Bowser

[bUAkronG]

didn't get to watch the entire game but I saw the injury and I thought it was a knee injury. But I heard Frenchie say on the radio he broke his leg? I looked in the other threads and didn't see much mention on it. What's the official word?

[ZachTheZip]

Bowser himself was the one that told French what happened. His leg is broken.

[scottditzen]

This is official...........WE ARE CURSED.Anyone care to debate me on this? You cannot deny the reality. We need to find out what horrible sins our school has committed, we need to excorcise these demons.My first thought is that the school is built on an old cemetary. Can someone connected to the supernatural please verify that this is the reason our school is doomed?

[Bull_In_Exile]

My first thought is that the school is built on an old cemetary. Can someone connected to the supernatural please verify that this is the reason our school is doomed?

At least the new stadium is... Too bad about Bowser, not too many guys mean as much to their offense as he does to you..

[Zips Win!]

This is official...........WE ARE CURSED.Anyone care to debate me on this? You cannot deny the reality. We need to find out what horrible sins our school has committed, we need to excorcise these demons.My first thought is that the school is built on an old cemetary. Can someone connected to the supernatural please verify that this is the reason our school is doomed?

Cursed may be a bit harsh, but I get your point.The answer is........Alumni...as in school pride and school support by "our" alumni...Most.. err...99% don't give a damn, so why should anyone else.

[goodthts]

This is official...........WE ARE CURSED.Anyone care to debate me on this? You cannot deny the reality. We need to find out what horrible sins our school has committed, we need to excorcise these demons.My first thought is that the school is built on an old cemetary. Can someone connected to the supernatural please verify that this is the reason our school is doomed?

Cursed may be a bit harsh, but I get your point.The answer is........Alumni...as in school pride and school support by "our" alumni...Most.. err...99% don't give a damn, so why should anyone else.

Wait, so you're saying our ALUMNI have cursed the football team? How so? Indifference is not evil voodoo magic. It's just non-caring either win or lose. Broken legs, player suspensions, coaches beeeennnding rules, bad play calling, more bad play calling, more injuries compounding over many years creates a Peanuts-style black cloud that follows this team whereever they play. I think Faust sacrificied live chickens before he left so no other coach would ever succeed.

[GP1]

This is official...........WE ARE CURSED.Anyone care to debate me on this? You cannot deny the reality. We need to find out what horrible sins our school has committed, we need to excorcise these demons.My first thought is that the school is built on an old cemetary. Can someone connected to the supernatural please verify that this is the reason our school is doomed?

Cursed may be a bit harsh, but I get your point.The answer is........Alumni...as in school pride and school support by "our" alumni...Most.. err...99% don't give a damn, so why should anyone else.

Wait, so you're saying our ALUMNI have cursed the football team? How so? Indifference is not evil voodoo magic. It's just non-caring either win or lose. Broken legs, player suspensions, coaches beeeennnding rules, bad play calling, more bad play calling, more injuries compounding over many years creates a Peanuts-style black cloud that follows this team whereever they play. I think Faust sacrificied live chickens before he left so no other coach would ever succeed.

