jupitertoo

His wife is not a diva.

I don't believe the 16-sport rule is correct based on NCAA website. The site indicates that any D1 school must maintain 14 sports, either 7 men's and 7 women's or 6 men's and 8 women's. OU only supports 15 sports and it is D1 FBS.

Cross country, golf and rifle. It's only a matter of time.

Actually, Anthony Stewart and Jim Christian brought in N'Dour. And depending on whom you believe, Stewart almost got OU in trouble with the NCAA as a result. My read on the coaching search is that the longer it takes, the more likely the target is a high-profile/expensive coach with complex contract requirements. And as the price goes up, the school will need to get "creative" in how it finds funding - which takes time. Important to show fiscal responsibility in light of budget concerns. As an Ohio fan, I was obviously thrilled with the Sweet 16 run but it had little to do with John Groce. The Bobcats simply had a couple of players who got unbelievably hot at the right time. Groce never finished higher than third in the MAC East.

I am in total agreement with Balsy on this topic. As you might know, I am a UA employee but an Ohio University alumnus and fan. I love following the Bobcats and Zips but cannot defend any MAC school's continued financial escalation in this losing war. These institutions exist to educate students and we are diverting precious funds from that mission to feed the egos of a VERY small group of alumni, trustees, etc.

I love the second paragraph...GT identifies the top priority: finding a new coach. You think he spent more than about 15 minutes on this piece?

You need to avoid Anthony Stewart like the plague. Got fired by Ohio (Jim Christian) for, um, a very good reason.

On a related note, if Groce is the HC, say goodbye to Frenchie. Groce was not a fan.

I know we're all confident our esteemed ABJ beat writer is on this story like stink on a pig.

See 72 Roo post above.

Honest question: Whose fan base is better than Ohio's? 2X the attendance of most MAC teams, including Akron, per Plain Dealer.

He's saying that it's an easy argument to make. He's not arguing with the fact itself. Best player...best team...equals POTY. Easy math.

Athens Messenger has a very skilled beat writer, Jason Arkley, covering MAC sports. It's a shame he's stuck in that small market - much better than ABJ and PD reporters. Anyway, he does a nice job with his ballot choices for MAC POTY, etc. See below: MAC Player of the Year I considered six players here, and none should come as a major surprise. For all my voting, I used data from conference games only and also used some advanced metrics as well to see if what the numbers showed reinforced or contradicted my own ‘eye test’ assessment. I wavered on Player of the Year several times during the nine-week conference season. I started with Akron senior center Isaiah Johnson, thanks to the Zips’ dominant MAC start. I took a shine in the midseason to Central Michigan junior guard Marcus Keene, especially after an enthralling in-person viewing in the Convo. And going into the final two weeks I was ready to pull the trigger on voting for Ohio junior PG Jaaron Simmons. Ultimately, I settled on those as my top 3. WMU junior guard Thomas Wilder, Kent State senior forward Jimmy Hall and Buffalo senior wing Blake Hamilton all drew strong consideration as well. I voted Johnson as my top pick. His offensive rating (118.3) was second only to Wilder’s among those on my short list. He ranked high in conference stats with 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and shot 61.4 percent from the field. And I thought he was the most impactful player in the league. Every team that played Akron had to deal with the Johnson question. Do you front? Do you double? The Zips’ entire lineup was based around his presence. I thought this was reflected well in his 7.2 fouls drawn per 40 minutes, tops among my final list. And he was the ‘best’ player on the ‘best’ team, which — although facile — does matter. I had Simmons as No. 2 on my ballot. I thought it was a travesty he was left off the first team a year ago, and his numbers this season are only slightly off that pace. He played 89.8 percent of Ohio’s minutes available during the season, averaged 17.2 points and 6.1 assists per MAC game, and became the Bobcats’ go-to guy once Antonio Campbell was injured. Simmons did his part to keep Ohio as the No. 2 seed despite a season-altering injury. There’s immense value in that. I left Keene third on my ballot. His 28.8 points per MAC game was insane, he drew 7.0 fouls per 40 minutes, and played 92.5 percent of the available minutes. But CMU’s pace helped inflate some numbers, and I just couldn’t place a player from the 11th-seed any higher on my ballot — no matter how fun he was to watch. MAC Freshman of the Year By the final month, there were just two players I was considering strongly: Miami point guard Michael Weathers and Ohio forward Jason Carter. Weathers averaged 14.9 points, 4.6 assists and 1.8 steals during MAC play. He was the best thing for an otherwise crummy RedHawk outfit most of the year. In most years, he’d be an easy choice. But Carter exploded once he got his opportunity. Playing out of position as a center — he’s more of a power forward — Carter became Ohio’s second-most important player in short order. He averaged 12.7 points, 8.0 rebounds (7th in MAC) and shot 51.8 percent from the field in MAC play, and that includes three games where his minutes were limited by Campbell’s spot in the lineup. Carter beat bigger defenders in the post, gave Ohio needed offensive balance, and earned a reputation quickly as the best freshman big in the conference. I went with Carter as my top pick for MAC freshman of the year. He was vital to one of the best teams in the conference, and had terrific numbers across the board. I had Weathers in second place, as his usage and turnover numbers tipped my scale away from him in a close race. NIU guard Eugene German (11.7 ppg) was third on my ballot. MAC Coach of the Year I had Ohio coach Saul Phillips as the top pick on my ballot, followed by WMU’s Steve Hawkins and Akron’s Keith Dambrot. Phillips was able to keep the Bobcats competitive after Campbell’s injury, and guided the Bobcats to the No. 2 overall seed after losing the current Player of the Year. Take Johnson off Akron, Thomas Wilder off WMU, Jimmy Hall away from Kent State; That was the kind of change the Bobcats had to deal with, on the fly, after MAC play started. In addition to that, Phillips also got the Bobcats to be a much better defensive team in 2016-17. Despite losing Campbell, the team’s best defensive rebounder, post defender and shot blocker, Ohio managed to finish as the best team in the MAC in FG defense, 3-point defense, and defensive efficiency. Phillips, no matter the tournament outcome, aced this year in my opinion. Hawkins deserves a ton of credit too. He had to guide an exceptionally young team through a turbulent December, remember one of his players was accused of killing someone, and then had to get the Broncos to believe after a horrible MAC start. WMU then finished the regular season with eight straight wins. As for Dambrot, he’s a victim of his own success to a degree. He’s built the MAC’s most consistent program and the Zips lived up their preseason billing. In most years he would be an easy, and safe choice, I just thought the other two guys did more through tougher circumstances.

