches...When we're speaking of that "go-to-guy", it's not something where you look at your roster at the beginning of the season and say "yes, he's the guy". This sort of player emerges during the course of the season. The team starts to see that a certain individual can be counted on, and they start to lean on him when games are on the line.What's funny is that Romeo appeared to be this guy during his sophomore year. During several games, they went to him down low in crucial situations. But for some reason, he sort of faded from that role over the next two years. This year, I think Dru Joyce was the guy that they wanted to have the ball during crucial situations, but he didn't come through with the opportunities he had.But, I really believe that Wood became that guy towards the end of the year. And I hope that carries over into next season, especially if he continues to improve his free throw shooting.

First of all, intelligence and leadership are two completely different qualities.The scoop I'm hearing so far is that they really want Hakes to emerge as the starter because they think he has the most potential of all three, but they want to keep it as an open competition at this point.

I'd love to see a dome. A Carrier Dome type of facility in Akron was originally proposed back when we first began playing D-1 Independent, but it never went anywhere. But seriously, it's not going to happen if our intension is to stay in the MAC. If our goal is to grow into a bigger program, maybe the dome would happen. I predict that the Rubber Bowl (since it needs to remain standing to hold up the hill) will continue to stand, and continue to crumble. But most of it will remain. Then, hundreds of years from now, it will become a tourist attraction, much like the Coliseum in Rome, Italy. Then people will come from all over the world to look at it and say, "wow...that's where they played that ancient barbaric American game of football."Just a thought.

zipboy...thanks for the numbers. I just hope the growth continues despite the exit of two of the most popular players in Zips history.Do you know if these numbers are for ticket sales, or are actual gate receipts?I'm asking because you state that the snow-storm game against Ohio could have helped our average. But, that game was nearly a sellout ahead of time, so if they were counting ticket sales, that actually was a game that already helped our average.

In typical Northeast Ohio fashion, the braintrust in Cleveland will not notice this opportunity, and will schedule the events simultaneously. I try not to make a point to spend a full day in Cleveland, but that's my opinion. Especially since I'd be tailgaiting at 8am if the Zips play at noon.Maybe some folks would go to both events, but not me.