Z.I.P.

Zipsrifle, and Zippyrifle32. You're referring to posters on ZNO, no?

Is this going to be an All-Italian coaching staff? Might give a hint as to what will be grillin' at the Lot #9 tailgate next season.

Rumors have Nagbe leaving also. We'll have to wait and see. Maybe it will entice unsigned talent to bring their skills to Akron.Big Soccer board has a thread on MLS and Generation Adidas prospects. Zakuani supposedly got $175k to go -- Teal won't draw that much, and will not be a top pick. Probably first round, however.Hey, Z.I.P., where did you find this "rumor" about Darlington? I've looked around but haven't seen anything on him. I hope a mass exodus doesn't start!According to Buzz Carrick at the 3rd Degree (FC Dallas) Blog, updated: Blair Gavin is likely to Join Teal Bunbury. Nagbe and Valentin also possible departures. Yikes. Is that what you call a "mass departure"? --edit--You know what's interesting? Just yesterday I e-mailed Buzz, saying I thought Blair and Ampai were potential Generation Adidas picks. I guess he picked up on that.http://www.socceramerica.com/index.cfm?fus...amp;art_type=85http://www.3rddegree.net/ga-tracking/Gavin likely to join Bunbury: http://mlsinsiderblog.com/?p=579

Yeagley takes over at Indianahttp://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?...e=NCAAHeadlinesI have absolutely loved following the discussion among the Whosyour set on the Big Soccer board since Freitag was let go. According to some, Jerry Yeags orchestrated the whole thing -- including Mike F's failure, just so he could get his boy into the coaching seat. I swear I was NOT the one who wrote comparing IU to Notre Dame! The one thing that seems sure is, Yeags still rules in Bloomington.http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread....456&page=47

Thanks, Zach! I'm glad someone else is taking an interest in the upcoming futbol classes.I've mentioned Eriq Zavaleta, class of 2010, often. No verbal for him, could he be a 2011? Looking even FURTHER down the road, did you see the US Development Academy Friendlies over Thanksgiving weekend? That center back from Amherst, OH looks absolutely incredible. Andrew Souders --- he doesn't turn 16 till Feb 2010. First US Youth player from Brad Friedel's Premier Academy, apparently has gone over to Crew Academy, and is now in his first semester at Bradenton Residency.Check out the new (post-U-17 World Cup) Bradenton roster.http://www.socceramerica.com/index.cfm?fus...p;art_aid=34123heh, funny that you mention that soccer academy. It is actually built in my hometown of Lorain, OH but the kids are sent to neighboring Amherst for schooling. I hope to hear about kids from there considering Akron.So the Premier Soccer Academy is a residential program, eh? Wonder if Brad makes enough at Fulham to provide scholarships. I know Fulham has been home for several Yanks, but Brad's been with Villa since the beginning of the 2008-2009 season (and Blackburn for 8 years before that). This year he is playing as well as ever. I'm guessing he's making more now that he did at Blackburn also, so perhaps he does "kick in" to the Academy Okay, okay...I admit it. I get Fulhamerica and Villa, with their Clevelander owner and two Yanks named Brad in net (Guzan taking back-up to the St Edwards grad) mixed up. At least I don't get Arsenal confused with say, Chelsea or the Devils. Gooners and Villa are the ones those two will be chasing shortly.(It struck me over the weekend that I wrote Fulham for Villa, as I was watching Villa put away Hull City. I knew someone would get me on that one before I could nimbly correct my error. Should have known it would be JZ. I humbly bow to your expert knowledge of all things EPL and Futbolisto in general)

St Francis wouldn't win a MAC West game. There's "MAC West Bad"...and then there's "St Francis PA Bad." It's like comparing eating lima beans, or poop. Lima beans are horrible, but they ain't poop.[Note - I have not tried poop. If anyone has, and has enjoyed it, well...keep it to yourself] You are correct. They wouldn't win a MAC West game, they would win almost all of them. [Note - I have not tried poop either. If anyone has, and did not enjoy it, ... please share your story with us] Thanks for your compliments to the MAC West. I paid real $$ for tickets to see Western Michigan go up against USC tomorrow. I THOUGHT WMU had a chance, as this is the worst USC team in a while -- then they sprung an upset on Tennessee yesterday. Well, it should be a Kool affair at least.

