Terry Pluto

[ZachTheZip]

I found the article that will most likely be buried somewhere inside the Sports section tomorrow.Dear Coach, the Zips have come a long way -- By Terry PlutoMan, I hate that guy. He talks down the whole article, and ends it with the line

J.D., you've been around long enough to know what happens when MAC teams go on the road to places like Penn State. They come home with a paycheck (in this case, $375,000) and a team that feels beaten and embarrassed.But this time, you just lost.And that's not so bad.

Losing is not OK, Mr. Pluto. We could have been more competitive. Don't pull the "Oh, you tried you hardest and that's all that counts. MAC schools can't win, but you played your best, so congrats." Why don't you wax poetic about OSU some more. Oh, wait. Even though he lost, Garrett Wolfe ran all over your defense so you can't write that article about how the D hasn't missed a step.

[Zips fan]

Dear Terry, F U!!Sincerely,Akron

[sgm405]

Am I the only one that doesn't think he's dissing the Zips? He wrote about the positives. He wrote about the negatives (silly mistakes, etc). And he wrote that they had come a long way. Would anyone disagree with any of that?I don't see this as him bashing Akron one bit...instead, I see it as him noting the progress they have made.

[bobbyake]

the article was good until the end. When he says, "well you just lost" He could have thought of a better ending.

[liljc]

Anyone who reads that letter from Terry Pluto and thinks it is a put down is out of his freaking mind! It is a very complimentary article. He goes into detail saying how the Zips and JD are making major strides in the right direction. You people are just looking for something to bitch about, and picking on Pluto is always fashionable on here, I guess.

[ZachTheZip]

Yeah, well I guess my excuse was that I was tired , angry, and a little bit frustrated when I put that up here. Now that I have read it again, it is very complimentary. Except for the ending. It still comes off as "You're from the MAC, so you are supposed to lose. You just didn't lose as bad as you should have, so congrats."

[fear the brown roo]

what's the problem with the article? i think he nailed it.

[Valpo Zip]

I like the article

[GoZips]

I rarely see "eye to eye" with Terry Pluto.Like most Zips fans I frequently refer to Mr. Pluto as "Tammy" and his belovedLeakin Urinal. Mr. Pluto has rarely (far to rarely) been a supporter of his local college.All to often he has shilled the grand and glorious overdog Suckeye State.That said, I think Mr. Pluto for once gave an honest evaluation of the Akron vs PennState game. He quite correctly pointed out that Akron stretched the Nitts to beingFORCED to play their first team offense and defense to the end of the game.There is a a talent gap and it showed. As Pluto correctly observed the gap is narrowingrapidly. This Akron team is a lot tougher opponent than the doormat role they playedin 1999 and 2004.Driving back from Unhappy Valley I listened on the radio to the post game drivel of thevapid Nitts talking heads. One moron (hope the fool reads this) boasted that only a fewmiscues by the mighty Nitts prevented them from turning the game into a blow out.Truth be told, only a few miscues prevented the Zips from making the game a lot morescary for Nitt fans than it was. A better played game of less stupid penalties, poortackling, better decision making, etc) and the Zips would have been toe to toe with theNitts.Luke Getsy is an ordinary QB that could be come a great one with two simpleimprovements. Develop a quicker release of the ball. He reminds me of good highschool QBs that keep looking for a better opportunity than the first one he sees. Thushangs on to the ball way too long resulting in five sacks yesterday. Second, scramble.Luke seems to be rooted in cement when he drops back, His feet are planted at alltimes. Some times you just have to move. Luke passed up at least two opportunitiesto run the ball. These ended up being sacks.I hate losing.What I saw on the field yesterday did Akron proud. We competed in a tough houseagainst a very good football tram. We never caved.Joe Pa is one classless unsportsman like son of a bitch. Its a damned lie about himbeing a great sportsman. In 1999 he ruthlessly sent his first team back on the fieldin the fourth quarter to run up the score to cover the 45 point spread. Yesterday aftera 28 yard run back on an interception giving the Nitts excellent field position at theAkron thirty and six minutes to play. Joe Pa, the sportsman, has his number oneoffense unit in. On the first play Morelli attempted a touchdown pass that wasbroken up by the Zips backs. A sportsman coach leading 31-9 would have runsimple belly series plays. There was no need to run up the score. Sportsman, my ass.The Nitts settled for a field goal. At 34-9 with four minutes to play, the Zips showed their class. They took the kick off on a long drive and scored a touchdown. Theywere still full of fight. Akron got the ball back one more time after the great sportsman Joe Pa <gag>played the Nitts final offensive series with the back ups. They promptly went threeand out against a very tired and wet Zips team.The real class was JD Brookhart. When Akron drove toward the Nitts goal and wereclose as time ran out. JD did not send in one last pass for the end zone. No, JDsent in a belly series play to run a tired Dennis Kennedy in to line. Thus concedinggraciously the victory to the Nitts. That's class. The real value of this game to Penn State is that Akron gave them a real opponentto get prepared for their road game against Notre Dame next week. For this they shouldbe most grateful.

[Dan Kadar]

Driving back from Unhappy Valley I listened on the radio to the post game drivel of thevapid Nitts talking heads.

I had that on. It was awful. Jack Ham made me want to carve my eardrums out with my keys.

[Zipsrifle]

Boy, what the hell is happening to this board!?! What a bunch of crap. I don't care how many times you read it, this is nothing but a backhanded comment!1) -- Why does it take Tammy 2 years after his first letter to JD to write his second one?!?!?2) -- I'm sure JD needed Tammy's reassurance in that he's doing a good job. WTF does he know about MAC Football? 3) -- I love how Pluto "Reminds" JD not to forget the previous two games at Happy Valley when watching the tapes this week. REMEMBER YOU GOT YOUR @$$ KICKED IN THE LAST TWO TIMES IN HAPPY VALLEY, SO GO EASY ON THE KIDS FOR THIER MISTAKES.4) -- That was the worst closing I've ever read. USUALLY YOU POOR, LITTLE, CRAPPY MAC TEAMS GO TO THESE OTHER WONDERFUL SCHOOLS AND GET BRUTALLY MURDRED, YOU ONLY GOT BEAT UP AND YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY FOR THAT. I'm sure Pluto (remember, Pluto was recently demoted to a "Dwarf Planet"), jumped at the chance to go to Happy Valley to watch the game. I challenge him to attend all of Akron's OTHER away games. If he did really care about what is going on with this program he would. But he is just got a good excuse to go watch another Big Ten game. This is NOT a good article about Akron, it is a huge backhanded comment that continues to put down this program and promote it as second rate. We don't need this kind of news from the hometown press!!!

[Zip_ME87]

I personally liked the Pluto article. Given that the Zips lost, what did you expect? We could have received much worse. Did you notice that ht eABJ included the picture of Kennedy's touchdown? They could have chosen from a plethera of "low lights".I was also happy to see that the Cleveland PD included that picture and a full article on the game...not just some little blurb about Penn State's win like they could have. To top it off, the PD had an awesome full page article on Charlie. Go Zips! Go Browns!

[Z.I.P.]

Say what you may folks, but please realize Terry Pluto is proxy for 90% of football fans in NE Ohio. Another 5% just couldn't care less about Akron. That's the reality we are challenged to overcome. We have already reduced that 5% from about 50%.

[zipsbandman]

I don't see anything wrong with it. He is implying that we competed with Penn State the entire game as opposed to getting whipped 56 to 3 or something. Don't read too far into these things.