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@TennZip, I hate to throw this to you, but you always do such a nice job filling us in on how the Men's team stands in relation to their conference foes. Do you have thoughts on how the Women's team stacks up vs. MAC teams going into conference play, based on the non-conference play so far? Is 5-0-2 going to play out to success in the MAC? (I'm hoping it does!). Or anyone else have thoughts? Also, I looked back as far as 2007 when our daughter was on campus to see women's records, and there was never a team that went undefeated more than 3 games to start a season! Best start in program history? I believe it is.

It seems I have started a bit of a wildfire here, much of which is spinning out of reality. Here are some thoughts: It seems Guthrie is the focus of many disgruntled fans. I do not believe, nor have I seen, any evidence that he cut the MSOC budget for FB. Athletics took a $3M hit that Charles is trying to make up thru big paycheck games. Still FB had its budget cut by nearly $1M. All sports took a 10% budget hit. I think Charles is doing the best he can in face of declining enrollment, resources and struggling FB. Most schools that are elite do have a Dir of Operations. We don't have one supposedly because the women would also need one funded. That's too much to spend. Charles thought about hiring one for both programs and found that unworkable. The equipment budget (primarily gear and Uni's) is less than most other schools with D1 football. When Louisville tried to hire Jared away they revealed they were getting double what Akron got. The disparity has grown in light of the contracts given to the P4 football schools with soccer. Soccer has benefited at those schools. Coaching counts. The NCAA has allowed full-time soccer coaching staffs to expand and many schools have taken advantage. Akron can't afford more coaches, just like its DoO position. The renovations to the soccer locker room have been funded by the alumni and day of giving. That has taken place over two years and two fundraising campaigns. The former players are generous and are to be thanked. The university did not fund the improvements and it has not happened all of a sudden. NIL money is a growing issue. We lost a kid last winter/spring who wanted money to live off campus. We couldn't afford the $ he wanted nor the precedent it would set. Contrast that to the University of Kentucky. They have set up a collective for soccer. My relative, a CFP and former captain, sits on the collective board. I only sought to offer a fuller perspective as to the challenge Akron faces. We can debate the hell out of it on this forum, but at the end of the day, the coaches have to figure a path out of this and back to elite performance.

Does it come with parking? LOL.

Let's look next at the teams predicted to finish 1, 3 , 4 and 6 in the league there are some common opponents that the lady zips have played....(I will try to highlight those) Oakland has played 3 MAC teams shown below Western Michigan picked to finish first in the league 3-1-3 record N. Kentucky 3-0 #24 Iowa 1-1 Marquette 3-0 Creighton 0-3 Wisconsin 1-1 Det. Mercy 3-0 DePaul 1-1 Ohio Bobcats picked to finish 3rd in the league 5-1-1 record...very impressive against zip common opponent Butler 1-1 (this is good result for Ohio as Butler defeated Ball State (picked 2nd in league ) 3-0 N. Kentucky 4-0 #8 Mich. St 0-3 (item of interest ...Grace Jackson played 26 minutes for spartans...yes, she has a brother named Will) Valparaiso 5-0 Marshall 2-0 W. Kentucky 2-1 Oakland 7-0 (akron def. Oakland 1-0) Kent State picked 4th in league Cleveland State 2-1 (akron beat the Vikings 1-0) Youngstown St 2-2 Oakland 4-0 (again, akron won 1-0) Colgate 3-2 Duquesne 2-4 #21 Kentucky 1-3 Bowling Green picked 6th in the league 3-2-1 record Detroit Mercy 3-1 Findlay 3-0 Duquesne 0-2 Loyola Chicago 0-1 Cleveland State 2-0 (again, Zips 1-0) Oakland 0-0 )again, zips 1-0) I am going to take an hour or two break....before looking up records for the teams predicted to finish 7,8.9 and 10 in the league the teams picked to finish 1 thru 6 in the league had a combined non- conference record of 24 wins , 8 losses and 8 ties

When will it end? Everything just gets slimier, greedier and more money-driven. Just when you think the party has reached an all time low, someone excavates a new basement. It's like a really aggressive cancer... Would Clarke pay the extra $6 talent fee for his Zips GA basketball season ticket?

Reality; No reduced budget Actually we are spending more to be in the Big East MSOC has a healthy fundraising account unlike other teams to do things. The only glaring issue is no Director of Operations position but that was cut during COVID. Other teams lost their DO's too. People also forget that when Caleb was here they had camps with thousands of kids making a ton of cash. MSOC has active alumni and they always step up. The locker was just updated this summer. Jared and Ger both just got new contracts.

