Z.I.P.

So IOW, he was just doing what Sweatervest did. Ahhhhh, following the great Suckeye legacy!

Zach, you're just trying to endear yourself to the board. Congratulations!

Any way you Akronites can get this guy to run for Mayor? He's gotta be the best thing to happen to the city in the past half-century.

Thanks Johnny and lilroodude! I had the Suburban League at least! Not sure if I remember him there though, as I was already in the Air Force in 84.

Folks, I just discovered this fact: Amato, 65, served as head coach at his alma mater NC State from 2000-06 and posted a 49-37 record while guiding the program to five bowl appearances. He led the Wolfpack to their first 11-win season in school history in 2002 and highest national ranking (No. 12) since 1974. This means Coach Amato once hired new Hawaii Coach Norm Chow, as Chow coached at NCSU in 2000. OKay -- let's get these two together again -- and the Zips on the plane to Hawaii!

You old timers, or insiders at WHS -- was this kid's father a HS star in the late 70s, early 80s? There was a Snowball in I think the Suburban League (Copley, Norton?) around that time. _____(Terry?) Snowball? Racking the memory cells. Doh! OUCH!

ESPN didn't show coach Bowden at all, but they did show daddy Kellogg in the second half. Apparently, however the announcers either didn't recognize him, or preferred not to advertise the competition as they never mentioned him by name. Now on to what was the most obvious thing about this game, namely THE REFS! Those guys were an embarassment to the MAC and to college basketball. I don't often comment on referreeing, as I have several friends who do that job, and I know it is difficult to put yourself in the spectators' bullseye. But, folks in this case, these three took any fun out of what was a great basketball game played by two very good teams. Rarely, if ever have I seen so many touch fouls called -- OK, most of the bad calls were whistled on the Bobcats, so some would say, "keep your mouth shut", but for Pete's sake, if these are the type of officials the MAC sends to such a big game, what do Toledo and Northern Illinois get? Remember the intentional foul call late in the game? HOW, HOW was that justified? And frankly, I didn't think the two-to-zero technical ratio on the little tete-a-tete between Zeke and Cooper was fair -- either Cooper or that knumbskull on the OU bench deserved one too. Key stat: Defensive rebounding by Akron -- for the first half and early second, Ohio got almost no offensive boards. That made a difference.

I wonder if anyone can tell us anything about these two Glenville HS players. (Sean Draper and Willie Henry) They are being talked about here in the islands, because they took their first visits to Manoa about six weeks ago. Appears they may be a package deal, and could go to a MAC school or Hawaii, if no offers from OSU/Pitt/Big Ten schools. Akron has offered both.

Dude! You're describing exactly what happened when I drove around Northridge in September, near the mall! Is that where you live? Only one thing they didn't have. But you can get some. Keep going, turn left at Catalina and proceed 2000 mi. You will eventually discover Okole hao!

In complete agreement with your non-reply!

Bring back Pete Franklin!

Would you consider, T-Bod? Nahhhhhh, seriously.

Luke did not get good reviews from the combine, and is at best likely a late 2nd rounder. I guess the fact that he made himself available for the draft indicates he doesn't intend to go back to England to play. Mattocks will join Nannie in Vancouver.

Will have to wait for FSC Highlights tonight. Is Thierry running full speed -- unlike his time in RedBull Land?

"If his name is called by Commissioner Garber Mattocks will join a burgeoning Akron Alumni player pool at Saputo Stadium. One that's grown so large at some point in the upcoming season the club may have to schedule a Zips Homecoming Day." Good news, for now at least, is my Hawaiian homeboy Chingie has decided he will not be retiring after all! End of drama? No chance. BTW, I was going to post the MLS sked, but Crew8 beat me to it. Here's the dates you all want to mark: Saturday March 24 and Saturday, Sept 1 Montreal @ Columbus. And for me -- June 20 Impact @ Chivas USA, the only West Coast visit for Montreal this year.

Ever here the saying, "there's no such thing as bad publicity"? This article would not have mentioned Akron at all before the Bowden hire. Be glad for the mention.

Well, if the US National Program players are turned over to the academies -- and the academies are expected to be fully responsible for their overall development 24/7, then they would also have to take over responsibility for their education off the field. It seems that this added expense would cause an even greater consolidation of top-level management. Would any clubs other than MLS academies be able to afford to take over this total responsibility for the lives of young soccer proteges? We're headed more and more to a system where only those players who are identified at 14 or 15 and placed into academy settings will be able to get the grooming to set them on a pro career path. And it seems now, more than ever, players are popping onto the radar of scouts at age 16-18. Look at all the new names on the residency roster who were not previously in US age-group pools (mostly hispanic kids, many new immigrants). It's hard to believe that the US youth program leaders would be willing to turn over this responsibility to the academies -- regardless of the perceived success/failure of the residency program. I can't imagine the residency system could be worse than whatever they have in mind.

Top Drawer has the news that apparently was inevitable, given conflicting personalities in US Soccer. I'm disappointed that the US youth program has taken another stop on it's never ending development. It seems every time the kids start to look world class, they have to undergo a new transition. Why wait so long after the World Cup? I don't get it. Those of you (no names, please! ) who have first-hand experience with the US Youth program may be able to provide your input to this move. I also wonder if it will have any effect on Caleb's recruiting. His position on the staff of the overall youth "team" should mean he's about as close as any NCAA coach to the top players as they move up with the national program.

Pardon me for not being more descriptive when I posted this late last night. Hopefully you got my gist, which was that since the Bowdens helped Huggins' career advancement -- therefore Huggins might feel obligated to pay-back. After thinking it over, I'm convinced Bob Huggins likely couldn't give a rat's ass about them, or us. Hopefully T-Bow will feel more obliged to the UofA -- and if successful, will stay longer than Bob did. On the other hand, I suspect both of them see the Country Road as their final career path. Oh well.

I watched an interview over the weekend with Bobby Bowden on FoxSports West that apparently was made just after his retirement. Then, in researching something Bowden said, I happened upon this article which describes how Huggins became Cincinnati basketball coach. Did anyone know that Huggy Bear and T-Bow were WVa classmates?

Why didn't Ben get the G.A. offer? Doesn't seem to make sense. Did he originally say he wasn't leaving, then change his mind?

I'm a little uneducated about how the HGP rule plays out in practice. Can someone give a short list of current MLS players with HGP contracts, just for an example. My uneducated guess is there aren't many (yet at least -- it will likely increase soon). Thanks and hauoli makahiki hou from da isles.

Pastry chef?

Tank, do you think there are any UNA PLAYERS who could play at Akron? Might they be headed Noth, too?

Nice! Well, dagnabbit. It's contagious!