lockerroom

[old zip]

ohhh....and one other thing ....if you were really a fan you would care how anyone in your athletic was treated....that's called being PROFESSIONAL ...A TREM that has lost it's luster at akron ..........that's too bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU DON'T TREAT PEOPLE LIKE THAT and survive in business or the game of life........like the saying GOES..... what goes around comes around!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Z-Pouch]

This is one of the worst threads I've seen on the new board. There are no credible sources, so much speculation, and just plain old . Reminds me of the BS on the old board. It's only purpose is it provides a good laugh and alittle entertainment during slow times in the summer. None of it can be taken seriously

BUT REALLY, WHO CARE's ???

Fact is -- Majority of Zip fans seem to agree that the HC changes in football and basketball were for the better and are excited about moving forward. The old HC's had their chances and plenty of time to make significant progress with the programs. While each may have made progress (to mediocrity), I'm happy to see that Mediocrity doesnt cut it here anymore. It is absurd to not expect more.

I dont know MT personally, I dont have inside information, but from what I have seen with MT - I'm impressed. He has moved the athletics program and facilities a long way. The marketing while still under funded puts out alot of good material. I have seen after most basketball games that he makes sure to greet players/coaches leaving the court in the tunnel -- hey, I guess it's not the locker room but seems to serve the same purpose.

As for knocking the new board, oldzip --- -- shame on you for not appreciating the efforts of many to give Zips fans a place to talk and promote our athletics. This board is done in a first class manner and contributes plenty of good usefull information (and sometimes entertaining useless threads like yours). I've shown this site to many and many our impressed. As for membership and post numbers, as the number of wins grow, so will they.

I agree with others -- Please go root for Can't and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. The Zips have moved out of the old school.

[zipsbandman]

if akron continues to hire people like m.t. to run the show they are not going to win anyway

Thank the lord we do not have an AD who thinks like this. Losing attitudes mean losing results.

Akron can't be that hard of a place to coach when you are being handed all the resources you need to build a competitor (facilities, outstanding marketing). Not all AD's and presidents would be willing to invest this $$. With the looks of this incoming recruiting class, I can only imagine who JD will bring in with a year under his belt. Not too much difficulty there.

[Big Zip]

Old Zip -- it could be worse we could still have Dennis Helsel who successfully gave Owens and Hipsher long term contracts to handcuff MT.

At least MT has accepted the wagon wheel on behalf of Virginia -- that is still one of the funniest things I've ever heard when Helsel accepted for Syracuse.

[Guest OLDER Zip]

Old Zip - Fact is, Lee Owens didn't give a rats ass about the institution that is The University of Akron. We all know he was salivating at the thought of the Ohio State job when it was open, and I'll never forget his quote in the Beacon when asked of his interest in the job. "They'd never hire anyone from Akron", blaming it on the institution rather than his less than average W-L record. Well, Lee, they did you one better with a hire from YSU, of all places. Face it, had he won here, OSU would have given him a deserved look, and he would have left in a HEARTBEAT. There isn't much "professional courtesy" in college athletics, so quit crying. It's all about looking our for number one, and the best way a coach can do that is to WIN, and the best way an AD can do that is to hire coaches that WIN (and fire coaches that don't). It's that simple. And had Lee agreed to meet with MT when asked to do so, he would have been afforded the dignity of being let go face to face rather than in a letter. He wasn't man enough to agree to the meeting, thus forcing Thomas' hand to do the job (long overdue) in writing.

[old zip]

what does the OSU job have to do with anything????....In 1994 L.O. could have gone to O.U. but he chose akron instead......he never regretted it......he put everything he had into a school for NINE years. He took a program that was the laughing stock of the M.A.C. and brought it back to respectabiliy........and then he has a letter on his desk the day of a game ...a victory no less.......all I'm saying is this......any institution that does that has no and I mean no class.....could'nt the guy at least wait until monday....It seems to me that would be the sensibile thing to do.......but do things that make sense that's not his style.......gee....I think he is the only person on campus with his own parking spot....what an ego.

