Z.I.P.

Unfortunately, Cal has drawn first blood in 31st minute. We will see how this team responds to being down for the first time this season! Avalos scores for Cal! Assist by Jones! with 14:47 left in the first half from about 15 yards, inside the corner of the penalty area (from Cal Twitter)

BTW -- if you weren't watching -- Andrew Souders took a ball off the goal line in each of the two games for the USA, to preserve the 2-1 win over S. Korea and the scoreless draw with Brazil. His defensive efforts against Brazil were worthy of Player of the Game for the Yanks. Unfortunately the USA, despite having a two man advantage for 20 minutes, could not sustain an offensive attack vs the South Americans, and are tied with Turkey at topof the tourney table. They play Turkey on Sunday 7 PM EST on Fox Soccer Channel.

My fave: Nutmeg -- Putting the ball through the five hole. Not just the keeper's though, any opponent. I remember the crowds at the Coliseum would shout when the Force did it.

Wow! I gotta tell ya, I've been betting against UNC since last year's quarterfinals! They sure find a way to move on.

Right. But take a look at the link again. It says 5:30 and 8 PM. I can only assume that is local (i.e., PST) time, not EST. I will check what UCSB says, but repeating, the second semifinal would be 11 PM in Akron/NY. That is typical NCAA stupidity.

So, what's your reaction to the World Cup decision? Well sounds like some rich Qatar businessmen "donated" some money. I'm a bit surprised though, I mean both of our countries' leaders are Muslim, should be a tossup. Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh are muslims? Wow! As for reaction, yes, FIFA needs a back-up plan alright. And Sepp Blatter won't be getting any Nobel Peace Prize votes from the USA (I think that like the Heisman, laureates get a vote, no?) Qatar is a country of 800,000 full-time citizens, and a like # of foreign worker servants, built (Doha, the capital, where most of the population sits) on land reclaimed from the sea. It's a floating oil derrick, for Pete's sake. And one which will not understand or acknowledge democracy in our lifetimes. Similar to the Beijing Olympics, only without established infrastructure. I just hope they don't expect non-Arabs to fill their air conditioned stadiums (i.e., before they disassemble them for gift to Egypt and Libya). Russia? Bit of a surprise for those who were paying attention to many unknowing US "experts", but Russia/Qatar were considered favorites leading up to the vote by many European and British media. Still, a shocking outcome. FIFA deserves international investigation, not any prizes. Hope the Panorama (BBC) expose' shows up on US telly.

If you look at the Championship website on NCAA.com, an autograph session is listed after semifinal #1. Wow! I just noticed this. Do you mean to tell me that the games are being played at 8:30 and 11:00 PM EST?? That sounds like a MAJOR screw up by the NCAA, if it's true! Have they ever heard of PUBLICITY? Would they schedule the NCAA basketball semis at that hour? On the other hand, it gives me i.e., us almost a total additional day of wine appreciation on Friday. Now I may have to readjust my schedule.

The Bottom Line - Akron is unbeaten in their last thirty-eight home games at Lee R. Jackson Field. The partisan Akron fans will create an electric atmosphere which will make this match an event. California will not be intimidated but the bottom line is that they have a huge mountain to climb to come out of this one a winner. All things considered, it is hard to fathom that Akron will take their eyes off the prize at this point in the season. Look for a hungry Akron side to take care of business on the pitch and to earn the right to travel to Santa Barbara to compete in their second consecutive Final Four. Baby, how can you not like that? In general I agree with the obvious psychological motivation that the Akron team has. However, we should realize that this Cal team is a better one than Akron faced in the quarterfinals last year. Of course the team defeated Stanford rather easily. I would take a one goal Akron blowout, believe me.

I agree that the leadership of the tea party was/is socially conservative. However, a good amount of the followers and hangers-on were of a more libertarian direction. I'm sure more and more of them (and independents in general) will abandon that train as time wears on.

FSC will be televising the Nike International Friendlies tournament from Phoenix today through Sunday. The US team, featuring fullback Andrew Sounders (Amherst OH, Columbus Crew Academy and US U17 Residency), our 2012 rock steady recruit will be playing tonight at 7:00 (may actually be a 7:30 start) vs South Korea and then on Friday vs Brasil and Sunday against Turkey. All these games will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel. Another chance to see the future of American futbol, before it hits Lee Jackson Field. I was disappointed to see our 2011 Akron recruit from New York RedBulls is not on the roster for this tournament. (edit, I mistakenly wrote Juan Agudelo previously, forget the recruit's name) I thought he was in residency. Anyone know (calling Zach) what his status is? http://www.soccernation.com/u-s-u17-vs-korea-cms-776

I think I'll still start a new thread, but Bisbee will have a chance to see not only his Seattle Sounders Academy prospect, but also -- if time allows, 2012 Akron recruit Andrew Souders at the Phoenix Showcase. Souders will be playing for the US U17s this week and weekend vs Korea, Brasil and Turkey. Good luck to all. BTW -- does anyone know about the youth showcase at Santa Barbara next week? Will there be any international level players or elite (e.g., Development Academy) teams participating. I think there are two separate youth tournaments aligned with the NCAA College Cup, one in Santa Barbara and one in Camarillo, in Ventura County.

