GoZips

I spoke with EA Saturday afternoon during team practice. He said that he has been assigned to cover CSU. He does not know who, if anyone, is covering the Zips.Oddly, he was waiting to interview KD after the practice. There was a lengthy article in the PD Saturdaymorning. Would love to know what follow on questions EA had for KD.

Here is an interesting point of view. NIU's point of view. Frankly, I did not get the feelingat the game that they were in control."AKRON, Ohio - The Northern Illinois men's soccer team nearly caught lightning in a bottle for a second time this season, but fell just short of upsetting No. 1 Akron on the road Saturday. (note: NIU playedUNC to a 1-1 tie early in the season.)Michael Nanchoff of the unanimously top-ranked Zips (13-0-0, 3-0-0) used a free kick from 19 yards out in the 70th minute to score the only goal of the match, leading Akron to a 1-0 victory. The Huskies were looking for their second road result against a No. 1-ranked team this year, as they tied No. 1 North Carolina, 1-1, in September. NIU Head Coach Eric Luzzi was happy with his team's effort in their second match of the year against a No. 1 team. "The guys weren't intimidated, and I'm proud of that," Luzzi said. "They came in with the right mindset and focused on our work rate and our game plan." The Huskies (6-6-1, 1-2-0 MAC) came as close as anyone has to upending Akron. Northern Illinois' loss is only the third one-goal decision the Zips have allowed this year. On average, Akron is outscoring its opponents by nearly three goals a match. "If you look at the stats, they had a bit more in the play," Luzzi said. "But if you look at it compared to what other teams have done against them, we did well." Northern Illinois didn't give up a goal to Akron in the run of play, an impressive feat considering the Zips' usual offensive output of 2.77 goals per match. "It terms of true chances, they had a couple, but it wasn't chance after chance after chance," Luzzi said. "There were stretches where we were under pressure, but there were stretches were it was even as well." The score came after Nanchoff's free kick ricocheted off the wall, changing angles en route to the goal. "The shot had a decent amount of pace, got deflected and redirected," Luzzi said. "I think (goalkeeper) Jordan (Godsey) would have had it if it would not have been deflected." The Huskies will have to quickly put Saturday's result behind them, as they host Milwaukee for the LeWang Cup, Tuesday afternoon in DeKalb."I was standing to left of the goal with an excellent view of Nanchoff's shot. True, the angle waswas a deflection from hitting the leg of one of defenders in the wall. But, unlike the fancy of thegoalie being prevented from getting a stop, the truth is the ball was a couple of feet to his leftand he had no chance. It was a great shot by Nanchoff. A sweet rope that zipped across the groundlike a poisonous snake. It was sweet.NIU played the defender game through out the match. Thus, they limited their offensive chances.That game plan also limits your opponents shots. Still, the Zips managed fifteen shots with eightof them on goal.I, for one, was wondering when we would see a defender type game plan and how the Zips wouldplay against it. Considering that NIU is an excellent and well coached team we have to be pleasedwith our kids. Once again they we up to the task.

Here, Here, all of you. Well said. SKIP-ZIP, I totally concur. Either we are full grownuniversity or a motley mob of pretenders. Let's go Zips.

I am surprised that no one mentioned the "hunkered down" mentality that JD is exhibiting.We have seen this flaw several times in the past. Let me remind you of some infamousformer Zips coaches. Do the names Gerry Faust, Lee Owens or Dan Hipsher come to mind?All of them reached a point in their career where surviving was more important than progressing upward, let alone winning. The head coach and his staff are in a defensiveshell that completely inhibits them from being productive. JD's staff has reached the "mustsave my job" mentality. None of them are thinking we play this game to win.Need proof? Nicely rotted under a red shirt since the Spring practice. Everyone connectedwith Zips football from the fan to the AD easily saw that Nicely was clearly the best playeravailable at the QB position. Still, the coaching staff squirrels him away for the future underthe pretense that he "needs seasoning". How the hell would Brookhart know? He is clueless.Need more proof? Shane Montgomery who led the hapless Miami Redhawks through FIVEconsecutive horrendous season is rewarded by JD when Miami finally sacked him.Akron's once highly productive and volatile offense disappeared.There is no zip in the Zips. Do not be surprised if Akron tanks all the remaining games.No, I am not a pessimist. I am a realist. The failure to sack Brookhart immediately afterthe CMU debacle will be part of Wistrcill's demise. A man either has stones or he does not.Wistrcill lacks stones. He is not going to grow a set any time soon. Its easier to kill themessenger.I stand with Mike Razor. The time to sack Brookhart was three weeks ago.

