Akron's athletic director, Mike Thomas, seems to be going to Cincinnati. I'm sorry to see him go. He accomplished so much during his time. He hired men's basketball coach Keith Dambrot and football coach J.D. Brookhart. He oversaw the athletic facilities construction.

But why would he leave for Cincinnati? Its basketball program was strong because of Bob Huggins, who is gone. The football program is garbage.

Conversely, Akron's football program had an amazing recruiting class. Its basketball team is the deepest in the conference. Its men's soccer team is No. 1 in the nation.

Oh well. It's a bigger name school. I wish Mike the best. Everytime I've spoken with him, he has been a very pleasant and professional person.

Football

I've heard that the football team is a bit upset with my recent Buchtelite column. That doesn't make me happy. But it's part of journalism. Players should take note that all columnists criticize from time to time. If you don't criticize where necessary, readers won't take your compliments seriously. And if they read my past columns, they will see that it's been 95 percent positive.

That's not to say that there's a quota on negativity. It's just that every team has its faults. If you lose the game for your team, you are fair game for criticism.

However, in college, players aren't being paid millions. Considering that, as long as the players are showing effort and playing with their heads, I haven't and won't hammer on them.

That said, here is the ever-controversial Rasor's Edge…

I have never been more ashamed to be a Zips football fan.

Forget the box score. I don't care so much that Akron lost by 28. Miami is a good team. A 28-point loss to the RedHawks is not outrageous.

We also gave up 580 yards of offense. To me, that is relatively unimportant as well. It's pitiful, but not heartbreaking.

So what am I so upset about?

Akron played like an undisciplined squad of thugs. Half of its 12 penalties were football related. The other six consisted of four personal fouls, an unsportsmanlike conduct and a flagarant clipping penalty.

Parris McNeal, Brandon Anderson, Andy Wills, Jason Montgomery and Tim Crouch each let their emotions get the best of them. And it cost Akron 80 yards of penalization.

I never thought I would say the Zips should have less disdain for Miami, who knocked Akron out of the postseason and is the school of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. However, their passion cost Akron the game.

Now you, the critically thinking sports fan, asks, How can 80 yards of penalties be the difference in a 28-point game.

The first personal foul by McNeal, a junior defensive back, put Miami in field-goal position to end the first half. That is three free points.

The second by Anderson, a freshman defensive back, sent the RedHawks into Akron's redzone. Miami scored a touchdown three plays later.

The other penalties affected field position in a game where Akron was within a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

Officials flagged Akron seven times in the second half. Five of those penalties were completely avoidable if the players had a better grasp on their emotions.

Sure, it was troubling to see Akron allow Miami to move the ball a quarter-mile. It was much more troubling to see the game slip away because of a lack of discipline.

Or that's how it appeared.

But I know that's not true. I've seen almost every game during the J.D. Brookhart era, home and away. I have watched them practice next to Schrank Hall. I see the players on campus. They are great representatives for the football program.

But Saturday's performance should be unacceptable. I can imagine Army Coach Bobby Ross' scouting report for his game against Akron this week. His boys from West Point may be 0-6, but future military officers should be able to coax several penalties out of these hot-headed Zips.

Army may be winless, but the team isn't talent-less. Last week, the Black Knights played close in a 38-17 loss to No. 25 Texas Christian University.

A 15-yard penalty or two could easily be the difference between an Akron win or Army upset.

But look for Brookhart, who is reigning Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year, to get the team's emotions back in check.

It's his turn to step it up.

Men's soccer

Akron won another at home Sunday afternoon, beating Bowling Green 3-0. I wonder if the Falcons would consider an Omar Jacobs for Ross McKenzie swap. In the end, it wouldn't make sense for us. Bowling Green's star quarterback is not going to win BG a national championship. McKenzie might do that for Akron.

Akron has two regular-season tests remaining - Northern Illinois at home Friday and Indiana at their place on Nov. 3. NIU is ranked top-20 in the nation. Indiana is the defending national champion and ranked top-15 this year. In two weeks, Akron also will host Michigan - the team that knocked the Zips out of the NCAA Tournament last year. They play three other games that don't worry me as long as they can take care of business like they did Sunday versus BG.

Football

This might be the closest 28-point game in football history. Akron lost 51-23 to Miami Saturday in Oxford. If you didn't listen to the game on the radio or read about it in the ABJ today, the Zips played a solid three quarters against Miami. After a Jason Swiger field goal, Akron led 17-7 in the second quarter. The Zips even had a chance midway through the fourth quarter — down a touchdown with the ball. Akron punted. Then Miami scored three touchdowns within one minute.

I wasn't at the game. From the radio broadcast, the Zips sounded like an undisciplined team that gave up as soon as Miami took a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter. Late in the game, officials flagged Akron players for unsportsmanlike conduct and other frustration-related penalties.

The loss is not all the defense's fault. It gave up several game-breaking plays, but also forced Miami into three turnovers.

I was more disappointed to see the team's lack of discipline. I trust coach J.D. Brookhart will have Akron ready to beat Army on Saturday's homecoming game.

Other thoughts on the game…

I was glad to see Jabari Arthur score a touchdown as a receiver. He basically has disappeared from the offense after being a solid secondary receiver last year.

