Z.I.P.

Hmmmm! As soon as I saw that last name I had to figure out where I remembered it from. As it so happens, Dick Kortokrax is Ohio's winningest all-time boys HS basketball coach at Kalida HS in Putnam County. And Alan Kortokrax was a 6-9 forward for OSU back in the early 80s. I wonder if Ryan is Alan's son or nephew.

Final Score: Galaxy 3 Chivas 1. Blair Gavin's substitute in MF, Paolo Cardozo scored for the Goats in the second half to make it 2-1, before Donovan scored his second for the final. Ben Zemanski was one of the few lights for Chivas again.

Blair Gavin is subbed at start of second half. Not a good night tonight, but hopefully he gets another shot soon. Also, Ben Zemanski received an undeserved yellow card late in the half, so is on minute-to-minute probation. Ben had CDCUSA's only shot on goal in the first half. And Landon Donovan puts the Galaxy up 2-0 very early in the second half with a breakaway goal -- looks like a failed offside trap by Chivas. Did I tellyou I HATE LAG?

What time is it in Los Angeles? It's Superclassico time! And for the "visitors", Chivas USA, the central midfield consists of former Akron Zips #18 Blair Gavin and #21 Ben Zemanski. Unfortunately, Blair gave away a ball in his defensive third, and then Ante Jazic gave Robbie Keane more room than he could have dreampt of, as the Galaxy have taken a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute. Ben looks good! Looking for him to break the scoring ice tonight. Wow! As I type Gavin provides another ball to L.A., and Keane puts the ball in the net again -- but the OFFSIDE flag is raised. Thank you!

Chivas USA defeats Portland Timbers in a matinee game at HDC today by 1-0 on a first half goal. Fox West Corona Extra Man of the Match: Ben Zemanski! (Second time in last three games). Zemanski is rapidly becoming the Goats offensive sparkplug. Had a couple scoring chances -- you have to think the one that he puts away is just around the corner. Darlington Nagbe started and played until around minute 75 for Timbers. Nagbe had one header opportunity that was held onto by keeper Dan Kennedy. He saw the ball very rarely before taking a seat.

Pardon my premature speculation disorder, but IMHO (not to take the position of HC from KD, but I haven't heard a word out of our head man on this subject), I can see no reasonable argument for not seriously considering Forsythe at power forward (as well as moving him to the 5 when Zeke sits). Having two MEN of 6-11 or above on the floor would throw contortions into opposing coaches (especially in the MAC) attempting to find a way of defensing either by himself. And it would make Zeke a better player, I think. For those who fear Harney or Tree getting fewer minutes, I would counter with the threat of Akron winning more games.

Based on the little I know about Pat Forsythe at this point, I still can surmise that he has the capacity to not just provide an impact first season, but to seriously upgrade one of Akron's biggest problems -- lack of rebounding! Let's all admit -- Zeke has been a monster defensively, and changed the style of virtually every opponent. but his play away from the rim doesn't allow him to get the number of rebounds we once assumed he would gather. Forsythe's presence will allow Zeke to be, if possible, an ever bigger defensive asset, and I expect his scoring to pick up in his final season as we all do. But a 6-11 Big Man to help out will be like still having the Serb on the floor -- but more so, as Cvetinovic (sp?) was smaller and not that consistent. Well on the other hand, Pat's just a freshman... Can we pencil him in for MAC Newcomer of the Year yet?

What I really loved was the look on the face of the Toronto coach. I believe he was "taken to hospital for evaluation"!

Hopefully...OK potato chips are still alive in Akron...no? I forgot to look last time I came "home".

Wow! Surprised to see John Spencer gone after all he's given to Portland football over the years in USL and now MLS. But the other reference on the artice was even MORE amazing!: Eric Wynalda taking a manager's job in whatever the USL is now called (Atlanta Silverbacks, a franchise that has already gone administration once). That is a real loss to Chivas USA, and those who have loved hearing him do their games on Fox West the past two years. Frankly, he's the best soccer/football broadcaster out there. Hopefully he can get his nose on the screen still, somehow.