Sorry, ZTZ, you are beating a dead horse and your whining is falling on deaf ears.Truth is that Matt Rodgers was NOT coming around. Play after play he looked like a lost sheep. The college game is way too fast for him at least at this point. I for one had great hope for Rodgers.He was definitely my choice to be starting QB over Jacquemain. Matt just was not up to the task.Eventually even the terribly dimwitted UA coaches became aware of Matt's inability to pick up the reads.Late in the first half they had Nicely warming up on the sidelines. The fans where I sit were even thenspeculating that Nicely was going to play in the second half. And that was before Matt got hurt,All this leads to question just what kind of judgement abilities does JD posses? To me, it goes backto the first Jacquemain suspension two years ago. Since we now know it was for the same issues,(theft from teammates and a drug addiction), one has to wonder why CJ was not dismissed from the team then.This is a college football team. A team comprised of young men. This is not Mother Teresa's rehabcenter. The coaching staff and ultimately the university's lapse of judgement lead to this fiasco.The burden falls on Brookhart. It is the responsibility of the university to replace Brookhart ASAP.In my opinion, the fans clamoring two weeks ago for Brookhart's dismissal were right on target.

I totally agree. From what I learned tonight it should have been done right after the CMU game.Seems that most of the rumors about Cracker Jack-o are true. The idiot should never havebeen given a "second" chance two years ago. I lay the responsibility on JD. Bad, unwise, foolish,lame, self-interest decision on JD's part. JD needs to go. The sooner the better.

Great observation. I entertained the same thought. Nicely is physical and seems larger than Rodgers.Word I heard at half time is that Matt is finished for the season.So, who is Nicely's back up?From what I saw; Pat Nicely should continue as the Zips starting QB. He has my vote.

Just ended. Zips prevail 4-nil.Ampaipitakwong scores three goals and an assist. He will be one every one's team of the week.

Nice write up on Caleb Porter and Akron's Futbol team.Zips and Caleb get some good ink

The newest edition of Athlon's annual guess what team is under the pea is on your newsstands now.The Zips are their favorite to win the MAC and be the MAC's sole representative at the big dance.Senior laden Cant is a close second. Cant picked for an NIT bid. The rest of the league gets little love.EAST AkronCantBuffaloMiamiBowling GreenOhioWESTBall StateCentral MichiganEastern MichiganWestern MichiganNorthern IllinoisToledoActually, if Geno Ford mans up and either gets Chris Singletary under control or throws him off the team, Cant could be a formidable opponent. Singletary is a cancer.

Thought I'd chuck the link to what he was talking about into the mix.ESPN Shoot Around Link

Time-Warner channel 322. You can buy a one month subscription (or at least you use to be able to)for about six dollars.

Let's call it "insider" information since it came from the Zips scheduling coach (Rick McFadden).

The Zips will participate in the Glenn Wilkes Classic to be held in Daytona Beach, FLNovember 19 through the 22nd.While the first game is actually a home game verses Austin Peay, the first game in Daytona Beach will be against the North Carolina State Wolfpack.Two more games pit the Zips against Howard and Drake.I suppose most of us would rather have a tournament style as opposed to pre-determinedopponents. Count me as one.Recent check of airfare shows seats available R/T for less than $260.

Dan Peters, the best man in America to be brought on to the Zips staff.With Dan, a long time assistant at Sucklevania, leaving Cowlumbus for the greener pasturesof Zippyland tells me that not all is well in Mattaland. You can read into this job change that something is fishy down the Muskinghum.I personally have a great deal of love and respect for coach Peters. I cherish his return to Akron.Keith, you did us proud.Go Zips, Go Zeke, Go Trevor ... !!!!

No little birdie told me, so I will venture a guess. Rich McFadden gets a promtion to the coaching staff; maybe not to the post Jeff Boals held.Coach McFadden is one of the loyalest coaches in the program. Other programs are after himand they have offered him opportunities. That is fact.I predict that one assistant will be leaving the staff in the near future. Just a guess.

A truly sad passing. Barb is much loved, admired and respected by the Zips and fans.Not only was she LOYAL; she followed her Zips with a PASSION.I recall asking her about what concerns she possessed when Ken Lolla bailed on the Zips.Her response surprised me. It was a prophecy that came true. She simply said that Caleb Porter would quickly make us forget Ken What's-His-Name.

Zips down 2-0. Zips lose 2-0.

Indiana has a twitter account for posting about their soccer games.http://twitter.com/IUMensSoccerAt just after 8 PM they are reporting that they LEAD the Zips 1-0 at the half.

OK .. I surrender. Darned if I know how to login to this web site.It only rejected my attempt at giving it a security code at least ten times.Strangely it finally gave me an account. Now if only I could figure what and where to clickto get the video. what a rat's nest.Eight o'clock and still unable to get the video. I'm out. A waste of time. Go Zeke.