[Zipsrifle]

Man, I called that one. Whew!! Good thing I was shielded from "The real story" for another 2 hours after my last post. Man this thread went downhill faster than the first hill on the Millenium Force!

I hear what Z-Pouch and OLDER Zip are saying. They hit the nail on the head.

Bottom line is this.

IT'S OVER AND DONE WITH! LET IT GO!!!!

:cry:

Now, lets get behind JD and the boys as they start their run!!

[Guest OLDER Zip]

Rifle - I agree the horse is dead, but I'd like to offer a rebuttal to Old Zip since he feels so sorry for poor old Me Owens. Old - turning down OU wasn't some noble and honorable move on Me's part. It was a LATERAL move and he didn't stand to gain much in stature by going to OU. (ha, stature and Me Owens in the same sentence. That just struck me as funny). Me was waiting for the BIG TIME to come calling, only funny how when you DON'T WIN, that call doesn't come. And like I said, refusing to meet with your boss when your boss requests a meeting...well, where I come from, that's called insubordination, which not surprisingly can lead to being fired in a letter.

[Guest Advantage Akron]

"Me Owens"... that has got to be the most priceless nickname ever for the now Assland head coach. It describes him to a T.

[Guest OLDER Zip]

Advantage -

Actually the BEST nickname is Lee-ore, which is only funny if you are familiar with the donkey from Winnie the Pooh, who goes by the name of Eeore (sp?). Same personality - woe-is-me, I can't catch a break, down-in-the-mouth pathetic little jackass. THAT is the best nickname ever. For anyone. Period.

[Z-P]

Hey slugs, just for the record, I've not been involved in this ridiculous thread.....my log in on the old ladies PC was OLZIP................but I could care less about any of this stupid chain of lame crap..............

Move on........if LO is good, he'll get another chance at D-1, just as Paul Winters will if he proves himself...............let it gooooooooo.

[old zip]

Thanks for using profanity guys......it's everything that I've expected.....you guys deserve m.t...........too bad..........because the players do not.........

[GoZips]

OLDER ZIP, well said. I concur.

While I know Lee Owens personally and like him as an individual he just plain failed to live by the advise of several sources of council (of which I was one) to open up the defense. Lee stuck with the 50 FLEX defense for years after other programs had learned to operate against it. Even the 50 FLEX requires attacking the football. Lee stuck to zone coverages in fear of defensive breakdowns. The burden was always on the defensive secondary. Lee needed five or six Dwight Smith's each season to be successful in the way he approached defense.

The HUGE mistake was bringing in an unqualified defensive co-ordinator when he already had Dick Flynn on staff. Flynn, if given the green light would have quickly made the Zips defense formidable.

If you live in fear you soon die by fear. As for me, I was predicting during the final two minutes of the Can't game that it was Owens last season at Akron.

Lee Owens is a decent coach. He will succeed at Ashland for much the same reason

that Jim Dennison succeeded at Akron, by recruiting players from the next higher level.

Its time to move on. Its time to give our full support to JD and his staff.

Mike Thomas is an enigma. Mike runs hot and cold. Just like you and me he has strengths and weaknesses. In my mind's eye, Mike Thomas has done more for the University of Akron as an AD than any man since Red Cochrane. And, that folks, is saying a lot.

[old zip]

Comparing m.t. to red is a joke.........red had a professional way about him ......m.t. does'nt know what the phrase means.

[old zip]

ohhh.........I ALMOST FORGOT..........the flex defense is still being used today by a number of schools and it was a defense designed around man coverage not zone. when the zips were in that scheme they played primarily....probably close to 90% man coverage..........your info. is way off base. Coach Flynn is a great guy but not a def. coodinator at this time in his career....to his own admission.........TRESEY was by far L.O.'S best d.c.........Georgia Southern was more than happy to take him........they are a great 1aa program.

