Z.I.P.

Sabbi has been named to the roster for the US U-18 MNT for an upcoming tournament, apparently in Carson, CA (StubHub Center). http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/u18-mnt-roster-revealed-for-ntc-tourney_aid36776

I just saw the following article on the lawsuit Ms. Louscher is waging against her employers. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/03/university_of_akrons_corrosion.html Does anyone have any inside info on the dynamics. Why the Hell would the dean be pissed at potentially hundreds of millions in new funding?? Must have a BIG ego!

Too bad I tuned in to TV 5 mins after your post -- I assume it made ESPNU. Does anyone know a video of the PV comp?

Ha ha ha. Wish I could count how many times I've had people look at my A-Roo shirt, and tell me, "Go Army!"

I got a brochure about it like 6 weeks ago (I'll bet many season tix holders did too). The schedule looked pretty secure, i.e., ready to go. Sorry I didn't have an extra 10 grand sitting around.

Well, sadly, I will not be travelling to see the Zips play again this season. I had been looking forward to a trip to Cali this year, having known since last summer about the visit to Isla Vista. But, a one-game road trip is not a worthwhile investment for Z.I.P. I wonder when the make-up game with coach Salgado's club will be. I've only been to the junk Drake Stadium once, but would enjoy returning just to see those two teams face off. Good luck to Jared and the Zips in 2015!

Sometimes you want to go home, but Home doesn't want you! Sometimes we just don't realize what's in our midst.

Another name on the list of transfers from this season is the former Walsh (and possibly Firestone??) baller, Evan Payne, who I have discussed previously. Evan intimated to me that he was indeed homesick for Akron during this season's Diamond head Classic, and I'm confident that with the type of full-court-press that occurred for Noah Robotham, this potential future NBA player could have been a Zip -- but as it ends up, Evan is "too good for the Zips." http://erichowell.sportsblog.com/posts/2072353/one_on_one_with_evan_payne.html

How about this directly from the WNIT: Quote It is based very largely upon the $$ each school bids up front (along with external forces like travel distance and expense). e.g.: My Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine played on Fri at St. Mary's. It was reported that St Mary's offered $30k to host the first round, while Hawaii offered 50k, but no travel expenses. The expense is reportedly why Hawaii will NEVER again host a WNIT game (despite hosting the first three rounds in 2000). It was also reported that the offer for the second round must be 50-100% higher than the first round (St Mary's is playing @ Fresno St.). I imagine that schools like K-State can pretty much make ends meet and a small profit from each WNIT game -- something few if any mid-major can do. And from the internet, it looked like SMC only had a few hundred fans at home. BTW -- the UA FB page reported that the Zips have never been to the post-season prior to coach Kest's arrival. Could long-time fans confirm that the first Akron WNIT game was around 1998-99? At Michigan St, IIRC.

DePaul is where the Oliver Purnells of the coaching world go to die. The Curse of Ray Meyer.

Harter may be the back door to Brennan. He had like 15 goals and 17 assists. Those two together...Whowhee!

Couple of thoughts: Toledo must be the LEAST smack-talking team I've seen in a long time (re: the Weatherspoon dunk as testimony), and they could easily be at the other end of the spectrum -- good coaching! Props to Michael Reghi for being the first TV head to pronounce Antino's name properly throughout the contest. He must have asked! Oh, also, he mentioned that he thought Weatherspoon and Drummond played against each other in the NCAA tournament (OSU vs Loyola MD). If that's true, it was quite a "find".

HOLY COW!!! SO CLOSE!!!

Sadly, you beat me to the punch, DiG! Gotta stop their guards!!!

Dave, I'm willing to agree with you that the Bobbies are more dependent on their inside game this year -- however I'd use that fact as evidence for why they have a losing record! Their inside game is IMO less threatening than their jump shooting. They're too small to match up favorably with Akron -- or many other teams I the league, and should be using their guard play more. I would say with the addition of the new Taylor, they have one of the very best guard combinations in the MAC. But, good luck to coach Saul. He has three years to produce...blah. blah. blah!

