BirdZip

Van Kempen reminded me of Side Show Bob. Played like him too.The two-and-a-half hour drive from Chardon was worth it. Awesome game last night! I'd say the Zips kind of made a statement. They're on theior way to be

Pretty good article if you're able to filter out the standard buchtelite bad grammar.This article makes me think that the Captain's suggestion for a "Dials is better!" clap-clap-clapclapclap chant might be very effective...

Let's return the favor from earlier this season with a reversal of scores. 77-72 Akron.

Your points are the same ones I made a few weeks ago. But I saw this one, and the home court advantage was over the line.

Just some random rambles now that I've slept off the loss.On Linhart, seemed like he was afraid to shoot at the start of the game. After I saw him shoot one, I realized why. He hasn't been able to hit the broad side of a barn the last few games. Defense is still good, though.Wood and Rome definitely had their way down below, but we seemed to refuse to go to them. All we had to do to win this game was keep feeding them late, but instead we tried the three and other long balls and kept coming up empty on possessions. I agree, though, that the foul trouble may have contributed.Why did we start panicking with about 3 minutes left? And again with the sloppy passes!With two seconds left, was Goddard open and Dials didn't throw to him? Can't remember it clearly.Props to the Rowdies. This was my first opportunity to sit near them. They were loud the whole game, and except for the one girl who kept yelling out lame comments, they were pretty effective too. They had the crowd quiet. Also thanks to the Rowdies for their applause for my kids' signs. They worked hard on them and you made their day.A while back, I scolded some people for claiming the refs were biased. I will now eat my crow. These refs were terribly biased. Unfortunately, if the Zips make the big dance, that's probably what they'll have to overcome as they won't get any respect from refs if playing a Big 10 team or the like. On a neutral court, we win this game, probably handily.Is it just me, or is the city of Toledo a total dump?Let's hear it for the Red Panda!!! I can't ride a unicycle, I can't balnce bowls on my head, and I can't balance bowls on my leg. She did all three, plus tossing and catching them! All of Toledo's promotions were quite good. I think we can rebound from this, and the Can't game on the 4th is going to be awesome. It all may be riding on that one. We can still be

I have always felt that the Giant Eagle promotion was lame. For the Ball State game, my wife was the one chosen, and even with a stake in it, it was still lame for us. We finished it happy that we didn't get stuck with the 50 cent miniature pool table and instead managed to squeak out a $7 snow tube.Another thing that I don't understand--why would Time Warner agree to put their name on a T-Shirt cannon that only works 25% of the time. i wouldn't want my company's name anywhere near that thing!I like the youth basketball exhibition idea and other thoughts like that. The indivdual one-time things that are included at halftime tend to be good (except when the one girl shattered her arm prior to the dance exhibition) but the every-game promotions are kind of lame.How about any kid can sign up before the game for a drawing and they pick 5 or 10 to get their name on the board at half tmie and come down and play some game with Zippy. Anyone with a kid eats that stuff up!

Wasn't able to make it to the game, but if we struggled against the press again, that's two games in a row where we did. That needs fixed fast or we'll find ourselves as a 3 seed in the MAC.Free throws will definitely be the downfall of this team, especially come tournament time when the competition is close and we don't have a 10-15 point cushion going into the last 8 minutes. Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems like Romeo actually has been improving in that aspect. You can tell as he shoots if it's going in. he has a habit of a little hesitation at the top, and when he does that, he bricks. When he's smooth, he may not be money, but he's decent.

Given that he's a guard, his number is 4, and he's an Akron reject...OUContains minimum 4% RECYCLED materialOne team's trash is another team's guardOr just a simple triangle recycle symbol with a number 4 in the middle.

Question: How best to taunt former Zip Bubba Walther at the Ohio U game. I know there are some creative Zips out there. What have you got? I'll get it started:Bubba-dict ArnoldFAMOUS TRAITORS1. Judas2. Benedict Arnold3. BUBBA WALTHER4. Brutus5. Tokyo RoseEt Tu, Bubba?A series of signs for the thinking man...Bobcat GumboBobcat KebobsBarbecued Bobcat...Found: Knife in back. Handle says "Bubba". For return, see any Zips fan.

My only concern from the Ball State game was the massive struggle against the press. I hope that was just an isolated abomination and not an exploitable weakness. With Dru out, I think it's the latter, so let's hope he stays healthy.I'll probably take some heat for this, but I thought the Rowdies were kind of lame for this game. My 5-year-old was more into the game, and i guess the color coordination rule has gone by the wayside.Speaking of the Rowdies, how about some love, signage and chants for Jeremiah Wood. He has played his butt off the last couple of games and his contributions have been huge. With a name like Wood, I know there's creativity just waiting to explode.

