Z.I.P.

Man! Would that ever throw the fear of the Roo into the Who's-theres. A mad visiting Rowdie crowd at a PRACTICE GAME! Hoowie. I can imagine there being a recruit or two present -- if we haven't signed or gotten verbals from all of them yet.

I tuned in to this game with about a minute and a half remaining in regulation. I guess I jinxed 'em. 2 goals in 42 seconds. 59 seconds and 17 seconds to play. I think this just showed how good BU was -- they refused to lose.Bowling Green won the NCAA title in hockey back about 1985 or 86, I think it was. Not sure if the MAC has any other team titles, but I feel one coming on at the men's soccer cup.

I've been looking into the topic of football club scarves, and here's what I came up with. It looks like this company has a near monopoly over the field -- but they seem to do a great job, marketing-wise at least. For those who didn't see the pictures of opening day of the Seattle Sounders' season/franchise at Qwest Field, check out the fan scene, #8 in the gallery (and #7 -- did EMU drop men's soccer?). The Sounders gave away a team scarf to every season ticket holder (about 22 thousand I think). Wouldn't this be a FAN-tastic way to inaugurate Infocision Stadium in September? I will be sending this to the AD, but you might want to add your encouragement. Pittsburgh has its Terrible Towels. Why can't Akron have their Roo-Scarves? I'll once again give up my residuals, as I did when I failed to trademark my "Fear the Roo" line, in exchange for just one scarf. Take this and run with it, Akron. Wouldn't it look great over the bar where they sell the RooBeer? Go Zips! Future Sign of Zips Football (or Soccer if You Will)

Dwain hates to leave any coach hatin' on him. So he verbally commits to every school that offers. And, while most of America's CBB coaches wouldn't touch this guy with the proverbial ten foot pole (can you imagine Keith having more than a "Good day, how ya' doin'?" conversation with this kid?), there are some who are so desperate to become competitive they will snuggle up with a porcupine, if he can make a basket from outside the 3-point circle. I can vouch for you about how desperate Hawaii's coaches are. They didn't have a single jump shooter on the team last year, and might have averaged three made treys per game. A guy like Williams (if he were to show up for games, rather than continuing his world tour), could add two or three wins for the Bows -- from 12 to 15 wins in 09-10. Would he make K-ent a 20-win team again? Maybe, but that program is struggling, nonetheless.And WinZip, we might be willing to trade weather in say, August or Sept, when its 90 degrees and humidity over here. It's still Winter here now -- only in the 70s. Brrrrr! One thing that's true around the globe:

We definitely need to institute these at the new soccer stadium -- just like they have at Old Trafford! (That's ManU, folks)that would be sweet, I was watching the Seattle Sounders play on ESPN and saw they had ribbon boards all the way around the sidelines, It looks really cool but in my opinion it might be too much money to spend...I was actually joking. There are only a minority of Major League Soccer stadia which have the electronic boards installed, where the backward folks still have the advertising humps, like in American football. Home Depot was first. Not sure if even all the soccer-specific stadiums in MLS have them yet. But -- go to Europe and virtually every joint, including all the English Premier League and I think even the Championship (UK second division) clubs sport them, all the way down to the Athletic Bilbaos (La Liga Espanol) of the world. I bet the increase in ad revenue would pay for them in short time. Your eyes are like totally drawn to them -- it even tends to distract for the game on the pitch.

And, ranked just one spot behind Morgan State. Morgan Who? Oh, I know we play them in Sept., but how are they ranked ahead of the in ANY sport? As I said, http://www.collegeinsider.com/mmpoll/?DB_OEM_ID=10800

I read the second sentence in the article (above) multiple times, and I STILL can't make heads or tails of it's grammar and logic. But I can tell you, the Big Time Tournament in Vegas is about twice as big in # of ballers.And maybe someone can call an NCAA attorney for the definitions of "contact" and "booster". Is no one wearing an Akron Zips T-shirt allowed to tell a player he'd enjoy watching him wear blue and beige?

Mahalo, Josh. I forgot UNM played @Akron. Did they give away the scarves, or sell them? I remember calling to ask for a T-shirt from that tournament (the last Westfield Cup), and they told me they (Team Shop) weren't selling any. Guess I should have said "scarf" instead.And yes! It is a long-held football tradition. I saw a website (advertised in MLS Mag) that sells college soccer items including scarves, but mostly ACC/BigEast/UCLA types, not Zips. We're not in the Big Time. YET!

They are playing with a few of them who are already enrolled and on campus like David Meves.Char Barson and Kofi Sarkodie: two-thirds of the USA U-17 backfield! The Massachussetts Kid (Scott Calldwell) in midfield is going to be (excuse me -- is) an incredible addition. Love ya Zips. #1 in 09!

I found these shots on the "Photo Gallery" at the Gozips.com soccer site. Look at what's hanging around the necks of a couple of the Rowdies in these pix. Yes -- Akron Zips football/soccer scarves!!! I have never seen this, and I WANT ONE!!!! Where do I go? These photos were supposedly taken at last year's game versus New Mexico in Albuquerque, and I was there. But, I never saw these folks -- where were they??http://uaim.dyndns.info/photo_galleries/_A...ource/nmu03.htmhttp://uaim.dyndns.info/photo_galleries/_A...ource/nmu04.htm

I have to disagree with the comments about Gary Waters being a good fit at Chavier, er, uh Xavier. I say this having seen Gary in his first year in K-ent, and seeing the amazing job he did with a program with a tradition that never reached mediocrity before him. I also saw what happened to this fine man in Rutgers, and fear that he would be caught in another case of over-expectations, and under-patience. Hopefully Waters can use this to drill a very large raise out of CSU. Frankly, I'd love to see him back in the MAC in the future.

