Captain Kangaroo Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 My first...and possibly final basketball overview of the season - The Captain is looking to construct a brick pizza oven in his back yard this summer, and sourced some materials from a foundry in Urichsville. I parlayed the plant visit into an excuse to go the extra 2 hours to Athens West Virginia and watch the surging Zips. Didn't work out as I'd hoped.... The drive was simple. 77S to West Virginia, hang a right, and you're there. From Northern Summit County, roughly a 3 hour trek. All highway...72MPH. I'd never been to the Convo for a game. It's a great facility, and was 1/2 full for OU's senior night...which equates to a packed house at the JAR. The game itself was almost an exact replica of OU/Akron game #1. OU kicked our butts in every phase of the game. Obviously OU sees UA as more of a rival than the Zips view OU. The Bobcats were ready to battle...the Zips were ready for Milliken. Maybe. What was most striking to me in this game was our absolute invisibility in the paint. The 40-21 rebounding differential pegs the Desire-o-Meter in OU's favor. Every missed shot was fought for by two OU players, and you hardly saw a white jersey within 5 feet them. Our defense was the proverbial Chinese Fire Drill the entire night...guys running around, out of position, arms flailing futilely as OU methodically picked us apart inside-and-out. The epic scoring drought returned. Boooooo. Everyone was stone cold. It was so bad at one point that, when McClanahan drained a late three, the O-Zone kids politely clapped. Sure, 1/2 of them were clapping sarcastically...but many of them were simply compelled to try and be nice. A bad sign for McNees is when he's missing his warm up shots. The ball came off his fingers differently every time. He was destined to have a bad night from the moment the OU senior's parents left center court. Ironically he had as many points as DeVaughn Washington's mom. To be fair -- he had one more assist. Alex Abreu doesn't fear the roo, but he sure does Fear the Coop. DJ Cooper is fun to watch. And when he sees Alex Abreu guarding him, his eyes light up. Cooper looked for his shot all night, and when he played off the ball he always had it delivered in his sweet spot. No Zip could guard Cooper last night, but when Abreu was on him, you could see him kick it to another level. Likewise, Alex's facial expressions grew increasingly worried as the night wore on. And wear on it did... The refs stunk. Charges were called on the Zips at the offensive end, and blocks were called (on us) at the defensive end. That was, until the point differential became large enough that the refs felt they could begin calling it evenly. That said, like in 99% of the games, the refs in no way decided the outcome of this one...OU put the wood to us with a savage brutality. Speaking of brutality....KD tortured me by calling 3 time outs in the final minute. Or was he punishing his players...interestingly, none of whom were named Peterson, Oldham or Euton? Or was he messing with the inept refs (I think the old coot is the Athens Mayor during the day)? Regardless, I arrived at home really really late this morning. After a great February run, the Zips forgot what got them to the point where they were vying for a Championship. OU out-coached, out-fought, out-executed and out-everythinged the Zips. We needed to put forth a supreme effort to beat OU on senior night, and we dropped a deuce on center court. Bummer of a trip...except for my sweet front row seats. Off to K.e.n.t. A win over those smelly bastards and all is right with the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tt119807 Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Thanks for making the trip down. Sorry you couldn't stick around and enjoy the nightlife a little bit, I've never been to Akron but I know from experience it blows Can't out of the water. We would also like to thank your coach. Finally somebody has lit a fire under our boys butts and here's hoping that we can continue to put out 40 mins of solid basketball every game in fear of looking like the "worst team in America." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandzip Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Wow, thought you'd stop by Athens while you were in Uhrichsville? First time I've ever seen someone mention my little hometown anywhere. You'd think more people would have heard of the clay capital of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip_ME87 Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Wow, thought you'd stop by Athens while you were in Uhrichsville? First time I've ever seen someone mention my little hometown anywhere. You'd think more people would have heard of the clay capital of the world. Urichsville isn't exactly in Athens' backyard. Interesting to discover another native of Tuscarawas County on the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mivid12 Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Wow, thought you'd stop by Athens while you were in Uhrichsville? First time I've ever seen someone mention my little hometown anywhere. You'd think more people would have heard of the clay capital of the world. Urichsville isn't exactly in Athens' backyard. Interesting to discover another native of Tuscarawas County on the board. three... