GP1

It shouldn't be up to the ncaa to say whether or not a guy can juggle all of the above. If they want to work, they should be free to do so.

I think more than anything, Zeke needs to work on his attitude. You CANNOT get so upset over every little disappointment during a game. It bleeds over to the next play and the next free throw and.......................... Good post. I think Zeke could be great, but we didn't see it yesterday. You mentioned endurance. The times I saw the Zips this season, they seemed to tire in the second half. Some better conditioning next season is needed. I wouldn't read too much into what someone looks like during a game as a gauge for how they think about things. He took more shots than anyone and that is a sign of confidence. The biggest disappointment for me is ND was trying to hand the game to the Zips yesterday and they didn't take it. If ND plays like they did yesterday Sunday, they will lose. If the Zips play up to their potential yesterday, they win. We could have and should have won.

Maybe depraved in lieu of deprived. I don't know your life would be much different if there was a smaller tournament field.

Instead of knee-jerk reactions to my posts, you guys should actually read them. What I'm saying is make the conference tournament games count for something. Akron would still be in the same position we are today. We would be having just as much fun knowing teams like UNC were at home while we were still playing.

I'd bet most people who call themselves college basketball fans can't keep their attention on one of these game for more than 10 minutes. They really don't like them and the network has to switch to games to try to keep fans watching. They are a waste of time.

Grow up? I'm not the one having a hissy fit about an internet post. Anyhow, he is a good writer and the article above is a good article. Especially the parts about the lack of talent in the NCAA compared to past years. I have no idea what he said about Limbaugh and it probably can't add up to all the lies Limbaugh has been telling to a group of willing dupes over the years.

Use the conference tournaments to do this or eliminate the conference tournaments. Do one or the other, but don't do both. I like the idea of making the conference tournaments mean something for more than just the mid-major conference schools. What if the Duke vs. UNC game last Sunday actually was meaningful?

Mike Wilbon is an excellent writer and brings up topics nobody else will. Weren't George Mason and Cleveland State conference champions when they got in the NCAAs? If we made the conference tournaments mean something and reduced the sized of the field, those schools would still be in the same position. Most basketball Cinderella stories in the NCAA Tournament end up with Cinderella being put out of her misery living the rest of her days as an old single spinster.

Please see the statistics on the two bottom seeds. Those games are a waste of time and money for those who buy tickets. I don't know if it would make the tournament less exciting. If a team was required to win their conference to get in like Akron is, we would still be in and just as excited. It would not detract from the non "BCS" conference tournaments, but it would make the big conference tournaments much more exciting. Want to expand the tournament? Make the conference tournaments mean something by requiring teams to win them to get in the NCAA. Why have another week of games in the NCAA Tournament when the conference tournaments could serve as that week? It actually becomes the "everyone in" scenario people want. There are a lot of ways to skin the cat, expanding and "growing" the Tournament isn't the way to do it.

Article I don't disagree with a word of this article. Since 1985, #16 seeds are 0-104 against #1s and #15s are 4-100 aginst #2s. That's 4-204 total. Less than 2% of the time either #16s or #15s win. This means there are too many teams in the NCAA Tournament. We should either go back to 32 teams and make the conference tournaments mean something, or change the way teams are allowed to enter. I have tickets to the first round in Charlotte tomorrow and will pass on the first session to watch the Zips play. Even if the Zips weren't playing, I have no interest in watching Duke destroy Hampton by 60. ADDITION Later: A great point Wilbon makes is about the lack of talent in the Tournament. I was watching a special on ESPN the other night, at least I think it was ESPN. It was about the UNLV teams from the 80s. They played Duke in the Final Four two years in a row winning one and losing one. I hate to sound like one of those old guys who says players were better then, but I think both UNLV and Duke of that era could beat any team in the Tournament this weekend. The Duke team back then would kick the crap out of the Duke team today.

I don't care if he is from the Moon. A Can't grad is a Can't grad and an Akron grad is superior to a Can't grad any day of the week.

Where even to start with this drivel? What I take from this commercial is, a Can't education gives you the ability to write music for cartoons directed to 6 year olds and the skills necessary to be a member of a freakshow, one hit wonder of a band from whenever those guys were young. I guess I shouldn't be too harsh, one must play to their strengths. Akron, on the other hand, produces world class polymer scientists, top notch engineers, nurses, teachers, business leaders and political leaders. My long streak of never saying anything good about a Can't State education continues....

You want to impress us, do something about our football team on September 3rd. In order to be saved, one must confess their wrongs. Until the Zips confess they are spending too much time building and not enough time focued on winning, they cannot be saved. I thought they were supposed to focus on doing their best... or so said Woody Harrelson or somebody. Building isn't doing your best. Doing your best leads to winning.

You want to impress us, do something about our football team on September 3rd. In order to be saved, one must confess their wrongs. Until the Zips confess they are spending too much time building and not enough time focued on winning, they cannot be saved.

GP1 goes to church? Who'd of thunk it? From now on, I am staying close to the outside walls. When I'm not walking on water, I stay pretty busy at church making the deaf hear, curing the blind, cleansing lepers, etc. on a weekly basis. It's a tough job.