Rumors have Nagbe leaving also. We'll have to wait and see. Maybe it will entice unsigned talent to bring their skills to Akron.Big Soccer board has a thread on MLS and Generation Adidas prospects. Zakuani supposedly got $175k to go -- Teal won't draw that much, and will not be a top pick. Probably first round, however.

Will it draw more fans to Brownieland? A meaningless game between two bad teams -- not, I mean terrible teams! Nice to see someone can take interest in something other than next year's Zips' soccer season. I guess if I were there, it would give me another opp to wear my old #5 CB jersey.

I brought this idea up a couple years ago. It's great about all the corporate partners who buy those lower bowl reserved seats. It contributes a LOT to the Z-fund. Problem is, most of the time they go unused. I for one (and I'm a GA season ticket holder myself) would LOVE to sit down there for a game or two. Tom, make this happen. Could it be run through gozips.com? Is there a legality issue? I wouldn't think, as long as they're changing hands for face value or lower.Folks, a lot of schools, including the University of Hawaii, with which I'm personally familiar, have their websites set up to not only buy tickets, but to exchange/swap and re-sell tickets that are not going to be used. I am sure, if they wanted to, that UA could make similar arrangements through Gozips.com.

UNCC? How did Cornbread look?

Here's a quote from the IMG Academies website:IMG 3, McLean Youth Soccer 0Brenes’ goal to open the scoring on match day 2 was one of the most impressive that I have seen in youth soccer. It had the sound of cannon going off, the speed of a missile and the accuracy of a laser beam. I rarely celebrate goals but this one brought me to my feet.The future is

Thanks, Zach! I'm glad someone else is taking an interest in the upcoming futbol classes.I've mentioned Eriq Zavaleta, class of 2010, often. No verbal for him, could he be a 2011? Looking even FURTHER down the road, did you see the US Development Academy Friendlies over Thanksgiving weekend? That center back from Amherst, OH looks absolutely incredible. Andrew Souders --- he doesn't turn 16 till Feb 2010. First US Youth player from Brad Friedel's Premier Academy, apparently has gone over to Crew Academy, and is now in his first semester at Bradenton Residency.Check out the new (post-U-17 World Cup) Bradenton roster.http://www.socceramerica.com/index.cfm?fus...p;art_aid=34123heh, funny that you mention that soccer academy. It is actually built in my hometown of Lorain, OH but the kids are sent to neighboring Amherst for schooling. I hope to hear about kids from there considering Akron.So the Premier Soccer Academy is a residential program, eh? Wonder if Brad makes enough at Fulham to provide scholarships.

That leaves plenty of time for ACC lobbying for Corben.http://www.nscaa.com/articles/20091211133417536.php

Thanks, Zach! I'm glad someone else is taking an interest in the upcoming futbol classes.I've mentioned Eriq Zavaleta, class of 2010, often. No verbal for him, could he be a 2011? Looking even FURTHER down the road, did you see the US Development Academy Friendlies over Thanksgiving weekend? That center back from Amherst, OH looks absolutely incredible. Andrew Souders --- he doesn't turn 16 till Feb 2010. First US Youth player from Brad Friedel's Premier Academy, apparently has gone over to Crew Academy, and is now in his first semester at Bradenton Residency.Check out the new (post-U-17 World Cup) Bradenton roster.http://www.socceramerica.com/index.cfm?fus...p;art_aid=34123

That was VERY nice. Except "Akron is the meth capitol of Ohio". Nonetheless this looks like a town I would enjoy visiting some day. Some nice architecture in a compact, walkable area. There are the building blocks to serious re-urbanization in place already. So, how is the UA Urban Planning Program doing, anyone?

There're two versions of these. The other one is in more like the "old colors" -- Capn's favorite http://www.kicksonfire.com/2009/10/05/nike...n-zips-edition/I actually like these better, but that's my thing! An' who said, Bron didn' go to Akron?

