Football

Akron has six lawsuits keeping it from having all the land it desires for the football stadium, the ABJ writes.

David Lee Morgan recapped the season.

By the way, Zippy has a bye this week, but she will face the winner of Cavman and Otto. Vote for the weaker mascot, which is probably Cavman. Cavman has a better record than Otto but accumulated 6,000 fewer votes during the regular season. (It’s such a joke that I’m talking about this crap seriously.)

Men’s soccer

Akron’s season concluded tonight with a 1-0 loss to Central Florida in double-overtime.

The Zips outshot the Bulls, 17-8, but Yohance Marshall scored the game’s only goal in the 101st minute.

Star freshman Steve Zakuani got off five shots.

Football

Jabari Arthur and Reggie Corner are All-MAC First Team.

Brion Stokes, Chris Kemme and Almondo Sewell are second teamers. John Mackey, Bryan Williams and Kevin Grant are third teamers.

That’s a lot of honors for a 4-8 team. You might argue there should have been more. Perhaps Davanzo Tate should have been included, too.

Men’s soccer

Akron plays South Florida at 7:30 tonight at Lee Jackson Field.

Tickets are $8 and $5 for students.

Men’s basketball

Keith Dambrot:

“We showed we can defend tonight. We couldn’t let Tyndale or Christmas kill us, and we didn’t. It’s not a great win, but we took steps.”

“Woody did a good job throwing out.”

On McNees’ passes: “You see these gray hairs, don’t you? The guy thinks he’s Magic Johnson.”

On Conyers: “This guy is a good shooter. He just hasn’t shown it yet.”

“Having a healthy Cedrick makes us a better team.”

On Temple’s Sergio Olmos: “I didn’t think he could get 11 all season, but he did (tonight).”

On poor foul shooting: “I try not to talk about it. All we can do is shoot the reps and be positive. Either you believe or you don’t believe.”

On the different offense: “This team has to play a little faster to win.”

On Ronnie Stewart’s health: They ruled out a heart problem. It could be a stomach issue. He’s out of the hospital now.

On Linhart: “Linhart is perplexing me. He is struggling offensively.”

On Conyers’ defense: “Jimmy is probably a better post defender than the 4 guys we got (power forwards McKnight and Milum).”

Looking toward next season, when 10 of the 13 players will be freshmen and sophomores: “I’m just hoping they keep extending my contract. Most of the time, you don’t win with freshmen and sophomores.”

On incoming recruits Humpty Hitchens and Alex Sullivan: “I like that unbelievable quickness at the guard spot, which we haven’t had.”

Other interviews:

Conyers talks about guarding Dionte Christmas: “That was tough. Move. Move. Move. Never sit still, chasing him off screens.”

Wood talks about his hair: “The kids love it.”

Wood talks about Rhodes Arena: “We take pride that when people come here, we win.”

Temple coach Fran Dunphy talks about the game: “I thought they (Akron) did a really good job offensively. I watched their tape, and they like to take teams away from what they want to do. Akron plays really good man-to-man defense.”

Men’s basketball

I will be adding to this post as the game goes on, so keep refreshing to maximize your experience.

Notes…

Jeremiah Wood has his afro split into two pigtails and a ponytail. Every night it’s something with this guy.

The band is back. They’re playing “American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad. I’m in heaven.

As the ABJ’s Michael Beaven pointed out to me, the teams are in the locker rooms during the national anthem. Weird. Tonight’s singer actually sung the song normally, rather than going all Rosanne with it.

Starting lineup: Cedrick Middleton, Nick Dials, Jimmy Conyers, Quade Milum and Wood.

The Owls’ 7-footer Sergio Olmos was not the player who took the tip.

Attendance is fair. AK-Rowdies are at about 50 percent capacity.

Temple has scored on its first five possessions.

Steve McNees threw a great baseball-style bounce pass on a fast break through traffic to Chris McKnight.

Akron still isn’t boxing out on defense.

Foul shooting continues to be horrendous. Milum might as well have been blindfolded on his pair of misses.

McNees dished a nice no-look pass to Middleton for a 3. The Zips’ offense is definitely at its best when they’re pressuring the ball and running the break.

