Z.I.P.

GAZip11? Is that you Steve-o? You don't get to go! Sigie says.

Guys, I'm as big a Zip fan as you'll find in the MidPac. But having seen Creighton and followed the Zips, I think the RPIs can be thrown out the window for this one. BOTH teams are playing MUCH better over the past two weeks. Why is ESPN showing Cannot vs Drecksel?

Wow! Sure brings back the memories from my own soph season Where does Ricky Brown sit on the list? He was my favorite Windex man.

Right on. That's what my old anthro prof, JP Marwitt used to call "sympathetic magic".

So there is a bright side to this hire. Smart aleck comment of the year (so far). Gotta give credit when it's due. One of the bright spots for the Gophers in 2009 was the improvement of the Gopher defense. This improvement was in large part to defensive co-coordinator, Kevin Cosgrove who joined the staff last off-season and made an immediate contribution to the Gopher program. When I spoke with Coach Cosgrove a year ago, he was one of the most controversial Gopher coaching hires, but in a short time, he has earned the respect of many fans. In the 2007 season, the Gophers had the worst total defense in the nation and ranked #119, Ted Roof turned that around in 2008 to finish #73, and Cosgrove was able to improve upon that even more to a #62 ranking. Cosgrove himself admits there is a long way to go, but it is certainly moving in the right direction. It IS good to see that there are some positives in the guy's resume'. Evaluating a coaching hire is a lot different than evaluating (or trying to evaluate) a recruiting class. Cosgrove certainly has enough of a track record to peruse. I'm curious about the portion of your response that I put in bold. Did you personally speak with him? Or is this copied from another article? BTW, Football Scoop finally has the scoop But as a side note, this link also has Tom Stacy taking the TE/RB job at Ashland. Holy cow! He sure wore out his welcome in downtown Greensburg in a hurry. Dave, can you keep us up to date on the situation on Boettler Road, please?

This is interesting! I remember back in (was it?) 2005, the year Akron was the only bowl eligible team left out of a bowl game, I checked it out then and as I recall we had 75 sophomores and freshmen on the roster. The only FBS school that came close to that was UCF with 72. Are we starting all over again? Do I need to ask this question?

Well THIS is certainly a surprise: Coach John Spencer envisions using Nagbe primarily in a center midfielder role where he can take advantage of his ability to hold the ball and support the forwards. Courtesy of Portland Timbers “He has super technique and has a great soccer brain,” Spencer said. “We’ve seen some glimpses where he moves the ball and his first touch is immaculate. But he’s coming from the college game to the professional level and it’s a massive jump.”

Sorry, I just saw this thread after posting the following to the Bracketbuster thread: back to the topic of the Blue Jays. Did no one else see this team take apart S. Illinois last Saturday on ESPNU? Watching the game, at first I thought it was just a conterpart to Akron disecting Central Michigan. However, SIU even missing about five players with injury or suspension is a much better team than what the bottom of the MAC West can offer up. This game should now be on TV -- too late for ESPN I'm afraid, but it should be one of the top BracketBusters matchups. The BlueJays center, Echineque (sp?) goes 6-8 and 270. It's going to be fun watching Zeke battle with THAT! I frankly have to think it will be a matter of whether Akron can stay hot from the perimeter (Hello, Nitro?), and then whether we can get offensive rebounds against Creighton's athletic post players. If I had to bet, I'd go with CU straight up, and I imagine the Vegas line will favor them by 3 or 4. I sure wish I could see it though. I envy those of you who get to plow your driveways to get to the JAR. Well, maybe not. Surf's up!

My congratulations to the Cap'n for his ability to psychically transform the UA Marketing Dept. However, back to the topic of the Blue Jays. Did no one else see this team take apart S. Illinois last Saturday on ESPNU? Watching the game, at first I thought it was just a conterpart to Akron disecting Central Michigan. However, SIU even missing about five players with injury or suspension is a much better team than what the bottom of the MAC West can offer up. This game should now be on TV -- too late for ESPN I'm afraid, but it should be one of the top BracketBusters matchups. The BlueJays center, Echineque (sp?) goes 6-8 and 270. It's going to be fun watching Zeke battle with THAT! I frankly have to think it will be a matter of whether Akron can stay hot from the perimeter (Hello, Nitro?), and then whether we can get offensive rebounds against Creighton's athletic post players. If I had to bet, I'd go with CU straight up, and I imagine the Vegas line will favor them by 3 or 4. I sure wish I could see it though. I envy those of you who get to plow your driveways to get to the JAR. Well, maybe not. Surf's up!

I wonder if any of Caleb's players (i.e., Zips) are part of that team.

At the half: 41-23 Zips. We need to win this by 40, send notice to the rest of the East. I'm starting to believe in Keith Dambrot's team. With tongue in cheek, I think they can now climb up to my 4th place pre-season prediction. But, I'll be watching the regular-season finale on ESPN2 with the hope it can still be for the regular season crown. Go Zips! P.S., can we petition the MAC to play @BG (Anderson Arena i.e.), at least twice a year?

Everyone, thanks for keeping us PacIslanders updated with the latest going-on in the Soccer Capitol of America. Looks like Gabriel might have some competition in the Akron soccer Olympiad coming in from South America! His club, Universidad Catolica is a perennial power in South America also. I remember that they played Real Salt Lake in SLC in RSL's first or second year. I think Cam Knowles was on the RSL team -- same summer they played Real Madrid on TV.

