Dave in Green

I can forgive someone not from around here. It's the Akron people that use it as a derogatory term that irks me. Does anyone really have a feel for the true percentage of "Akron U" references by Akron people that are intended as derogatory as opposed to non-derogatory. The reason I ask is because I hear innocent references to Akron U by Akron people all the time. I can't recall having heard the term Akron U delivered with dripping sarcasm. Is it possible that some people are hypersensitive to this, and the "problem" is nowhere as big as some people seem to think? Am I just fortunate to mostly be hanging out with the "good people" of Akron while others are overexposed to the "bad people" of Akron?

I see where Cleveland State's victory over the Zips rocketed them all the way up to #83 in the final RPI standings.

Check out the mid-major top 25 to see who the real power is: Mid-Major Top 25

Holy crap, Linhart is: * Leading the team in average minutes played per game (30.0). * Leading the team in field goal percentage (.592). * Leading the team in 3-point percentage (.444). * Leading the team in steals per game (2.11). * Third on the team in assists per game (2.4). He's outperforming teammate Christian Eyenga, the Cavs' first round draft pick in 2009 (30th overall). He's so darned close to being capable of performing at least a minor role on an NBA team. Absolutely amazing.

Since when do you have to actually know something about a subject in order to be a self-proclaimed expert on an internet forum? But seriously, it was just a few months ago that I posted right here on ZN.O that I couldn't get into soccer for the classic American reason that there wasn't enough scoring. Then I slowly got drawn into following the Zips soccer team, and a little interest was kindled. Watching the last two games on TV from beginning to end completely changed my perspective on soccer. Before that, I'd only watched bits and pieces of soccer games on TV played by teams I knew nothing about and had no connection to. After a few minutes, I'd get bored and flip the channel. Watching every minute of a match in which you have an emotional investment with the team tends to sharpen the senses, and I slowly began seeing things I hadn't noticed before. Suddenly I was seeing interesting things going on all over the place, and it didn't seem so important that there wasn't a ball going into a net every few minutes. The last two minutes of the championship game was truly one of the most amazing spectacles I've ever witnessed in any sport, and I've been watching all kinds of sports for nearly 60 years. It didn't matter in the least that no goal was scored in that final two minutes. There was so much going on that I forgot to breathe and almost passed out. Soccer may never become my favorite sport, but it sure moved way up on my list of favorites over the last few weeks.

Hilltopper is closer to Green HS than I am, so I'll wait to see what he has to say about this rumor. Sounds like a bunch of local HS coach names are being thrown out there.

LeBron has his good and bad points, just like all the rest of us. He's neither as great as his most fawning fans might believe nor as awful as his biggest critics try to portray him.

Yeah, I suppose those who blindly support someone and those who blindly despise someone are in the same boat when it comes to having no interest in the truth. They're only looking for interpretations that support their preconceptions. Fortunately, most people who are fair and open-minded are more interested in learning the truth than in listening to the propaganda promoted by the true believers at either extreme.

I guess we can put Akron U into the same category as LeBron, Cleveland and other subjects that will always drive some folks up the wall and won't bother others in the least. Imagine if all the energy used in hashing and rehashing these subjects could be redirected into something productive.

You will be rewarded in heaven for being a true Zips fan.

You've got to admit that, even though technically incorrect, Akron U is more natural sounding that U of Akron, not to mention easier to type on a tiny cell phone keyboard. Sometimes it pays to embrace a twisted but cool-sounding nickname that won't go away instead of fighting the inevitable.

I believe that Ian is a member in good standing of ZN.O, and could address this issue at any time if he so chose. There are only three options here. Ian is either generally OK, generally not OK, or absolutely neutral on Coach Ianello. We can't know where Ian stands unless he elects to share that with us. Anything else is pure speculation. As far as the intent of whatever someone overheard someone say to someone else, the only person in the world who knows for sure is the person who made the statement. Everyone else is just guessing. Coach Ianello told me in plain English that he has had good intentions in everything he's said to Ian, and that he respects Ian as a person and as the leader of the AK-Rowdies. If there actually is some kind of problem, as some have suggested, I would personally like to see it resolved one way or another, and I suspect that most Zips fans feel the same way. It does no one any good at all to publicly promote the concept that the head of the UA organization whose stated goal is "to cheer UA student-athletes to victory" and the head of UA's biggest sports program are feuding and making no effort to resolve any differences they might have.

What college football conference could possibly have the pomposity to name its two divisions Leaders and Legends? Welcome to the Bigger-Than-Life Ten. News Story

Buckzip, did you ever stop to think that your constant railing against any Zips fan who dares mention OSU on this Zips fan forum only increases animosity against OSU and its fans? Calling people names and insulting them for expressing something you don't happen to agree with is not productive. In fact it's counterproductive. It helps reinforce all the negative stereotypes about OSU fans, whether the stereotypes are true or not. The best way to combat negative stereotyping of OSU and its fans is to not make yourself an example of the negative stereotype, but to conduct yourself in a way that those who do not care for OSU and its fans cannot point their fingers at you and say: I rest my case.

I don't know where the whole idea of Zeke being a great passer out of the post came from, either, because I don't recall having seen it expressed on ZN.O. What I have seen expressed is that Zeke is basically an unselfish player who prefers to pass to an open teammate rather than taking a shot himself. I've also seen it expressed that he has improved over last season in terms of establishing position, cleanly catching the pass and reliably hitting the open man, but still has a ways to go to be considered really proficient at it. So I think just about everyone probably agrees that, so far, Zeke has not reached the point of being considered a great passer out of the post.