Oh Dude! That is so beautiful. I sure hope the ones from the university will look like that. I want to have the players sign mine. Knock on wood (no not the ex-bb player).

It definitely won't be DC United. Well, given DC United's recent run, that may just put the suspense off for another year. I hope we can keep CP at least through the next World Cup. How many titles do you need to jump straight from college directly to USMNT HC? Did Bruce Arena do that?

I have followed New Mexico politics for a couple decades, partly because the Green Party there was -- along with the Hawaii Green Party of which I was a founding member -- the first to achieve a political breakthrough, as they elected a Lt Governor (Roberto Mondragon) from the Green Party. The state has (like Hawaii again) the largest number of anti-establishment thinkers (I would add Alaska, but I suspect up there they just have frozen brain cells -- apologies to the list member in Nome) of any state. However, the subject of this favorable article in the New Republic, ex-Governor Gary Johnson is remembered less than favorably now by most New Mexicans -- at least the one's I know. The FBI staged the biggest drug raid and crackdown on Mexican cartels dealing heroin in the state (New Mexico has more heroin addicts per capita than anywhere in North America), and within days what does Governor Johnson do? He announces a new strategy to legalize all drugs in New Mexico including heroin. Not the best timing a politician has ever had. An author I have met and talked with before, Chellis Glendenning has written the seminal story of the heroin epidemic in the Land of Enchantment, titled "Chiva". In any case, I am looking forward to hearing 2011 GOP debates with Johnson calling out the self-professed libertarians from the Tea Party. The article, naturally compares Johnson to Ron Paul -- his mentor in some ways -- but the better comparison is to his son Rand Paul, who was able to be elected in Ken-tucky by espousing Deep Southern Religious Right values. I suspect Gary Johnson is the most truly libertarian candidate the GOP has ever had. His candidacy goes a long way toward exhibiting how un-libertarian most Republicans (and Dems too for that matter -- though they don't claim to be) really are. http://ouramericainitiative.com/news/the-n...ry-johnson.html

Double post.

+2. The idea is what makes the University of Akron (or AU if you will) a special place. It's our heritage, and I'm proud that our president agrees with its value.

Just curious -- where does this website originate? Is this directly marketed by the UofA, or is it an outsider who bought the rights? I know, if it's through the same company that operates the Gozips.com marketing, that it's not available (throught the website at least -- I have to call the store at JAR Arena) outside the continental US. That's why I was so glad to see the jerseys being sold by Barnes & Noble/UA Bookstore.com. In any case, they certainly have good timing. I hope to see hundreds of these in Santa Barbara next week.

LS Blue not available in L or XL.

The band is not a soccer thing either, but I enjoyed having them at a few of the bigger soccer games a few years ago. It added energy to the atmosphere and demonstrated a higher level of University support. Cheerleaders are no different, but give me the band any day. On the one hand I agree that these US college features are foreign to international football. The worst thing about Seattle Sounders games (besides the aching back from having to stand for 90 minutes!) is that awful band that plays from the upper deck. On the other hand, it's an opportunity to put our stamp on the beautiful game. Cheerleaders chants could be America's vuvuzela. Check it out on Thursday when FIFA awards the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The USA is the slim leader for 2022.

Here is the California Golden Bear thread from the Bigsoccer board. And FYI, IF we make it to Santa Barbara, folks going: Bring your jackets, temperatures in Santa Barbara County have been in the upper 20s over night for the past week. And for example, with high wind warnings in valleys, tonight the forecast is for wind chill near 0 Farenheit. Daytime temperatures this week are expected to warm into the 70s, however. Ahhhhh, Southern California. One more game, and I'll see you there. Go Zips! On to the

Oh, yeah!!! Bring on the Bears (I Believe that means either possible quarterfinal opponent)

Thank you Dave. Ya know Indiana, with the possible exception of St Louis Billikens has won more NCAA titles than anyone (and St Louis hasn't won one in 30+ yrs). IU has several players from the St. Louis club ranks, including their leading scorer. So, beating them, despite the record -- and dominating, will really set the team's psyche right going into the final three -- if we make it the final third today. BTW, my problem on Gozips.com isn't one with a pop-up blocker. there isn't any screen to pop up. I think it just is taking forever to load, and I'm on a high speed server today. Must be satellite difficulties.

Took a while but I've got it streaming now. Low res in full-screen mode but very watchable for the price...Go Zips ! Yeah -- it's just a black screen for me. Waiting for 15 minutes now. Thanks DiG for the update. Let us know if there's any change. I think I'm going to call W00t on his cell...

Would someone with game access please update time and score for those without? Mahalos.

Will someone please post a link to the Gametracker for the IU @ Akron game on here? I cannot download the NCAA Bracket -- which I assume is where it is located. I have my fingers crossed that I can get some sort of access to this game. Please