Pluto's Article

[GP1]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/spor...es/10736494.htm

Good article on the Zips this morning.

As usual, Pluto was able to give that loser Owens credit some credit for the team's success last year late in the year.

The players' actions are much more pragmatic and logical than Pluto can see in his small mind. Could it be that the kids stuck with the program because they need their scholarships to go to school? Are they from good families who may have encouraged them to stick it out? Are they smart enough to understand that the program was dead with Owens and they knew they needed a change and wanted a change? Where are they going to transfer to before their senior year losing many credits towards graduation? Could it be that they knew the first sign of being disgruntled would have earned them their walking papers or worse yet, hours of grass drills? Could it be that many secretly hated Owens and were glad to see him go? Do they have several friends on the team and around campus they don't want to leave? I could go on and on.

What Pluto really wanted to write and is too sneaky to write is: "Part of the credit for the Zips holding it together is former coach Lee Owens. Although he only deserves about 1% of the credit, I feel compelled to use his name in each Zips football article I write as if he is the driving factor in the team's success without him. In fact, I will probably do this until Brookhart does so well he goes to a bigger school and I can write article about how the University of Akron should hire another loveable loser to coach the school. Why do I continue to place his name in my articles? I don't know other than Lee was a nice guy and I think I am secretly in love with him. Please don't tell my wife."

Please Terry, enough of using LOs name in your articles. I have the perfect place for any credit he derves.

I'm not certain about this, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Pluto went to Can't State. If he did, Owens is the perfect symbol of mediocrity a Can't State graduate would be attracted to. Just look at their football program.

Have a good day everyone and by the way. Go see the basketball team. I went last night for the first time and they are worth every penny to go see.

[Captain Kangaroo]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/spor...es/10736494.htm

Good article on the Zips this morning.

As usual, Pluto was able to give that loser Owens credit some credit for the team's success last year late in the year.

The players' actions are much more pragmatic and logical than Pluto can see in his small mind. Could it be that the kids stuck with the program because they need their scholarships to go to school? Are they from good families who may have encouraged them to stick it out? Are they smart enough to understand that the program was dead with Owens and they knew they needed a change and wanted a change? Where are they going to transfer to before their senior year losing many credits towards graduation? Could it be that they knew the first sign of being disgruntled would have earned them their walking papers or worse yet, hours of grass drills? Could it be that many secretly hated Owens and were glad to see him go? Do they have several friends on the team and around campus they don't want to leave? I could go on and on.

What Pluto really wanted to write and is too sneaky to write is: "Part of the credit for the Zips holding it together is former coach Lee Owens. Although he only deserves about 1% of the credit, I feel compelled to use his name in each Zips football article I write as if he is the driving factor in the team's success without him. In fact, I will probably do this until Brookhart does so well he goes to a bigger school and I can write article about how the University of Akron should hire another loveable loser to coach the school. Why do I continue to place his name in my articles? I don't know other than Lee was a nice guy and I think I am secretly in love with him. Please don't tell my wife."

Please Terry, enough of using LOs name in your articles. I have the perfect place for any credit he derves.

I'm not certain about this, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Pluto went to Can't State. If he did, Owens is the perfect symbol of mediocrity a Can't State graduate would be attracted to. Just look at their football program.

Have a good day everyone and by the way. Go see the basketball team. I went last night for the first time and they are worth every penny to go see.

Can someone print the column? Thanks. F The Beacon.

[Zipster Jr]

Here you go Captain...

Posted on Wed, Jan. 26, 2005

Terry Pluto: Brookhart has special feeling after first year

By Terry Pluto

They won six of their last eight games and went into the final week of the football season with a chance to win a Mid-American Conference championship.

They drew 29,261 fans and 17,410 fans to their final two home games at the Rubber Bowl. They had a quarterback who could be picked in the first round of the NFL Draft in April, and their coach was voted best in the MAC.

Not a bad debut for the University of Akron's J.D. Brookhart, who now sheds the label as a rookie head coach. His team finished 6-5 (6-2 in the MAC) after losing its first three games and being outscored 130-34.

He also had a monster find in recruiting when he signed a little running back named Brett Biggs, who rushed for 10 touchdowns and 906 yards while seldom fumbling.

Biggs was a neglected junior-college player who had one Division I offer. He really didn't know where Akron was, nor did he care. All that mattered to this 5-foot-8, 180-pounder from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas was that someone wanted him.

Brookhart and his staff will have to uncover more recruiting gems such as Biggs, especially with MAC Player of the Year Charlie Frye headed to the pros.

So who will be the quarterback next season?

