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whew!

Victor's Instagram post last night... soutoav8 I am not that religious but I feel like God has something really good planned for me in the future! A setback in life won't stop me from becoming a better person, player or whatever is there for me! I truly love Akron, my teammates who became important people in my life, the soccer program and this community that presented me so many special people! The memories and the feeling of being a Zip will never leave my mind and my body! It is hard to see what's next but I will work harder than ever to find it and to help other people that have done so much for me throughout these 3 years and 9 months at Akron! My passion for life and the game of soccer will never go away! Thank God for all the blessings and unforgettable moments on the pitch doing what I love wearing my #8

As a fan of zips mens soccer, I like and support Coach Jared Embick and his staff. None of us will ever know the full set of facts on this situation. None of us know everything that occurs in practice or in the locker room I trust Coach Embick to make the best decisions for the mens soccer team. I have no basis on which to judge decisions made by Larry Williams That being said , I am heart broken for Victor Souto. His ferocious desire to win obviously caused problems for Victor and the university. I live in Tennessee and can only see a few games a year and I have never talked with Victor. However, from reading his Brasil bogs and a few of Victor's social media posts and watching him interact with teammates and compete on the field, I have rooted like crazy for a fine , young student athlete who fervently wanted a 2nd star for a university far, far way from his family and his home country. I was greatly impressed by Victor being able to attain an outstanding 3.83 GPA while studying at a university where the classes are taught in his 2nd language. Victor became my favorite Akron player when I read his blogs from the Brasil trip. On his first blog, I greatly admired Victor's confidence to express his great love for his parents and his brother and his pride and affection for his Akron family. His humbleness in thanking all that support him showed that Victor is a fine young man. Here is a link to the full first blog: http://www.gozips.com/sports/msoc/2015-16/releases/20150521s3tiu3 here are the 3 paragraphs that caused me to become a huge supporter of Victor Souto: Victor wrote: Today is one of those unforgettable days that we have throughout our lives. I am literally living a dream today. Today in Brazil, my two families came together: my Akron family, and my Brazilian family. First I would like to thank everyone that contributed to this trip, and for the realization of personal dream of mine. I look at this trip as a remarkable point for our Akron Soccer Program, and I am confident that I will be writing to you guys in December celebrating the National Championship. To all of the student-athletes, coaching staff, donors, 2SV Sports and all of the people that are directly or indirectly involved on our trip to Brazil, THANK YOU for helping us make this dream a reality. It has been two years and five months since I have been living my two "lives", my American one and my Brazilian one. All of the hours travelling on airplanes and bus did not get me tired; instead, the long trip has so far been rewarding. I wish you all could see how tight I hugged my Dad, Mom and brother, and how happy I was at the airport when I looked back and I saw all of my teammates and coaches celebrating that moment with me. I will never forget that. Never. It was an indescribable feeling. At that moment, I realized how many people support me, will help me when I am in need, and want to see me succeed. In exchange I will leave everything I have on and off the field on this trip, and I cannot wait for the fall to make sure that both of my families feel proud of me. I like the responsibility, and I love being an Akron warrior. (end of Victor - 3 paragraphs) During the course of last year, I was proud and happy for Victor that he had become more of a leader on the field and that he seemed calmer while still being a great battler. I could see Victor on the field helping Richie Laryea to become calmer and to help Richie avoid yellow cards. I would occasionally look at Richie and Victor's instagram pages last year and could tell that Richie was grateful for Victor's friendship and help. I could also tell how proud and happy that Victor was when Richie was drafted so highly in the MLS draft. During the course of last year, almost all of Victor's social media posts ended with #2ndStar. Victor believed in his teammates , himself and his coaches. Brett Gravatt is a former Akron/Penn State soccer player (played 1 year with Victor) that suffered a life challenging injury. When Akron played Penn State last year, Victor posted a photo with Brett and Victor wrote something to the effect that Brett was the bravest man that he knew and that Brett was the toughest battler that he had ever known. I think that Brett Gravatt knows that when Victor Souto becomes your friend, you have a compassionate, caring friend for life. My favorite soccer players at Akron over the past 7 years have been Perry Kitchen, Scott Caldwell and Victor Souto. Perry and Scott were both smart and unselfish players who did not play the most glamorous goal scoring position. Victor always battled and put the team first and was very smart and unselfish. I was out in Kansas City last year for the game against Stanford. When Adam Najem missed his penalty kick and had to begin the long lonely walk to his teammates, it was Victor Souto who broke away from his teammates and walked down the field to walk with Adam back to his teammates. Victor put his arm around Adam and provided friendship and support. After the penalty kicks were over, my heart broke for all of the Akron players and it was hard to watch Victor lay on the field for a very long time and everyone could see that he was sobbing. Last December, Victor had a social media post that said something like this: I thank Akron and its personnel for everything I've learned these 3 years! I became a better person. I do not have an instagram or twitter account and when Victor took his instagram account private, I missed seeing his pro-Akron posts and his loving posts about his family. Before this season, Akron's most passionate Soccer fan was kind enough to share with me an instagram post from Victor that was quite touching. Victor wrote : Senior Year. I won't leave Akron and the boys without a title. None of us posting on this board can say that we have walked in Victor's shoes. None of us can say that we played top level college soccer while growing up between ages 19-23 in a country far way from your parents and other family. Victor grew up in a country where the people wear their emotions on their sleeves. Victor has always been super passionate and had to adjust to a new culture. I personally made my share of mistakes when I was 21 or 22. Victor's mistakes at the same age were made in front of 3,000 passionate Akron soccer fans. Akron and the university of Akron are not sexy, glamorous places but this young man from Sao Paulo loved Akron, his team mates and the students. I was at the Marquette game in 2013 and I was at San Diego State this year. I know that Victor has made mistakes due to his ferocious desire to win. I know that there have been other transgressions. I won't defend Victor's transgressions but I also want to say that he is a caring young man that loves his family and has been a wonderful student at Akron. I don't know all of the facts and I hope that Larry Williams did not make this decision by himself. Could the university have done more to help Victor with the one part of his life that was not perfect? I don't know what has occurred behind the scenes. I know that Coach Embick is also a good man and that he has 30 athletes to educate and help and he has an administration to please. No easy answers. I look at the Akron paper this morning and I see a cold headline - Victor Souto dismissed from soccer team. Larry Williams's statement was very curt. I know that several posters on this board have been fortunate to get to know Victor and say that he is a kind, caring person. I know that Victor went out of his way as a freshman to introduce himself at a hotel to a great zip fan that had traveled to St. Louis to support the soccer zips. Victor also thanked that great fan for his support many, many times. I only "know" Victor by watching him compete on the field and from reading his Brasil blogs and his social media posts. There are so many good aspects of Victor that I felt the need to expand beyond the cold headline in the Akron paper. Victor is not perfect and I sure am not. I have admired his maturity in letting his family know how much that he loves them. I am in awe of how well he has done in school in a foreign country. I have rooted for him on a soccer field based on how hard that he tries and loved seeing his unselfish, team first nature as he competes. Victor is fundamentally a very good, nice person with one area of his life that has caused some issues. I am just absolutely heart broken for Victor that his dreams and aspirations at Akron will not have the ending that he had worked so hard for. I pray that Victor will be able to finish his degree. If he chooses to pursue a pro soccer career, I will be pulling for him big time. Victor is a good young man and I have loved watching him compete and show his love for Akron over the past several years. I guess that I will have to set up an instagram account and ask to follow Victor as I want to see what this smart. hard working young man will accomplish in his life. I am so overwhelmed right now with emotion as Victor is a person that appreciates the goodness in others. I hope that this long rambling note makes sense and goes way beyond the cold headline in this morning's paper. I am heart broken for this young man from Sao Paulo that has touched so many hearts in NE Ohio and this old man's heart in NW Tennessee

