Z.I.P.

"And he is only about 40 percent of where he is going to be.''When Keith said that, do you think he meant, where he will be in March, where he will be next year, or where he will be in three years? Talk amongst yourselves. The thought makes me all verklempt.

A fascinating part of the story:"So Ostergren, like other Akron backups, approaches each practice with a game-like zest.'It’s intense, and it’s passionate, ... We want to win as much as possible, whether it’s in a game or practice. Because there’s so much talent ... when we split up in teams and scrimmage, our second team is pretty much as good as most teams that we play.'"If that's true, than we SHOULD win it all. If only soccer got more attention. Don't expect to see Cleveland TV coverage, even if we do win the title. Someone needs to be in touch with the Don's office (I mean el Mayor grande). If this team wins the trophy, there had BETTER be a Big Time Parade, down Main Street (or wherever... ). And -- what happens on the return to town will be the first missile fired in the battle to keep our coach. Make it a lovefest!

I'm pretty amazed that anyone is overlooking a Virginia team with 11-straight wins and what -- 10-straight shutouts? I consider them co-favorites to win it all. I say that with a .

Duh!

I think that Caleb Porter thrives on pressure. I don't want to think about this until after the College Cup. But this is what I feared all year long. As you can see in this article, IU fans have been thinking about this since the end of their season a year ago. BTW -- the subject of this is the (only?) OTHER possible target. Should we start a "Next Akron Soccer Coach" thread? Read: http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=2778

And I am Thunder...struck!

Hopefully he looks at the big picture. I think when he arrives, he can step onto the field immediately and be a Wagner-type impact player.

Nice trolling Aaron Loser! I can't wait for the high and mighty Tar Heels (the ones who were unable to beat Northern Illinois in their own tournament) to show how much better they are than the counterfeit Zips. You're precious Aaron!

Mahalo from the isles, zipsMan. Do you know -- would the UA-UT vs DU-UNC game be the first semi on Friday 12/11? First game is at 5PM EST (noon in HI), second game at 1900/1400.I don't think it's been determined yet.You making the trip to the mainland for the College Cup ZIP?I'm waiting for next year's "Pinot Final Four" in Santa Barbara. Planning my TV sked for nex'week.

Isn't Bailey's position part of the university training staff? Doesn't he by necessity work with all athletic teams? Pretty strange -- and maybe a bad sign -- if the new FB coach holds that much power.

Mahalo from the isles, zipsMan. Do you know -- would the UA-UT vs DU-UNC game be the first semi on Friday 12/11? First game is at 5PM EST (noon in HI), second game at 1900/1400.

Deleted. See below. Whoops!

I think Drake allowed the first two goals of the game before they caught fire. They're officially the darkhorse team of 2009. Since UNC is IMHO the most overrated team in the tourney, I give them a real chance of making the Final Four. College Cup, I mean. In the quarterfinals: Tulsa @ Akron; Drake @ UNC; Maryland @ UVa; Where is the Wake-UCLA game being played? Have to favor the home team, for sure. Also, does anyone know what the semifinal matchups would be -- which regional brackets meet. And which game will be first. Thanks -- I have to plan my upcoming schedule. Whooooo, treading on the jinx!

Not much to speak of in the way of fan support there. Only interesting tidbit was this: I remember when people said that about John Wooden's teams!

YES! I was thinking of this over the weekend. I would think though, that Mark could possibly get a BCS job in another couple years, if Arizona keeps up their play of this year. Let's ask CJ Kauffman if he can put out a holler to his homeboy from Tucson.

Remind me not to have STZ negotiate for me, or the University. He's way too anxious to give away the farm! Why say ahead of time that you are going to pay more than anyone else ever has, when you are hiring someone comparable to the best the league already has to offer? I believe Golden makes <400k (at least his base salary), and Temple is frankly the highest profile athletic school in the MAC -- which is why they only belong in one sport. That fact might establish an exclusion for trying to compete with their $$. The salary cited in the article is reasonable, or frankly -- ridiculous, compared to what people make in the "real world".

We are making a youtube video and sending it to him.But I imagine the Great GP-1 has already completed his. Do we need to redunditate our leader?

I have to respectfully disagree. After seeing TA&M play this past weekend, they are a top 20-25 team. I think our best game from last year would still make us double digit losers on the road. Let's keep it under/near 20, and I won't be disappointed.

You know I feel like the proverbial since I've complained about the offensive line play since 2005, but why not one more time. Most of the O-linemen JD recruited were the reason his recruiting classes were ranked as high in the MAC as they were. On the field however -- the performance was the opposite. This is one specific point I will be looking at closely in 2010. If their play doesn't improve, there will be little chance for overall improvement in wins-losses. I'd consider 5-6 wins in 2010 to be a success.

After the Pine Bluff game, Humpty ran over to tell the coach he was sorry when one of their players shoved him away. KD told Humpty to tell the coach he was sorry, so that's all he was doing. The AD ran into the locker room and that's when KD told him what happened. Humpty did almost get into another little altercation with one of Niagara's players. So what was Humpty apologizing to the coach FOR?

Second thread in a row for this comment: Yes, I CAN spell facetious. However, I'm afraid if LeBron gets involved we'll end up with Maverick Carter coaching the team.

Yes, I CAN spell facetious. But for the record, teams like Texas Tech and Hawai'i don't have a tight end on their rosters.

Ummmmm...I think maybe you mean "rabbi".

Folks, watch this Stanford Cardinal. As the link shows, he was Top Drawer Soccer's #1 recruit a year ago. He came off the bench and played 45 mins vs UCI on Sunday.http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-soccer/...hi_dersu00.html

So for this game attendance starts with total season tix sold, times 5? It might be a sellout!