OK, back at it...... lets look at the teams projected to finish 7 thru 10 3 of those teams also played Oakland....you all probably have Akron's score against Oakland imprinted in your brain...so I will not highlight the comparison score @Z.I.P. was kind enough to share via facebook message...the historical significance of Colorado College in women's soccer. Colorado College twice lost in the NCAA finals to UNC. @Z.I.P. and @fknbuflobo are both much better soccer historians than I am. Perhaps the 2 great minds can grace us with a prediction for how women's soccer will do in the MAC??? PLEASE !!! Northern Illinois picked 7th in pre-season poll impressive win over a team that the lady zips tied 6-1-1 record DePaul 0-0 (DePaul also played to 1-1 tie with league favorite Western Michigan) St. Thomas (MN) 4-1 Southern IN 6-1 Oakland 1-0 #9 Notre Dame 0-4 E. Illinois 3-0 (lady zips played to 1-1 tie with E. Illinois in 2nd game of season) Illinois St 1-0 Valparaiso 2-1 Toledo picked 8th in league 3-3-1 IU Indy 1-1 Cincinnati 2-3 Northwestern 0-1 Detroit Mercy 1-0 Loyola Chicago 1-2 Oakland 1-0 Ohio Dominican 3-0 Miami picked 9th in league 4-1-2 Eastern Kentucky 4-0 Tennessee Tech 2-2 Indiana State 0-2 Northern Kentucky 3-1 #21 South Carolina 0-0 ...I thought that was an impressive result for a team to picked to finish 9th Southern Indiana 2-0 Chicago State 4-0 Eastern Michigan picked 10th in the league 4-3 record Oakland 1-0 UIC 3-2 Youngstown State 2-0 (YSU had played to 2-2 tie with Kent State (picked 4th in league) Purdue Fort Wayne 1-0 Cincinnati 1-3 Valparaiso 0-1 Loyola Chicago 0-1 I am very impressed by the non conference records of the 12 teams. I had done a combined record for the teams picked to finish 1 thru 6. The very knowledgeable and all around good guy @NYC ZIP kidded me when I did too much math in another post.....so I will refrain from doing more math. Best wishes to the lady Zips.....as they begin their journey.....thru a tough MAC schedule

Some Gamecock info and players to watch: OFFENSE: Carolina has struggled to consistently pass the ball in 2024. Redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers has a canon for an arm, but is still working on accuracy. However, he is a dynamic runner and was clocked at 20 mph this past weekend. Sellers has been dealing with an ankle injury, so his availability may be limited. Rocket Sanders is currently 4th in the SEC in rushing yards and was clocked at 21 mph against LSU. Carolina wants to run the ball. WR Nyck Harbor has created some buzz thanks to the NCAA video game, although do not expect video game like numbers from him as he still has plenty of developing to do. The TEs are heavily utilized and are a threat in the passing game. The OL is solid on the interior and still developing at the tackle spots. DEFENSE: The Gamecocks have one of the best (if not the best) pass rushing defensive fronts in the SEC. DE Kyle Kennard is tied #1 nationally in sacks. On the opposite end is one of the most impressive freshmen edge rushers I’ve seen in former 5 star Dylan Stewart. Carolina is deep at DT as well. The linebackers are fast and explosive. That said, they had some unusual tackling issues against LSU. The secondary has a ton of length and are excellent in run support. The safeties tend to struggle against receiving corps that have a lot of speed. This is a very physical defense. SPECIAL TEAMS: Beamer ball. The Gamecocks have not missed a beat without Pete Lembo. They’ve blocked more punts in Beamer’s tenure than any other program during that span.