Personally I am deeply saddened by the loss of coach Jeff Boals.That loss was compounded last evening at the post season celebration jaunt held at the JAR.When coach Boals spoke he broke down in tears. His emotions showed. He fully realizesthat what I am about to write is completely true.In coaching, as in life, we often come to a point in our own life where we must make a choice.Usually the options are just two. To turn left or to turn right. To go forward or to turn back.It is rarely a positive choice verses a negative choice; although those occur such as when choosing to do evil This article is not about that kind of choice. Here I am looking at choosing one positive verses a different positive.A coach is a person who teaches another person or persons how to succeed. It is as simpleas that. A teacher, any teacher or mentor is a coach. We are all coaches most of the time.Let us not digress. This is about being a sports coach, particularly a college sports coach.There is no better example of the two aspects of coaching than that found in collegiate sports.Coaches coach to make a living; for personal gain; to win; to build character (all aspects ofcoaching directly affect the student's character and to a lesser extent the character of the coach).Some coaches deeply enjoy the satisfaction of seeing their players develop and producepositive results; usually measured in wins. Other coaches make the choice to follow a career path that leads to their own personal gain. The adulation and money associated with beinga coach at a major program that is hell bent on winning all the marbles.Few coaches ever get to that pinnacle though many try. Few programs ever vie for the crown.Those that do are led by men driven to be recognized as the best. And, the financial rewardsthat go with that success.Two years ago I sat in a bar watching the national championship game in men's basketballbetween Kansas and Memphis. The person sitting to my right is a former college great anda long time NBA star. He mentioned to me that there on the court were the best paidcollege players in the country. He meant it. He, too, had been a paid college player for a well known program that was quite willing to chuck ethics for the crown.Then there are the men who rarely obtain more than a passing moment in lime light. Coacheswho spent their lives coaching at a lesser program that will never play in the Final Four. Theybuild a life time of their players success stories. They and the men they mentored lead successful lives not tainted with cheating and the trappings of climbing over others for theirown personal gain.I can offer five success stories, even though there are several more, of coaches that builtsomething out of nothing. They left behind a legacy. First, John Wooden, who build a dynastyat UCLA by signing a vaunted recruit, Lew Alcindor. UCLA was up to that time never a major player among the bigs. Coach Wooden, a coach who most likely would never have gottento the bigs without that one recruit made UCLA a force in college basketball.Next was John Thompson at Georgetown. The Hoyas were for all practical purposes just that .. hoya.John changed the fortunes of Georgetown. He did not do it over night. It took years.Then there is Billy Donavan who took over a moribund Florida program and guided them to two national championships. Florida was never a national power. They were a joke.By now many of you are thinking , well, these are "big" name schools. They were small potatoeswhen these coaches started building those programs.Now, two men come to mind who made their unknown, as Georgetown had been, school a respected,feared and copied program. Jim Laranaga, who failed at Bowling Green, took George Masonto a Final Four. Coach Laranaga showed the mid-majors that it can be done. The other coach, arecent coach, that coached before most of you were old enough to enjoy college basketball isJerry Tarkanian. A man so successful with an obscure program that he was investigated year after year by the NCAA. They never proved a thing. In fact, a famous quip of coach Tarkanianwas, "I love transfers. They already have their new cars." Sadly, I fear for Coach Boals. I fear he chose the path of following the money. Akron, at best,can achieve the status of a Gonzaga. That is a lofty goal for a middle of the pack mid-majorprogram in a mid-major conference. There is only enough money to support one's family.No mid-major coach, not even Mark Few at Gonzaga is wildly rich.But, these mid-major coaches build a legacy that lasts well beyond their own lifetime. Theseare the coaches that truly earn the respect of their peers and the community they live and work in.I am proud to know Coach Dambrot. He sets the example for the young coaches he mentors.His progeny might not ever win a national championship. But, they will populate the officesof many, many universities before Coach Dambrot retires.Go Zips.

A call to the AK-Rowdies ... what plans are in place for a trip to Fort Wayne to cheer on the Zipsagainst mighty Indiana? I am sure coach Porter and his charges would love to see a huge turn out.

Cleveland State currently owes Akron a game at Akron on an uncompleted contract.Akron is not going to put that game aside and start a new contract. You can take that to the bank.Coughing up an owed game is tantamount to STOOPID.

Put it on YouTube, please.

Black is darn decent player, for the most part. I am sure he is at least up to "invited walk-on" statuswith the Zips.Looking at the Bolus ratings find the names Reegie Keely and Drew McGee. They were the othertwo players the Zips offered the scholarship Zeke claimed.Cameron Black has a fair ways to travel to get to their level. He sure has size and you can'tteach size. Then, too, size isn't everything. I think we can all name a couple of players weall would love to see make better use of their size.