Per scorer's table worker in Athens, Big Dawg's technical came after he said "I'm going to f'n f___ you up, motherf_____er" to OU's Doug Taylor. Taylor had a similar message in reply.

Except it's not true. 2014 Game 1 - Campbell 2 pts, 3 rb; Johnson 2 pts, 2 rb Game 2 - Campbell 3 pts. 3 rb; Johnson 4 pts, 7 rb 2015 Game 1 - Campbell 11 pts, 4 rb; Johnson 0 pts, 1 rb Game 2 - Campbell 17 pts, 11 rb; Johnson 12 pts, 3 rb 2016 Game 1 - Campbell 18 pts, 12 rb; Johnson 18 pts, 9 rb Game 2 - Campbell 9 pts., 11 rb; Johnson 9 pts., 2 rb * Cleveland State game was in Athens during winter break this year. Students gone.

Interesting that one player's jersey says "Akron U." Probably be a very tight game.

George Thomas offers so little insight/analysis in his stories, it's like you're chewing air. I learned absolutely nothing from this article. He even has to refer to "people who have seen the Zips scrimmage" because he hasn't taken the time/effort to watch them himself. Can there be a lazier beat writer?

At the opening of Gerry Faust's first home game - an Acme Zip game against Salem College - the fireworks display almost shot the Goodyear blimp out of the sky. Seriously, it was close. Oh, the humanity.

Actually, the freshman came in for the second half after Miami's starting QB, Bahl, was knocked out with a shoulder injury. Miami's defense played very well, though Ohio's offensive scheme was limited by the unavailability of three of its top four running backs.

I would argue that Ohio's loss was more embarrassing than BGSU's. I know most Ohio fans feel that way. They had to work very, very hard to lose that game.

Still lol, LZip?

ABJ's numbers far more true than not. This is a PR move by Scarborough and company and it's not pretty. They know their strategies have cratered public perception, alienated many existing students and area families. This is very, very serious. The school is on the verge of s severe financial emergency that might require state intervention. if that happens, enrollment will decline further and the state might be forced to take drastic measures (merger). http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/university-of-akron-attacks-beacon-journal-story-1.671704

Could be a moot point. Word on the street is that Board Chair Pavloff and cronies have informed Scarborough that he is out. Negotiations under way to bring back Proenza for a temporary stint. Much damage to be repaired.

Promotion guaranteed to sell out the JAR, any day of the week, and put 15,000 butts in seats at Info, rain or shine: Scott Scarborough voodoo doll giveaway (pins included)

His next move might have to be dismissing this gentleman. http://www.thedevilstrip.com/home/mr-todds-wild-ride-why-cant-uas-new-vice-provost-keep-his-resume-straight/