Play of the game so far: Dials drained a 3 from the corner while being shoved into the Temple bench.

The guards are playing a very complete game. Middleton has hit four 3s. Dials is making important shots. McNees is running the offense smoothly, despite subpar stats. They’re all playing good D (even McNees).

Middleton just blew the game open with a 3 from the corner. It’s his fifth. The crowd isn’t very large, but it knows how to get loud.

Thanks to some solid Dials defense, the ball just bumped into my laptop. No damage.

Conyers nearly dunked home a rebound from the weakside. It wasn’t one of those lousy one-handed semi-dunks. Conyers leaped from outside the paint and almost threw it back in with two hands. I’ve never seen him get up like that.

Of all the players on the Zips, I would least want Nate Linhart on my pickup team. He plays decent defense but makes terrible mistakes on offense.

The Zips are getting sloppy. This game could slip away.

Mike Bardo and McNees might have shot their first career foul shots. The result? One for four. Bardo did, however, come up with a big rebound off McNees’ second miss.

This game is going to come down to foul shots. That’s bad news for Akron.

Middleton is on the line with 6.3 seconds left. Akron has a small lead. Remind you of any recent horror films/Zips losses? He blew both of them. Wow.

Final score — Akron 67, Temple 65

Men’s basketball

Dionte Christmas started his first game in John Cheney’s last.

It was Akron’s first and only postseason win in Division I.

Fast forward to tonight, where Christmas is one of the best players in Atlantic 10. He put up 20 points per game last year and has maintained it this season.

Alongside Christmas is Mark Tyndale, who is averaging 16.4 points per game.

The Owls have one of the nation’s best wing combos. Limiting the two will be Akron’s challenge tonight.

Look for Nate Linhart, Cedrick Middleton and Jimmy Conyers to combine for 80 minutes. Their defense will be critical.

So far, Akron has played too sloppy to beat a quality opponent. I can’t pick the Zips until I see a more polished effort offensively.

Prediction: Temple 65, Akron 60

Men’s basketball

Some notes and quotes…

Ronnie Steward has a more serious issue than his hip pointer. He has been in and out of the hospital this week with a heart problem. “I’m worried about his heart, not his hip,” Keith Dambrot said.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT about the coach’s relationship with Steve McNees: “I like McNees. He’s unbelievable as far as attitude goes. Me and him have been like living together. I feel like I’m cheating on my wife.”

On Jeremiah Wood’s subpar game: “It’s going to be hard to win if Jeremiah doesn’t play better.”

On the strong second half: Akron “spread it out, played the little guys. We have been a good team when we go small.”

On shooting woes: “We haven’t made shots all season. Our shooting has not been good. That’s why I’m going to play (Nick) Goddard. Chris (McKnight) went 2-for-8 and he was open for almost the entire game.”

On the defense: “We’re so passive defensively compared to what I want. We don’t have any quickness with (Cedrick) Middleton being only 60 percent. We can’t get any ball pressure.”

On the team’s lagging assist-to-turnover ratio: “It indicates you’re not playing very well together. You’re not penetrating and pitching well, and you’re impatient.” (There’s a Phil Jackson/Brokeback Mountain joke in there somewhere.)

On Middleton playing with his patella bruise: “He’s just gutting it out.”

Binghamton coach Kevin Broadus’ thoughts on Akron: “Akron is a very good team. Coach has a really good program. They have good players and good team chemistry. You know you’re a good team when your best player scores nine points and everybody else fills in. The seniors (Middleton and Nick Dials) stepped up and hit some big shots.”

Football

I confirmed with Mack Rhoades that the rumor you may have seen is bogus.

J.D. Brookhart has not been fired.

I feel silly having to discredit a rumor from an anonymous poster, but the amount of detail made it seem legitimate. In the future, if you have a rumor you want me to pursue, please e-mail me and include your source. My address is mike_rasor@yahoo.com and AIM screen name is MRasor0200.

Men’s basketball

Keep refreshing the page throughout the half. I’ll be adding notes as we go…

Zips starting lineup: Cedrick Middleton, Nick Dials, Jimmy Conyers, Quade Milum and Jeremiah Wood.