That's an absolutely spectacular video. I hope it makes it into the victory celebration back in Akron. The quality is really good for a backlit video at sunset.

+1 What, you wanted the discussion to end with the following spin? I heard this comment as it was spoken. At the time of the remark Ian (sp?) was behind me, Jodi Kest was to my left and Keith Dambrot was across the table from me. iCoach was standing behind KD when he uttered that blunt, painful remark. The three of us were aghast to say the least. Ian handled the remark with a great deal of class and dignity. It was a "teachable moment" if only iCoach were aware of his faux pau. We are not cretins, country bumpkins, rubes or what have you. Akronites and the Zips are as educated and urbane as any one in South Bent (intentional). Get it icoach? Sigh, probably not. The football players that stuck it out for the entire year did themselves proud in the end. The mountain of adversity was more iCoach made than any other factor. Perhaps he a) resigns, or b ) grows up and becomes a part of this community and develops into one outstanding football coach. At this time, option "A" is preferred.

Please note that I did not put quotation marks around Coach Ianello's comments to me. I just tried to paraphrase the gist of what he said to me. The key question is about intent. Did Ianello intentionally insult Ian and the Rowdies because he doesn't respect them, or does he feel comfortable enough about his relationship with them that he's not afraid he'll be misunderstood when he jokes with them in casual conversation? All I can say is that Coach Ianello made it absolutely clear to me that his intent in whatever exact words he may have said was good-natured and positive, not negative. I recognize weasel-wording when I hear it, and I did not hear any of that in my conversation with Ianello. I take a man at his word unless there's compelling evidence to prove otherwise.

I agree that the video tells a lot about Zeke's ceiling. You won't often see a 7-foot center run the full length of the floor, almost catch up to a speedy guard on a breakaway, and almost block the shot from behind. What it shows is that Zeke already has the physical ability to do something most 7-footers can't. As he becomes more experienced and polished, he'll make plays that most 7-footers can't, because 7-footers can't "learn" that kind of foot speed. They either have it or they don't. Zeke has it.

A Zips soccer fan, for sure. I'll definitely have more interest in soccer in general going forward. And I'll never post another comment about not being able to get into soccer because there isn't enough scoring. When you really get into closely following games, as I did during the Zips championship run, you begin to see and appreciate that there's a lot more going on beyond the occasional ball going into the net. I've already developed a good appreciation for how the Zips move the ball on offense and defend against their opponents moving the ball.

The video of the action in those last two minutes is about as intense as I've ever seen in any sport.

You Louisville fans have a great coach and a great program. I'm not a longtime soccer fan, but I can honestly say this was the best, most evenly matched soccer game I've ever watched. The fact that Louisville has such a good team makes this an even sweeter win for Zips fans. Between Louisville and Akron, maybe we can make the soccer world stop believing that college soccer begins and ends with the ACC.

We've been through a lot of this before, but here's a quick refresher: Zeke was not interested in playing basketball as a kid, and started playing late. He's a classic late bloomer. Then he had a big growth spurt and quickly shot up to 7 feet, which required time for adjustment. He's as much a computer nerd as he is a basketball player. His whole life does not revolve around becoming a professional basketball player, so the sense of urgency isn't there as it is with kids who have no earning power beyond their physical abilities. Zeke has some traits that might take him to the NBA if fully developed. But it's also possible that he may not ever fully develop, or even if he did that he wouldn't quite have enough ability to make it in the NBA. A lot depends on how much physical potential he actually has, how badly he wants to become a truly superior player, and how much work and dedication he puts into it. His shot blocking has been his primary strength from high school on. This year he has shown that he has developed a nice hook shot that is good for a better than 50% shooting average. His free throw shooting has also improved. So has his ability to catch a pass inside and kick it back out to the open man. On the downside, Zeke has not shown the ability to reliably hit shots other than the hook. He also has not shown the fire and determination to go after rebounds that make for a great rebounder. He's good but not great in his whole defensive game. He's not built to play hard and physical against stronger, beefier opponents, and not there yet on compensating for that with a polished finesse game. We can only guess at this point how far Zeke might develop. The good news is that he is continuing to develop. He hasn't flat-lined or given up. You can still see his frustration when he doesn't perform as well as he'd like to. Just as there are examples of early bloomers who go directly from their freshman year of college into the NBA, so there are examples of late bloomers who have steadily developed throughout their college careers to where they have developed a full game by their senior years. Zeke is obviously not one of the former, but he still has the potential to be one of the latter. His biggest physical attribute is also a curse in a way, because those of average stature tend to automatically assume that 7-footers should all be superstars in basketball. That's not true of all 7-footers, and in the long run it may or may not be true of Zeke.

This one deserves more attention. Meves was flat on the ground after blocking a shot. Louisville super sub Daniel (correction) Aaron Horton got the ball right in front of the net. Barson was standing in front of the net in the goalie's normal position. Horton blasted the ball at the net, and Barson stopped it. I don't know enough about soccer to know for sure, but I'm guessing that Barson, not being a goalie, could not use his hands to grab the ball like a goalie could. He had to block it with his legs, and he did. Hopefully one of the soccer experts here can explain the significance of this better than I can. I just know when I saw it happen that I thought it was the defensive play of the game. It also almost caused me an injury as I leaped out of my chair.

You just can't get any better than beating the #1 team in the country in the national championship game. The Zips obviously did not appear to be as dominant as in other games because Louisville was so darned good. That's what makes this the greatest single game ever played by any UA team in any sport.