This set up is nice. I really like the intro, too. The Marketing department could just use that for an excellent TV ad. You wouldn't need anything else.As per the request for thoughts on additions, how about a few countdown timers. Countdown to the K-e-n-t game, countdown to the MAC Championship, and countdown to the NCAA tournament starting, since we will be

After Akron goes to the Final Four this year, recruiting should be a lot easier so we shoudln't have to worry.I agree that the big question for next year is point guard. Who is going to be the thinking man? I think the loss of Romeo won't be as bad as it may initially seem, especially from a leadershiop standpoint. Your emotional leadership can come from Wood's leave it all on the floor play and Ced's scoring ability. Also, the fact that we are so balanced from a scoring standpoint keeps any big scoring hit from being an issue.

Game recap says attendance was 697! Is that a typo? My goodness, that's pathetic.

JAR = James A Rhodes Arena. Rhodes was a former Ohio governor who just so happens to be the one who ordered the National Guard to K-ent State when the shootings occurred. See alternate discussion string--Rename the JAR.

What are people's thoughts on the name of the JAR? We post a lot about wanting to gain more recognition nationally. To do that, we need as many tags or catches as we can get since the national media won't latch on to the good play.Talking about games at the JAR doesn't sound fierce, isn't catchy, and isn't memorable. Since a kangaroo is our mascot, let's exploit it. I propose a rename of the JAR arena to Outback Arena. Maybe there's even a corporate sponsorship possibility.Fans and opponents can be greeted to signs of "Welcome to the Outback". We can suggest putting another flush on the barbie. It also gives the Marketing Department a new angle to try to bring people in to the games.

My biggest takeaway from this game was the defense. Akron was switching like it was second nature to them. It's no wonder WMU struggled to score--the screens were ineffective because of the excellent execution. If Akron plays defense like that, winning out isn't just possible, it's probable.

Whoever it is checking out Zippy's butt during games, please don't sit next to me.I am happy to see, though, that the Zips faithful are checking Zippy for lumps. We should ensure that gets done at least once per month.

I wonder if the national audience may have actually hurt us. If I didn't have Akron ties, would I have kept the game on beyond the first 10 minutes? Akron dismantled WMU, but they didn't start looking good until the second half.By the way, how about Jeremiah Wood! He played tough (except that he couldn't get a lay-up to drop).

Akron - 77WM - 72Att = 4,200

I disagree on killing "Fear the Roo". I think it's awesome and has at least a few more years in it. What else can we do when we're the Zips and have a kangaroo for a mascot? I guess we could have Devo singing "Zip it! Zip it good!"

Yes, they beat them by 6 two weeks ago. I had that backwards.

I don't see Akron having a chance at the Top 25 because we don't play enough big name teams. Just ask the Boise State football team--it doesn't matter how good you might be, if you can't prove it, it doesn't matter. I don't think we're Top 25 anyway--too inconsistent.If we do theoretically win out, especially including the bracket buster, yes the committee will look at the losses, and they'll see UALR at the beginning of the year. They'll see the UIC loss (but will they note that Butler only beat UIC by 6?). They'll also see a 2-point loss to Nevada, which can help. They'll also see that we beat Ohio (if we win out), BG twice and Toledo once.No-one knows what the selection committee will do, but if Akron wins out and loses the MAC tournament, we would at least have a shot, and our showing in the bracket buster, depending on who it is, could decide whether or not we get in.Regardless, if we win out, that means we beat Can't State again, and that's all good because

Speaking of bad officiating, does anyone know why the refs let buffalo shoot 1-and-1 on one of Akron's charging penalties?

Zippy passes worked without getting a ticket.

Some miscellaneous comments, some in response to earlier comments and some new:1) Complaining about the referees to me is bush league. There is NOT a conspiracy out there to give Akron the shaft. I agree that there were some ticky tack fouls called on the Zips but there were also some called on Can't. Anyone who has ever actually played the game knows that you have play through the bad calls.2) I agree tha the JAR was rocking at times, but I also thought it was very quiet way too often. The crowd was loud when Akron went on runs rather than the other way around. It was rocking at the end though. A sold out, loud crowd, capped off with a win over Can't State--it doesn't get any better than that.3) I agree Can't probably got tired in the second half, likely because they were playing such aggressive defense in the first half. They were guarding very tight and I thought very well, but they just couldn't maintain it. When they got tired, the game got away from them.4) I think Can't probably played the best game they could and we still beat them by 10. That's a pretty good sign.5) I think the reason that the Can't portion of the crowd was so quiet was because it was amazingly small--pathetic even. What was there, maybe 150 Can't fans in the crowd? I don't even recall seeing the cheerleaders or the mascot.6) I didn't think Romeo started slow, as implied earlier. I thought he played hard from the start, which was nice to see.7) What suprised me most of all was how early Can't just gave up. They were down by maybe 11 with still 3 minutes to play and they just folded.