Zip_ME87

It was incredible to be at MLS Cup in Columbus today. @ZIP ... Cameron Knowles is the coach whose name you're trying to rememberTailgated with the Trapps. Got a picture of myself with Wil's Mom & Dad, Andrea, Colin, Jake, and Stella Porter who wandered past the tailgate on their way int to the stadium. (Thanks all!)Was able to get Pablo Maoreira's attention for a moment prior to the start of the game.Sat in a row of Timbers' fans in a sea of Crew fans, and pleasantly surprised to find I was seated next to Darlington Nagbe's sister. Congratulated her at end of game.Got to congratulate Michael Nanchoff at the end of the game.Talked with Eric Stevenson and Saad Abdul-Salaam in the stands at the end of the game.Fun atmosphere...the Timbers Army was outstanding and the Nordecke was good as well.Watched Caleb celebrate with his team and acknowledge the TA, who were chanting "Ca-leb Por-ter" ... like the Rowdies used to do.So happy for Caleb & the Timbers.The Crew did an outstanding job hosting. Glad that they have grass.Talked with Wil for a few minutes after the game.EDIT: Saw Perry Kitchen accept, at the game, the keys to a Lamborghini for his use for 12 month.Great day to be a Zips fan. So blessed.

I'll be there. Booked everything last week. Go Zips!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CVjw8hFWcAAvbyO?format=pjpg&name=large Is this the truck seen on Route 8 the other day?

Sorry for the multiple posts, but there were so many great lines to be quoted. Probably the best article ever written about a University of Akron athletics program. Credit Caleb Porter, Jared Embick, Oliver Slawson, the AK-Rowdies, and ZipsNation.

... As their possession style constricted around defenses like a snake marking its next meal, Akron mowed through opponents. Aside from one shocking defeat to nine-loss Cleveland State, Akron stormed through the postseason and downed Lolla’s Louisville 1-0 in the title game thanks to a 79th-minute goal from Scott Caldwell, another future pro. Porter had his national title. ...

...But it wasn’t until 2009 that Porter’s vision shocked college soccer to its filaments. There is a never-ending range of arguments about the best teams in college soccer history. There are Claudio Reyna’s Virginia squads of the early 1990s, the turn-of-the-21st-century Indiana teams, maybe St. Louis in the 1970s. But in modern college soccer there has been no loftier two-year run than the one enjoyed by Akron in 2009 and 2010, when a collection of future pros gathered for a squall that would tilt college soccer on its axis. ...

After leaving a legacy at Akron, Portland Timbers coach Caleb Porter aims for more history in Ohio ...After all, was his time at Akron not ultimately grooming him to become the MLS coach who led the Timbers into MLS Cup in just his third year? But that viewpoint is ultimately a myopic one. A deeper dissection into what made those Akron teams great is a study into the heart of good soccer for its own sake. Porter and his staff did not make Akron what it was to create job opportunities elsewhere. They did it because they were sure the game’s aesthetic demanded it. That legend trails Porter into those hallowed Akron halls illuminated by his own accomplishments to this day. Sunday’s MLS Cup final in Columbus will bring Porter within a 126-mile drive down Interstate 76 from the Akron campus he helped fashion into a hub of fluent, attacking soccer in seven luminescent years at the rudder. In a college soccer realm too often dominated by an approach that values white-knuckles winning over style, Akron was (and remains) a city on a hill. The Zips played a game to be watched, not just to be won. And Porter was at the center of that revolution. ...

Pre-game press conference streaming. The questions will start flying from downtown Columbus at 3:30 pm ET, and will feature head coach Gregg Berhalter, captain Michael Parkhurst and star attacker Kei Kamara from Crew SC and their counterparts Caleb Porter, Liam Ridgewell and Darlington Nagbe from the Timbers.

http://www.timbers.com/post/2015/12/03/portland-timbers-travel-columbus-mls-cup-dec-3-2015

Ben Zemanski, Michael Nanchoff, Darlington Nagbe, and Pablo Moreira ready to board the TimbersFC plane headed to Columbus yesterday. Michael Nanchoff: Just the 4 brothas from Akron heading home to Ohio for @MLS Cup! @KingJames with a RT would be Akron, North Royalton, Lakewood, and Brecksville-Broadview Heights well represented.

I love this. The Timbers' Victory Log is on its way from Oregon to Ohio. #PTFC Should be fun with Timber Joey & Timber Jim in Columbus. http://www.timbers.com/post/2015/12/03/daimler-trucks-north-america-transport-timbers-victory-log-columbus-conjunction-mls

Just realized the first picture was taken at a game that Wil Trapp and his mother attended. Looking head on, they're seated in the front row next to me in Section 105, to the left of the "This is Akron" banner. Good picture choice.

Outstanding article. Glad Jared took over our program. He has done a great job, and it's fantastic for our program to maintain such an outstanding connection with Caleb Porter.

Yes and Richie Layrea currently wears it very well.

As we get closer to the weekend, it seems to me that this thread and the Creighton Blue Jays thread should be at the top of the list, so to bump this one... Who else is going to Columbus on December 6th?

Looking at that list again, I'll add to TennZips's comments with how impressed I am by our soccer stud from Brazil, Victor Souto / Junior / 3.829 / Business. English is his 2nd language, and he's in the USA with family back in Brazil. WOW.

CONGRATULATIONS to the 13 Zips Mens Soccer players who made this list. 2015 Men's Soccer Academic All-MAC Team Akron Zips (13) Robby Dambrot / Junior / 3.933 / Marketing Management Jake Fenlason / Senior / 3.469 / Political Science and History Jesse Garcia-Aguilar / Sophomore / 3.229 / Business Administration Ezhana Kahsay / Sophomore / 3.328 / Sport Management Anthony Macchione / Sophomore / 3.360 / Communications Adam Najem / Junior / 3.686 / Marketing Management Danilo Radjen / Senior / 3.691 / Health Sciences Brad Ruhaak / Senior / 3.733 / Mechanical Engineering Tyler Sanda / Junior / 3.933 / Biology Sean Sepe / Senior / 3.474 / Finance Nate Shultz / Sophomore / 3.406 / Accounting Andrew Souders / Senior / 3.710 / Economics Victor Souto / Junior / 3.829 / Business

The Zips used to have it on our schedule, too like UCSB, but we didn't pencil ourselves into it like Creighton shows it.

Yes, he will. Best wishes to Oliver and Ashland University Mens Soccer. I'd love to see another powerhouse Collegiate soccer team in Ohio, especially that close. Go Eagles!

@fknbuflobo, when I bothered to actually click the link you provided, I found it interesting that Creighton has already penciled themselves into the College Cup December 11th when you look across the scoreboard at the top of the page.

I hope that it is the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. I already have plane tickets and hotel to join Zips Mens Basketball in Vegas Dec 21-23. The Quick Lane Bowl is the only option that works well.

Absolutely this team is exciting to watch and they work darn hard. They deserve HUGE crowds. I can't understand how people in Akron and NE Ohio don't take notice. One thing that UA Marketing seems to have right ... "Are you out there?"

I have an extra ticket right up front with your name on it if you want it. Section 105, Row 1, Seat 10.