LoyalZIP

I remember last time in the Caymans it was a free, very high quality steam on Stadium. The FloSports production of the Florida disaster last year was horrible. By far the worst TV talent I’ve ever heard, and that includes some reeeeeeaaaaaalllllyyyyy bad BGSU and Kent student productions.

Zips open at +3 against the Hilltoppers. This could be a very interesting week for Akron, and I don’t exactly have the highest hopes. There are far too many question marks with the rotation right now for me to feel good about coming out in the top half of this tournament. I was hoping this group was further along, but after the last two, I just don’t see it yet. Which is okay! After SDSU, I got myself a little too high, as that was one of the better games I’ve ever seen a Groce team play in the nonconference, let alone on opening night. They quickly came back down to earth. Fortunately, we’ve got a slate of great, but beatable opponents where we can see where we are and also get better at the same time. Perhaps Sammy Hunter needs a trip to that part of the world (still pretty far from home) to get the jumper going. It is indeed broke, but his body language hasn’t seemed to suffer…yet. Trimble was awful with that, and Dailey just looked so defeated and seemed to not enjoy playing basketball anymore. Also, Groce said on Zips Live Thursday that he’s been impressed with Nate Johnson so far, but has really been hoping to get more out of Tavari, Lyles, and Kobe Mitchell. I am looking forward to seeing how those guys get involved as January creeps up. Go Zips!!!

You know, I don’t think the staff is aware of the high standards. You make a fine point. I’ll have to let them know at my next meeting with them. Thanks!

Sensitive much? I have higher standards than what I’ve seen from that sideline the past two weeks. I rode the wave of the season and had very high hopes going into last Saturday. But you’re right, I’m not a good fan. My season ticket $ isn’t worth as much to the program as yours.

Ive explained it since the previous loss, which included embarrassing behavior by all leaders of the program. I don’t really care about bad officiating. When tasked with leading a championship caliber program, I expect far more from the people at the top then to sink to the level they have the last couple of weeks. Flat out embarrassing for Akron soccer. Scream like children at the referee, each assistant at the same time, and you get what you get. Sorry if this is offensive. 3-0 home loss in the round of 32 is pretty offensive too.

Call it whatever you want. The way the staff behaved last week, and all season, trickled down to the athletes and we saw it explode in our faces with a home 3-0 embarrassment.

A failure of culture. Hugely disappointing.

When Bass picked up a quick 2nd foul, it felt like it was going to be a 40-point ass-kicking. She only wound up playing like 4 minutes of the first half, but the Zips locked down defensively and it was very impressive. YSU’s forward was having her way early on, and didn’t do much the rest of the game. Many Zip teams over the last 6 years would have crumbled in either of these first two home games, but this team seems to be pretty resilient. They kept playing hard on defense despite not getting anything but chucked up threes to fall early, and they played themselves back into it. The quality of the MAC is still very high despite the departure of Legette-Jack at UB. A Zips womens ticket is a great buy if you want something to do on a Wednesday night, and this is an easy team and staff to get behind!

The league just further hurts its own fanbases. In addition to only getting to see Akron play at home on Saturday 3 times this year, two of the Saturday away games were against opponents that completely overmatched them. The Zips are capable of beating a team like Buffalo. And for Buffalo, the tie-breaker scenarios are explained so they can still win the east, but now they have to beat Kent to even have a chance at a bowl instead of having 2 games to possibly get to 7-5 if the game is never played. This was all predictable and could have been avoided.

Not happening this weekend.

Wow. It was 20-3 at one point, looking even uglier than the Dayton win. Nice job Zips!!!

Word is…. Zips EQ truck left as scheduled and made it yesterday. MAC told them to turn around and come home, which it did and is back at UA. Conference call with the MAC tomorrow morning to see what can be figured out. One production company already turned down the opportunity to go up there on Sunday to put it on some kind of TV. I guess we’ll find out sometime tomorrow what happens. None of this makes sense to me. Edit: Also, Zips basketball plays in the Caymans on Monday, and the radio crew will be there for that. Not sure they would be able to do a Sunday game, so just spitballing it could just be UB radio for any kind of broadcast of the game if there is one.

They're proving just as dumb as the Nebraska fans were in 2018. You think this is Akron's decision? You think they're scared? No dips***, the league wasn't thinking when it gave you a pair of potentially important home games in November. Joe now potentially doesn't get another game of film to grow the program, and their track & field....er sorry football team may not get the chance to lose by 50 in a bowl game.

And so it begins. The folks with a track around their football field have spoken.

