Z.I.P.

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.

They were NOT the finest NCAA refs in the country. In fact, they weren't even NCAA refs. They were MLS refs, and they conveniently forgot that the rules on tackling and what constitutes a cardable offense are different in college from what they are in the pros.Against North Carolina, Alex Preuss who is considered perhaps the best center ref in the US/MLS called an excellent game. Not a lot of contact in the game, but the guy who got the dos amarillos got what he deserved. The first one was arguably borderline, and wouldn't have been called in MLS or pro ball, but (forget his name) the Carolina player jammed the Akron player as he was receiving the ball, and that is asking for a card. The second yellow was unquestionable -- took the opponent down when he was he final player to goal. The final was a different animal to referee. First half, and into the second it seemed Akron got the benefit of the close calls, but Virginia was playing closer to the line than the Zips, and got whistled more often -- fairly. You can always look at replays of specific calls and say that this or that one was on the other side of the line from what was called. Of particular importance is that the center ref is close enough to see play and make the call when required, and the ref moved well and was close enough to see what was happening on the pitch. He could have actually called more fouls on both teams, but thank heavens he didn't -- the final 30 minutes were slowed down so much by UVa's defensive strategy and Akron's inability to move the ball forward that more whistles would have made the game truly ugly. The guy who called the final was also an MLS ref -- I've seen him call a few games and have never complained about him.I doubt that anyone on the Akron team is owing their team's loss to the officiating. This is a very classy bunch, and I'm going to stick with them, and look forward to next year's schedule to see how far we should expect to continue this year's undefeated campaign. I certainly don't look for Akron to take any steps back from 2009 to 2010. Caldwell will step into Zemanski's spot and add another US international to the starting lineup. We just have to find more ways to put the ball in the net against the type of human curtain that opponents throw up. If there's anything I'm going to miss next year, it will be CJ's blogs.eat your vegetables God bless

Ya know, that would make a nice T-shirt, which might sell hundreds of walking advertisements. But it might create extra work around the holidays, so never mind...

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.

How do you like this? -- ZNO gets into the discussion from last month, I guess when Gradkowski was hurt? I like this topic, I'm glad I started it. It provides a classic display of irrational bias against one individual by another. http://www.raiderfans.net/forum/oakland-ra...arlie-frye.htmlI wonder if jtagg754 is GP1's alter ego.

Take a look at the shot of our favorite guy, Hunter Jumper taking out Speas on Sunday, and in the linked article on Caleb, see the boot to the head of Ampai. Would you say there was a strategy involved there? Nothing like "professional fouling", eh?http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/...to_win_nca.html

Getting a chuckle out of this statement. As coach Peters can verify; in the old Bob Huggins era, weasked a potential recruit if his goal was to win or get an education. If the kid responded, "get aneducation", we stopped recruiting him.Second chuckle for all you pious folks. Bob Huggins is a successful coach because he still puts winningfirst. The education is a benefit the player gets for his hard work. As the great coach Lombardi oncequipped, "winning isn't everything; its the only thing". Win or fail. There is no other option.Thanks GZ! That's why I always felt Huggy should be coaching in the NBA, because his style has no place in college sports. Unless you think Woody Montgomery Hayes-Knight is the model for a college coach, that is. Another reason why I am so glad Akron has a coach who truly cares about the overall interests of his players.

This is completely typical of Coventry grads -- he graduated, huh?

...even though half its teams would be lucky to make the I-AA playoffs.I like the C-USA teams, especially Marshall (a not long-ago rival), UCF (same I guess), Memphis (we played them once and need revenge), and Tulsa (we beat them in futbol, why not football?).

That's regular season. Wanna know how the NHL decides a playoff game? 5 on 5 overtime, 20 minutes. repeat if necessary. shootouts are a gimmick to give the fans the satisfaction of not seeing a tie in the regular season. The NCAA should take note...don't decide the nat'l championship on a gimmick.EXACTLY...the same thing could be used in the NCAA. I'm totally fine with PK's in the regular season as tieing is unAmerican and anti-sport. Seeing 3 numbers on someones record is just plain wrong. But when it comes to the playoffs, the best team should be afforded the chance to win, not be shafted by a stupid rule.I just LOVE this comment!!! Soccer, as Americans prefer to call football, has been referred to as "The Barack Obama of sports". Many refuse to accept it, calling it a foreign-born influence and alien assault on our native sports culture. But others inform us that soccer is indeed the future of American sports, if the U.S. is, as is continually stated, the center of a global culture. Culture, they point out, is transfused in both directions, and therefore the center of any "global system" cannot escape transmission of a cultural touchpoint which the remainer of the globe places at the center of their sporting lives.Interestingly, it is the American cultural power over international sports which has resulted in such concepts as "tie-breakers", "sudden-death overtime", and most presciently, penalty kick shoot-outs. It is the spread of American values into the international sporting arena that dictates that no game may end with the teams at equal results -- that one side must not only defeat, but "vanquish" their opponent ("sudden death"?) as if it were a true "war" on the battle field.For those young people posting here, who have little experiential background on the history of the NCAA Soccer Championships, a history lesson may be due. Soccer is the one (perhaps only?) team sport in which the NCAA has declared co-national champions. Penalty kicks were not used to determine a champion until the 1990s. And, as you can see in the Wikipedia link below, championship matches have gone as long as eight (8) overtimes! I believe in the first one, the coaches tried to negotiate a draw and co-championship before the 8th OT, but officials prevented it on the field. It wasn't until the 1990 title game that PKs were used after 4 OT periods. This is just the second final to use the FIFA rules which allow just two overtime periods. While hardcore football/soccer fans continue to shake their heads at the many differences between the rules of American collegiate soccer and the international rules, and point to the college game as the biggest reason why the U.S. will never excel on the international stage, the overall trend is toward a conciliation of the two sets of rules, again showing how international systems come together when it is most important to the broad cultural landscape.At the bottom of this link is the history since 1959 of NCAA men's soccer championships. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Men'...er_ChampionshipCan anyone guess how long it will take before our Great mods determine that this post is overly political in nature and should be restricted to the "Off-Topic Smack and Jokes" Forum?

Top 5? If we're lower than #2, send in the FBI!See you all in Santa Barbara, California. December 10, 2010.http://ucsbgauchos.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/cup10gen.html

I just saw this on the "Official Web Site". The team celebration will be in JANUARY??? You have got to be kidding me!?!?!?!?! How could they allow anything to get in the way of this opportunity to play up potentially the biggest accomplishment in school history? Keep these kids in town another two days -- how hard is that? My mouth is hanging open! http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_...TCLID=204848017

I second That! 46.7 field goal percentage just doesn't cut itExcept on three-pointers!

I'm amazed no one over there remarked about what happened to me -- in the middle of the second overtime, I think, ESPNU suddenly, without warning switched to professional bull wrestling (or whatever the heck it's called -- I don't tune to Versus that often!). I just switched back to the Deuce, and the game was over there -- but I knew people would scream bloody murder.