Luke Getsy has been much better than expected at quarterback this year. However, he needs to stop making the Brett Favre pass. It is the throw that only Favre can make, but all quarterbacks aspire to complete. It's the deep pass into triple coverage. It's throwing across the field and across your body as rolling toward the sideline. When Getsy throws those, the result is often a pick.

Dominik Hixon was a non-factor. Miami kicked the ball away from him until the game was out of hand. He had 88 receiving yards, which is a good game for any football player. But Hixon is the nation's leader in all-purpose yards, above names like Reggie Bush and Ted Ginn Jr. Maybe it was a bad game for Hixon. Or maybe teams are starting to pay more attention to him. A combination of those two factors is more likely.

Brett Biggs continues to exemplify his last name. His presence has been huge every week. Even with a minor elbow injury during the game, Biggs tallied 153 yards and two touchdowns. Most of his yards were earned after turning a likely loss of yards into a big gain.

Overall, this wasn't a game I expected Akron to win. This was a game I expected the Zips to compete in. For three quarters, they did.

Sometimes I don't look at the restaurant bill on a date. Just put it on my card and I won't get too worked up. I don't know how much the Season Premier cost, with free food, loads of promotion and even a searchlight outside Rhodes Arena. If I were in the athletic department, I probably wouldn't want to know either.

But I think it was worth it. Attendance was higher than I expected. It was more entertaining than I expected.

Here are a few observations that I scribbled in my notebook…

Women's basketball

Coach Kelly Kennedy told the crowd to expect some exciting freshmen. About time! I can swallow a 25-loss season if the team is full of improving freshmen who will be stars in three years. Last season, it was a bunch of seniors losing that many games. Yuck. Hopefully Kennedy's freshmen can earn playing time.

The good news: During the scrimmage, the team took better care of the basketball. A qualifier: The scrimmage was unofficiated, so several traveling calls were not whistled. The turnovers crippled last season. One game they had 35. That's not a typo - thirty-five turnovers. Here's some optimism: When you come close to having more screw-ups than points, you have nowhere to go but up.

Courtney Stewart impressed me. The senior guard is quick. She plays smart basketball. And she has the smoothest, sweetest jumpshot on the team.

I will hold back further criticism or praise until they start the season.

Men's basketball

Nick Dials won the 3-point contest over sharpshooters from the men's and women's teams. The sophomore guard transferred to Akron after an impressive freshman season at Ohio State. He had to sit out '03-'04 because he transferred. He sat out last season because of a knee injury. Then he hurt his knee again this summer. His shooting is unaffected. The guy rarely misses a shot. But one defensive play showed me he's a step slow. Dru Joyce blew by him from the top of the key. To Dials' credit, he recovered to stop a sure layup.

Other knee info: It's hard to tell Jeremiah Wood hurt his knee last season. The junior forward jumped out of the gym on several dunks. He also swatted Matt Futch on a layup attempt. I'm no doctor, but it seems like Dials is 70 percent and Wood is 95.

Speaking of athletic freaks, Quade Milum is ridiculous. The sophomore forward could probably dunk on a 12 foot hoop.

Bubba Walther hit a scrimmage-winning 3-pointer from NBA range with four seconds remaining. Then the sophomore guard stole the ball to ice the game. He looks very comfortable on the court. And his ball handling is very smooth.

Futch and Joyce teamed up to win the dunk contest. Joyce got a running start then Futch propelled him into the air. Joyce finished with a powerful windmill dunk. Everyone was entertained. I hope coach Keith Dambrot wasn't. This team is fragile enough without having centers throwing guards through the air.

I won't yet analyze the team or give a prediction. But I'll say this: The Zips are an extraordinarily deep team.

Coming Sunday

My analysis of the Miami/Akron football game. I hate Miami and that jerk Ben Roethlisberger. Venomous writing should be expected. At blog publish time, the Zips were making a second-half comeback.

Welcome to Mike Rasor's blog. You may know Rasor's exploits from his column in the Buchtelite, the newspaper at the University of Akron. In "The Rasor's Edge," Mike can be ruthless or praising, hopelessly negative or unabashedly optimistic. Sometimes he simply points out trends in sports.

Expect the same with "Rasor on the Zips." Rasor may be a UA employee, but believe him when he says he'll take any shot at the Zips that is necessary.

Here are some examples of his commentary to whet your appetite.

Ruthless toward women's basketball and Jeff McInnis

Praising toward men's basketball

Hopelessly pessimistic (and clairvoyant) toward Paul Silas

Unabashedly optimistic toward UA/Cleveland sports

Pointing out the defensive trend in Northeast Ohio

Men's soccer is No. 1 in the country. The football team is young and improving. This season is shaping up to be one of historical proportions on campus. So pay attention to "Rasor on the Zips." Set this site in your list of Favorites. You won't be disappointed.

Coming Saturday

A rundown of the Zips Season Premier. Rasor was rough on the women's basketball team last year. Find out what he has to say about the women's hopes this season. Also, get Rasor's scouting report on how the Zips' Jeremiah Wood and Nick Dials look to be recovering from knee surgery.