GP1

There are two Amish women out digging potatoes (assume they are speaking in that Swedish accent they talk in). One of them bends over and picks up two potatoes and looks at the other and says, "Ohhh, look Anna. These potatoes look just like Eli's balls."Surprised, Anna says (in her Swedish accent), "Really, are dey dat big."The first woman responds, "No, der dat dirty."

I agree with Captain Kangaroo. All we need to do with our current schedule and being in the MAC is win 7 games a year. This isn't even asking for much. People will excuse away the BCS losing every year if they would just win the darn MAC. Going to bowl games on a regular basis would be enough to gain interest. Win the MAC every 3 years, compete for the championship every year and the town would produce good crowds. 20,000 average is not unreasonable.If we want to expect more wins than 7 every year, dump the BCS teams and beat up on some I-AA teams.Don't feel bad about the Vikings CK. I've seen many of undefeated teams come to the Steel City around the end of October only to go home with their first loss. The truth is, the Steelers needed that game much more than the Vikings did. 5-2 in all practical terms in the NFL is significantly better than 4-3. That game had one of the strangest vibes I have ever watched. Very strange game.

He also holds the record for being the only opening day QB traded the following day after opening day.Anybody can complete a lot of passes in the NFL to guys out of the backfield. The key is completing passes downfield. With a weak arm, he can't complete passes downfield. The bottom line is Charlie is not a winning QB. He didn't win in the worst conference in D-1A and he didn't win with the Browns. That's why Charlie doesn't get on the field...he just isn't a winner.

It isn't about coaches gelling, it's about players playing. Coaches come and go at our level. We need a coach and coaching staff that can take a group of talented players and turn them into winners.

You must not like Charlie very much. The last thing Charlie needs at this point in his career is to get on the field again.He is a bad NFL QB. However, his game experience, while a joke, is important in the NFL. Most third string QBs have zero playing experience. As long as he doesn't get in another game, the smaller of a chance he has of getting run out of another town. If he shows up to work every day and contributes in a back-up role, I think he could last another 3-4 years in the league. The key though is not letting anyone see how bad he is in a regular season game.I have nothing against Charlie making a great living in the NFL. It's just too bad he uses it to support Ashland University.

Aren't the chants of Charlie-Charlie-Charlie how he started his illustrious career in Cleveland? Like I always say, everything Cleveland fans want ends up blowing up in their faces. Charlie was just another example of that.

No, 40 years of hate is hard to turn off with one trip to a casino. And no, no move to Lancaster Co.....or Sugarcreek.....or Charm......or Wooster.

I've never said anything on the board about it, but I have a strange dislike for Amish people. Last week, my wife and I were in Atlantic City gambling at the Borgata and the Amish Outlaws played to a packed following at the casio bar. They were awesome. Check out the web page.

Will it happen? No, look at how the fans on this board look at the program as being "out of control" because our QB gets thrown off the team and a third string scout team player gets in a bar fight. Akron fans are stuck in the 1950s and think "we need a program we can all be proud of". College football is cleaner now than it has ever been (that's not saying much), but there is a segment of sports fans who believe the 1950s were a clean and just time in college sports. We need to get focused on winning and those things we need to do to win.

Not so dirty secret indeed. Everyone should read the book, "The Blind Side". It will be out in movie soon and is about Michael Oher of the Baltimore Ravens and his growing up in Memphis.The lengths to which Mississippi went to in order to keep this kid on the field is mind blowing. There are SEC schools out there that have a tutor attend every class with the player and then meet with the player at night to reinforce the lessons learned that day. A player may have a different tutor for each class. These tutors do not come cheap either. All are earning income from the Athletic Department for these tasks. I wish we had that kind of money.If you guys really want to get the program to the point where they are winning 9-10 games a year, these are the things they need to do. If they don't, 6-7 wins should be normal. I'd love a six win season at this point.

That's where I draw the distinction regarding the merits of JD's alleged loyalty. In my mind, loyalty to the program and the university, from the head football coach, equals a burning desire to do whatever it takes to win on the field. The best coaches aren't particularly loyal to individual players or to other coaches on their staffs. They always put the team, and team success, ahead of everything else. For all of the twisted love of "the sweater vest" in Ohio, I have absolutely no doubt that his deal with players and coaches is that he is going to play the best players every week, the players and the schemes that give that team its best chance to win are the ones who are going to see the field. Players who were all-world in high school but don't produce or don't fit the scheme don't see the field, period. So, if the implication is that JD plays certain kids, who aren't right for the scheme, or aren't as good as others kids on the roster, I call that utterly misplaced loyalty and in the context of D-1 coaching, complete nonsense. Same goes for coaches on his staff.If your allusions to loyalty by JD are about his hard-workingness, hours spent in the team offices (which UA actually has now) and general boosterism for the program, I would again argue that those hours have simply been wasted. Hopefully for him personally, he has learned enough to catch a position on a college or professional staff after this year and earn a living, but he is a failure as a head college football coach. I actually don't care how hard working a head college football coach is. If he wins games and recruits good players, I'm happy. JD may even be a complete workaholic, but we've all known workaholics who weren't particularly productive. I'm convinced that JD could sell ice to eskimos, but he is a bad college head football coach.It's time for UA to decide what it wants. After they fire JD and this entire staff, it'll be time for Proenza to do a little soul searching. If the board wants to build a real football program, and decide that there exists the potential for success (some would doubt the potential for an upstart program in the veritable cradle of football, where there are already so many high-quality programs for kids to choose from) they will have to put more money into the program. They will have to pay (for the first time) for a high-quality head coach and staff, who will have to redouble their efforts to recruit high quality players. UA has gone part of the way with capital improvements, but that money will have been wasted if there is not a strong commitment made to the human beings who will build the program, basically from the ground up.STZLet's say the worst case scenario occurs and the Zips finish 1-10. Even in that situation, that certainly doesn't mean that the next coach will have to build "from the ground up". It's not like JD's teams of recent years have been involved in games like the Kansas State 65-0 debacle or the one where Miami's QB took a knee in scoring position JUST BEFORE HALFTIME. Things are bad, but in NO way is this program one that should be characterized as having to start over. The right coach can turn it around quickly. I'm fully convinced of that. The key will be having a smooth transition, one in which key players and recruits are retained.Well said. There is plenty of talent. We have spent too many years "building" at UofA. It's time to start winning.When people say "high quality recruits", the first thing that comes to my mind is a high quality recruit is a difference maker on the field. Sometimes difference makers struggle in the classroom. UofA needs to make a committment to bring in high quality players and support them academically. That's how really good teams get good. I'm not saying bring in a bad element, but let's keep the marginal players in school, help them get some cake degree and win some games.

