Dave in Green

We just witnessed the greatest single game ever played by any UA team in any sport.

GOAL ZIPS! Edit: Guess I wasted too much time jumping up and down screaming.

As far as I know, just about everyone is aware that Ianello has been a position coach. Most folks seem to believe a coordinator is a step up from a position coach, and that recruiting coordinator is the least of the coordinator positions in terms of preparing one for a head coaching position.

Final score, 82-47. I'd like to think the Zips will not get beaten this badly the rest of the season. But Minnesota is at least as good as Temple. Ugh.

"Let's Go Zips!" cheers are coming through loud and clear on the ESPN broadcast. Congrats to all Zips fans at the game!

So far I'm impressed by Louisville's quickness, aggressiveness and defensive positioning. This game really has the feel of a championship matchup between the two best teams in the country.

These two teams look extremely evenly matched so far.

I had the sound turned off and wasn't listening to the announcers. But I can't imagine how the announcers could have been ripping the Zips to shreds any worse than the Temple basketball team was.

40-15 at halftime. Time to switch to soccer.

Then again, I'm not sure I want to see it. Score is 33-15 with Temple rolling over the Zips.

It's working for me.

You've got to wonder about UA. Ianello is the second head coach UA has hired in recent years whose previous college coaching experience consisted of nothing greater than being a mere recruiting coordinator. The other was some guy named Caleb Porter.

Only 109, eh? That's 22 points under their scoring average. NK must have really slowed the game down.

I guess I'm not anybody, because I don't see KD having poor rotations due to going only on a whim. I see KD as a smart coach who, like most coaches, tries different rotations early in the season to try to find the ones that work best in specific situations. As far as I can see, KD gives the most PT to the players who play with the best combination of intensity, smarts and skill, both individually and in teamwork. Some players are better at that early in their careers, and it doesn't click for some until later in their careers. Not that KD doesn't make mistakes. He's human like the rest of us. But in general I think he has a better grasp of how each of his players is capable of performing at various points in their careers than any of us do. He'd better, since he's being paid a lot of money to do the right thing, and we fans are just throwing out free advice in our spare time.

As it was portrayed in another thread on this forum, a comment from Coach Ianello to Ian was interpreted by some who overheard it as an insult to the Rowdies. Others on this forum assumed the worst and cited that as a reason to dislike Ianello. It didn't make sense to me that Ianello would make such a statement. But no one was either able or willing to offer any explanation. So I ended up going to the only person who knew for sure the intent behind the alleged comment. Coach Ianello assured me that any comment he made to Ian was not intended as a putdown, but a joking reference to an issue that no one opposes -- the concept of getting a larger percentage of the Rowdies to more games. He told me that he felt comfortable making a joking comment like that to Ian because he thought he and Ian were on good enough terms that there would be no misunderstanding the intent. Ianello obviously did not count on the fact that others overhearing such a remark might misinterpret it and spread their misinterpretation around. Now, if Ian and the Rowdies do not share Coach Ianello's belief that they have a good relationship, then there's a disconnect there that needs to be worked out between the two. Ianello sounds to me like he's open to communicating with Ian and the Rowdies, so if Ian and the Rowdies are also open to this, I see no reason why they can't get together and resolve any misunderstandings they may have with each other. Look, it's pretty obvious that some people dislike Coach Ianello enough that they look for the slightest reason to dump on him. If Ianello was at the bank making a deposit and the bank was robbed while he was there, someone would post here that Ianello was one of the bank robbers. Nothing Ianello says, nothing I say, nothing anyone says is going to change the minds of people who are convinced that Ianello can do no right. I could care less about even trying. I learned what I wanted to know, I shared what I learned with everyone on ZN.O, and everyone is free to believe whatever they want to believe.

If the Tap House owner is enough of a fan to fly out to California to watch the Zips play for the national championship, he should understand that playing loud music during a game broadcast will only chase away Zips fans who show up to watch the game. It's great to have the TH and BH seriously competing for Zips fans. Sounds like the BH may have won this round.

At first I wasn't too worried about Michigan's early goal, as the Zips appeared to be dominating and getting plenty of decent shots. As the shots kept missing, I started getting this queasy feeling about what if this is one of those games where every shot just misses. Sure was a relief to finally see a couple go in. Akron-Louisville is going to be one heck of a game.

I'm not surprised that Louisville scored a goal with about a minute left to win 2-1. Louisville looked to be a step quicker than NC the whole second half. Half of the dream championship matchup is in place. It's now up to the Zips to knock off Michigan.

I have to say, the more I watch soccer the more I'm getting into it. Louisville was looking more agressive and quicker than North Carolina to my untrained eyes. I wasn't surprised when Louisville finally scored. But I was surprised at how quickly NC came back with a goal, almost as if they shifted into another gear as soon as Louisville scored. I could become a soccer fan. But I think it probably takes a long time to become a smart soccer fan.

As promised, I've spent the last week or so trying to get the true story behind Coach Ianello's alleged remark to Ian Tayek that he was "not impressed" with the AK-Rowdies. After getting input from some folks at UA, today I spoke directly with Coach Ianello. He told me that he doesn't ever recall using the words that he was "not impressed" with the Rowdies, nor would he be likely to make such a general statement because that's not what he believes. He said he has a lot of respect for Ian and the Rowdies, and that he thinks he has a good relationship with them. He said he thinks the only thing he's ever said about the Rowdies that might possibly be taken negatively is that he'd like to see a larger percentage of them show up at all the games. He said he has joked with Ian about this in a good-natured way, and that someone may have overheard one of those remarks and misinterpreted it. But he thinks his relationship with Ian is good enough that Ian would not misinterpret his good intentions. So, unless Ian should step forward and dispute any of this, I consider it to be case closed, and another bad rumor bites the dust.

The College of Charleston (South Carolina) is DI. The University of Charleston (West Virginia) is DII.

I saw some of the Temple-Georgetown game, and Temple is really good. They are fast, aggressive, athletic and skilled. This will be a serious test for the Zips.

Still way early for RPI to have enough numbers to crunch to be meaningful. Same with NCAA tournament projections. CBS Sports is now projecting Can't to win the MAC and get a 13 seed for the Big Dance. They show no at-large bids for the MAC, but do show the Zips "on the fence." The story says this is based on current team records and is not necessarily a prediction of what it will look like at the end of the season. So, in fact, it's not much of a prediction at all. CBS Sports NCAA Tournament Projections

It sounds as if both places have gotten the message, and that both will be trying to deliver a better experience for Zips fans this weekend. I hope that we can get reports on both places to see how well they did.

That's odd. There's no band scheduled according to the entertainment calendar on their website. But if they do plan to have live music during the Zips game, then they are not catering to Zips fans. Tap House Entertainment Calendar