He said he was sorry... The guy who wasn't just the football coach at YSU, but the athletic director as well didn't know what to do? Let me help Jim because I think you may be telling another lie. Tressel was not involved in any criminal activity so he can talk to a lawyer in confidence. If he somehow was involved in criminal activity (I don't believe he was), he has every right to ask a lawyer for assistance in planning which direction to take. Can't go to the compliance officer? Fine. tOSU probably has 20 lawyers on staff who he could have talked about the situation with free of charge. This whole idea that he was just a guy who was caught up in something he didn't know how to handle because he is a babe in the woods is just bunk. He knew exactly what to do and decided it would be better to try to win a national championship than do the right thing. The problem with what he is doing is he is making himself larger than the program. That's when programs die. A coach can never be bigger than the program. Paterno has made himself larger than the program and it is killing PSU. Bowden (FSU), Woody (tOSU) and less so Osborne (Nebraska) all made themselves bigger than the program they were coaching and it was not healthy for those programs. Knight made himself bigger than the program at IU and they have never recovered. The best thing tOSU can do is realize Tressel is not bigger than the program and either ask him to resign or fire him. Either way, he has to go or everything is going to be about the problems and not what is happening on the field. It's the right thing to do all around, which is why they won't do it. Watching this guy tell lie after lie for the next few months is going to be quite fun.

We should remove the rules because the rules are moronic. They are intended to punish people who a group of cranky old guys at the NCAA think should be punished because they are a bunch of bitter a-holes. The rules also keep the bloated bureaucracy at the NCAA working. The more disadvantage programs are at a disadvantage for far bigger reasons than whether or not a kid has a side job. The big conferences have TV contracts, an engaged alumni associations giving millions to support athletics, they can charge higher ticket prices, they can charge out the ying yang for sponsorships, they sell millions in merchandising, they can charge huge sums for things like parking rights, etc. There is your proof....none of it has to do with whether a kid can have a job or not. So what if some jock sniffer wants to pay a player $50 per hour to appear at a car dealership, etc.? It's a free country first of all and if the jock sniffer wants to spend his money that way, then why should we complain? Unfortunately, we can't develop a high level of jock sniffer like they do. Second, that money is peanuts compared to what schools are making.

"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment." - John Wooden I'm conflicted about him leaving sooner rather than later. Hopefully he will leave sooner because he wins a lot. If the opposite happens, it will be years more of misery.

I just googled "herbstreit relocating to nashville". All of you should do it. It does not paint a good picture for tOSU fans and Columbus. Those people are a bunch of a-holes.

From a Fox News Poll Should U.S. Forces Be Used to Create a No-Fly Zone Over Libya? Good link Hilltopper. Neocons? Yes! They are engaged in a political game. If they push hard enough, they can change public opinion in favor against something that isn't in our interest. Don't trust them. Like I said, if England and France want to create a no fly zone, they should. This is in their backyard. We can't do everything for everyone....we're freaking broke. In terms of the poll, the American people are absolutely correct. We need to stay out of this one. If you don't believe me, believe George Washington. Farewell Address

From the people who brought us the ongoing War on Terror. Just for the record. In the amount of time we have been fiddle farting around in Iraq and Afghanistan, we could have accomplished the following: 1. Defeated the Huns in the 1940s. 2. Allowed the Huns to have back Europe. 3. Defeated the Huns a second time. 4. Allowed the Huns to have back Europe. 5. Defeated the Huns a third time. These neoconservatives have never seen a war they didn't think the US should participate. Neoconservatives would send in troops to break up a school yard fight between second graders. They are fools and Fox News is full of them. First it will be some bombing, because it is so inexpensive to fly a bomber from Arkansas to the middle east the the bombs cost very little . Then it will be some consultants on the ground. Then it will be a small group of special forces. Then it will be an invasion. Don't trust these people. If Kristol wants ANOTHER war so freaking bad, let him pick up and gun and go over there with his kids and fight it. A real conservative like Pat Buchanan, and the Great GP1, would tell you what is going on in the middle east is a European problem. Let them handle it. Pucker up neoconservatives, the Great GP1 has an ass he would like you to kiss.

I was thinking the same. It seems to me in Zeke's young career, the bigger the game, the more attitude he brings. I remember coach McFadden after the first Ken+ game this year saying something like "we need to get Zeke to play like this every game." There has been no bigger game that Zeke has played in...bring it Z! I mentioned in another thread about watching a John Wooden special on HBO last weekend. I guess my advice to Zeke when playing aggressive this week would be to pass along a quote Wooden used to say, "Be quick - But don't hurry." Stay out of foul trouble Zeke. John Wooden quotes.

I agree. Our most important player is Zeke. He is a seven foot player in the MAC which helps him tremendously because there aren't any like him. ND was one of the top three teams in the best college basketball conference this year. Guys like Zeke are a dime a dozen in the Big East. They won't have a problem with his height. If I was the coach of ND, I would target Zeke early and try to get him into foul trouble. I think it will work because, like I said, they know how to play against guys like Zeke because they play them all the time. If Zeke is going to survive this week, he has to do more than just try to block shots. He needs to be physical and keep his body in good position. Don't let the ball get inside. He isn't going to get many blocks against ND. He was routinely beaten badly to the baseline Saturday and that can't happen again this week. Zeke is what I would call and "old time shot blocker" in the way Bill Russell was a shot blocker, which I believe is more enjoyable to watch. They keep a slight distance from the offensive player, or quickly play help defense, and then swat shots. Works well in the MAC. The game is much more physical now and that is hard to do.

GP1, your wisdom and insight continues to impress me. Nobody is more impressed than I am.

There was an excellent program on HBO yesterday about the Wooden years at UCLA. He never once talked about winning games. It was always about doing your best. The last time the Zips were in the tournament they did well, but I don't think they did their best for 40 minutes. This week is a chance to correct that. Win or lose, I just want to see 100% effort from every guy for 40 minutes and let the chips fall where they may.