I wish I could count the number of times I've said that I was sure a coach wouldn't leave his current post. For most coaches I will absolutely agree wit you, but Porter is absolutely not your average coach. The man definitely marches to the beat of his own drummer (with the AK-Rowdies cheering in the background) so I would be stunned if he takes the UNC job. As a matter of fact I will send you $50 for a psuedo-nice dinner if Caleb is anyone else's head coach next fall. And to cut RootforRoo's disappointment in half for now, Docking is doing a heck of a job at Coastal Carolina, I just don't think he's done it for long enough to be a proven commodity which would be my guess what UNC is going to look for. We sort of had to take a chance an uproven coach when Porter was hired (thank God we did), UNC does not (and at this point we might not either when we need a new one - hopefully a long time from now). I think Docking will get a look in a year or two from some bigger programs because I expect he will continue his success, just not someone on the level of UNC yet. By the way, I saw a note on a Creighton message board saying it is the only sport in which they could conceivably win a National title. Maybe we have some more common ground for Bracketbusters? Who'd have thought we'd be the "haves"? Apparently that Creighton board head was not aware of the Dental School's absolute ownership of the "Root Canal Olympics" where the Jays have swept the "Bleeding Gum Awards" four years running. I'm extra-busy this time of year. Surf and Turf -- soccer season ya know. Anyways, its kind of ironic that Creighton poaches UNC's 22-year HC , since they were crying about Penn State stealing their own long-running coach just a year ago. The coaching vagaries in the NW -- did they play into DeAndre Yedlin's decision to abandon his "hometown" for the Midwest, Tank? It's been nearly a decade, BTW, since the Zips have made an appearance in the NW. I'd look for it to recur in the next 2-3 yrs. Someone in PDX has a nice pad waiting for Caleb's crew to land.

Anything on Lexa Green yet? Did coach get her LOI? -edit- Never mind, I see it on the other signing day thread. We should have the best defense in the MAC automatically.

There has never been a Medina player talked about on the Zips recruiting databases as far as I am aware of. Must have been Brianna Kanz of Medina's rival, Walsh. This girl's orthopedic surgeon should get an award. Four surgeries, three reconstructive rehabs? This girl's gotta be tough. Is she the perfect stopper? BTW -- she originally committed to the Portage gals. Must have taken the trip to the swamp before reconsidering.

Couple of details/notes of interest to posts yesterday/today: Coach Pfau has signed the captain of Walsh Jesuit's state championship team, a first-team HS all-Ohio MF/FB from Cleveland Inters. Any info on her, anyone? Andy Chiu has played all over the world, and was a member of Club America's academy team in Mexico City, according to info I've seen on the web. Come home Andy Chiu, Andy Chiu. Welcome to the Home of NCAA National Champions. Hope Jen is watching and interested. Bet coach Pfau is Brianna Kanz? UA already has some stuff up on her. That's the one, Thanks RFR44. I notice, nothing in yet from Lexa Green, the Neusport defender, who was very highly prized -- the best of the Vegas girls, and someone I've heard great things about from over here in Region IV.

You have it backwards, but it's been used. Akron Arsenal is one of the area's oldest clubs.

How can you not smile at this: D6MERIT:@zmnsk21 so after the 2005 superbowl win, is that when a kid from Ohio started to like the Steelers?! #orisitcuzthebrownsaresobad? Who's Zakuani rooting for?

Couple of details/notes of interest to posts yesterday/today: Coach Pfau has signed the captain of Walsh Jesuit's state championship team, a first-team HS all-Ohio MF/FB from Cleveland Inters. Any info on her, anyone? Andy Chiu has played all over the world, and was a member of Club America's academy team in Mexico City, according to info I've seen on the web. Come home Andy Chiu, Andy Chiu. Welcome to the Home of NCAA National Champions. Hope Jen is watching and interested. Bet coach Pfau is

Yes, I heard about this trip from the Above Named zip_me87. However I was, unlike most, not surprised. How can the work of Caleb Porter surprise anyone anymore? I'm just hoping for the sake of American soccer, that there is no training session with the Real starters -- Gente, PLEASE don't bring home any flopping skills learned at the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo! BTW -- I will be the first to sign up for the trip to the Basque Country, as soon as Caleb skeds Athletic Bilbao and Real Socieded. Eupa! BTW(2) -- Nice look on the blog Mike. Love the La Liga logo! World's best futbol!

There is something on Bigsoccer's Cleveland thread (what was the name of that USL team again, City Slickers or something?) -- they're supposed to re-start in 2012), saying the team would be playing at "Lebron's high school field" How many goals did HE score in HS? BTW -- How does the sale effect George Nanchoff -- was the whole club sold?

Apparently, someone missed the Vancouver Olympics. I'm sure they'll trade Teal for the Kid. Just tell them that's the deal!

It may be Nirvana, and I-Boy may be desperate, but neither of these guys is ranked in the top 100 kickers. in their class. And they're only #28 and 48 among punters. Do you call these "projects"?

So I hear. !Que revuelva la Rioja! Coach

Yes, with Darlington Nagbe in the hole. fknbuflobo, how about you organize a friendly between Bob Bradley's and Caleb Porter's players? I hope that one gets televised!