There is no curse. We've won a MAC Championship so I know we can do that. We've seen good coaching, although sporadic (the MAC Championship was probably the best coached game in the D-1A era). Faust had a 7-3-1 year so we know we can win around 70% of our games. Even Owens had some good years in the Butchie Washington era. The potential is there.It's so many things that pointing the blame at one doesn't make sense. It's the MAC,. It's the alumni. It's the MAC. It's the coaching. It's the MAC. It's the players making mistakes on and off the field they shouldn't make. It's the MAC. It's the injuries. It's the MAC. It's A LOT of things.I'm not sure how to solve the alumni problem. Educated people go to college and get more educated so we know they are smart when they become alumni. A smart person looks at the MAC and says, "This is crap." However, I don't think it is unreasonable for alumni to attend at least one game a year. It isn't right around the corner, but alumni participation will improve as more students live around and on campus. That will take time. I actually thing the school needs to really focus on alumni in their 20s and early 30s as a long term plan. I know a lot of us are older, but there aren't enough of the older generations interested in going to games to develop much of a base. The alumni problem is a loooooong term solution, but it can be done.The coaching is easy to solve. Get someone in here who can take advantage of the talent on the team. I remain optimistic about the future.Players making mistakes off the field........ People do stupid things every day. It depends on who makes them. If it is a third string center, things happen. If it is the starting QB, that's a problem. Overall, I don't think this has been a huge problem for the Zips, or at least out of the ordinary in relation to the rest of college football.Mistakes on the field.... Coaching can solve that. Players, who are adults by the way, pulling their heads out of their own butts can help also.Injuries..... This will kill any sports team, from any type of sport faster than anything. One thing they should look at is no longer bringing in transfers from BCS schools who couldn't get on the field because they were injured all the time. Some players are prone to injury and you can tell them by the fact they are injured all the time.The MAC.... We are exactly where we belong. Unfortunately, so are all of our other MAC participants.The Zips have had a perfect storm of problems this year. It happens to a lot of teams in the MAC. Timing was terrible, but the future remains bright.

[g-mann17]

There is no curse. We've won a MAC Championship so I know we can do that. We've seen good coaching, although sporadic (the MAC Championship was probably the best coached game in the D-1A era). Faust had a 7-3-1 year so we know we can win around 70% of our games. Even Owens had some good years in the Butchie Washington era. The potential is there.It's so many things that pointing the blame at one doesn't make sense. It's the MAC,. It's the alumni. It's the MAC. It's the coaching. It's the MAC. It's the players making mistakes on and off the field they shouldn't make. It's the MAC. It's the injuries. It's the MAC. It's A LOT of things.I'm not sure how to solve the alumni problem. Educated people go to college and get more educated so we know they are smart when they become alumni. A smart person looks at the MAC and says, "This is crap." However, I don't think it is unreasonable for alumni to attend at least one game a year. It isn't right around the corner, but alumni participation will improve as more students live around and on campus. That will take time. I actually thing the school needs to really focus on alumni in their 20s and early 30s as a long term plan. I know a lot of us are older, but there aren't enough of the older generations interested in going to games to develop much of a base. The alumni problem is a loooooong term solution, but it can be done.The coaching is easy to solve. Get someone in here who can take advantage of the talent on the team. I remain optimistic about the future.Players making mistakes off the field........ People do stupid things every day. It depends on who makes them. If it is a third string center, things happen. If it is the starting QB, that's a problem. Overall, I don't think this has been a huge problem for the Zips, or at least out of the ordinary in realation to the rest of college football.Mistakes on the field.... Coaching can solve that. Players, who are adults by the way, pulling their heads out of their own butts can help also.Injuries..... This will kill any sports team, from any type of sport faster than anything. One thing they should look at is no longer bringing in transfers from BCS schools who couldn't get on the field because they were injured all the time. Some players are prone to injury and you can tell them by the fact they are injured all the time.The MAC.... We are exactly where we belong. Unfortunately, so are all of our other MAC participants.The Zips have had a perfect storm of problems this year. It happens to a lot of teams in the MAC. Timing was terrible, but the future remains bright.

Never agreed with you more. The alumni thing is probably one of the biggest things that needs to be fixed. Too many people graduate and quickly forget about the school. (and this isn't a "only root for the Zips" rant) I don't care who else any of the alumni want to root for, but take some pride in the University. They contact you about money, give them at least 25 bucks and skip a night out for a week. Go to at least one game a year. Write the AD about what you like and don't like. They are praying for that kind of contact right now, it means that there are people who want to see success. Bottom line (and it's preaching to the choir because obviously people on here care) but we need alumni support. So if you have season tickets for you and your wife leave her home the last two games of the season (you're doing her a favor cause it will be cold anyway) and take a former college buddy that hasn't been paying attention lately. As for injuries, they suck, but I don't remember a year in the past 9 that we haven't had some injury. That's not curse, that's just the way football is. (if anything, I would argue, because of the new rules designed to "protect" players there are actually more injuries) I hope Bowser heals up and at least has a chance to show a little something to an NFL team for chances at an Undrafted Free agent opportunity. I think he could be a slot in the NFL if he can learn to relax and catch the ball on normal routes.

