UAZipster0305

"I don't think that was classy, but good luck the rest of the year" I am happy that I heard rob say that to luke. I was so riled up that I would probably have started a fight with any jerk I saw out wearing OSU gear at the bars tonight. That blitzing and those deep throws in the fourth quarter were classless, but that's what we deal with standing behind a bad program playing on a saturday against classless cheating program corrupted by shitloads of money. As much as I dislike OSU, I disagree. And not because I am so strongly anti-iCoach (which I am) but because as the opposing team, it is our responsibility to compete. Fickell did nothing wrong, and. I would say that regardless of who our coach is. Fickell has one chance and is a long shot to make himself a full-time (not interim) head coach. He needs to do what he feels is necessary to convince skeptics of his ability as coach, earn the respect of his players, and prepare the team for the season. D1-A isn't a youth league where you have to worry about hurting kids' feelings and having them get discouraged thus missing out on life skills such as leadership and team work because they lose interest and no longer participate. In baseball, this would be a minor league PROFESSIONAL level. With iCoach's ~half-million dollar salary, he should be the last one to complain. And by doing it on TV after getting beat that badly, it looks that much worse. It's not like iCoach did anything at any point throughout the course of the game to show that our team was there to compete and make an attempt to win. The bland play calling and not going for it on 4th down when we still had a chance to make it competitive in the 2nd quarter was evidence of that. Essentially, the read-between-the-lines interpretation of the comment and our approach to the game was that that we were there to pick up a pay check and let OSU prepare for their season so long as we make no attempt to win and they don't embarrass us. This incident guaranteed that we didn't leave with our dignity. Nobody expected us to win, so all we had to do was show up, play hard, try to make it competitive, and be good sportsman. We definitely showed up and most of the team played hard, but iCoach failed to make an attempt to be competitive and was not a good sportsman.

Until you present data or a reference, you are no different than ZachTheZip. If I wanted non-stop propaganda with no facts, I'd listen to Rush or Hannity. I'd like to think that most of us here are better than that.

trimmy, The Hiram game is part of the regular season. It is scheduled as the second game of the season right after the team gets home from Mississippi. The preseason exhibition game is against John Carroll. When I asked "why Hiram"? I was told to look up Marion (Ind.) College. Last year or recently they nearly beat Butler. Butler is playing them again this year. Remember Findlay taking down the mighty Suckeyes? Thad Matta does. Coaches lose jobs losing these filler games. The Hiram game will allow the coaches to fix problems discovered at Mississippi State. The preseason is for training. Your citing Marion and Findlay seems to indicate we have a lot to lose and very little to gain. Again, why Hiram? I wasn't being sarcastic about liking every other game on the OOC schedule either. Even YSU and Duquesne are good match-ups for local interest.

If Hiram is part of the preseason, fine. However, I don't like it at all if it is a regular season game. We couldn't even find a Division II program to play? Otherwise, a, dare I say, Fair and Balanced?, schedule that will prepare us for the conference and post-season. Good job, KD.

Bravo! Kudos! These guys are good beyond my wildest expectations. The Big 10 and ACC both had terrible out of conference opening weekends (http://www.collegesoccernews.com/index_files/Page12520.htm), so I think we have a great shot at repeating this year. Look out for Louisville though! I think they just displace Wake Forest as an annual contender. It amazes me how well Ken Lolla has done and yet (to my utter amazement), we are much better off with Coach Porter.

Nothing against Akron, but if you are comparing Akron to Pittsburgh's urban decay!?!....you have lost your mind. You have obviously not been to Pittsburgh in this decade. Pittsburgh is home to NHL, NFL & MLB, plus Duquesne and the University of Pittsburgh. Consol Energy Center-of the Penguins is brand new, PNC Park, Heinz Field, and the Petersen Event Center are all newer. The Rivers casino is brand new, and is awesome. They have beautiful waterfronts, Duquesne and Monongahela Inclines, Zoo, Aquarium, Conservatory, Botanical Gardens, Station Square and the Stript district. Pittsburgh is the world record holder for bridges (446) within city limits, beating out Venice, Italy, the previous record holder by 3 bridges. I would not lump Pittsburgh in with your urban decay examples. Amen, Dr. Z. Take it from someone who has lived there for 6 years, Pittsburgh is awesome. To your list, I'd like to add: Commercial areas of the southside and the waterfront, The neighborhoods of Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Highland Park, and Oakmont (home of Oakmont CC, one of the finest golf courses in the world and host to more major professional tournaments than any other), The bike trails that go up and down all sides of all the rivers including a trail that goes continuously to Washington DC (www.atatrail.org...I made the ride 3 summers ago), Highland, Schenley, Frick, and Riverview Parks, The beautiful campus that is Carnegie Mellon University (I'll be an alum in a month), The Airmall at PIT airport, which is huge and was built to be a hub for US Airways before they moved to Philadelphia in 2006, A hub for MegaBus, New home for a Google campus, The City of Champions (2 Super Bowls and 1 Stanley Cup with the best player in the NHL in the last 5 years), No housing bubble in the last recession, and A national center for healthcare, education, and research. I would say Akron is second and about 5-10 years behind Pittsburgh in modernizing as one of the nicest and most technologically advanced of the Rust Belt cities.

