Zip_ME87

I know some folks are just going to pay no attention to this assuming it could never happen. Unfortunately, that is not the case. And, to say that a bunch of Clowns masquerading as a professional football team practicing on our pitch would not damage it is crazy. You don't see circuses held and Association Football played on the same grass field on any kind of regular basis for a reason. Successful D1 NCAA soccer programs don't even practice on their competition field. Proenza is gone, and Clowns masquerading as university officials have made questionable decisions in the past: a glorified high school gymnasium for a basketball arena, money thrown at a move to D1-A football when UA D1 basketball could have more easily taken off, hiring a head football coach who didn’t even know to “defer” and had to kick off in both halves, not working with the city/county to properly market a new downtown arena as an entertainment venue for Akron rather than UA’s basketball arena and thus having it removed from the ballot are just a few examples. Then there’s harlequins disguised as intelligent UA students, alumni, and sports fans who say things without really knowing of what they are speaking. Cleveland sucks when it’s sports fans are bashing LeBron for going to Miami, but it would be awesome to have their so-called professional football team come to our campus for 2 weeks each year because it will do great things for UA. Have we seen a cost-benefit analysis? Has one been done? I’d like to see it. In my opinion, working with the City of Akron and Summit County on a downtown arena would be a much better pursuit than trying to bring a “circus” to campus for 2 weeks a year. I don’t have an economic impact analysis to back me up, but Akron seems like a great place to build a moderate-sized arena for concerts and other events as well as UA Basketball. The Akron metro area (Summit & Portage Counties) population is 700k+, Canton city is 72k+, and the Dover-New Philadelphia area is 92k+. Add to this $173k+ in Medina County, and you have 1M+ people within 50 miles of Akron without counting Cleveland. Many of the people in these areas don’t like going into Cleveland, but would come to Akron for events. I live in Medina County now and grew up in Tuscarawas County. I much preferred and still prefer coming to Akron, and I know there are many folks south of Akron who’d prefer to not drive all the way to Cleveland. But, hey, why seriously look at something when you can pursue gimmicks? UA has a history of sinking a lot of money into football at the expense of other sports and pursuits that seem to make more sense. History could easily repeat itself. UA students, fans, and alumni who really care, please don't ignore this. EDIT: Canton-Massillon Metro Area (Stark & Carroll Counties) has a population of 400k+. Thus, about 1.3M+ people within about 50 miles of Akron without counting Cleveland. The contents herein are my opinion formed over about 30 years.

That's what I thought for awhile, too, about the drainage, but it's not true. Unfortunately, there are drainage issues mostly on the east side, especially near the goal. In 2012, we had a Spring game moved to the practice field. Last season they had to delay a game and squeegie the field to get the excessive water off of it after a mediocre rain. There was still water splashing up under the players' feet in the first half of the match, and the ball was slowed by the water. By the 2nd half, it had significantly improved. Sorry, but the Browns will F it up. It's what they do. Why does anyone want the worst organization in the NFL to come to our campus?

Really? Rob Ianello. Enough said.

What would you think if UA paid the Browns rather than the Browns paying UA?

I know some folks are just going to pay no attention to this assuming it could never happen. Unfortunately, that is not the case. And, to say that a football team practicing on our pitch would not damage it is crazy. You don't see American Football and Association Football played on the same grass field on any kind of regular basis for a reason. Successful D1 NCAA soccer programs don't even practice on their competition field. Proenza is gone, our AD has made questionable decisions in the past, and our new president is a big football fan. UA has a history of sinking a lot of money into football at the expense of other sports. History could easily repeat itself. UA soccer fans don't ignore this.

Sorry, not pristine like a soccer pitch. There's a reason why MLS has been going toward soccer-only stadiums.

Did anyone else happen to see this article? http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/cleveland-browns-training-camp-location-possibilities-akron-Can't-state-hiram-otterbein-081214 The biggest hurdle for a Browns-Akron full-time partnership is probably the city setting of the campus, and specifically a lack of grass practice fields. Akron has a grass-field soccer stadium (capacity around 4,000) on campus, just west of the football facilities, though it's unclear how the Browns using that would be received by Akron's nationally-recognized soccer program. The Browns practicing in our soccer stadium would be awful. I can't imagine the state of that beautiful field when they get done with it. How could UA even consider this?

Really? After watching just 1 of those press conferences you could really think this? The "special kind of stupid" is more likely reality. Thank goodness when I thought I couldn't see dumber decisions, along comes KU to help us out. I wonder how that's working out.

Some adults aren't as sharp as a 9-year old even when they're 44 or 45.

Jared and staff recruited most of the current players. I'm most frustrated at this point by the turnover that we had this season. It's one thing to lose bench players who don't feel they'll see the field at Akron because there are better players ahead of them. However, how many starters remain this season? 5 or 6? Are we going to be rebuilding every season? That's not a formula for winning.

Akron kicked off twice.

Here ya go, Akron vs Gardner-Webb (9/11/2010): http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/playbyplay?gameId=302542006&period=1 1st Qtr: Branko Rogovic kickoff for 70 yards for a touchback. 3rd Qtr: Branko Rogovic kickoff for 62 yards for a touchback. Edit: Just remember, you asked. Ignorance in this case is definitely bliss. You would have been so much better off never knowing about this. You don't want to know anything else about the 2010 or 2011 seasons if you didn't experience them. Leave them alone and be happy.

Nothing Akron can do about that. Lolla left Akron of his own accord for another university. No one chased him away, and I'm sure he has no interest in returning.

