As the Beacon Journal reported, associate athletic director Mike Waddell will perform as athletic director once Mike Thomas bolts to Cincinnati on Dec. 1. Waddell has been a media/external relations guy for four years. My experiences with him tell me he 1) is a smart guy, 2) nice guy, and 3) loves the Nature Boy Ric Flair.

President Luis Proenza hopes to fill the position by early next year. But in the mean time, I think we should nickname our interim AD "The Nature Boy." Just a thought.

Perhaps Proenza's choice should battle Waddell in a no-disqualification steel-cage lumberjack match to see who will lead the Zips in the coming years. The Figure-four leg lock will be useless if the other guy has a baseball bat. I'll bet on the new guy.

Miscellaneous

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 9. It is much more than that. At the Buchtelite, we are honoring professional wrestling icon Rick (Rood) Rude, who died in 1999 from heart failure. You will always be remembered, Rick.

Football

Omar Jacobs' availability is still up in the air. From the BG News:

“He’s getting better everyday,” said coach Gregg Brandon. “We’ll continue to evaluate his progress and we’ve got a little longer week of prep this week so I think that will help him, too.”

Jacobs needs to play for Akron to have a chance at the MAC East crown. BG must beat Miami Saturday or Akron is eliminated.

Football

As promised, here is today's Rasor's Edge. It may also be found, along with the archive of Rasor's Edges, at Buchtelite.com. I just re-read this column and realized I am incredibly optimistic at times.

The football team's loss to Ball State was heartbreaking. But it is not the end of Akron's bowl chances.

With some help, the Zips can still win their first division title since entering the MAC in 1992.

First and foremost, however, Akron must win its remaining games against Ohio and Kent State. Both games are in the friendly, yet sometimes empty, confines of the Rubber Bowl. After the Ball State loss, Akron (4-5, 3-3 MAC) is one game behind first place Bowling Green (5-4, 4-2 MAC) and Miami (6-3, 4-2 MAC). But the Zips have to rely on three other outcomes.

This Saturday, Bowling Green will travel to Oxford to play Miami. Miami beat Akron earlier in the season, so the RedHawks have a tiebreaker over the Zips. That is why Bowling Green must win.

BG has been without its star quarterback Omar Jacobs the past few weeks. If he returns next week, which is likely, BG will win. If BG had Jacobs the entire season, the Falcons would be undefeated in MAC play. Miami is solid, but is nothing compared to BG when Jacobs is healthy.

Assuming BG wins, the Zips will rely on two games the next week. First, Ohio must win at home against Miami. Ohio is a good home team. The Bobcats upset then-nationally ranked Pittsburgh early in the season in Athens. Ohio's only home loss came Friday night to Toledo. The Bobcats certainly are capable of beating Miami in Athens.

Lastly, the Zips must put on their Toledo hats. The Rockets are the best team in the MAC, but they will have a tough road game against BG if Jacobs plays. Toledo and BG have the conference's best rivalry. It seems like they always play a late-season game that could determine the MAC division winner. This game could go either way.

If Akron defeats Ohio at home Saturday and the other games go favorably, the Zips will go into Thanksgiving Day with a game against Kent State to win the MAC East title. That would be the biggest game in Zips football history since their 1968 trip to the Grantland Rice Bowl against Terry Bradshaw's Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

Let's recap: BG over Miami, Ohio over Miami, Toledo over BG and Akron must win its final two games.

Does that seem like a lot to ask? I think so, but each game's result is likely to go in Akron's favor.

And if one game doesn't? Zips fans can quickly forget about football if Akron is in the men's soccer final four, played the second week of December in North Carolina.

And if the soccer team loses early in the NCAA Tournament? Remember that Romeo Travis, Darryl Peterson and the basketball team will begin their regular season Nov. 26 against Youngstown State at Rhodes Arena. Most experts have picked Akron to finish second in the MAC behind Ohio.

The fall sports season is winding down.

It will be one to remember for Akron sports.

Diving

It has come to my attention that diver and Stow-Munroe Falls High School graduate Jen Harris underwent successful surgery on her hand Friday to repair broken fingers. She busted open her hand on the board during a dive. Best of luck to Jen as she recovers.

By the way, the diving team is now 1-2 after beating Buffalo Saturday. Akron won 12 of the 16 events, including all of the diving events.

Football

Here's a heads up: Rasor's Edge will be incredibly optimistic about the football team tomorrow.

How will I spin a Ball State loss to something good? You'll see.

Football

OK. I don't have time to write a cogent blog. I will give you the notes that our reporter Mike Hixenbaugh at Ball State told me…

Final score: 23-17 Zips lost.

Zips had ball late in the game on 1-yard line with chance to take lead. Brett Biggs lost 5 yards on 1st down. Getsy threw a pick on fourth down.

Luke Getsy was inconsistent.

Defense played well despite terrible field position.