Damn! I got to start my own business, so I can spend all day sending zingers to the assorted hangers-on at ZipsNation.org. Then the rest of the day, I'll debate the letters to the editor at Ohio.com! And...

NOT ENOUGH. Not when you turn away fans, make fans (and students) pay money to sit on the frozen ground or stand for 2 1/2 hours.With a halfway decent facility, soccer could be another revenue generating sport, benefitting ALL programs. When's the last time the basketball team brought in nationally ranked teams in the non-con, and sold the place out?The soccer program hosts HOSTS conference tournaments and early rounds of the NCAA tournament and that sorry excuse for a high school soccer stadium is inadequate.We need to sell tickets right up to game time, and give those people a place to sit. We need to have lighting that will allow games to be on TV. You have a chance of building something BIG in northeast Ohio, and this crap of slapping more lipstick on the pig, while catering to the traditional revenue sports is going to bite the U in the ass.As good as we are and have been at Soccer, it is NOT a sport with a national following. It adds little to the prestige of the school.Football and BBall are THE college sports. AND, the BBall team has been going to the post season, so there is hope for a national program.I say put the money into basketball. Last year they were on national TV a few times, and do add to our prestige.I guess it depends on which nation you're in! (What, no shoulder shrug emoticon?) I've gotten several comments from friends and colleagues about Akron playing for a national championship last weekend. I got only one remark -- from my friend who was visiting Portland at Big Dance time last year, about the first round NCAA game. In my book, Caleb deserves as much, if not more $$ than my classmate Keith. When BB makes a Final Four, we can reassess.

Would love a pair. (Already HAVE my soccer scarf!) Can you provide a model name/number for Santa search purposes? Mahalo from da isles.

I know GK's are the default votes for Defensive MVP awards, but Holy Cow, that UVa defender, Volks, was EVERYWHERE on Sunday! Must have set some record for blocked shots/passes. Just giving credit where it's due -- in fact Virgina would have had a much harder time keeping us off the scoreboard without him. He was like the Ndamukong Suh of College Cup.

So you're telling me I should be selling my autographed 5 x 7 of #5 AND my "Frye for Heisman" bumper sticker on e-Bay BEFORE the game on Sunday?How much are you asking? I could trade a couple Joey Belle rookie cards.

The BigSoccer board has a quite well developed thread on the subject -- complete with details about our great cheering section. I wanna know about Hannibal Lector! http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread....941&page=21

I'll be very surprised if any of Akron's underclassmen leave the team -- especially after Caleb's reenlistment! Bunbury's stock took a big hit in Cary, NC last weekend. Ampai and Blair will be drafted early in the 2011 MLS draft -- possibly along with Teal, Nagbe and, if he wants, Kofi. So, we better start recruiting and developing strikers. We could have used some better ones in NC. Messi still has college eligibility, I think.

Worked for me -- just yesterday. I did it on my own! YEAY!!!

I read the Beacon article. Now I'm wondering...He was given a new 5-year deal, but did anyone actually HEAR him say he was staying put -- is there a statement from our coach? You see, I have little faith in anything I read in the paper, especially when it comes to supposed good news for Akron area sports teams. Please let it be true. It will bring great holiday tidings.Statement from Porter included in this Official Press Release from GO ZIPS ... dot COM.Okay, so I'm elated -- and we all owe our coach our individual congratulations and thanks for the team's accomplishments. But, don't forget, it is Caleb's own commitment to the university, town and program that keeps him in Akron. UA cannot come close to paying what Major League Soccer can. We can "compete with", but not top what the best NCAA programs could pay him. I think Caleb Porter has not yet finished what he came to town to do, and I'm confident he will fulfill that dream before very long. At that time, the program will be on a footing that some other well-prepared coach can step in and continue the trip near the same level. NEAR the same level -- if we're lucky. Nothing stands in the way of our man moving up in his career. But he will always be regarded as the man who made Akron an elite men's soccer program.