[Captain Kangaroo]

The Zips have had a perfect storm of problems this year. It happens to a lot of teams in the MAC. Timing was terrible, but the future remains bright.

I disagree that we experienced a "perfect storm of problems." Then what did we experience in 2008...or 2007...or 2006...etc, etc, etc? Another series of "perfect storms?"I believe we have experienced a "perfect storm of excuses." That's it.Lee Owens didn't have the stadium or the training facilities. Then JD had the training facilities, but not the stadium. Now we have the training facilities and the stadium, BUT <insert next excuse here>.In JD's 6th season, playing what is likely the easiest schedule in D1 (maybe it is tied with some other MAC East program, but I don't count them). He's 1 - 5. Not only is he 1-5, but he's 0-5 vs. D-1 competition. He's 1-2 at home, and winning 25% of his home games over the past 1 1/2 seasons.Was Jacquemain's suspension crippling? Sure. But who's idea was it to tether the ship to this train-wreck of a kid? His history as an unreliable player on-the-field were only exceeded by his known issues off it. Yet JD rolled the dice that Jacquemain could keep his hands out of the cookie jar for 1 semester. Shocking that this 5th year senior QB...who mysteriously escaped the nomination of Team Captain prior to the start of the season...couldn't do it? Rodgers as the #2 QB was again not any "perfect storm" problem. He's a great kid. He's not a Division 1 QB. If he was, JD would have played him over Jacquemain in the first place. Rodgers blowing his ACL is a convenient excuse to play Nicely, but the truth is, Nicely was warming up on the sidelines prior to Rodgers' injury. If not for the quick OU turnover, Nicely would have entered the game on the ensuing series. There's a reason JD told Nicely not to play in the Football World Championships this past summer...he knew there was a damn good chance he'd need to play him this season, and it was more important that he was in Zips camp.The Ferri "recruiting scandal" is a joke. If this is the excuse for 1 - 5, I have to laugh. I think Tom Gaffney and Elton Alexander have given it all of 100 combined words of print. The University's reaction to the "scandal" (BTW - now downgraded to "an investigation of recruiting practices") has been more damaging than the allegations themselves. Go to a BCS school and see what a real "scandal" looks like. Like Dr. Z, I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of traveling to support the team, only to watch 20yard rugby punts, pop-up kick off and the 3-3-5 defense get shredded late in a close game. I'm tired of watching other MAC programs go bowling while we sit at home with our woe-is-me laundry list of "prefect storm" excuses. I'm tired of explaining to my kid why, as a Zips fan, he always walks out of the stadium a loser.F*ck losing. I'm tired of it.

[GP1]

The Zips have had a perfect storm of problems this year. It happens to a lot of teams in the MAC. Timing was terrible, but the future remains bright.

