Z.I.P.

I've wondered for a while why Belgium doesn't do better in Europe and international competition. Kompany, Benteke, the Hazards (Eden injured), Mignolet in goal and the Sunderland attacker (not in the listed pool). They should be a serious WC contender, but they never make it through. Will any of the BPL players be on the field for USA? What's the TV sked?

Fo' what it's worth: The Akron women's futbol team has its first recruit for 2014, Amy Dean, a midfielder from Cincinnati.

Darren Mattocks scored his second goal of the season for the Whitecaps, in injury time, putting away the dastardly Galaxy 3-1 in Vancouver Saturday evening. After being stopped by goalie Carlo Cudacini on a breakaway, Darren got the ball on the ensuing corner kick and as skinny as he is, manhandled Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez three yards from the right post, turning him and putting the ball past Gonzalez and a helpless Cudacini in net.

No, they gotta guard their household against the roving bands of looters in Greensburg. And who likes poi, anyway?

Well, I didn't make the trip to Ono's. The only Ono's I've been to is in the mall food court and I wouldn't give it a plug nickle. The one down Kapahulu way is very near Haili's Hawaiian Foods -- which is perhaps the best local food joint on the island. It's gotten more world press than probably any restaurant in the islands, and is not to be missed if you want real traditional island food. There is a tournament banquet, but I think it's limited to the teams. In 1990 (91?), Coleman Crawford's team took a trip to Germaine's Luau on the Leeward (West) coast of O'ahu. They had a great time except that it went down into the 50s that evening, and they didn't bring any jackets! Watching Coleman do the hula was the highlight of the trip -- since as I've said before, Akron managed to lose twice, despite leading both games with under a second to go in regulation. I'm trying to remember -- has Akron actually won a game here? Did they go winless last time also, in 2001? The press release today said this: Overall, the Zips are 4-1 against teams in the field, going 2-0 against George Mason, 1-0 against Saint Mary's and 1-1 against Boise State. I cannnot remember us ever playing either St Mary's or Boise State. When were those games? Huggins era?

Gozips is right on with his statement -- provided that, as I believe is the case -- Buddhism and Mormonism are branches of the Roman Catholic faith. Pretty sure the Italians and Thais I know voted for Mitt Romney. However, I must provide geographic support to the gentleman from Wadsworth, when he refers to the street fronting the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the famous Pink Palace the sure-fire home base for all Zips-related resort holiday merriment. That would be Kalakaua Avenue. Gozips is going to be in hot water with the alumni association of Kamehameha Schools, which includes close members of the Z.I.P. family. I think he will have to buy them all dinner at Haili's Hawaiian Foods, on Palani Street.

Where in the world is GoZips? I cannot believe he AND DaveinGreen have given Z.I.P. the scoop on the biggest news of the year (at least excepting the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson). Here's part of what this morning's Honolulu Star-Advertiser says, quoting our coach: "We are very excited to be in an ESPN-owned tournament for a second-consecutive season. The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic is a great tournament and once again consists of a very strong field. Like the Puerto Rico Tip-Off last season, playing in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic will allow our fans to travel to a beautiful location and see the Zips play against high-quality competition." Congratulations coach. The other teams in the event are George Mason, Boise State, Iowa State, Oregon State (possibly followed by the coaches vacationing bro-in-law), Saint Marys and South Carolina. All good competition. I know Dave, Cap'n and the rest of the gang will not want to miss out on a chance to follow the team to Waikiki Beach and UH-Manoa. Let's start our travel plans here.

Okay. I was able to read only this much: The beautiful game, the game played across the globe, the game embraced … well, pretty much everywhere but our own US of A,... Any writer wishing to engage readers might try first to avoid a put-down of potential readers!

I vote for the latter!

The most significant fact here may be not that Ohio State LOST to Tiffin, but that they were playing them at all. I recall when Caleb reported for duty at Akron, how some posters on this board (most not off the hard-core futbol set) got tied in knots over Akron playing a spring game against Rio Grande. I wasn't so upset, since those type games aren't considered "real" games, but more like scrimmages. However, since that time, you can see for yourself, that we no longer play Div 2 and 3 (or NAIA?) teams. Strange coincidence, but I passed an SUV yesterday in Honolulu with a big "Tiffin" sticker across the back window. Hard not to remember that!