Wood has a giant afro. Combine that with his capri pants and he’s the biggest train wreck/circus act in the MAC.

For some reason, Dials and Middleton were in the lane while Wood shot foul shots, while Milum and Conyers were behind the arc. Knowing how bad he is at foul shots, that makes zero sense.

I love how Conyers crashes the boards. His athleticism and fearlessness make him a great asset as a rebounder.

The AK-Rowdies are really screwing with Binghamton’s guards by counting down the shot clock prematurely.

The Bearcats play stingy defense on the perimeter. Don’t look for a lot of 3-pointers tonight.

Akron’s offense looks good with a lot of ball movement to wear out Binghamton’s zone.

The game’s fast pace and physicality has led to a few floor burns.

As good as Conyers has become at rebounding and defense, I wish Keith Dambrot would force the offense through him for 10 straight plays, just to get him more comfortable with the ball. He looks like the kid on the playground who rarely gets the rock, and when he does, he’s too tentative to be effective.

There is a large Bud Light banner on the facing of the scorers’ table. I thought the U had a deal with Coors Light. Regardless, it’s an upgrade in taste.

Crummiest things about this game: 1) Akron’s shooting. 2) Akron’s defensive rebounding. 3) The crowd size. 4) The AK-Rowdies contingent.

What I like about Steve McNees, Pt. I: He’s a creative passer, but not in an And1 Mixtape sort of way. He knows how to manipulate the defense with his dribble to open holes for his teammates.

The referees are calling this game in an odd manner. They’re letting them play through some tough battles for the ball, but calling ticky-tack offensive fouls. They’re doing it both ways, so it’s not a big deal.

BU guard Dwayne Jackson is from Walsh Jesuit High School. He is the Warriors’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder. He’s averaging 8.8 points per game. Tonight, he has three foul shots to his credit.

Chris McKnight drained a 3 to end the half. He has six points.

One of Binghamton’s assistants is Mark Macon. Think for a second where you recognize that name… Done? He played six years in the NBA, mostly with Denver. I distinctly remember him running the point with one of those vintage Nuggets unis that featured the Denver skyline. I attended a Cavs-Nuggets game at age 6 with chicken pox during the Macon era. Yeah, my dad was pretty much amazing for taking me to all those game at Richfield Coliseum.

Binghamton is shooting 27 percent and has two assists compared to 14 turnovers. Good defense so far from the Zips.

Akron’s up by 22, but the gap should be 30. Dambrot has every right to be mad after all the points his team has left on the table.

How obsessed is Nick Goddard with shooting? Rather than attempting to save a ball on the sideline to a teammate, he hurled it toward the rim. I am not, and probably never will be, on the Goddard bandwagon.

Final score: Akron 71, Binghamton 51

Men’s basketball

Akron scorched Binghamton last season, 90-55. Coach Al Walker called it an “old-fashioned butt whipping.”

It was one of the first games where Jeremiah Wood looked like his old self.

Walker is gone, replaced by Kevin Broadus, who came from Georgetown as one of the nation’s most touted assistant coaches.

The Bearcats return a lot of their scorers from last season, particularly the backcourt tandem of Richard Forbes and Mike Gordon. The Zips set out to limit them last year and did.

The teams will play at 7 tonight at Rhodes Arena.

The Bearcats biggest weakness this season has been interior defense. Opponents are shooting 50 percent. Also, Binghamton is getting beaten on the boards by more than 9 rebounds per night.

Wood and Quade Milum might combine for 40 points in this blowout.

Prediction: Akron 79, Binghamton 59

Football

From what I hear, the report about J.D. Brookhart being replaced is either premature or untrue. There was no team meeting this morning, unlike the comment under my previous post says. One player told me he thinks the rumor is bogus and nobody has been told anything about Brookhart.

If it’s true, I doubt any announcement would be made until James Madison finishes its run in the D-IAA playoffs. They’re playing Appalachian State today.