As things look right now, tickets to both games should be easy to get. Chapel Hill is the easy choice since you will be right there. The statium is in the middle of campus with little parking. The best college football setting I have ever seen. Be prepared to walk a lot. UNC fans are a bunch of babies and be prepared to want to punch some of them in the face while you are there, but hold back from doing so. Franklin Street uptown is a cool scene. Lots of hot girls walking around. Wake is a much different atmosphere. Stadium is not on campus but the non parking pass parking is real good across the street at the basketball arena. There are some bars across the street from the BB arena that are good enough if you don't want to tailgate. The BB lot isn't the best place to tailgate. The stadium is about the size if Info so all seats are real good. Games not sold out so you can buy a ticket. Sit on the Wake side on the end near the new scoreboard as the sun is brutal on the visitor's side. Wake fans are Ivy League type people as Wake is a great school. Old money people who never get too excited or too down. They clap politely. Since I have no school loyalty and just want to watch college football, Wake is the choice for me. It is also an hour closer to my house than Chapel Hill. Lots of hot 60 year old women walking around. It all depends on what you want to do. GP1, please define what a hot sixty year old woman looks like. Post pixs if you can. Being sixty-eight myself, I find that women in their forties are the ones I lust for. You are just an old troll pervert. Jane Fonda still looks good. Linda Carter sill looks good, Jacklyn Smith is still outrageously gorgeous I think all if them are aat least 60. Not sure though. I guess what I'm saying is if you are located in Hollywood and have a lot of money and freinds that know people , you may have a very miniscule chance of finding a hot 60 year old Suzanne Somers perhaps?

Depends on the primary motivator. Our basketball facilities are average at best yet we have the best team in the league. Our soccer facilities are probably worse than our basketball facilities yet we win national championships. I have yet to see a building make a tackle, complete a pass or go for a long run. I beg to differ, GP1. Aside from the JAR, the other facilities available to the basketball players (and that are shared among all sports) are tops in the league. Granted, the lack of a sparkling new or even standard bowl arena is a big limiting factor. However, the recruits come because of KD as a coach and person and that the program wins. Nothing recruits better than a winning program with a solid coach. I will never disagree with that. Our soccer facilities are among the best in the country, not just the league. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, GP1, because you are a football guy (and likely not that interested in soccer), and I assume you have not seen the new stadium yet. Creighton might be the only program with a better overall stadium. (Google it.) I was at UNC last year when we demolished the Tar Heals, and even with their tradition-laden woman's program that has won 10+ national championships and perennial top-5 men's program, our new stadium is nicer. There are many factors, but the facilities can contribute positively (or negatively) to the fan experience. The soccer recruits LOVE that the game atmosphere is like a European game and is unique in college soccer. That dynamic is a unique interplay between the fans and the facilities. Hence, the facilities are a large basis for the culture of a program and its success. Along with what I judge to be a great leader in Coach Pfau, our woman's program continues to improve (we just beat Michigan). I believe a lot of that is due to the gorgeous facility, and the elite players it allows us to attract. How many programs exist that are annually competitive for national championships yet have sub-par facilities? If you can name a small handful, I'd be amazed. In converse, consider: GaTech in baseball, Georgia in tennis, Kentucky, Duke, UNC in basketball, Akron, Creighton, and SMU in soccer, Arkansas in track...etc. I could go on. Bottom line, though not the only or most important factor, facilities are a very important component of establishing and maintaining a winning program. Have you been to the other MAC schools to see their basketball facilities, indoor practice fields, training equipment, basketball suites, etc.? You act as though other MAC schools don't invest in facilities. Toledo just spent millions on a Savage Hall enhancement, including training facilities. Most schools have IPFs these days that are just as good as Akron's. Can't has had one for 20 years. OU's b-ball arena, already one of the best, is getting several million in updates. Their weight training facility is much larger than Akron's. I would say Akron's facilities, now with InfoCision Stadium, are on par with many other MAC schools. Exactly. It's a nuclear arms race. Facilities are important. And GP1, why do you think we have players who don't want to win? I think the only program you could even begin to question this for is the football team (yes, I know this is a football forum). With a coaching change followed by a 1-11 season, losing to a D-IAA program, and the number of formerly rostered players leaving, did you expect morale to be high? I wouldn't be so quick to call our kids losers...the circumstances they have played through have been terrible.