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jupitertoo Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 Wow, thought you'd stop by Athens while you were in Uhrichsville? First time I've ever seen someone mention my little hometown anywhere. You'd think more people would have heard of the clay capital of the world. Urichsville isn't exactly in Athens' backyard. Interesting to discover another native of Tuscarawas County on the board. three... If you get off 77 in Marietta rather than taking the suggested (strange) 10-mile leg through W. Va., you can make it from UA campus to OU in 2:40. I've done it 100 times minimum over the past 25 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZoner Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 77 straight to 50 is faster. I knock 15 minutes off the drive to Twinsburg, I think, going that way and avoiding Marietta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jupitertoo Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 77 straight to 50 is faster. I knock 15 minutes off the drive to Twinsburg, I think, going that way and avoiding Marietta. No reason to argue, but you must be taking the wrong route through Marietta. I've timed both routes (50 vs. Marietta/Lower Salem) because I make the trip so often. The way through Marietta is 12 minutes faster, almost to the second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyzip84 Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 77 straight to 50 is faster. I knock 15 minutes off the drive to Twinsburg, I think, going that way and avoiding Marietta. No reason to argue, but you must be taking the wrong route through Marietta. I've timed both routes (50 vs. Marietta/Lower Salem) because I make the trip so often. The way through Marietta is 12 minutes faster, almost to the second. Sure there is.....nothing like a green-n-white fight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipgrad01 Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 Wow, thought you'd stop by Athens while you were in Uhrichsville? First time I've ever seen someone mention my little hometown anywhere. You'd think more people would have heard of the clay capital of the world. Urichsville isn't exactly in Athens' backyard. Interesting to discover another native of Tuscarawas County on the board. three... make that 4....I went to IV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip_ME87 Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 make that 4....I went to IV. Indian Valley, as in Bobby Huggins? I went to Tuscarawas Valley, but like you, live in Brunswick now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mivid12 Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 make that 4....I went to IV. Indian Valley, as in Bobby Huggins? I went to Tuscarawas Valley, but like you, live in Brunswick now. born in dennison, raised in uhrichsville, graduated from tuscarawas central catholic hs (saints)....graduated two w/ bachelor degrees from UA '93...........currently live in dover......oh yea & worked at hilarities! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippyfan34 Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 I might start a born in Wayne County thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip_ME87 Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 Sorry CK...didn't mean to "hijack" your thread. I tried to bring it back to the Zips by dropping former Zips' Coach Huggins' name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 Sorry CK...didn't mean to "hijack" your thread. I tried to bring it back to the Zips by dropping former Zips' Coach Huggins' name. My old college roommates were from Indian Valley, Newcomerstown and Dover. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yazan07 Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 Oh you all are from Tuscarawas? I'm not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAbandfan Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 I'll add my two cents -- born and raised in Uhrichsville, currently live in Dover. Son graduated from Akron, will be starting grad school in the fall, and daugher is a current student. Lots of T-county folks love the Zips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDZip Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 I might start a born in Wayne County thread Wooster but raised in Hudson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z.I.P. Posted March 4, 2011 Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 make that 4....I went to IV. Indian Valley, as in Bobby Huggins? I went to Tuscarawas Valley, but like you, live in Brunswick now. born in dennison, raised in uhrichsville, graduated from tuscarawas central catholic hs (saints)....graduated two w/ bachelor degrees from UA '93...........currently live in dover......oh yea & worked at hilarities! Any of you guys know whatever happened to the girl from Tusky CC who played on the Chaminade WBB team a year or two ago?? Might as well spread the discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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