Blue & Gold

Great then! I saw the Firestone-Garfield game and I thought this guy looked better than Garfield's Larry Dawson. (Though I wouldn't tell Larry that to his face!)

That's not the Firestone RB who was getting all the hype this year (I forget his name). Was this guy the other RB's backup? What was Firestone's other RB's name?

Thanks for the update mollautt!You mention that he is "WAY TOO QUICK," and you are spot on. But what I can't believe about his quickness is that in no way does he ever lose control of the ball - he maintains the dribble - with BOTH hands. Additionally, not only is he unimaginably fast, but he can stop and pop on a dime. It's not saying much, but he'd bust both of my ankles if I was trying to stay in front of him! Honestly, it's sick. He's one of the best high school players I've ever seen.For those Zips fans who haven't seen him play, imagine Jimmal Ball with less verticle leap, but a better left hand, and a much better outside shot. (No offense, Jimmal... you're one of my all-time favorites!)

Well, dude... who is it!?

Yep. Honestly, that's the worst QB play I've seen since I began watching Zip football about 15 years ago. Season ticket holders should have been pretty aggravated w/ the coaching staff for allowing a QB situation like that to develop, and Zips fans should be aggravated because you're absolutely not going to build much of a fan base with offensive play like we witnessed last year. And at such a crucial time in the programs history (Info Stadium). And with the damn Suckeyes playing for a national championship every year.

I think Rydell Brooks is more like 6-2, tops. Unless he's grown since high school.

Thank you ZipWatcher! I have never watched AAU ball, so I am very interested! And I am, naturally, EXTREMELY interested in watching our new buddy Zeke! Zzzzzzzeeeeeeeke!!!I teach a children's program at my church on Sunday nights, so I'm not going to be able to make it tonight to cheer Zeke on. However, I'm going to write LeBron's King James Classic in stone in my daytimer! The Pittsburgh Storm is playing in the LBJ tourney, right? Hopefully they'll get a game in the JAR! It'd be great to see Zeke run ball on the JAR's hardwood! We want Zeke representing the blue and gold of UA!!!Go Zeke!!! Go Zips!!!

I agree. I liked Joplin. He seemed like a first-class guy.

I'm fairly certain I'm not going to be able to make Zeke's games today in Solon. I've got a funeral that I should probably attend - so it's not like I'm just skipping out. Hopefully we can get a handful of the ZipsNation up there to cheer on Zeke! Go Zeke! Zzzzzzzeeeeeeeeke! Have fun today, Zeke! Wish I could be there.

Congratulations, Zeke! And great job! Keep up the good work! Keep sweating in the gym and the sky's the limit for you! And remember to keep having fun!!! Afterall it is just a fun game that you have the privilege of playing! No pressure.

Is there a website that ranks prep soccer players similar to what Rivals and Scouts does for high school football and basketball players? I'm almost completely ignorant when it comes to soccer but would like to educate myself - especially since it appears that we are now a national power!

It's funny you mention this; I was thinking the same. To run a scrimmage of this sort only requires a two-deep roster. Was our talent so awful that we couldn't run this format the last couple of years? I don't think so.

Thanks gozips19!

I'm going to park and walk. When I took my brother down to the OSU game last year we had to park about a mile away from their stadium. Fans of other schools have to walk, so right now I'm thinking I'll probably park somewhere downtown, grab a bite to eat before the game and then walk to the stadium. I plan on bringing different friends w/ me all the time so parking & walking will give me the chance to show off how both our downtown has changed and how the campus has changed. However, if it's one of those cold, rainy/snowy Akron-in-November days, yuck, I'd pay a lot to park closer.

Why would this recruiting class be composed of preferred walk-ons? I've never heard of anything like that before. Does soccer do it differently than other sports?

Others on this board w/ more football insight than I have made this same interesting point. JD desired to utilize the 3-3-5 defense because it is generally so difficult to get great D-linemen at the mid-major level. So a defense designed to only need 3 DL's must be more advantageous to our situation than a 4-3, right? However, for the 3-3-5 D to be hitting on all cylinders, it is imperative that your D-linemen, because there are only 3 up front, be extremely good D-linemen. Interesting point and almost seems like the plight of the mid-major is a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't scenario.

Completely hope UMass wins.

THAT SUCKS!!! I know we don't need another sub-six-foot guard, but man, I am absolutely going to HATE seeing a player from AKRON 'STONE lacing them up for Can't State! That blows.

The fact that he was/is a wrestler is good news. He'll have good feet, good balance and also know how to use leverage - which he'll already have and must use since he's only 6'.

This is a valid point, but I assume you meant Tulane? New Orleans would be quite a commute from Tulsa, OK Ha! Oops, you're right! Thanks for catching that!

That's a great looking arena. That's exactly what we could use - a basketball-friendly arena - not a hockey or arena football friendly arena - those mostly suck for basketball. USC also has a beautiful new 10,000 - 12,000 seat basketball friendly arena that's worth a visit to their website. That would be ideal. Nothing larger than 12,000. And UCF has the right idea, you could easily sell lower bowl seats at their new facility, yet the upper level would look full on t.v. because all of the seats are black. Very intelligent design w/ that new facility - it'll look full w/ 5,000 at the game, but it is usable up to 10,000. Good job by them. WE'RE NEXT!

This is only a guess, but I'm guessing that the random black seats are to make the place look fuller on t.v. Have you ever seen a Tulsa game from the Superdome in New Orleans? There may be 5000 people at a Tulsa game, but it's hard to tell how empty the place is on t.v. because the seats are spotted w/ different colors. I'm supposing on t.v. you would have to look intently to see that those black seats are actually empty seats, and not someone wearing a black UCF sweatshirt.

Great to have you on board! We're glad you're a part of the ZipsNation! Look forward to seeing you at the games! By the way, I hope this isn't a stupid question, but what do you mean by LET THE MOSS HEEM SHOW BEGIN?

TennesseeZippy, your mention of this possible game w/ the Vols is the very first time I have ever heard any mention of this. We've been talking about future schedules for a couple of years now and no one has ever mentioned anything concerning the Vols, and GoZips.com doesn't mention it under the football's future schedules page. So I don't think any of us are going to have any insight into what you read.

I agree that the KD - LeBron - Akron connection is an absolute once-in-a-lifetime event. The planets all aligned for us Zips fans here. This will NEVER happen again. There is no other mid-major U in the nation that is as fortunate as we are right now. We need to milk this for all it's worth! We need to ride this wave for as long and as far as we possibly can! KD is a good game coach, a great players coach, a tireless recruiter, and loyal to his hometown and U - what more could you ask for?! Oh, yeah...... he's great friends with LeBron James!!!!! Holy crap.