Ball State returned punt in first half for TD.

O-line played well; Getsy had all day to pass.

Biggs had 68 rushing yards on 13 carries. Poor 1st down plays led to few rushing attempts.

Cardinals focused on Domenik Hixon and shut him down.

p.s. Hey Romeo, put in Charlie Frye!

Football

It's not looking good so far for the football team. They are losing 16-3 at halftime to Ball State. As I told a player this week, Ball State is underrated and probably the most difficult game left on the schedule.

If the Zips lose, they won't go to a bowl. They could only if there are barely enough bowl eligible teams to fill each game, like last year.

Bowling Green is also beating up on Kent State, 17-7. It helped that Toledo beat Ohio last night. Miami has the tiebreaker over Akron, so they need to lose too.

Akron lost 1-0 in overtime last night to No. 5 Indiana. The Zips best player, Ross McKenzie, sat out for cautions and starting defender Corey Sipos was hurt.

Coach Ken Lolla called it a good experience. Although you want to win every game, I agree. The Zips played a top-5 team without two starters and lost only in overtime. That is a testiment to Akron's defensive strength.

MAC play begins next week at Lee Jackson Field. I'm curious if Akron will still be the No. 1 ranked team by that point.

If you are an avid reader of the Buchtelite, which I encourage, I'm sure you read my opinion on Akron's student government. Associated Student Government has gone far too long without media (AKA Buchtelite) scrutiny. Members are given scholarships and plenty of money to spend throughout the year on projects. I apologize that kind of power has gone unchecked since I have arrived at UA. It will not receive that luxury any longer. The Buchtelite should be a better watchdog for where your fees are going.

Men's soccer

On a lighter (but perhaps more important) note, Akron's soccer match against Indiana will begin in three hours (7 p.m.). Two Buchtelite representatives were slated to be there. Because of miscommunication, that will not happen. You can watch the Internet cast on GoZips.com for up-to-date scoring.

Akron gave Ken Lolla a five-year extension on his contract today. That might be the biggest no-brainer since the Cavaliers picked up the option on LeBron James' 2007-08 contract.

Check back later tonight for my take on the game.

In case anyone cares, here is the Rasor's Edge from Tuesday. It's on the Cavaliers, who begin their season tonight against the New Orleans/Oklahoma City/Charlotte/Soon-to-be-Las Vegas Hornets. I will stick to Zips-related material, but if you want to read my columns, I will post them here weekly as well, regardless of content.

The Browns proved their season is over when they lost 19-16 to the winless Houston Texans Sunday.

But not to worry, I have good news: (Insert Geico reference here) The Cavaliers' regular season begins Wednesday.

If these five things go right, the Cavaliers will be contenders for the NBA title.

1) A back-up center must emerge. General Manager Danny Ferry was relying on Anderson Varejao to be his back-up center before the Brazilian seriously injured his shoulder in international play. Because Varejao will be out a few more months, the Cavaliers must find someone to give All-Star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas a break. Alan Henderson and Zendon Hamilton, both journeymen new to the Cavaliers, will need to be reliable until Varejao's shoulder heals.

2) A back-up shooting guard must emerge. In the offseason, Ferry signed Larry Hughes, a lightning-fast slasher and defender from Washington. One caveat: Hughes has limited range on his jump shot. So Hughes' backup must be able to hit some 3-pointers. If Luke Jackson or Aleksandar Pavlovic blossoms, Cleveland will have one of the best benches in the league.

3) The bench must be used effectively. Ferry also signed point guard Damon Jones from Miami and power forward Donyell Marshall from Toronto. Both could be starters on most NBA teams. In fact, Jones started for the Heat during the team's run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

Coach Mike Brown must focus his strategy on rotating Jones for starter Eric Snow and Marshall for starter Drew Gooden.

4) Get the ball to Z. Some fans hate Z. To them, he is a lumbering oaf who can't catch a pass, run the floor or play defense. To the rest of the league, Z is the No. 1 focus when hatching a defense to stymie the Cavaliers. He is unstoppable when he has deep position in the post.

When the ball found Z's hands last year, almost every coach double-teamed him because Cleveland was without a good shooter to make them pay. Now that Z has 3-point shooters such as Jones, Marshall and Jackson, he will see fewer double-teams and be more potent than ever.

5) No. 23 must stay healthy. I have made it this far without mentioning Akron's own LeBron James. That is no accident. The Cavaliers have several weapons this year besides James. However, if he gets hurt for more than a month, the Cavaliers might have another season that ends in April.

As for my prediction, I am a bit pessimistic. Have the Cavaliers improved? Yes.

Will they win more than 50 games? Yes.

Will that be good enough to get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs? No.

Will they beat Indiana, Detroit, New Jersey or Miami in the first round? No.

Even so, this is a necessary step for a team that will win the NBA Championship in 2008.