I have said this before and I will say it again. Buckzip came to be because the OSU boards were around long before the UA board. My first attempt for my name was Zipbuck. It was already taken. True story. I am not someone to add numbers to my logon. Being a lazy person with a bad memory I Decided every site I go to I will use the same name. On the Browns board I am Buckzip, on the Cavs board I am Buckzip. It's just easier for my little mind to remember 1 logon. If anyone should be offended by my name, it should be OSU. After all, I have Zip in full in my name. I only have Buck as the OSU part. Buckeyezip sounds too odd. Sorry to sound harsh as you are a good guy and fair here. But most of this BS has nothing to do with the game. There are more OSU bashing posts at this place than there are OSU/UA football talk. I would love to talk football, that's what I'm here for. To talk UA football. Believe it or not. If I was here for any other reason, I would be starting threads about them. But there is little room between all the BS. As soon as I gave my opinion on matchups, coaching, etc, I would get attacked. Not playing the victim, just being realistic based on experience. This was totally in jest, BuckZip. I went out of my way to indicate that I was just joking around. The theme of my entire post is that we should all accept the circumstances and relax. I wasn't calling you out either. Sorry if you were offended.

Setup with a keg outside the gate before the game and have extra cups? That should attract plenty of these ZipsNation animals.

At what point is ZipWolverine (notice, not WolverineZip...just kidding, BuckZip) gonna step in and balance this mess out? We really need another voice of reason. I can't wait until this game is over. The heated discussion is pretty unnecessary considering our prospects for a win. To us, tOSU is the big brother that beats us in everything (but not soccer) by virtue of having more resources. Is it any surprise that there is some built-up tension? Let it go, people!

Depends on the primary motivator. Our basketball facilities are average at best yet we have the best team in the league. Our soccer facilities are probably worse than our basketball facilities yet we win national championships. I have yet to see a building make a tackle, complete a pass or go for a long run. I beg to differ, GP1. Aside from the JAR, the other facilities available to the basketball players (and that are shared among all sports) are tops in the league. Granted, the lack of a sparkling new or even standard bowl arena is a big limiting factor. However, the recruits come because of KD as a coach and person and that the program wins. Nothing recruits better than a winning program with a solid coach. I will never disagree with that. Our soccer facilities are among the best in the country, not just the league. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, GP1, because you are a football guy (and likely not that interested in soccer), and I assume you have not seen the new stadium yet. Creighton might be the only program with a better overall stadium. (Google it.) I was at UNC last year when we demolished the Tar Heals, and even with their tradition-laden woman's program that has won 10+ national championships and perennial top-5 men's program, our new stadium is nicer. There are many factors, but the facilities can contribute positively (or negatively) to the fan experience. The soccer recruits LOVE that the game atmosphere is like a European game and is unique in college soccer. That dynamic is a unique interplay between the fans and the facilities. Hence, the facilities are a large basis for the culture of a program and its success. Along with what I judge to be a great leader in Coach Pfau, our woman's program continues to improve (we just beat Michigan). I believe a lot of that is due to the gorgeous facility, and the elite players it allows us to attract. How many programs exist that are annually competitive for national championships yet have sub-par facilities? If you can name a small handful, I'd be amazed. In converse, consider: GaTech in baseball, Georgia in tennis, Kentucky, Duke, UNC in basketball, Akron, Creighton, and SMU in soccer, Arkansas in track...etc. I could go on. Bottom line, though not the only or most important factor, facilities are a very important component of establishing and maintaining a winning program.