I agree. The AD forced one coach out already and looks bad for doing it. Firing JD now not only will not prove anything, but it could look really negative in other ways.Hang in there coachers.....only six more games.

He was. On the day Robert Lyons was placed in the Varsity A Hall of Fame, French was presented with an award. I can't remember what the award was called though.

That's why stadiums of MAC teams sit half empty every week.

The Zips are bad. Next year I expect them to be good. The talent is there...the coaching isn't.

So what's your point?

Quoting Rachel Green from friends: "What a load of crap!"I remember after the Mac championship in 2005 JD was waiting for the first offer to move on but, unfortunately, no school was stupid enough to offer him.Secondly the NFL has given him offers, I never said anything about other schools but obviously you know he was waiting for the first opportunity to jump ship. He'll be gone after the end of the season. Don't worry about itI agree and know for a fact as well that JD has been offered jobs by NFL teams in the past. I even know one of the teams that offered him.JD is gone at the end of the season. Six years is enough. People posting post after post about it is a waste of time.

Why? It would be a guaranteed loss. Just because WMU does it, it doesn't mean we should do it. Is ND going to go to Kalamazoo to play?

There will not be a coach remaining from JD's staff. That's the way it works. The team will have all new coaches next season.

I don't want to single anyone out, especially those who love to redshirt players (redshirting can actually be horrible for a player, but that's another discussion), but the only way Zeke gets redshirted is if he gets an injury between now and the beginning of the season that will not mend until after the MAC Tournament.God forbid if the kid got hurt tomorrow and only got back a week before the MAC Tournament, he should play. He is a high school All American. For those that like "growing", put Zeke in the starting line-up on day one and let him grow on the court instead of growing at practice and hoping he is ready to play when he gets in games.

"System" stuff is totally overblown, especially as it relates to college football. PERHAPS you can say it about some QBs, but I think Nicely would actually be even more productive in a pro-set/I-formation offense. Yeah, we might have to find a FB or two. But it can be done.We need to bring in a coach that knows how to teach, knows how to coach (on gameday) and knows and how to WIN. Plain & simple. Well, maybe not simple.Excellent post. There can be no more "building". There is enough talent on this team to win. They need to start winning. 20+ years of building is enough.I like what Pitt is doing right now. They are playing a physical brand of football in a pro-style offense and a tough run jamming defense. They are one of the best teams in what is the worst BCS league. We just aren't a physical team and if we were more physical, more game situations would go our way.Here is one of the many examples of why we are not physical and it is a very telling statistic. The Zips are -2 in fumbles against D-1A teams this year. When teams are physical and hit hard, they cause more fumbles for the other team than the other team creates for them.

Just don't stop believing this football season can turn around.

Referring to oneself in the third person is characteristic of illeism. If you aren't familiar with the term, you should look it up and see if you imagine you fit with some of the notable historical figures closely associated with illeism (Julius Caesar, Charles de Gaulle, Joseph Stalin, Richard Nixon, Geraldo Rivera, etc.).Aside from that self-aggrandizing trait, many of your comments here are quite sensible.The Great GP1 has looked at your post and agrees that the comments are sensible. Probably even brilliant as usual.The Great GP1 would also like to add that the names you mentioned may have been, with the exception of etc., presidents, emperors, dictators and hack lawyers, none of them are the Great GP1.

The music is a rip off of something the Steelers do in the fourth quarter of their games when the defense comes out in a close game.

my life sucks...I think I will bash the kids on the football team today because it might make me feel better even though I have no clue what the heck I am talking about...yeah thats what i will do because my life completely sucks and because I am such a winner I will continue to bash and stomp the team because my number of post listings increase my stature as a zips basher and it will show the world I am one step away from actually jumping from the Y bridge, but thank god i have zips nation to express true negativity throughout the world....i only wish more positive people read my post so i can bring them down to my low level of life!!!!RUMPLEMINTZ - You are on ZipsNation, but maybe you need to spend some time on -Spend some time on Prozac or her?............