Z.I.P.

Sheesh! UCLA, #21? They bring in the best new goalkeeper in the country (Earl Edwards), the star of the U17 team (Kelyn Rowe) plus all-everything Victor Chavez and Munoz (sorry for the lack of a tilda), the Real Madrid youth, and they're #21, because they had "limited needs"?? If Jorge Salcedo can't take this team to the Final Four, he can't coach. But he can definitely recruit. Eder Arreola, pre-season Hermann favorite. Maybe they're downgraded (word of the week!) because they failed to get any Akron transfers!

Coach GZ is quite the taskmaster! The CSU story quoted their coach as saying their ball possession game left a lot wanting. Here's what our side is saying. Sounds like the new ladies are already contributing quite a bit. BTW -- WTF happened to GoZips.com?? I waited ten minutes, and all that downloaded was a list of articles on the left half of the screen, and the right side had nothing but a twitter feed for Zippy! No links to teams or anything else! Is it undergoing another 6-month "rebuilding" season? Apologies to you-know who!

Sounds like coach McFadden ought to be able to work with this kid, having come from similar circumstances. Toledo board says that Michigan, Purdue and Cinci were interested in his QB talents, but no indication they offerred, possibly because they saw him leaning toward bb -- where he was coached by his father. There was also talk that Dayton was pursuing him for basketball. Looks like another tall sharp-shooting guard to add to the new stable of up-scale athletes for Dambrot. He put away 66 treys last season for Elida.

You always wonder how a "West Virginia HS Defensive POTY" ends up with the Zips. Now you know...he has "baggage." Add him to the long list of too-good-too-be-true Zip recruits. Marcus Sanders...EJ Lilley...Nate Robinson...David Harvey...Derrick Tarver... My favorite name for the list of "never-played-a-game" superstars in blue and gold: Mike Tracy. Halfback from Eastern PA, circa 1981-82. Runner who broke Tony Dorsett's HS rushing records (may have been at Upper Darby HS, too). Akron was in play because the kid was listed as 5-4. Couple weeks before school, word come down, he joined the Army. Now, let me tell ya bout Derrick Tarver... He played, excelled, but played for the wrong coach at the wrong time! More on Mike Tracy. It was Marian, Pennsylvania 1980, according to this "History of the Big-33 Game" article. Would have put him in 1981 freshman class, if he had arrived.

You always wonder how a "West Virginia HS Defensive POTY" ends up with the Zips. Now you know...he has "baggage." Add him to the long list of too-good-too-be-true Zip recruits. Marcus Sanders...EJ Lilley...Nate Robinson...David Harvey...Derrick Tarver... My favorite name for the list of "never-played-a-game" superstars in blue and gold: Mike Tracy. Halfback from Eastern PA, circa 1981-82. Runner who broke Tony Dorsett's HS rushing records (may have been at Upper Darby HS, too). Akron was in play because the kid was listed as 5-4. Couple weeks before school, word come down, he joined the Army. Now, let me tell ya bout Derrick Tarver... He played, excelled, but played for the wrong coach at the wrong time!

At Marshall is a D-I opponent and we likely get a home-away with them. They are a familiar name with Akron fans from before they jumped from the MAC to C-USA. I like this addition. So, we have back-to-back games versus the Fighting Irish? And, I hope Zeke doesn't take GoZips' comments personally. No offense intended, I hope.

I think the only unfortunate thing is that the Bill Buckner bobblehead was unavailable to play Omar Bravo, on the "through-the-legs" dummy play. But the Ryne Sandberg bobblehead did a credible job as a stand-in. I mean the Bill "Nutmeg" Buckner bobblehead.

That HAS to win some sort of Youtube award! AND, Credits Starring in order of appearance: The Kansas Jayhawk mascot, as Birahim Diop White guy in black suit, as Roger Espinoza Ryne Sandberg (1984 MVP), as Omar Bravo Emeka Okafor New Orleans Hornets #50, as C.J. Sapong and playing both Teal Bunbury and the Teal Bunbury bobblehead...Himself!

All I can say is, if those are close to the MLS' rankings...Someone's going to get a HUGE pick-up in Barson! Hard to imagine him being outside the top-5.

I think everyone had a case of the Mondays yesterday. The market was down 513 and it doesn't look any better today. Sending my sympathy to all members of the investor class, from those of us in the working class. And one other thing that should be made clear. Akron Zips:

You just did. And, you're right...perfect speed and direction. Actually, it was a very nice series of passes between Darlington and Chabala to set up Chabala's score. Also, you had to love, or at least I did, Portland crushing the Galaxy 3-0 in front of their awesome home crowd (2nd only to the Sounders faithful)...Galaxy's first loss since May 1, I believe. I just gotta love ANY time the Galaxy lose! Yeah, baby. Go FCDallas tomorrow -- two-in-a-row??