On a side note, Matt Foldesy started for Indiana in their 1-1 tie with Georgetown. Neither the Indiana nor the Georgetown website box scores have the minutes played by the players; so, I don't know whether or not he was ever subbed. However, if Matt can start for Indiana in a big game vs Georgetown, why is he no longer at Akron? Did he go of his own accord or was he driven out? Either is not good. Just because I supported the decision on Caleb's replacement doesn't mean that the new Head Coach and his staff aren't accountable. It's still too early for me to give up, but I'm not feeling good about what I'm seeing. Edit: Thanks Switchit http://zipsnation.org/forums/topic/30714-roster-changes-2014/?p=225872

The match matters to me more than the faciity, but a soocer pitch in the center of a track, cool? Really?

I don't think there was enough movement in the midfield or upfront. No plan as to how to score or even maintain possession. The defense was on it's heels because MD was on our half of the pitch so much. Also, I heard a lot of communication between the MD players and almost none between the Zips players. Players need to take responsibility and step up. Even though he was only a Freshman, Perry Kitchen wasn't afraid to give direction. Same with Wil Trapp as a Freshman and Sophomore. The Captain needs to speak up but so do others.

... In walked Landon Donovan. He told his teammates what the rest of the world would soon find out: For the first time in more than a decade, he wouldn’t be playing in the World Cup. Yedlin was stunned, but in his head, he’d done the math. Seven players gone. Twenty-three left. He called Dylan, his uncle, the man who’d taught him how to play. “Oh my god,” DeAndre said. “Holy shit,” said Dylan. “Ho-leeee shit.” It dawned on Yedlin: His life would never be the same.

I'm not too concerned with the number of freshmen on this team. If I remember 2009 correctly, Zarek Valentin, Chad Barson, and David Meves were freshmen starters. Then in a number of games including the scoreless final with Virginia, we saw Scott Caldwell, Ben Speas, and Yorum Mwila (RIP).

I agree. A defender from Seattle, San Jose, Vancouver, perhaps Denver or Salt Lake...a team relatively close by would have been a better choice.

Well, Caleb took no other former Zips. I really thought he'd select Wil Trapp, but he stayed loyal to the Timbers with Will Johnson. Garber selected Valeri.

Thanks for engaging in discussion. I agree with you on Valeri and Wright-Phillips. I would definitely take Trapp, and I'd still take Kofi. (In my original post, I said 2 of the 5.) I really don't know anything about the others you mentioned... I know I'm biased to the Akron guys. Perhaps Garber will select Trapp as he seems to pick a verteran and a talented young player. At any rate, I think 2 additional former Zips aren't out of the question. Porter might take a little flack for favoring his former players, but those selections can be spread around several MLS teams.

NBC4 Columbus last night Wil Trapp's soccer genes go way back http://www.nbc4i.com/video?clipId=10379001&autostart=true

Columbus has not been playing well, either, but I definitely think Trapp, too, when you look at his statistics. For the tactical considerations, I think you could select Nagbe, no matter how poorly Portland is doing. Nagbe is technically gifted. I disagree with you about Kofi. He may not be as flashy as DeAndre, but he's had numerous spectacular saves with the Dynamo, albeit they haven't necessarily occurred this season. I believe DeAndre is the only fulback in the Fan Xi; Kofi could be the other. Who would you select as the other fullback? I also disagree with you about Perry. He may not get national accolades, but DCU is doing well this year, and he's a significant part of it. However, I don't think you could select both Wil and Perry. Mattocks' speed could be a huge help in this match, and we all know how competitive Caleb is. This may be a "friendly", but he'll still do everything possible to win. By the way, I believe all 5 whom I mentioned were on the MLS All Star fan ballot. So, someone thought they could be All Star material

Any thoughts on who Caleb Porter might select to complete his MLS All Star gameday roster? http://www.mlssoccer.com/all-star/2014/news/article/2014/07/15/all-star-nine-usmnt-world-cup-veterans-former-champion-thierry-henry-lead-wa "There aren't yet any Portland Timbers players on this year's group, but All-Star and Timbers head coach Caleb Porter could well send some when he names the rest of his All-Star game-day roster, to be revealed on July 19 during halftime of the ESPN2 broadcast of the Sporting Kansas City-LA Galaxy game (6 pm ET). The Fan XI will not necessarily be the starting lineup against Bayern Munich, though. The 20-man game-day roster will be decided from among the Fan XI, Commissioner Don Garber's two All-Star picks, and players that received at least two votes from their fellow players, all based on player availability and tactical considerations. ... 2014 MLS All-Star Fan XI: Goalkeeper: Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake) Defenders: Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders) Midfielders: Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City) Forwards: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders)" Perhaps Darlington Nagbe, Wil Trapp, Perry Kitchen, Kofi Sarkodie, Darren Mattocks. I would think he'd pick at least 2 of these guys if they get the 2 votes needed from their fellow players. I don't know if that means 2 votes from their own teammates or 2 votes from any active MLS player? I guess we find out on Saturday (July 19th).

Road to Columbus: Wil Trapp http://www.thecrew.com/news/2014/07/road-columbus-wil-trapp I was thinking about going to Columbus this Saturday, but I like to know for certain that I will get to see at least 1 former Zip in action before I drive down there. Wil got 2 yellows (red) last night against SKC. I couldn't really see what happened on that 2nd yellow, but it wasn't clear to me that he deserved it.