Regarding Michael, I contacted Eric Bovaird the coach at Chaminade about his transfer. It appears that Akron was Green's only Division I offer out of Dublin Coffman, and had it not been made, MG would have likely ended up playing for Bovaird when he was the assistant coach at West Liberty College in Wheeling. Kind of makes you wonder just what Keith saw in this kid. I look for him to be a good D-II baller who will make a difference with the Swords. Watch for him in the Maui Invitational in 2013.

"Get that Big O to Lawsons in 40 hours!" I was shocked to hear just ten or fifteen years ago that Lawsons had closed all their stores in Ohio back in the 80s! Well, I guess this is proof that what goes around, comes around, if you just wait long enough. It's hard to believe -- Ten thousand Lawsons (Stations?!) in Japan!! And they're talking about eventually having over 100 in Hawaii. Anyone want to take bets on when it will return to Akron? More than 40 hours I bet! I worked at their warehouse on Kenmore Blvd. the summer before my freshman year in 1977.

Thanks for the warning. Now I won't have to go to the store for something to kill the roaches in my kitchen. I'll just toss that cover in there!

Back when the Sounders were in USL, Kitsap Pumas were essentially their "youth team", as they had no MLS Academy. Has Kitsap Pumas become a Class AAA version of the Sounders Academy squad(s)? Also noticed this on the site: Schmid also said the availability of midfielder Steve Zakuani (leg) remains week-to-week.

Somebody wanna let the rest of us in on who this character is?

That link does not inclue Akron's game @Notre Dame. What's up?

If I can find out what "FX" is, I'll be watching!

CD Chivas USA! The Goats played their best football of 2012 for about 80 minutes in defeating the Impact 2-1 last Saturday night at HDC. And the Fox Prime Ticket Man of the Match was our own Ben Zemanski! Ben played the most aggressive game of his career, leading Chivas in shots, testing Donovan Ricketts ferociously in the first half and providing space for new star Juan Agudelo. The announcers mentioned in his previous game vs Houston (edit: Make that the home loss to Real Salt Lake) that Ben was coming off a knee sprain suffered in mid-April. Ben and Blair Gavin both started and played 90' in that one. Blair did not see action vs Montreal. Zarek Valentin played an honorable defensive game, though not seeing much of the football. It seemed that the Fox announcers, including Eric Wynalda were playing down the return of 'Z' to the HDC, though they did mention more than once the reunion of Zarek and Ben.

I failed to notice anyone mentioning the biggest consequence of this action -- it probably opens up an (yes, an as in "one") extra spot in the 2013 NCAA tournament to be fought over by foolish mid-majors and the BCS dogs who will likely gobble it up.

The only thing I am upset about is the article this morning on MSN, stating that people in his "hometown of Cleveland" are still upset at his team selection. Sheesh to the Nth!!!

Well, as much as I hate to p-o the "glass half-empty" crowd, Keith Dambrot is still the coach of our alma mater, and I give him all the support I can. No other coach in the MAC is as highly regarded, and none is as loyal as Keith. And, I might add -- his comment about his value on the market forcing the university to further invest in the program shows his moxy. Perhaps he's sacrificing some of his own well-earned credits for the sake of the team. The guy does still own the school record for HBP, doesn't he?

More power to BW. No doubt he has thought this through for a while. Hopefully he stays at UA and gets his MA. That is a really good academic institution. Brian will be a success, he always has excelled.

Lee, you've made the exact same mistake as ESPN -- spelling Mike's name without the "k". He didn't get a lot of 'K"s in his Akron career, as I recall, being more of a finesse pitcher. Nonetheless, his name was and is Mike Birkbeck. And I thing, the only UA baseball games I ever attended were his OVC pitching outings at LJF. I'm sending out a msg to both Akron fans and our Hawaii alumni and fans of that other school in my town to meet for the CWS games at Varsity Grill off the UH Campus in Manoa. Since Ben Curtis failed to qualify for the US Open, fans of the Portage County school (when are mods going to grow up, and let us name them?) have no one else to cheer for this week. Fact is, success for any Akron area school is good for everyone. Good luck to Coach Stricklin's guys, they have as much (actually more) of a chance of winning this as Fresno State did in 2008, when they took gold.

Dave, How about doing Zn.o a favor and reminding Gozips of our web address. Please let him know we accept members of all political persuasions.

I'll be rooting for a Greek repeat of 2004. They need all the help they can get!