I wonder what all has been discussed this week. I feel that as soon as it was clear there was a chance of some weather, contingency plans should have been made for a bunch of different things. Monday or Tuesday, they should and could have done a few things: Find a location further south in the state that would not get hit by the storm, and make sure Akron has a route to this location unaffected by the storm. Logistically determine if there is indeed a location that could host, and go from there. Tell the teams to prepare for travel, one way or another Move the game to Akron. Immediately give UB the ultimatum I mentioned previously in the thread. With 5 days notice, Akron could have very very easily gotten ready to host. And UB could have thrown the stuff they needed on the truck with a night of overtime for the EQ staff, grab a couple buses, and take the long way to Akron. At the very least, they could have postponed the game the very second that the NFL moved their game, and gone from there. The teams were not told anything, and prepared as if they were playing a game tomorrow all along. Akron would be getting ready to leave shortly, to my knowledge the EQ truck has already left. What a cluster.

If I were the commish, I would give UB and ultimatum. Either you come to Akron to play this weekend AND you come again as regularly scheduled next year, you get the extra game to try to get bowl eligible. If not, we don’t make Akron travel and the game is no contest. You need to beat Kent to get win #6. If this game does get canceled, their fans will bitch and moan relentlessly, especially if they lose to Kent next week.

It could be done, fairly easily. I think it would come down to Buffalo agreeing to do it, which I don’t see happening.

The more I think about it and look at it, I don't really see how this game gets played. The team is supposed to leave tomorrow, after the storm has begun, and then make their way back as the storm continues to roll? Yeah, I don't see it. I haven't heard anything regarding cancellation/moving happening, but my novice opinion would predict no game. Anyone go by campus to see if the equipment truck has left yet? It usually heads out a day before the team.

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/portion-of-nys-thruway-in-wny-closing-to-commercial-traffic-at-4-p-m-thursday

Kent suuuuuuuucks!!!! Eat it losers! Same sh** hole program as always!

I've been thinking the last few days of what I want Tribble to look like. I have finally come up with the answer--Nick Harney! Of course, I don't want him to become a carbon copy. And though he's a bit smaller, he has all of the tools he needs to be the great player that Harney never could be, since it was clear he didn't want to be. He didn't play hard, he didn't utilize his body to the maximum ability, and he had a terrible attitude. Tribble plays his behind off, uses his physicality to his advantage, and is perhaps the teamismist of them all. Harney didn't have a good jump shot, but he could get around the basket and draw fouls, like Tribble. Most importantly, he was a wizard at finishing around the basket. I think he and Treadwell, now Freeman too, are the only Zips that I have ever had full confidence in when they get the ball inside of 5 feet. Harney, in particular, could throw it in off the glass from every angle, with the softest most finesse touch I have ever seen at Akron. If Tribble were able to do the same, he would be one of the all-time greats here. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but if that was a skill that Greg could develop, a ton of this team's issues would be solved.

From Hustle Belt: https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/11/16/23461777/this-is-maction-bowling-green-falcons-toledo-rockets-42-35-bowl-eligibility-battleof-i-75-mac-2022 Ohio was known for late season collapses when Solich was running the show. Healthy, I think they would beat Toledo in the title game. Now, it's not looking like a slam-dunk that they will even go to Detroit. In a discussion of the worst teams to ever win a division in the MAC, 2022 BG would be up there with 2017 Akron. *** After our game against Liberty, I thought to myself that Akron would have a very outside shot at a bowl, a division title, a conference title, but could certainly win a couple MAC games. After the devastating loss to BG, my hopes remained of the outside chances. After the devastating loss to CMU, I thought they were finally going to get their chance to start winning a couple, against their rival next week, no less. After that devastating loss, I thought "maybe we could at least play spoiler in one of these last games." And now is our chance. As long as Kent doesn't win the East, I don't really care who does at this point. It would be awesome to be partially responsible for Buffalo missing out on Detroit, especially having not won there since 2005, which seems impossible considering where each program was at that point in time. A foot of snow, a revitalized run game, a chance to play spoiler...could be a weird Saturday in Buffalo, and a lot of MAC eyes will be on it.

Iron sharpens Iron. Last time the Zips went to the Caymans, they had a new-look team with a lot of transfers and came away with a couple close losses to great teams and a nice win over a down St. Bonaventure team. We have already seen some of this group's potential--beating a great South Dakota State team while behind in just about every statistical category. If they can put together a full 40-minute game and get a decent game out of Hunter, and Hankerson performs as he did on opening night, the sky is the limit in this tournament. With that said, WKU is a very good team and presents a wildly difficult matchup for the Zips. I would expect similar challenges as we saw against Mississippi State.

BG goes up big on Toledo Toledo comes back to take the lead with a minute to go BG marches down the field to score a TD +2 with a couple seconds to go to win it 42-35. Probably the best game in series history. The garbage Falcons with a terrible coach are still in contention for the east. Unbelievable.

Aziz had 9 points and 17 rebounds in a near upset of Wake tonight.