For now, here are my grades…

Quarterback – Chris Jacquemain didn’t play that poorly considering the conditions. The amount of dropped passes certainly hurt his stats, too. But then you have to consider that he might have been going against the worst pass defense in the nation. Grade: C-

Running back — Last week, it was Alex Allen. This week, it was Bryan Williams. He didn’t seem to have many holes during the game, but when he did, it was six points. Grade: A-

Wide receiver — There were at least five dropped passes. I know it’s cold, but you play in Akron. You should be used to it. Jabari Arthur finished his career as the most dominant receiver in Akron history. Just think if he had someone to pass him the ball. It made me smile to read that he kissed the turf after the end of the game. You won’t find another player with his combination of appreciation for the game, humility and talent. Grade: A+ (only out of respect for Mr. Arthur)

Tight end — Kris Kasparek and Merce Poindexter were part of the offense for once. Each caught two balls. Kasparek’s career started promisingly, but faded with a slew of dropped passes. He still has the body and blocking ability to make a practice squad somewhere. Grade: B

Offensive line — The line took a step back in run and pass blocking. CMU sacked Jacquemain three times and forced him from the pocket on other occasions. The run blocking was average at best. However, this unit is the most improved on the team. It should set the foundation for the next three years. Now if only we can find a quarterback… Grade: C-

Defensive line – The stats are pretty bare. Almondo Sewell led the line with five tackles. He will make a fine defensive end when (hopefully) Akron goes to a 4-3 defense. Grade: C

Linebacker – Ontario Sneed broke a lot of tackles. It was a mediocre performance at best. Grade: C-

Secondary – This is the unit that kept Akron in the game. You better credit the emotional leader for that. John Mackey’s torn knee was aching in the cold, but he played anyhow. Davanzo Tate made 10 tackles. Andre Jones made the play of the game by forcing a fumble and taking it for a touchdown. Reggie Corner intercepted a pass and broke up four others. Miguel Graham had an interception. Chevin Pace had the best game of his career, too. Grade: A+ (partly out of respect to Mr. Mackey)

Punter – John Stec pinned the Chippewas inside the 20 three times. His 36.4 yard average is low because of a couple duds. Grade: B

Kicker – Igor Iveljic never got a chance to kick the blown extra point that ended up costing the Zips the game. If the hold was good, Akron never goes for two later in the game. Then CMU never goes for two after its final score. There is your three point margin. Grade: Incomplete

Coaching – Some people believe Brookhart coached his last game at Akron. I sincerely hope that’s not true. Building a program takes time. The Zips struck fool’s gold in 2005. If Mack Rhoades fires Brookhart, that might be the reason. Brookhart has made mistakes throughout his tenure, but he has learned from them. I hope all the fans understand that this team EASILY could be 8-4 if Akron only had a quarterback. The other parts of the team get passing grades from me, but the QB play was atrocious. Ultimately, that falls on the coach’s shoulders. I understand that. I also understand that you need continuity to build a program. It’s easy to look around the nation and see where patience has paid off. Some people have suggested that Rhoades might want “his own guy” as coach. What sense does that make? Athletic directors have the loyalty of hookers nowadays in college athletics. If we allow Rhoades to have “his guy,” what happens when Rhoades bolts to another school? Then another AD comes in and wants a new “his guy.” It will be an outright shame if Luis Proenza were to allow that. Brookhart has suffered from bad quarterback play, a loss of great assistant coaches and unrealistic expectations stemming from 2005. I don’t pity Brookhart if he gets fired. He would find a new job (probably in the NFL) that pays more than Akron. I pity the program which needs continuity from a good leader.

Football

Akron nearly committed grand theft by pulling out a victory against Central Michigan, despite being outgained by more than 300 yards.

CMU’s Dan LeFevour led the Chippewas down the field for a touchdown to win 35-32.

Akron nearly sealed a victory with four minutes left. Chris Jacquemain found Jabari Arthur open for a gain that would have put the Zips in field goal position and given them a chance to run out the clock. A holding penalty negated the long gain and ultimately resulted in good field position for LeFevour to begin his game-winning drive.

Arthur caught eight balls for 111 yards in his final collegiate game. Bryan Williams was the Zips’ other star, scoring two touchdowns and running for 145 yards.

I’ll have more on the game later. My frozen fingers don’t want to type, but feel free to comment about what you saw in the mean time.