[ZipDude]

Ok man dont hold back any of your facts. Tell us what you know to be true and let us decide whether or not you are full of shit.

[Guest Another old Zip]

The original Old Zip is obviously LO, or one of his family members, or cronies.

The guy is not a D1 coach. I hope he succeeds at Ashland, because he is a good man.

He is qualified to be a DII coach like he will be.

I don't know MT. Maybe the way he fired LO was classless, again, I don't know.

However, it was past time for LO to go. The program was going nowhere.

He was here more than long enough to make this a consistent winning program.

He couldn't recruit worth a crap. It seemed that 1/4 of his recruits never made the grades anyway.

I go to all Zip home games, and I am sick, and tired of losing.

We had a good record this year(for UA that is) because of the weak schedule.

Answer me one question Old Zip, if he is such a great coach, then why didn't any DI, or even DIAA schools give him a job?

Don't tell me he got offers but wanted to stay here either, because that is lame.

[old zip]

The Old Zip is not attached in any way to L.O......I'm just a concerned fan......concerned about the players , the program, and the school.....and the way people look at us and what they see when they look..........we fire a coach that goes 7-5 and then we tell him your gone because your schedule's too weak, but who's in charge of the schedule the A.D......the guy plays Nebraska ,L.S.U., V.T ....3 TIMES , Illinois, O.S.U.,Kansas St.,Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin,etc,etc.......and then he has one breather schedule and BAM !!!!! we are trying to get people to the bowl .......which will not happen because the place is a mess, but we go ahead with a controversial firing anyway.....so the public is saying here they go again trying to be something they probably can not be until they get an on campus stadium......I don't get it ......and then the way the guy was fired!!!!!!

[zipper]

Old Zip, here's a question I thought of. Hipsher was fired last year, too, he has said he was told by MT -- IN PERSON. Why would MT fire LO any different?

And there's a comparision: Lee Owens versus Dan Hipsher. Dan had trouble controlling himself on the court a little, but you'd never meet a more upright guy. He continues to conduct himself with class, even though he was also "reassigned". I'm sure he wasn't too happy to be let go or be replaced by his assistant, but you just don't see him stoop to this level. It's called character, and apparently he's secure enough to know he doesn't have to make up stories to save face. What a contrast. I'm a Hipsher fan and hope he lands on his feet.

It seems likely MT has a great working relationship with Dr. P. and the board of trustees, or they'd never be getting all this stuff done for athletics. My only criticism of him was that the firing didn't happen a year earlier. I didn't think LO deserved another chance.

As far as the schedule, MT handed LO at least a 9-3 season on a platter and he couldn't get the job done. What do you think he would have done with a tougher schedule??? You say you're "concerned" for the program. I'll tell you what should have been your concern -- it was unfair to those kids to have to go out there with LO and bust their asses every day and never get a real chance to win big.

Okay, that's it, I'm off this ridiculous thread.

In JD I trust!

[Guest Zipperoo]

Amen... this thread is a joke. Old Zip has made 20 posts, most if not all on this thread alone. That's not just sad, it's plain pathetic. Lee Owens should have been fired in November of 2002. Here is just one of the many reasons why...

Heading into 2003 the Zips were supposed to have opened the season at Hawaii in a game set up by Dennis Helsel and Lee Owens, then turn around on a short week and play at Wisconsin - a nightmare twosome. Owens had used the Hawaii game for 4 years as a recruiting tool. Yet, the day after signing day 2003 Lee demanded that this game get dumped because of the stress on his team. This after using the Hawaii game two days before in the signing approach for Jacob Leota, a Honolulu native who was being told that if he came to Akron he'd get to play his first D-1 game in his hometown.

A few weeks later, Akron dumps the game with Hawaii and moves jointly with Can't State to play the first game of the season between the two rivals. Owens speaks in favor of the Can't State game move in the Beacon Journal and via other local media and says that the move will help build interest in the rivalry instead of going head to head with Michigan/Ohio State every year.