I am happy to have the distraction. I have spent way too much time over the past few days being upset over Jared's blame throwing comments after the Temple fiasco. I will probably post 2 or 3 answers. I will start here with the first 3 opponents on the lady zips Mid-American conference schedule. I have not found any common opponents yet for the lady zips among their first 3 opponents. Just so everyone can have the info in one place, let's start with the MAC preseason poll for the ladies. 2of the first 3 games are going to be very tough 1. Western Michigan 2. Ball State (3rd MAC game for zips) 3. Ohio 4. Can't State 5. Buffalo (zips 1st game on Thursday) 6. Bowling Green 7. N. Illinois 8. Toledo 9. Miami 10. E. Michigan 11. Akron Lady Zips 12. Central Michigan (opponent #2 in the MAC) Let's first review....what the lady zips have done so far this year Does everyone realize that they have not allowed a goal in their last 5 games? and that they have only allowed 2 goals all year? Akron zips 5-0-2 Iona 2-1 E. Illinois 1-1 Oakland 1-0 Wright State 1-0 Robert Morris 0-0 Cleveland St 1-0 St. Francis 1-0 1st Mac Opponent Buffalo - picked to finish 5th in the league they have started 5-0-2 and they look strong St. Bonaventure 1-0 Pitt (was ranked #7 at time of game) - 2-1 win for Buffalo Cornell 1-1 Canisius 1-0 Colgate 3-0 Colorado College Tigers 1-1 tie ...(not familiar with that college in Colorado Springs) N. Colorado 2-0 2nd Mac Opponent Central Michigan - picked to finish last ...12th in the MAC 2-4-1 record...they have played a tough schedule Kentucky 0-2 Cincinnati 2-1 TCU (received votes ) 0-3 #14 Texas 0-2 S. Dakota 1-1 Wisc Green Bay 0-1 Purdue Fort Wayne 6-1 3rd MAC opponent Ball State - picked to be very strong...2nd in the league 5-2 record...have scored 13 goals in last 2 games) Purdue Fort Wayne 4-0 Indiana (receive votes) 1-2 Butler 0-3 Michigan 2-1 Austin Peay 2-1 Queens 7-1 IU Indy 6-1

Does Akron MSOC right now have the minimum resources required for elite performance? if that answer is “Yes,” then it is on Embick to right the ship. This task will not be achieved by publicly blaming anyone but himself, however accurate his claim might be. If that answer is “No,” then I fundamentally do not understand what we are actually doing. Participating?

Sorry, but a reasonable FBS football team should be able to run the ball down the throat of a winless FCS team, even if they are stacking the box.

So what we're back to is Embick needing to get his ass in gear and rediscover the magic?

I’m sure Charles cringes every time he sees me wearing the A Roo. 😝

Arby’s just called; they want their A back.

I suggest that you call Charles and set up a meeting to discuss. It would be nice if the "awesome" staff he hired did their jobs like the previous staff and actually reached out to the fan base to fund raise for Men's Soccer. Of course, it would also be helpful if the coach was engaging of the whole fan base as Porter was. The Akron way of just schmoozing large donors continues to not work well; as the old adage goes, you have to spend money to make money. Akron Ath and Dev Depts need to be willing to provide some bling at lower donation levels...e.g., accept that you may only get 70% return on donations by using 30% to provide sport specific gear at lower donation levels but get more donors invested. Inform the fan base and build their willingness to help.

Wonderful win for the women today on Senior Day! Not sure why they chose to do it at an earlier game than the final one, but it was a beautiful day and a great way to end the extended weekend in town. A women's win Thursday night, football win last night, and this today, 1-0 over St. Francis. (the "other" game yesterday won't be mentioned). The women looked a little tired, maybe the heat? St. Francis out-shot us, and our GK Penelope Cuewen (oh, I give up!) was excellent, but the team figured out a way to put pressure on late and poked one in. 5-0-2! The MAC grinder will start this week, so we'll get a better picture, but they are not going to be an easy mark. And...I may have been wrong about our coach, I'm not ashamed to admit. Damn, I hate being wrong...but yet glad I was!

Have a little different take on that game. Haven't seen a QB make throws like Finley maybe since the Frye/Getsy era. The 56 yarder he threw to Golden, (I believe) was beautiful. He was getting beat up again because the O line still isn't much good at pass protection. Finley sometimes scrambles a little too quickly. But sometimes its self preservation. Moorehead's' lets kindly say strange play calling(I have a different word in mind) is contributing to Finley getting beat up. Moorehead better realize that if Finley goes down for any length of time his offense is toast. He has two quality RB's but won't use them consistently. Even Joe Dunn was wondering out loud why Akron wasn't running the ball more especially in the 2nd half. Wide receivers looked good for the most part. They have a QB who can get the ball to them. Defense was adequate against lesser competition. Still getting gouged on the ground too much. Colgate O line 'looked' bigger than Akron's defense. Db's looked good. Again, against lesser competition. Finally have a punter and kicker who can contribute. The lack of discipline on the field reared its ugly head again. Dumb, preventable penalties. I guess Moorehead isn't going to deal with it. New scoreboard was nice. Free T shirts nice. Granddaughter had a great time. I fear for Finley's health against S.Carolina. He is already hurting. If I'm the head coach as soon as it starts to get out of hand I sit Finley and some other starters and point to OU in Athens.

Ouch ...

Too many of my season tickets are after 6 PM. I'm simply not interested in that. I'm really struggling to enjoy college this year and maybe the past couple of years. Maybe it's been longer and I was in denial. Regardless, the TV networks are winning. They are trading my time for the time of drunks and degenerate gamblers. I don't know how much longer I can put up with it.