Z.I.P.

Jimmy had a postgame quote a couple weeks back saying how he realized that "this is it" and this is his last chance. Perhaps it took that for him to stop being so tentative and gain the confidence he needs. He's always had the skills...he was just too nervous to use them in a game situation. From what I've heard, the guy has been unstoppable in practice since he got here, but until now hasn't shown it on the court. Glad to see it, Jimmy. You're fun to watch.My father used to say I had the prettyest golf swing he ever saw. "So how come you can't hit the ball worth a @%*$ ?"

Another recruiting offer appears on the Caleb Porter thread over on Big Soccer. Chicago area defender, choosing between Akron, Princeton.http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highs...0,3013773.storyBTW, if you get a chance, you should take a look at what's up over there. They have some pretty big schnozzes stuck in the air. http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread....9550&page=7Say, who on here is the REAL UAEngineering anyway?

Manchester United's title sponsor: AIG. Of course it didn't take long last year for an enterprising entrepreneur to come up with T-shirts with the identical graphic spelled "I-O-U". Love it!

This may be the toughest road trip in college basketball. You have to fly into Denver and bus about three hours through the mountains to Cheyenne and Laramie. Get a good driver, as I recall Hawaii's bus sliding into a ditch in one WAC excursion. Fortunately, it looks like no new snow to arrive till Wednesday, but temp's are below 0 in the mornings. Did I mention there's still one vacancy for the Diamond Head Classic here next year? Huh, coach?

Hey Zach & Rowdie Crew,The flushettes play two (2) games here vs Hawaii over the next two days. You have any ideas for a Zips in Paradise welcome ceremony? I thought maybe we could deck the halls with doobies in the arena to make them feel at home.

Yup, I'm not paying for this shit next year. The hell with it.And that's when you're paying. I'm a cheapskate, and even I can't get anywhere! The gamecast or whatever they call this program is almost worthless, unless you have a high-speed modem/connection. WIth dial-up it takes me about 1/2 hr for the thing to load. Then when it comes on, it doesn't even refresh -- you have to manually refresh the buggah. In the end, I pull out my cellphone and can get a better stats and play-by-play presentation than the U gives on the wide screen. Now something's wrong here.

DOB: (per USMNT web) 7/21/89. He's easily the best senior keeper, and only McMath has higher potential among current collegians (there's a guy in Akron who could have a bright future as well, but he's too young to make a good judgement on). I doubt he (Perk) will be another Stephen Frei, but on the other hand, he's probably rated as high or higher than Frei was one year ago. Overall, this year's class is clearly behind last year's -- especially the senior class.

Perk is a senior. GA is for underclassmen only. But I'm sure you know that. BTW -- Bruin Okugo could be the best member of this GA class if and when he comes out (also, UVa sub Chris Agorsor). And while I agree with your synopsis, Wake refuels fast and another CC cannot be ruled out. I also like UCSB's chances to play at home. Of all the top teams, UCLA is the least proven in big games recent years.

Is football the albatross, or are non-revenue producing sports the albatrosses?Football for the most funds itself. So I would say non-revenue sports. But I'm sure your question was rhetorical. Some would actually criticize Title IX. 85 scholarships for male athletes (football) must be equaled by 85 scholarships for female athletes. Now in a school where they can fund all of those scholarships through generous alumni donors no big deal, but for the most part schools are similar to us. Scholarships for 2009 alone total $6.7 million. Z-Fund contributions to date are roughly $600 thousand.But we also have to remember that sports in general were not designed to be "money makers" it was to create a well rounded student and scholarships for sports were designed to open the door to the university for individuals who were academically capable but had no other means to attend. Now THAT is anti-capitalist. (Please pardon my radical and subversive pro-democracy position. And Merry Christmas to one and all!)

You're killin' meWatch the video in the link I providedExcellent heavyweight wrestler - came in 2nd at the recent Iron Man Invitational at Walsh Excellent studentPlays tuba in the band at half time (which my Dad did for the Zips way back when- soft spot) Comes from a good local program and is high character from what I hearEnough? Also,http://www.flowrestling.org/videos/coverag...eight_class:285You're confusing me. Didn't we cancel our wrestling program back around 1979 -- same time as men's swimming?

You're a Ken Dorsey fan?I'm just out to prove what a HUGE Browns fan I am I't'd take a while to dig that shirt out from the bottom of the drawer. But go teams! I haven't watched an entire NFL game in the past twenty years.

I understand the $$ he makes from IU Soccer Camps more than makes up for what's lost to whoever coaches American football and basketball in Whosyourland.

I believe the biggest difference is that English and European professional clubs have youth academies that are 50-100 years old (?), and they identify their potential future players when they are twelve or thirteen, rather than when they are in college. College? There ain't no stinking college football over there! If they're any good, they're getting paid by 16. And Andres Muniain of AC Bilbao is scoring goals in La Liga at 16. ?Como se dice Que Vaya Leones en Euskara?

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.