I disagree that we experienced a "perfect storm of problems." Then what did we experience in 2008...or 2007...or 2006...etc, etc, etc? Another series of "perfect storms?"I believe we have experienced a "perfect storm of excuses." That's it.Lee Owens didn't have the stadium or the training facilities. Then JD had the training facilities, but not the stadium. Now we have the training facilities and the stadium, BUT <insert next excuse here>.In JD's 6th season, playing what is likely the easiest schedule in D1 (maybe it is tied with some other MAC East program, but I don't count them). He's 1 - 5. Not only is he 1-5, but he's 0-5 vs. D-1 competition. He's 1-2 at home, and winning 25% of his home games over the past 1 1/2 seasons.Was Jacquemain's suspension crippling? Sure. But who's idea was it to tether the ship to this train-wreck of a kid? His history as an unreliable player on-the-field were only exceeded by his known issues off it. Yet JD rolled the dice that Jacquemain could keep his hands out of the cookie jar for 1 semester. Shocking that this 5th year senior QB...who mysteriously escaped the nomination of Team Captain prior to the start of the season...couldn't do it? Rodgers as the #2 QB was again not any "perfect storm" problem. He's a great kid. He's not a Division 1 QB. If he was, JD would have played him over Jacquemain in the first place. Rodgers blowing his ACL is a convenient excuse to play Nicely, but the truth is, Nicely was warming up on the sidelines prior to Rodgers' injury. If not for the quick OU turnover, Nicely would have entered the game on the ensuing series. There's a reason JD told Nicely not to play in the Football World Championships this past summer...he knew there was a damn good chance he'd need to play him this season, and it was more important that he was in Zips camp.The Ferri "recruiting scandal" is a joke. If this is the excuse for 1 - 5, I have to laugh. I think Tom Gaffney and Elton Alexander have given it all of 100 combined words of print. The University's reaction to the "scandal" (BTW - now downgraded to "an investigation of recruiting practices") has been more damaging than the allegations themselves. Go to a BCS school and see what a real "scandal" looks like. Like Dr. Z, I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of traveling to support the team, only to watch 20yard rugby punts, pop-up kick off and the 3-3-5 defense get shredded late in a close game. I'm tired of watching other MAC programs go bowling while we sit at home with our woe-is-me laundry list of "prefect storm" excuses. I'm tired of explaining to my kid why, as a Zips fan, he always walks out of the stadium a loser.F*ck losing. I'm tired of it.

So are you saying we are cursed with excuses?

[Captain Kangaroo]

So are you saying we are cursed with excuses?

"We" as Zips fans, are cursed with more excuses than any other team in the history of collegiate athletics.

[Hilltopper]

The Zips have had a perfect storm of problems this year. It happens to a lot of teams in the MAC. Timing was terrible, but the future remains bright.

I disagree that we experienced a "perfect storm of problems." Then what did we experience in 2008...or 2007...or 2006...etc, etc, etc? Another series of "perfect storms?"I believe we have experienced a "perfect storm of excuses." That's it.Lee Owens didn't have the stadium or the training facilities. Then JD had the training facilities, but not the stadium. Now we have the training facilities and the stadium, BUT <insert next excuse here>.In JD's 6th season, playing what is likely the easiest schedule in D1 (maybe it is tied with some other MAC East program, but I don't count them). He's 1 - 5. Not only is he 1-5, but he's 0-5 vs. D-1 competition. He's 1-2 at home, and winning 25% of his home games over the past 1 1/2 seasons.Was Jacquemain's suspension crippling? Sure. But who's idea was it to tether the ship to this train-wreck of a kid? His history as an unreliable player on-the-field were only exceeded by his known issues off it. Yet JD rolled the dice that Jacquemain could keep his hands out of the cookie jar for 1 semester. Shocking that this 5th year senior QB...who mysteriously escaped the nomination of Team Captain prior to the start of the season...couldn't do it? Rodgers as the #2 QB was again not any "perfect storm" problem. He's a great kid. He's not a Division 1 QB. If he was, JD would have played him over Jacquemain in the first place. Rodgers blowing his ACL is a convenient excuse to play Nicely, but the truth is, Nicely was warming up on the sidelines prior to Rodgers' injury. If not for the quick OU turnover, Nicely would have entered the game on the ensuing series. There's a reason JD told Nicely not to play in the Football World Championships this past summer...he knew there was a damn good chance he'd need to play him this season, and it was more important that he was in Zips camp.The Ferri "recruiting scandal" is a joke. If this is the excuse for 1 - 5, I have to laugh. I think Tom Gaffney and Elton Alexander have given it all of 100 combined words of print. The University's reaction to the "scandal" (BTW - now downgraded to "an investigation of recruiting practices") has been more damaging than the allegations themselves. Go to a BCS school and see what a real "scandal" looks like. Like Dr. Z, I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of traveling to support the team, only to watch 20yard rugby punts, pop-up kick off and the 3-3-5 defense get shredded late in a close game. I'm tired of watching other MAC programs go bowling while we sit at home with our woe-is-me laundry list of "prefect storm" excuses. I'm tired of explaining to my kid why, as a Zips fan, he always walks out of the stadium a loser.F*ck losing. I'm tired of it.