Back at his JUCO on the west coast, Leota finds out about the Akron at Hawaii game being dumped and asks to be released from his letter of intent, only to be told by Owens that he needs to "grow up and follow through with his decision."

Move ahead to August 28, 2003 - Akron blows a two TD lead in the last 7 minutes and loses to Can't State on the final play of the game. Following the loss, Owens says that moving the Can't game to the season opener was patially to blame for the Akron loss, again failing to take responsibility for a anemic running game which failed to get a first down on the last drive and a paper thin defense run by his 4th defensive coordinator in 9 seasons - a man who had never coached at the D-1 level before coming to Akron. Owens also blames the defense on the loss and in that move alone alienates half of his team and divides his coaching staff, making it an OFFENSE v. DEFENSE season rather than a Akron v. Opponent season.

Following a narrow loss against Wisconsin, Akron comes back to beat a poor EMU team and then kills a severely undermanned Howard team. In a move of true class Owens calls a timeout with 3 seconds left in the first half, up 45-0, to trot his FG unit on the field for a late FG and a 48 point lead at the half. That's class, all third.

Akron wins the next week against a bad Buffalo team, needing a perfect third quarter to make up for a lax first half effort. If not for a halftime tirade by assistant coaches this game could have well been loss #3.

Miami beats Akron the next week, after which an assistant coach from Akron and another from Miami get into a fight following the game. Witnesses state that the Akron assistant was accusing the Miami assistant of running up the score in the end. Funny how memories lapse and forget things from a a few weeks before. That's class, all third.

Later that week Jacob Leota tells the coaching staff and his teammates that he is leaving Akron at the end of the year and will give up his final year of college eligibility.

The loss at UConn was poor because it was a carbon copy of the Can't game, less a healthy Frye who was battered after the first series. Again the team blew a big lead only to lose on the last play of the game. In my mind Owens should have been fired on the plane following this game and Winters inserted as the interim head coach.

Wins over a bad Cal Poly and sinking UCF team raise the hopes of Zip fans over the next two weeks until the demolition in Huntington in early November. The game was non-competitive but in the media Owens takes pride in a late goal line stand that "kept the outcome up in the air". 42-24 was the final score and MU had the 3rd offense in against the Akron first team D. Logic, not.

Akron shows life and player character in coming from behind on the road to beat a BAD Central Michigan team followed by another come from behind win over a bad Ohio team in the season finale. After the game Owens is fired. Some say a year too late. I am part of that some. Last year's seniors deserved better coaching and a chance to win 10+ games. Instead they got the Little Giants staff who recruited them who are now, save Dick Flynn, all in D-II, D-III or 1-AA.

[old zip]

Give me a little credit for stirring you guys up. This is usually a boring site!!!!!! by the way L.O. was a bad recruiter??????? Let's see.... C.Frye, D.Smith,J. Schifino,B.Washington,...just to name a few.......and that is trying to recruit to an urban campus, shitty stadium that is not on campus, very little div.1 tradition,poor practice facilities that are located one half mile from the toilet ......I mean Rubber bowl.......etc....

[old zip]

you're right l.o. was to be fired in 2002.....but your glorious a.d. screwed that up too.......

[Guest Factoid]

You're not a Zip, young or old. Once you dogged our home I knew. You certainly know how to insult the intelligence of those recruits and their parents for sending their kids to, and I quote, "an urban campus, shitty stadium that is not on campus, very little div.1 tradition,poor practice facilities that are located one half mile from the toilet ......I mean Rubber bowl.......etc...." Guess Lee fooled them, huh.

[Guest Older Zip]

Yeah, he can't recruit.

Even a blind squirrel finds the nut.

You named 4 players in 9 years.

How many All MAC players has UA had in LO tenure?

Excuses are for losers.

[old zip]

on that note....good luck guys.....it's been fun!!!!! I will see you when m.t. is gone...................I HOPE YOU GUYS WHEN THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!