You clearly don't watch many cable TV news programs. Damn, I was going to mention something about Colin Cowpaddy, but when you mention cable TV...

Beat me to it! 34th minute. Great to see Teal back in the starting lineup tonight. after this performance, hope to see him start more often. I don't know about his on-the-field performance -- I think Sporting has been on TV once this year? BUT -- he's in that damned Dick's Sporting Goods commercial every time I turn on my TV!

Did 72 Roo say "Mahalo"? De nada! Have another Diamond Head lager Me ke Aloha

I just wondered -- is Winston Austin stilll playing in this league? Knee slapper for the "in-the-know". Okay, perhaps no one besides Zip37 will remember this trivia answer Winston Austin was NE Ohio's answer to Gates Brown. He was a prospect who spent most of his 20s and 30s in the Mansfield Reformatory. By the time he got out he was too old to get picked up by any ML team, and this was before the Pioneer League came into existence. He played in the (what the heck was it called??) Greater Akron Baseball League (??) I think in Medina. Winston led the league in home runs, and I think batting, every year I can remember. This was in the 1970s. The league had a team that played at Green HS. --Edit-- The story above was what I had been told back when I was a teenager. I never saw Winston play, but I did a bit of research and found no evidence he was actually in jail, so I apologize to the family (looks like he passed away recently, sorry to hear that). The league was the Greater Akron AA Baseball League. It may still be in existence?? Also, Scott Fletcher, the ex-ML catcher played in the league -- I played golf vs Fletcher of Wadsworth HS for Green at Mayfair back about 1975. Did they dig up all of Mayfair?

I'm not sure what to make of it either. I know this. We may not win the mac, but the schedule is set up for us to do well if we take advantage of the opportunities presented to us early in the season. If we can just beat Temple the second game, we could set ourselves up for a good start to the season the first five games, carry that momentum into a favorable home stretch and then who knows what could happen. Can anyone remember a more favorable schedule the first half of the season? I hate to use the cliche the season is riding on one game because it isn't that simple, but I really think the Temple game will set the tone for the remainder of the season. It's all right in front of us if we can just take advantage of it. There are a lot of good reasons to pick against the Zips, but it is still the MAC and stranger things have happened. Why not us? This is the smartest thing GP-1 has said today. Well, I haven't been listening to everything, but my opinion is...beat Temple -- a team with I think fewer returning starters than any team in the league -- and Akron has a chance of being .500 or better in the MAC. Lose that one, and the odds increase hugantically. Or gimungously, WEYP.

The correct link. Does this mean we're in the Top 102? Yippee!

Agree. I was (am) happy for Teal and hope that he finds his way back to being a starter soon. His bobblehead celebration was pretty cool. I'm jealous of the SKC fans...I want a Teal Bunbury bobblehead. EDIT: Teal bobblehead They haven't lost since May 21st! Pretty amazing for such a mediocre collection. They must be playing a LOT of MLS East teams! And I think the Livestrong Stadium opened about June 1? That ended their road captivity of umpteen games to start the season.

Alabama's cheaper than SoCal. Not that I need to state that! Anyone going, keep us updated on the local flavor, i.e., where to find the best reptile zoos.

Now that's what I am talking about...LOVE for the ZIPS OK, I haven't tossed in my 2c on the rankings till now. I can't see any reason to disagree with the Professor's Top Four -- those four are a good distance above the next group in my opinion. Until they prove themselves undeserving, I have to put last year's top and final two at the top again, though it's to me impossible to separate Akron and Louisville. Then if you look on paper, Jorge Salcedo probably has the best group of players across the field and onto the bench. North Carolina returns most of another really good team. I wouldn't mind penning those four into the College Cup, but the preseason is just a bit premature. Maryland, Indiana, Duke, SMU and Creighton are all more than capable of crashing the party. I also look for improvement from MAC teams, with WMU and BG having excellent recruiting classes. Maybe Western or NIU can sneak into the top 25.

ESPN calls her a four (PF). I've seen 5-10/5-11 ladies who are able to be great rebounders in the mid-major level. Hopefully she gives a good game at both ends and can spot up from outside. Apparently coach Kest has finished her I-coach era and now has the people to play her style of game. This is a big season coming up, the team needs to continue improving and become an East contender into March. Go get 'em Wahine Zips!

I took Tennis 101 from young coach Jim Tressel (circa 1978). Hope your teacher fares as well...

Can you help me with my grip? I seem to have more control if I loosen my right hand on the backswing, but that causes me to lose distance. Thanks.

And what makes you think I need larger than XL? This is Z.I.P., not Gozips!

I usually delete e-mail ads, but decided to click on the Clearance Sale ad from BigSoccer store. Low and behold, a new (I've never seen before) T-shirt design for the 2010 NCAA College Cup champion Akron Zips. It's $9.99 -- and sorry, but they only have XL remaining. But it's new, all new. And I got mine.