I sadly agree with sentence one. Facilities don't win games. Players win games. We need to get players who want to win and not come to UofA with the primary motivator being facilities. Facilities don't win games. Facilities win recruits who win games. Every player wants to win, but they want to do so under the auspices of a tradition-laden, name brand program and if not an option, then they will take a place like ours that has some of the finest facilities of any school in the country. No other MAC school has this advantage. Unless there is a train wreck of a season with a coaching turn-over, a 1-11 season, or a loss to a D-IAA program, the recruits will come just for the facilities. See the past two seasons...that's why the recruits have been mediocre.

4 wins does NOT get iCoach a contract extension. 4 wins gets him another guaranteed year as coach with the contract he has. Extensions will be granted for fulfilling objectives set forth by the university and athletic department administrations such as winning the MAC and getting to and/or winning bowl games. GP1 could be our coach and we'd still get 3/4 wins every year because it is the MAC. Our facilities alone relative to the rest of the conference should have us getting 6 wins in a down year.

While a game that ends in a tie is often held akin to kissing your own sister, this game tells us that once again Caleb has put forth an amazing group of young players. Not only is Creighton ranked tenth they are a veteran side that only lost two players from their NCAA tournament caliber program. The Zips need a huge turn out of AK-Rowdies for the Cleveland State match next Saturday. Be there or transfer to cant. I love it!

Anything over 4-8 and I'm eating crow.

Anyone have a final score?

Huge win! Way to go, ladies!

The MLS will likely never be one of the top 4 soccer leagues in the world due to the investment this country puts into the four other major professional sports. However, I could see us growing to be in the top 10 and perhaps even the top 5 soccer leagues in the world behind the EPL, the Bundesliga, La Liga, and Serie A. Best in the hemisphere and top 5 in the world isn't bad for a league that may never be in the top 4 professional sports leagues in this country. Because of this, the MLS Commissioner has a very difficult job.

Demonstrates a really distorted perception of reality too. Pot meet kettle.

Please provide pictures for us out-of-towners when the construction is finalized. Thanks in advance to anyone who obliges.

Is DiG Terry Bradshaw?

+1

I agree, ZtZ. We don't have to submit to OSU because they are the biggest BCS gig in the state. If there is ever a time that their programs are consistently down for a few years, they will lose the casual fans...especially if there is another BCS school doing well. That's just how it works with casual fans. And with all the crap going on now with the football program, this could be one of those times. There was no buzz for OSU football throughout the state with John Cooper at the helm when they'd finish in the top 20 after losing to Michigan and another Big 10 school every year and go to a non-major bowl game. That's why he was fired. He had a season or two in the top 5 and still managed to lose to Michigan. And how many of you would have said that we'd never win a National Championship? Especially given the poor men's soccer seeding in 2005 and the game against Northwestern being moved? I was pissed, but I don't think I said never. Some alumni didn't buy into Coach Porter's plan to get the top recruits to Akron either...and it happened. Cincy being in C-USA before the Big East carries very little weight. C-USA is a mid-major just like the MAC, albeit slightly better but still a mid-major. And Captain, your evaluation of the quality of their basketball program is inflated...they had some good years in the '90s with Nick van Exel and regularly made the Tournament with Huggins in the early and mid part of the last decade. How is that any different than us now? They won a few Tournament games?...Okay maybe, but I feel we are now on the verge of doing that ourselves. And if we do the next two seasons with Zeke, are we comparable? No? Oh, that's right, the arena issue...would the Big East overlook that if it were on the drawing board or there was a timeline to replace the JAR with a downtown arena? I think so. Cleveland is dying for a winner...hence the lingering bitterness about Lebron leaving and fans interest in the Indians when they are barely competitive for a playoff spot. Being competitive in the Big East would give us the Cleveland media market...40 miles away or not. How many times has the argument come up about Akron and Cleveland being contiguous? Although I disagree, the consensus here is that when it comes to the media and sports, Cleveland is Akron-Canton and Akron-Canton is Cleveland. I feel most of the negative arguments about the Big East prospects are due to the stigma of our athletic history as a university and of northeastern Ohio sports in general. Snap out of it. This is hardly the same university any of us went to (and I graduated fairly recently in 2005) thanks to Dr. Proenza. I think we've turned the corner.