Zip_ME87

DeAndre will be wearing the familiar #17.

Hmmmm, Boise State was always a top program? I agree that it's just never going to happen if the attitude is it's just never going to happen.

You can VOTE for DeAndre's goal for GOTW through Friday, July 26 at 2:59 am ET.

I saw this when I was in Boston the past weekend ... Scott Caldwell on the cover of July 2013 New England Soccer Journal with article starting on page 7.

Congratulations to DeAndre Yedlin for being named to the 2013 MLS All Star Team. 1st Zip, I believe and 1st rookie since 2005.

Congratulations to Coach Kest. This extension should have been done before this.

Great turn out of Akron fans. Kudos to all who attended. Great little tailgate with 4 friends prior to the match. Enjoyed talking with some of the Timbers fans who wandered by, and happy to see some of my friends get copies of the Timbers Army chants for the match. Went in as soon as the gates opened. Talked with Wil and Chad as soon as they came out of the tunnel for warm ups. I can't thank Wil and Chad enough for taking the time. Chad's parents then came down to say "hi" and we proceeded to catch Pablo Moreira (who is now a video analyst for the Timbers), Michael Nanchoff, and Darlington when they came out. Great to be there for Wil Trapp's debut. A group of his high school friends were sitting behind me. I chimed in with the "Wil Trapp fan club" when he was announced and throughout the match. In the first half, Wil and Darlington were battling a number of times on my side of the field. Wish I'd have been able to get some good pictures, but it doesn't really matter...I was there. So much fun to eventually see 5 former Zips on the field together and Caleb Porter coaching from the visitors bench. It was fun to see Darlington, Ben, and eventually Michael Nanchoff go up against Wil and Chad. What an awesome day in Columbus. When the match was over, Caleb came over to say hi to someone else he knew in the stands a few feet away from me. He noticed me and shook my hand. I really wish I could get to Portland to see a Timbers match at Jeld-Wen. Down a man and the Timbers held their own on the road. I was torn between the 2 sides, kind of hoping for a tie, but happy for Chad and Wil in the end. I also caught up with a number of Rowdies after the game, talked with Wil Trapp's parents, and a number of other Akron alumni. This was a special game which I was really happy to attend. I hope the Crew keep starting Wil and Chad...I'll keep going.

One of the "AK Timbers Rowdies"

http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ss...sinesslike.html ..."I'm sure there'll be more people there," Porter said. "Get some of the Akron 'AK Rowdies' coming down and hopefully partnering with the Timbers Army. You never know." ... EDIT: https://twitter.com/TimbersArmyAway/status/...885548144689153 Planning on going to Columbus? Buy your match tickets soon! Sales via http://timbersarmy.org are ending at 10 a.m. tomorrow [July 2nd]. #RCTID

It appears the NY Red Bulls Reserves will be playing the Wilmington Hammerheads around 4:30 pm ET today, and the match will be streamed at http://www.uslnation.com/USLPro/ I saw future Zip Adam Najem in Columbus with the NY Red Bulls reserves back in May. Perhaps he will be playing with them today. EDIT: Apparently match also being streamed at http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/live

Fair enough. I've focused on the Crew Academy because it's the one that I'm most likely to attend due to proximity. I don't understand why MLS can't do as well as PDL at updating/maintaining the information on their youth teams on line. This, to me, is another way to help grow the sport and the interest in MLS. I follow the Crew Academy on twitter, but I do not have and will not get a Facebook account (just my preference).

The Crew does an absolutely ATROCIOUS job of putting rosters and game information on their website for their development teams. I might go to Columbus in the summer for some of the matches if I could find out the Akron players on the roster and the schedule of matches. It's great to know after the fact that the U-19s won. One more reason I dislike the Crew organization.

This is a great read, and I'm extremely happy for the way things are going in Portland with Caleb as Head Coach. I wasn't able to work out a trip to the PNW this summer as I had hoped. July 7th in Columbus should be fun to witness the Timbers in person and to see Caleb, Darlington, Ben Zemanaski, Michael Nanchoff (hopefully), as well as Chad Barson. As much as I'd like to see Wil that day, too, I hope he and the US U-20's are still competing in Turkey at that time.

