MDZip

SAT question. If the Zips do well it will likely be because of all the new talent that has very recently been recruited. Could it be that Anthony Ampaipatakwong is to Akron soccer as Zeke Marshall is to Akron basketball? Once a few (or even one) high caliber players join your team, other players seem to want to join in. Not predicting a national chmapionship or anything (that obviously has to wait until next year when Zeke is a senior ) but just an observation to keep in mind if this and next year go very well. Tough year to predict but I still see the Zips as no lower than a MAC 3 seed. What happens from there is too tough to call because the MAC tournament never seems to go quite to form.

#90. Seems about right.

I would be shocked to see a top 5 ranking let alone a top one. The Zips lost a lot of talent and even though it looks like a good set of replacements, these guys have never been on the pitch together. A lot of teams (e.g. Tulsa, UNC) return a lot of last years very good teams. I expect the Zips in the 6-10 range.

And team #2 was Texas A&M who sponsors the award so the Zips must have really done something extraordinary this year.

Why are you going with Can't fans? Yeah, sorry - too easy.

Just got back from a trip to Costa Rica. I was up at a hot springs called Tabacon on the side of a volcano at the top of a mountain range. As I was waiting for my daughters I looked over and saw an Akron Zips T-shirt. I talked to the young man wearing it who had gotten it from his cousins in Akron. I continue to see Zips gear in very strange places.

Even though this isn't specific to one player, I am most interested in seeing if these new players help sustain the improvement we saw in the last three games of last year. Since two of them were Buffalo and Ball State was that improvement genuine or just a mirage? These guys will help prove that one way or another.

Having moved right after college, my greatest Rubber Bowl memory is meeting JohnnyZip84 at the Ball State game during the final season (and arguing with Nate Davis' family ). I saw the Marshall game on ESPN. One of the announcers mentioned that the University bought the Stadium from the city for $1. The second announcer stated "The University got taken". I think the Info was a good idea and one day it will pay off. Side note on the Barker perfect game. I was a student at Akron that year and some friends of mine had decided to go to an Indians game that weekend. Had we picked Friday we would have seen Barkers perfect game, Sunday was an Indians double header win. We picked Saturday, a blah Indians loss. I went to Indians fantasy camp in January 2008 and faced Barker in the "Pros vs. Joes" game. He struck me out (and he wasn't trying hard).

Ha ha. That's pretty good. But no self-respecting football fan in Hawaii can give any credibility to a list of the worst coaches that doesn't include this guy, who went 5-31 including being the first coach to lose twelve games in a season, and the following season June Jones arrived and won 10 games with the same players. So, there you go -- I-Coach has something to aim for.Being replaced by June Jones?

And it made ESPN's "Not Top Ten Plays of The Week". Ugh. Glad there were a couple awesome Zips goals this week to offset it.

Ada knows Baltimore! Almost - it's actually UMBC (University of Maryland - Baltimore County) where he transferred from, but I was just going to give credit for a possible typo. Locally, kids used to joke it stood for "U Must Be Crazy" or "U Made a Bad Choice" but actually its a pretty good school, it's mascot is a Retriever (Chesapeake Bay) and the school gives Chess scholarships out - and usually finishes quite high in the College Chess Championships. You may use any of these factoids to ingratiate yourself with Chauncey.

And Icoach hasn't made this list of the worst coaching tenures of all time yet. The Zips did get a mention, however, under the entry for Greg Robinson.5. Greg Robinson, Syracuse (10–37, 2005-08)Robinson’s overall record isn’t as bad as others on this list, but he gets low marks for destroying what was a solid Syracuse program. The Orangemen (as they used to be called) only had one losing season from 1987-2004. Robinson had four losing season in four years, with a high-water mark of 4–8 in 2006.Lowlight: Syracuse lost its 2008 home opener to Akron, 42–28.Ye Gods.