If the past is December 23 then yes! Green Bean Willis went wild! http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/122314aaa.html

ESPN selects a few ESPN3 games each day for broadcast on the Full Court. Can't believe no one in NEO has it!

For out-of-towners, this game is being broadcast nationally on the ESPN Full Court system. If your cable system doesn't have the ESPN Full-Court broadcasts, you should complain! Thank heavens I have Time Warner Oceanic Cable -- not that they are anything but a monopoly on my little island! (Shut down OU's guards from 3-point shooting, and they are tame!)

Write you are old boy Crew8! I was in a terribly, terribly sticky wicket, confusing the club with the Blackburn RoversFC., which as everyone knows, is a fixture of the League Championship! Cheerio!

Isn't the Football Conference just below the Championship? That would make it the third tier. I notice Bristol Rovers near the top, who were in the Premier league just a few short years ago, IIRC.

After switching the MAC participant in his tournament bracket nearly every week, from Buffalo to Bowling Green, back to Buffalo and then to Can't State the past two weeks, ESPN Chief Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has finally moved Akron into the Midwest Regional in Seattle as the #13 seed. BUT, would you believe who Joe has the Zips matched with? Aaaaaarrrrrgghhhhh! http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

Thanks B&G for picking up the thread I opened back about six weeks ago when the Diamond Head Classic was here on-island -- with Darius Carter's Wichita Shockers, AND as I pointed out at the time, (possibly, I'm not certain) Carter's one-time Firestone teammate (he had quite a tortuous high school career, as he moved about three times and was declared ineligible by the OHSAA), Evan Payne now at Loyola Marymount where he averages 18 ppg in what should be considered a high-major conference, the WCC. Here was Payne's weekend exploit, taking his team on his back (yet again) to win in overtime: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/01/31/payne-scores-23-lifts-loyola-marymount-past-pacific-in-ot/ FWIW, I had a chance to speak with Evan after the tournament, and I can vouch for the fact that he is homesick for Akron. Maybe I can start a rumor, akin to last year's "Nance looking to transfer" rumor...!

Well, "There are rules, and then there are rules"! And BTW, when I attended Green HS (the old one on Steese Rd., with all the hillbillies and tire builders' kids, and few of the doctors' and lawyers' youngsters), they didn't even provide protractors to kids, much less anything electronic. Hell, I remember having to make all those keycards for my Fortran class at the University of Akron in 1978!

Zach, I have to ask -- what is your source for this info? I don't mean to be flippant, and hope it doesn't look that way, but: a) I have never heard of any such rule; and b.) like the 15,000 attendance "rule", the NCAA has a convenient manner of not really enforcing such rules. If there is such a rule, it had to go into effect after the newspaper report I read, and I have been told more recently, from people in the "business" that there really IS a broad range of scholarships and other funding between the Big 5 and the little rest of us. I know that for example, some schools spend enormous sums on training tables, while the "mid-majors" can barely put tacos and burgers out for student athletes -- not just football players either. Sorry -- I have been away, and just read the thread today.

I'm hoping that others may remember an article that was posted on ZN.o several years ago, which included a listing of the total football scholarships funded by Football Bowl Subdivision schools. Memory serves that it was from MichiganLive, but I can't find it. It could have even been as much as ten years ago, which would possibly have put it on the old Blue Board. For those who Do remember, you'll recall that very few -- if any -- non-power 5 conferences provide anywhere near the 85 scholarship limit. Most MAC schools in the report were in the 60-75 scholarship area, however several were below that -- and EMU came up at the caboose end with just 45 scholarships funded. I seem to recall Akron was around 70 scholarships back then. My reason for digging up this trivia is in part the discussion begun by the AD of my local D-1 university, the Hawaii Rainbow Warrior program to consider either dropping football outright or moving to the FCS level. Many of the supporters of the FCS move have focused on the money savings that not funding 85 scholarship athletes would create. My comeback is the "dirty little secret" -- that only Power 5 conferences are able to pay that load in the first place. It would be very interesting to find out how the landscape has changed over the past 8-10 years since that research was conducted. For example, has Bowden been able to effect any progress in numbers, or is this the reason for so few new recruits?