Brookhart offers two quick answers: Jabari Arthur or Luke Getsy.

Arthur is such a gifted athlete that he played receiver and caught 23 passes from Frye last year. He is out of the Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith mold, a swift sprinter with a strong arm.

Getsy is a pocket quarterback, a 3.9 GPA student, and good enough to be listed as the No. 2 quarterback at the University of Pittsburgh when the 2004 season began. He transferred to Akron to be with Brookhart, the former Pitt offensive coordinator.

Brookhart is excited about some other transfers.

Andy Alleman of Massillon began his career as a defensive lineman at Pitt, where he was a backup defensive end for two years. He is joining Getsy in coming to Akron and is penciled in to start on the offensive line.

There also is DaVanzo Tate, who was a backup defensive back at West Virginia as a freshman before transferring last fall. In high school, he was an honor student at Austintown Fitch. And there's former Ohio State recruit Dennis Kennedy, who has a chance to play some at running back if he overcomes a knee injury.

The intriguing part of the four transfers is they were talented enough to be recruited by major schools, and they all were able to work out with the Zips this past season as redshirts. So they bring experience, which the Zips desperately will need.

Loss of leadership

Veteran leadership is what Brookhart insists Akron will miss the most.

The coach still marvels at how seniors such as Chase Blackburn, John Fuller, Dan Basch, DeWayne LeFall, Aaron Conley and Frye stuck by him after the disastrous 0-3 start.

``It would have been easy for them to say the new coach doesn't know what he's doing,'' Brookhart said. ``In terms of discipline, we put a lot of demands on them. The team could have gone in a different direction, but the seniors held them together.''

Part of this is a tribute to former coach Lee Owens, who recruited all those players. And the seniors, who decided to buy into the new coach's way and bring the rest of the team along, also deserve credit.

``Now, I ask the guys -- who will be our leaders?'' Brookhart said. ``I like what (juniors) Kiki Gonzalez, (Jay) Rohr, (Domenik) Hixson and Biggs did. But these kids have to step it up and set the tone; the coaches can't do it alone.''

Brookhart is pleased with the academic progress. Twenty players had less than a 2.0 grade-point average in the spring of 2004. Now, it's only seven. His freshman recruiting class has a 3.0 GPA.

The seniors also led in this area, as Frye (3.8), Fuller (3.0), Basch (3.8) and Blackburn (3.4) excelled.

Overall atmosphere

Brookhart is convinced it can get even better.

``Just walk around our campus,'' he said. ``It's a true university setting. What has happened here with all the new buildings, the trees and everything else is amazing. We bring in kids from out of the area and they are blown away by the facilities.''

That also goes for the new practice field and the impressive field house. The recognition that Frye has brought to the school has been an asset, too.

``Know what our biggest problem has been?'' Brookhart said. ``Keeping the area kids home. We can get kids from Cleveland, kids from Columbus and around the state. But right now, we've had a hard time with the kids right here.''

Brookhart returns his top two runners (Jerell Ringer and Biggs) as well as his two most productive receivers (Jason Montgomery and Hixson). He worries about his offensive line where the only starter back is Tim Crouch. He is very confident about tight ends Kris Kasparek and Dennis Basch.

The defense will have six starters back, and he believes that it will be in good shape.

He also has a more favorable nonconference schedule than the Zips usually face with road games at Purdue and Middle Tennessee, and Army comes to the Rubber Bowl.

``It's up to us to take what we've done and build on it,'' he said. ``We have to keep getting good players who are also good kids, and keep doing things to get the community involved. I really believe we're getting close to having something special here.''

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Messages for Terry Pluto can be left at 330-996-3816 or terrypluto2003@yahoo.com. Sign up for Terry's free, weekly e-mail newsletter ``Direct from Pluto'' at www.ohio.com.

[zipper]

I gotta admit, I don't get it. Why does he feel the apparently compulsory need to credit LO in every article? I can only guess that Pluto could never, ever fire anybody and feels so badly for LO that he can't bear to not mention his name. It's weird, for sure. I mean, is he going to say that about the next three years' leaders? Because Owens recruited next year's sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Do we have to expect three more years of this? Can Brookhart ever just get the credit for the turnaround?

[Edit: This year may be a much tougher season than last. If we have a rebuilding year, will Pluto BLAME Owens for bad recruiting for three seasons??]

[Guest Guest]

Who's Lee Owens?

[Zipsrifle]

This might be out in left field....but maybe this is TP's way of getting us fired up? I think he probably comes over here to get the scoop on stuff and gets a little pissed when we bash the ABJ all the time. Just a thought.