GP1

I think the program is doing just fine with attendance. They had a nice crowd after a horrible run of games that in years past would have resulted in 2,000 fans at the game. If the students don't want to attend, then they should stay home. If they need a free gift on the way in to get them to go, there is nothing keeping them once they go in so what was the point? I personally think it is idiocy the way people fight over those stupid shirts anyhow. Akron is a large enough city with a major metropolitan area within an hour. Win basketball games and people will show up. Give me 4,500 people who want to be there over 5,500 with 1,000 who don't want to be there any day of the week.

Love the link Dave. Thanks for posting. College basketball games are perfect for the college age students of today. The games last two hours and they are in a climate controlled building. Reminds me of one of my all time favorite sayings, "No matter how hot it is out. No matter how cold it is out. It's always 72 degrees on a bar stool." Two hours of "entertainment" is about all the college age kid today can stand before they need another form of entertainment. College football on the other hand has big problems.25% of the games at BCS schools are designed to be almost guaranteed wins for the home team. The games last in excess of three hours. There are entirely too many TV time outs and replays. As football consumers, we are having a lot of absolute crap thrown in our direction with a little football being played in between the handfuls of crap. College students of today cannot tolerate that amount of nothingness being thrown at them for 3+ hours. They have too many choices for how they spend their time and money now. In addition to the crap throwing, the message being sent to football consumers is the only thing that matters is winning the national championship. In college basketball, making the NCAA Tournament, and for a lot of schools going to at least the Sweet 16, has become all that matters. If a school is not in the running for these events, they don't make any news. If they don't make news, they don't make the i Phones the students spend their lives looking at. If they don't make the i Phones, they don't matter. Why attend an event that doesn't matter? College basketball is still in a good position. College football schools need to get control over how their events are covered and insist on proposals from the networks outlining how they are going to maximize the amount of time the telecast is actually showing actual football being played. I understand that hurts the "building process", but that process is nothing but a money sink anyhow so why not at least make the games more entertaining for those attending and watching at home. Hint: Replays automatically get some form of the upcoming TV time out squeezed in and the excitement of watching a middle aged referee talking into a headset squeezed out. More football and less contrived excitement.

The Zips badly needed a cupcake. A little confidence and momentum is needed right now.

How about a score for a guy 36,000 feet in the air.

Sinatra at Encore in Las Vegas is excellent. Sat at the bar last night, listened to Sinatra music, watched a Sinatra/Dean Martin movie that had the Three Stooges in it and ate some pasta with a great bottle of Italian wine. Does it get any better than that?

ESPN, and most of the athletic directors in the MAC for that matter, are more interested in themselves than the MAC schools. It makes no sense to me for us to participate in something that does not serve our best interests. The next deal the MAC makes with ESPN will probably be worse than the current. There are now plenty of national sports networks on the air. The MAC should be looking for another network or a deal with a regional network I could watch at home on Direct TV. Our thinking is completely in the past. We have met the enemy and we are us.

Agreed. On the day of a college football game, one shouldn't have the stress of thinking about getting work done before leaving work early. One shouldn't be thinking during the game about how tired they are going to be the next day. A college football game should be an event of complete freedom. The MAC is a shockingly stupid league. Just shocking.

I haven't seen a backhand hit this hard since the Australian Open.

Is/was the former player in question a member of this well known and often in trouble fraternity?

Just had a late breakfast at Tableau at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Traditional eggs Benedict were awesome. Business partner had duck hash and eggs and they looked great.

The Zips need a cure for what is bothering them. Confidence and momentum is good medicine for a struggling team. Two bad teams in the next three games provides some opportunities, but Buffalo in the middle can dampen any confidence and momentum unless the Zips play lights out. What do the Zips need to do to capture confidence and momentum?

Keith has been doing this for a long time now and knows what words make the paper and which don't. I don't think he used that word by accident. Nobody questions his commitment to the kids. Some of us are questioning his lack of accountability in his public comments when things go bad.

I don't know if it will work or not either. What I do know is playing Miami will sure make it look like it worked.

I expect better leadership out of the guy making more than anyone else in the Athletic Department than a general statement about guys "quitting". That's a horrible thing to call a college athlete for lots of reasons and can lead to revolts. Mostly, it is the kind of thing fans say when they don't know what else to say and they think they know what is in the heads of the players. I hate to think that the only thing Keith had to say after that game last night was a statement directed at his players and not his preparation, motivation or game strategy. It's easy to pile on guys when they are down. It's the ultimate cheap shot. Friends, family, classmates, the media, etc. pile on when things aren't going well. That's when a really good leader takes a beating for the people below him. It's the point when you give guys a hand up, not another cheap shot. It's also easy to be another person patting guys on the back when things are going well. Friends, family, classmates, the media, etc. pat you on the back when things are going well. When things are going well, that's when a good leader treats his players the worst and pushes them to be better. Kick a guy when he is up, not when he is down. This isn't the first time I've posted about Keith throwing his players under the bus when things haven't gone well. I'm sure it won't be the last. Maybe after the next victory, he can entertain the fans with one of his famous, "When I coached Lebron..." stories.

Dambrot throws players under the bus...again. Nice job kicking them when they are down. You're the highest paid employee in the Athletic Department Keith. Take some responsibility when things go bad.

They can worry about next year after this year. Games still to be won.

Deadspin

Why not? He throws them under the bus every chance he gets.

Link

Rumor has it that as soon as he gets done solving the radiation problem at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, he will solve this problem

America loves to tear people down and then build them back up again...then start the cycle all over. He could be the type of redemption story ESPN likes to force down our throats all the time. My guess is, with the right effort by UofA, it could be spun as a positive.

Photo

Committed a felony is a fact. Ruined the season is debatable. The Zips won the MAC. If that ruins a season, I'd like to petition to have a player a year arrested for selling pot.

While I agree that everyone should get off of their high horses, he didn't just make a mistake. Spilling a cup of water is a mistake that happens in a split second. Let's look at all that had to happen for this "mistake" to take place. 1. He had to be involved with a group of people engaging in illegal behavior on some level. 2. He had to have an idea that he could make money off of illegal behavior. 3. He had reach out to people who could help him engage in illegal behavior. 4. He had to actively reach out to a larger group who could help him execute this illegal behavior. 5. He had to financially support this activity. These are just a few of the "mistakes" he made. I'm sure if I tried just a little harder, I could think of five more. daphrank makes a really good point above. His getting off on probation was his second chance. People can get over a felony. Prison time is almost impossible to recover from. He should consider himself lucky. The guy got over with the best defense lawyer in town. Most people with his background would be sitting in prison right now. Should he play for the Zips again? I guess I can honestly say I don't care. Between the arrest and suspensions the last couple of years, I'm starting to get numb to it. If the Zips had a losing basketball team, my guess is there would be a lot more outrage about it. Winning sure does cure a lot.

I sort of feel the same way. I don't care why it happened, it just needs to stop. We consider ourselves to be a big time mid major. This is one thing I don't see happening at other high level mid majors and it needs to stop. In terms of knowing what happened, I'm always interested to know what the infraction was so I can understand whether or not the infraction is serious or if one of the 3,000 incomprehensible rules these guys have to follow has been broken. If it is serious, put it out in the public. If he cares so little about the rules, why worry about what he thinks when the public finds out...he doesn't seem to care himself. If it is minor, a good chuckle at the rules is always fun.