Twitter voting has begun and runs through 11:59 pm ET tomorrow (6-21-13) To vote for all of the Zips Alums on the ballot in one tweet, include @darlingtonnagbe @KofiSarkodie8 @yedlinny @PerryKitchen23 #MLSAllStar in your tweet. You can vote as often as you want, but you can't include 1 All Star candidate more than once in a single tweet.

According to @TimbersFC, Caleb Porter now holds longest unbeaten streak by a first year head coach in MLS history.

Portland Timbers stand tall among MLS ranks ...Every market is different, yet there are similar fits in Kansas City, where Sporting KC has found a rabid following in the nation's 37th largest city, and Columbus, where the Crew have increased attendance from last season despite playing in football-crazed Ohio. Caleb Porter knows all about the Buckeye State. The first-year Portland head coach left the University of Akron in August 2012, where he had a 123-18-17 record, including a national championship in 2010, to join the Timbers. And Porter took a pay cut to do so. "The passion here is unmatched," said Porter, who turned down D.C. United a few years earlier. "If I was going to leave my situation (in Akron) -- where we had 5,000 fans at each game, which was very passionate for college soccer and where a lot of people were into it and cared -- if I was going to leave that, it would have to be something similar but even of a much bigger magnitude.... Edit: A slight error in that Caleb didn't leave in August 2012 but was named Timbers HC in August 2012...oh well. Caleb is proud of what he did at Akron as he/we should be, and I will always be a fan.

Vote for Darlington, Goal of the Week

I think this deserves its own thread. VOTE HERE for the MLS All Star Team. DeAndre Yedlin (D), Darlington Nagbe (F), Kofi Sarkodie (D), and Perry Kitchen (M) are on the ballot.

Wil Trapp and DeAndre Yedlin named to US U20 World Cup roster. Ramos names U20 World Cup Roster

‏@ColumbusCrew #Crew96 Starting XI: Gruenebaum; Barson, Gehrig, Glauber, Wahl; Meram, Tchani, Sanchez, Speas; Higuain, Oduro http://www.thecrew.com/match/crew-union-june-5-2013

Crew at Union - June 5, 2013 Player Spotlight Crew Homegrown Player Chad Barson made his debut in Robert Warzycha's starting lineup on Saturday against the Houston Dynamo. The rookie defender was instrumental in securing a point at home, drawing the foul that led to Federico Higuaín's equalizing penalty kick. Barson earned high praise from his teammates after the match for his performance. "If [barson] is frazzled, he really does a good job of containing it," goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum said. "I thought he was very poised and did a great job of both attacking, getting behind and serving the ball with defending as well." Added Dominic Oduro: "I thought he did very well, especially for his first game starting. He was really massive, he played with his heart and I thought he did great." With Josh Williams listed as questionable for Wednesday's match with calf inflammation, Barson could see his second career start come against the Union.

I knew Brian Quinn was a soccer coach but didn't know he had coached an MLS team until about 8 months or so ago. I first discovered that he was the coach of the San Jose Clash who drafted Caleb Porter when I was searching the internet last year trying to find the number that Caleb wore in college. I, too, thought it was an interesting connection and mentioned it to some of my friends who also follow Zips Mens Soccer. They didn't know until I mentioned it. By the way, that's a great and well-deserved article about Aodhan. I'm glad he made the transfer to Akron from Bradley.

Not sure whose comment you're suggesting implied that notion. I didn't read that into anyone's comments in this thread. Referring to something as "Akron philosophy" or that a player learned something from Akron coaches or Akron's style doesn't mean the style was invented in Akron.

He scored at least 1 goal and had a few assists at Akron. Also, in four years of games and practices, he would have seen the outside backs get forward enough to have picked up something from them and the coaches...as much (or more so) as learning from Josh Williams. Regardless of how much he got forward himself, he certainly learned it at Akron.

I may have stated that a little too harshly. Like anyone, I'm sure Chad is learning from his teammates, but getting forward is not something he just picked up in Columbus. I know you're a Crew fan, but I just can't get excited about their style of play. I also find Warzycha to be less than inspiring. I wish the Crew would find a more charismatic and driven coach, but I know that's easier said than done.