This is my 41st season of supporting Zips football and I have never felt as low as I do this season. The only thing JD has done since his arrival was to slip in the back door to win the MAC championship in 05. Even that should be viewed with skepticism because of how it all played out for us to get to the MCB that year. Since that highpoint we have been in a serious downward spiral. As much as I hated Lee Owens, at least his teams were good enough in one area of the game to make things entertaining. This years team is a disgrace. If this is the best that JD can do, when he knows his back is against the wall with all the expectations of the new stadium, than he will never be sucessful. I would be thrilled to see the AD hire a known quantity at head coach to create some hope about the future of Zips football. The only thing left for me this season is the hope that we at least can take down the flushes. All the rest is meaningless at this point. I have a feeling that Ron Zook might be available at the end if the year. He couldn't be any worse than JD.

[GP1]

The only thing JD has done since his arrival was to slip in the back door to win the MAC championship in 05. Even that should be viewed with skepticism because of how it all played out for us to get to the MCB that year.

Captain Kangaroo should like this one. Even when we win the greatest game in program history, we create reasons for why we really should not have.

[Captain Kangaroo]

The only thing JD has done since his arrival was to slip in the back door to win the MAC championship in 05. Even that should be viewed with skepticism because of how it all played out for us to get to the MCB that year.

Captain Kangaroo should like this one. Even when we win the greatest game in program history, we create reasons for why we really should not have.

We back-doored into the 2008-9 MAC basketball championship too. Humpty got lucky...we should have lost to the 12-seed. Right?

[GP1]

So are you saying we are cursed with excuses?

"We" as Zips fans, are cursed with more excuses than any other team in the history of collegiate athletics.

I really don't believe people are making excuses for the underperfomance of the team. Excuses are for when someone is trying to sugar-coat the losing and make it seem not as bad as it is. The reasons for their losing are clearly obvious and I don't think that makes them excuses. There will be no reasons for losing next season. The new coach will have plenty to work with. We should be the best team in a bad conference.Everyone should be optimistic about the very near future. This team has plenty of talent and will win with a new coach. I'm not saying 100% of what is going on is the fault of the coach, but the vast majority is and a cultural change is needed. Let's just say that spring practices are going to be brutal this year.....they need to be.

[GP1]

The only thing JD has done since his arrival was to slip in the back door to win the MAC championship in 05. Even that should be viewed with skepticism because of how it all played out for us to get to the MCB that year.

Captain Kangaroo should like this one. Even when we win the greatest game in program history, we create reasons for why we really should not have.

We back-doored into the 2008-9 MAC basketball championship too. Humpty got lucky...we should have lost to the 12-seed. Right?

I guess so.....I don't agree, but it seems to be the prevailing wisdom on the board, which is why GP1 goes the other way when it comes to prevailing wisdom on sports boards. Maybe we need to the start of any critical comment now on the basketball board with, "I love KD and even though he backed into that championship last year (insert criticism)".

[Zips Win!]

The only thing JD has done since his arrival was to slip in the back door to win the MAC championship in 05. Even that should be viewed with skepticism because of how it all played out for us to get to the MCB that year.

Captain Kangaroo should like this one. Even when we win the greatest game in program history, we create reasons for why we really should not have.

We back-doored into the 2008-9 MAC basketball championship too. Humpty got lucky...we should have lost to the 12-seed. Right?

I guess so.....I don't agree, but it seems to be the prevailing wisdom on the board, which is why GP1 goes the other way when it comes to prevailing wisdom on sports boards. Maybe we need to the start of any critical comment now on the basketball board with, "I love KD and even though he backed into that championship last year (insert criticism)".