All 40? We didn't get any points for basketball or track even though we were in the NCAA Championships? Nope, the way the Capital One Cup breaks down is that you get points for a top ten finish (and it is mostly by the polls) so unless you finish in that group in the top ten, you don't get any points. And each sport gets a different level of recognition. So since Eastern Washington won the FCS football championship they finished ahead of the Zips since football "counts" more than soccer. And actually I think the Directors Cup (where they lump mens and womens sports together and every sport counts the same) is a much better measure. The Capital One Cup just has more money and publicity behind it.

I think it is terrific too, however, all 40 of those points were garnered by the soccer team. We actually led the standings for a brief time in the fall.

I was actually at this game (in the seats on the field) so I had a great view of everything that happened, except the concession lines were so inept that I didn't get back to my seat until after that play had occurred, so since I was there and didn't see it, it didn't happen. Actually, Perry played a decent game (but I really didn't see that play), here are a couple of photos from that night. He also was one of the few players to stay after and sign for the fans. I was smart enough to bring my Zips NCAA Championship program (which brought a smile to his face), so now I have a signature from every significant contributing member of that team. Chris Korb, unfortunately, did not get into that game.

Apparently it was over a perceived lack of playing time for the upcoming season. Are we going to be that good that we don't have room for a player of Spea's abilities this season?

College Soccer News has named Cub Cadet Field as the 4th best place to watch a college soccer match. I've been to #3 and #2 and both are excellent too so we are in fine company. #4 - Cub Cadet Field (formerly Lee R. Jackson Soccer Field) - University of Akron - The house that Porter built. Akron soccer continues to move on up with a national championship the most recent accomplishment. The old adage is build it and they will come. The program has advanced to a higher level and the Akron nation has responded making Cub Cadet Field one of the most energized stadiums in the country in which to witness a college soccer match. A ton of fun for the fan base and a huge plus for the team. Go Zips.

Agree. Ignoring what any did in the pros. Although correct me,wasn't it Smith who returned two ints. for TD's w/Tampa? But, at Akron he could take one side of the field away from the offense and was fast enough to run guys down on the other side of the field. Yep, in the Super Bowl against Oakland. If they hadn't voted for MVP before the game was over, Smith would have had the MVP over Dexter "whatever his name was" who did not return his two interceptions for touchdowns. Zips should have had a Super Bowl MVP.

Who holds more Akron passing records, Charlie or Luke? Doesn't Luke have most td's in a season? Frye has all time passing yards I think. Of course he played twice as many games as Luke. I can't seem to find akron all time passing records with a google search. Well, I thought this would be easy, I'll just go to GoZips.com and look it up. The most recent version of the football media guide that actually had a working link was from 2007. At least that would work for the Getsy/Frye comparisons. Strictly based on the fact that Luke only had two years in the program, Frye leads him in almost every category (except things that are game based, like passing yards per game - Getsy is ahead of Frye). Also as of that date, Fyre and Getsy owned the top ten passing yardage performances in UA history, and 16 of the top 20. For comparisons of thier stats you can go here. Just don't expect anything newer (sigh). Edit: OK, how did you find that, what sort of insider information do you have? There isn't a direct link from the football media guide page to the 2010 Guide.

Based solely on his Zips career, I have to go with Dwight Smith (though Steve Cockerham was pretty damn good too).

And today's poll question is Who's the greatest Akron soccer player ever? This one is really interesting. Most of our really great players lasted only a couple years at school. I believe that (we have won!) Pete Milich still holds the NCAA record for most consecutive games with a goal. In a field of great players (loved this quote - "Akron soccer might have the largest crop of great players of any sport in any MAC school") I might still have to stick with Milich. No, I didn't actually get to see him play.

All of the grief that the Nemers gave the University about moving (and the lawsuits and delays) for the Stadium and they end up with this? They ought to be kissing the University's collective ass. I hope they go out of business and somone who deserves it gets to operate out of that location. No love lost for them.

Think I can cut their search short. He may have been 9-21 last year but he has a lot of MAC coaching experience. And look, he's beaten UNC, Virginia, Maryland, Depaul and Butler. The Flashes need to lock him into a long term deal right now!

I imagine he could be kind of intimidating.

Cap'n, what happened two or three years ago really isn't all that relevant to this particular conversation.