TB on 1350 post-game: TC5 got the game ball. GOOD FOR HIM!!! A memory and trophy for life, Tra'Von!!!

I don't know, I think you're forgetting the year Jacquemain got kicked off the team. We stuck some guys out there that wouldn't start at most high schools in NEO.

Sometimes guys practice better than they play.

Bowden sees these guys day in day out in practice and I blame him for sticking Chapman out there knowing he can't play. He should've been preparing Kato this week.

I can't imagine Hoyer or whoever is backing up Chapman brings less to the team right now than he does. We are completely one dimensional. I'm afraid to watch him throw a pass.

Kent State still sucks.

Akron marathon story So far I have been impressed with what Matt Wilson has been doing in his role as interim president. If this is the kind of kid he raises, then his impact on the students at UA should be nothing but positive.

WOW. What a CRAZY game! Crazy in every way. TC5 showed so much character today. I'm so proud of him.

put natson in for the return

JoJo does such a great job seeing where people are in place to block for him and then making people miss. Good grief, you can't teach what he has.

Jo Freakng JO!!! Prob a touchdown if Featherstone doesn't run right by the kicker.

I had faith in Chapman all along

I am guessing the Chapman of the second half is what we head about in camp and what they have seen in practice. It was a gamble to stay with him, and right now it looks like it is working. To TB's credit, he seems to handle kids mistakes in a way that they have the chance to recover from them.

I think Van Edwards could have run all the way back to Akron there and not been caught. Good to see Chapman playing a lot better

Where do I click "I don't like this"???

Gotta try our 3rd-stringer. I'm afraid of burning Kato's redshirt Hate to say it but Chapman's the worst Zips QB I've ever seen (~20 years of fandom).

We've got to pull Nelson's redshirt. Chapman gives us no chance.

This is a joke. TAKE HIM OUT!!!

Bad pass followed by a fumble.

Take him out!!

I don't know how much longer we can stick with Chapman if we want to win this game.

Agreed. Finally, a connection. Van Edwards has had success. Use him.

I am not sure how you pick up that block in the back flag. It was pretty clear.

I don't know, I hate to ruin the experience for anyone coming to the game at this point. I think the kids sitting on the hill give the game a little personality.

Was a heck of a game. Toledo is scary in the MAC. Pick your poison..Woodside or Hunt.

This is really good. I also think that there's tons of "middle aged" or older people at our games. So, what changed? Why are "old" alums from Akron obviously more interested in being involved and loyal to their alma mater than younger alums? It's sickening, isn't it? Six thousands grads per year, and very few of them ever come back to be supporters. Like I said, mathematically it seems impossible. But, it's true. Let me throw this out there.... Is it possible that it's "not cool" to be a Zips fan when you are in your 20s or 30s (when peer pressure has more influence on your life), but it starts to become more important to support your alma mater as you grow older? But if that were true, the middle-aged and older audience would continue to grow and grow. And that doesn't really seem to be happening over the year either. Although, it may just be that the old people die and are replaced. It would certainly be interesting to see if this could all be measured statistically. That might answer a lot of questions, and possibly lead us to a solution.

Good points. I'll admit when I'm a little off base.

First incomplete pass of the second half by either QB just thrown, about half, way through Q4. Great football tonight.

I'm at the Green vs Ellet game tonight. Bridges has already scored 3 touchdowns in the first 9 minutes of the game. The kid is REALLY fast!