We didn't back into either championship...We were fortunate for sure...but we won fair and square. JD won 5 MAC games and then all the tie-breakers. No other MAC East team won more so how is it "backing in"? It happens in the NFL every year.

[g-mann17]

The only thing JD has done since his arrival was to slip in the back door to win the MAC championship in 05. Even that should be viewed with skepticism because of how it all played out for us to get to the MCB that year.

Captain Kangaroo should like this one. Even when we win the greatest game in program history, we create reasons for why we really should not have.

We back-doored into the 2008-9 MAC basketball championship too. Humpty got lucky...we should have lost to the 12-seed. Right?

I guess so.....I don't agree, but it seems to be the prevailing wisdom on the board, which is why GP1 goes the other way when it comes to prevailing wisdom on sports boards. Maybe we need to the start of any critical comment now on the basketball board with, "I love KD and even though he backed into that championship last year (insert criticism)".

We didn't back into either championship...We were fortunate for sure...but we won fair and square. JD won 5 MAC games and then all the tie-breakers. No other MAC East team won more so how is it "backing in"? It happens in the NFL every year.

These are great points. And maybe someone should teach the prevailing wisdom here what it means to be a winner.Winning a Championship = Winner, Winning more games than you lose = Winner, Losing more games than you win = Loser.Fact is we found a way that year to beat NIU twice. The year before we were bowl eligible but they picked Marshal over us. (two years of winning). Nobody can go undefeated every season, but for the love, we have to get a football program to the point where a bad year is .500 over all, or 5-3 in our conference. The abysmal conference play is what is driving me nuts. You are going to lose here and there but 3-8 over the last one and half seasons? Really?!

[ZachTheZip]

Also on the injury front, LB Aaron Williams broke his arm and his season is over.

[Zipmeister]

This is official...........WE ARE CURSED.Anyone care to debate me on this? You cannot deny the reality. We need to find out what horrible sins our school has committed, we need to excorcise these demons.My first thought is that the school is built on an old cemetary. Can someone connected to the supernatural please verify that this is the reason our school is doomed?

This is not true nor is the campus built on an old cemetery.

[g-mann17]

This is official...........WE ARE CURSED.Anyone care to debate me on this? You cannot deny the reality. We need to find out what horrible sins our school has committed, we need to excorcise these demons.My first thought is that the school is built on an old cemetary. Can someone connected to the supernatural please verify that this is the reason our school is doomed?

This is not true nor is the campus built on an old cemetery.

It is true...

The religiousgroup was more thanpleased with Buchtel’sefforts and, in 1870,gave Akron its full support.The college wasto be built upon thegrounds of Spicer HillCemetery—namedafter Miner Spicer, thefirst settler of Akron.The cemetary waslocated on MiddleburyStreet, later renamedBuchtel Avenue.Because the soil on thehill had not provedsuitable for use as acemetary, Miner'sdescendant AverySpicer offered the twoacres to the Universalistsfor $1.

[scottditzen]

Zipmeister, do not challenge my knowledge of obscure trivia!!!!During bad rain storms it was not uncommon for skeletons to wash up out of nowhere.

This is official...........WE ARE CURSED.Anyone care to debate me on this? You cannot deny the reality. We need to find out what horrible sins our school has committed, we need to excorcise these demons.My first thought is that the school is built on an old cemetary. Can someone connected to the supernatural please verify that this is the reason our school is doomed?

This is not true nor is the campus built on an old cemetery.

[Dave in Green]

I guess so.....I don't agree, but it seems to be the prevailing wisdom on the board, which is why GP1 goes the other way when it comes to prevailing wisdom on sports boards. .....

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.

[GP1]

I guess so.....I don't agree, but it seems to be the prevailing wisdom on the board, which is why GP1 goes the other way when it comes to prevailing wisdom on sports boards. .....

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.