Somehow! Somehow? Ambiguity Award Winner of the Day!

I turned on CNN tonight, and low and behold, the next stage in the evolution of Jason Taylor showed up on a panel show titled "(Get to) The Point". Only saw the last twenty minutes of the hour, but my advice is unless any publicity is indeed good publicity, Jason needs to be far more discerning about what jobs he takes. Five people (only two at most of whom are likely to be familiar to most viewers) trying to respond to impromptu news and social issues is the making of a cable access reality show. The most memorable line may have been "I'm a vegetarian, but I LOVE bacon". The good news could be that this show is scheduled to last only a week.

I don't have an opportunity to read a lot of what is on these board (unfortunately ), however, I thought you all would be interested to know that ESPN NBA draft honcho Chad Ford recently said that Zeke is a likely first round NBA pick. That's contrary to not only a lot of what I read here, but much from the "expert" blogosphere as well. Ford is an islander, like myself (teaches at BYU-Hawaii), and I'm looking to pin him down for a minute to talk, if I can find his 10-20. Wish me luck!

Kudos Shaka! I'm sure a lot of his friends (real ones, at least) advised him to avoid (UC)LA in the aftermath of Ben Howland.

Please inform us when football is moving in a worse position than currently, so we can all grab our hari-kari knives.

++ I'm looking forward to seeing where Reggie emerges. He could become another life-long assistant, but he's been a HC since his JC days, and I hope he gets picked up somewhere. He has a HC's temperment. On Bobby Hurley, this may be misinterpreted, but I wish him and the Bulls the best (I suppose Reggie created a good vibe, similar to Charlie Coles in Oxford). I had a friend who was a D-2 coach in Hawaii, and left to be an AD in CA. His first act was to name the just-graduated UCLA PG Cameron Dollar as his head BB coach. It was a successful choice. although Dollar only stayed a couple years, it brought needed publicity. Bobby Hurley? Instant recognition!

Are you referring to the Blair Walsh Project That broadcast made me lose a LOT of respect (and I didn't have that much to begin with) for CBS College Basketball coverage. These guys spend all season doing Big Ten and other High Major conferences, and then watch a few minutes of tape of the mid-major whose game they're broadcasting. No wonder we get no respect. They don't do their jobs! Maybe if Clark Kellogg had done the game, he at least would have remembered that we kicked butt on the team his kid plays for!

This just in: George Mason is the newest member of the Atlantic-10. And the only schools they will be able to compete with in basketball (immediately at least) are Duquesne and St Bonaventure. In my mind, the GMU move is over-exuberance left over from one final-four appearance. If Larranaga were still there, they MIGHT be more competitive, but it still looks like a bad decision, and a drop off for the overall A-10.

I hear that LeBron tweeted his kudos yesterday to "Florida Golf Coast".

OCCUPY MOTOWN, BABY!!!

Now why would you bring THAT up? Go Zips. Get a 20-point lead at the half!

I'd say they got hosed by their own strategy last night. No way they are going to beat St Mary's without any effort at transition. They played right into SMC's hands.

Dave, I am fully convinced of one thing -- to defeat VCU we must not only AVOID turnovers, we must CREATE! Zips gotta play better Deeee-Fence than the opponent!

Hoisten started two seasons at Garfield. He averaged 17.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.9 steals per game as a senior, and he was a second-team All-City Series selection. He averaged 8.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game as a junior. “Marietta wanted him and recruited him hard,” Garfield coach Harold Ickes said. “I don’t think he was content at that level. He wanted to try (Division I). Okay! Now I knew that name sounded familiar. Who woulda thunk, Garfield's basketball coach was a Bull Moose!

V. interesting! (And sorry for the late reply, I just saw this one) Wonder what Marcie Alberts is doing now. She was a fantastic combo guard for the Buckeyes, an all-American, who played on their national championship team. Could make a good college coach, if she wants it.