THANK YOU!

I can't help being concerned though. He's had what -- three major injuries since entering HS at CVCA? Is he the Zidrunas Ilgauskas of soccer? Hope not, but only time will tell. Amazing part is how he could rise to being #1 HS prospect (fell to #8 only after the latest injury) despite it. At Akron, he's just another cog in the machine. Hopefully it's becoming a high tech machine, that competes with the world's best.

I saw Marcus back in December. He's a smooth, well polished all-around player as you would expect. But he doesn't have any of his dad's hops, or speed for a D-I guard (his game is almost between a 2 and a 3 position-wise, but he's not even 6-3). He should excel at UCF however. I was led to believe he would join his brother at Illinois. Wonder what happened.

I just LOVED reading this one. Catch the comment after. http://www.ohioverticals.com/blogs/kent_st...awaii/#commentsEdit: Woops; Almost forgot...

Same deal here. Just what are they hiding?Any Morgan State fans out there want to clear this up?I was just wondering, does their band have a drum line? Will they bring it, ala Howard to keep the Info-fans (my prediction, <20k) entertained at the half of this blow-out?

We definitely need to institute these at the new soccer stadium -- just like they have at Old Trafford! (That's ManU, folks)

I remember two years ago, when the people on this board were scratching their heads over Akron playing Spring games against the likes of Rio Grande. I'd say this sked is a big sign of the club's development. But don't look for Guille Barros-Schelotto to play for the Crew at Lee Jackson. :lol:BUT, with just 24 players on roster, it might be better than last year's Reserve League team. You should see Andy Iro, the young star-in-waiting out of UCSB at FB and maybe even a Pat Noonan or Alejandro Moreno or Jason Garey at forward. Interesting part is how many of the Zips have themselves warn the Crew kit with the Crew Development Academy (shades of ex-Arsenal Youth Steve Zakuani embracing ex-Arsenal senior star Freddy Ljungberg after his goal in Toronto yesterday!). I imagine there will be a goodly number of future prospects in attendance at this one. Don't want to flub up on this stage!

Apparently, no one went to the game!

Gooooooalllll!Gooooooallll!Golaaaaaaaaaaso! Steve Zakuani scores his first goal in his third game in Major League Soccer. The second goal of the first half for Seattle Sounders FC against Toronto Football Club.The game's at halftime now, 2-0 Seattle on Fox Soccer Channel (which everyone has -- right?). The incomparable Max Bretos, in the halftime highlights calls Steve-o, "The man from Kinshasa, and London England". The goal came from eight yards out on the rebound of a deflected shot by big 6-5 Nate Jacqua with Steve unmarked on the left side of the box, just behind the 6-yard line.As you may know, Sounders rookie phenom Freddy Montero is not playing after being investigated by Seattle police for a charge of sexual assault, and Zaki moved up from the left middfield spot he's played in his first two games to start on the left up top. It appears that Sigi Schmid chose to play Steve instead of MLS veteran Sani Nyassi. This is going to do wonders for his confidence -- and for the Sounders, on the road in the face of allegations against their superstar. I think the analysts will now change their language on the Sounders, from a "playoff contender" to a "contender to take it all in MLS this season.""Caleb Porter doing the job to turn Akron into a power in college soccer." Max Bretos knows Zips!!! Gota get Sounders tix -- and that #11 jersey, baby! Zakuani

I think some kid, or kids would have gotten killed if we played that game. It is one thing to schedule a 1-AA game. But these guys don't even meet the minimum requirements of 1-AA. They're essentially Division II. I do know Lee Owens would have pulled an on-side kick on these guys if he were coaching against them, but only if we were up by more than 30. And if we were up 58-0, he would re-insert his starting RB to punch in that final TD and make 100% certain he hit 65.I've seen reports that at least several years ago, multiple MAC football programs failed to reach that level (57 scholarships). One source I remember showed EMU providing <50, and others (wish I could remember, but Ball, Ohio come to mind) at around 55. This was back in the early 00's. Wonder how the numbers sit today. How many total scholarships does UA pay out for real? And don't give me university PR!

Is the team supposed to run on to the field from the new end zone facility? I like it when teams gather in an end zone & mosh around & hit each other and scream at each other & then, following the team captains, bum rush the 50 yard line through a tunnel of band members & mosh some more! Dang, I've got goosebumps just sitting here. I am so ready for football!!!People of Akron: I know we have not heard from Uncle Tonga much recently, but let it be known that, the Polynesian gods willing, this season will commence the beginning of the Poly-Akron tradition. Monster Hands Tonga will lead the troops (and fans are more than invited to join in) in the first performance of the Zips Fighting Haka. You've seen the Hawaii Warriors Haka, the BYU Cougar Haka, well just wait till you see dat Roo Haka! Does Zippy have a tongue he can stick out? Way out!

Lots of news on Adreian on here (Raised by his Grandmother, and may want to stay close to home):http://bearcatnews.com/recruiting/bio/383/

Really looking forward to Boston University of Ohio vs Duke Intramural Squad. I think BUH defeated Can't State in a play-in game.

I remember that I used to e-mail Shaka for info late in the Hipsher days, and he always responded promptly with as much news as a maniac fan could ever expect. That's rare for a D-I program, even a mid-major. I know VCU made a good pick, and I look for them to continue their run. Especially with Larry Sanders on the tube. Hey Now!