Zip_ME87

It was great to see Robbie back in the line up. Good job by all today. I believe Saad, Foldesy, and Stevenson scored the 3 goals.

Yedlin's Rookie Season off to a Great Start

Soccer by ives show Episode 22, featuring interview with DeAndre Yedlin. EDIT: DeAndre's interview starts around 11 minute mark. Nice accolades to Caleb & Akron. Very nice interview by DeAndre.

Nice. I've seen all of the Sounders games thus far this season and know this is well-deserved.

Your forgot "panicky".

I agree that somehow the insanity of big money college sports should be stopped, but not by paying the players. You're going to create even more insanity. How about capping coaches salaries and the amount of money that can be put back into sports. Then take the remaining money and put it into academics and lowering the cost of tuition.

E-mail or call him and ask. http://gozips.com/athletics/staffdirectory/index

So, how many times did you corner Caleb Porter and demand information? Actually, Paul Warner is the Sports Information Director for Men's Soccer and is therefore responsible for press releases. Perhaps asking him would be the thing to do, but I know, in this day and age of texting and posting to message boards, it's much easier to complain and have no common courtesy than it is to actually talk with someone and request something.

@TennZip and fknbuflobo - I agree about the needed press releases. Can you please use the "Ask the AD" feature on GoZips.com and politely request that information if you have not already done so? I did awhile ago and was told they weren't ready to release yet. I think it would be helpful if more of us asked. Thanks in advance. EDIT: They may not be able to announce anything about the forward from England. They may still be in the process of getting him cleared. (Totally a guess on my part...no inside info on this.) However, they should be able to put out a release on the others who have signed NLIs, including Victor, who played in the Spring match vs CSU, and then follow up later with an additional announcement of others as they have in the past.

If this is true that the University is trying to get the other sports caught up to Mens Soccer by ignoring Mens Soccer, then our Athletic Department's leaders are even more pathetic than I thought.

You guys read way too much into things. I was seriously asking why Shaun Docking was considered a top flight coach and not belittling him in support of Jared.

Have you guys really thought about this? I absolutely agree that a player who is injured while participating in an NCAA sport should have medical expenses covered by the NCAA/school. However, when you start talking about paying players, how do you level the playing field between big schools/conferences like the Big Ten and the MAC? Where do MAC schools get the funding to pay their players the same as the Big Ten. Players in the Big Ten will claim they should be paid more than those in the MAC because they generate more revenue. The higher pay then creates another reason for recruits to not want to play for MAC schools. How do you make this fair?

First, thanks for a good exchange. I take none of this personally. Just a good discussion. As far as #3, it is shameful. When I pushed on TW via e-mail last Fall about the lack of marketing for Mens Soccer, I believe his reaction was to get Scott Caldwell and some of the other players to go through the dorms talking to students. There's nothing wrong with that, but I expected more. We were a top 5 (ugh, should have been higher) seed in the NCAA Tourney, hosting games, and the Athletics Dept/Marketing should have done more. Yes, you'll see me Saturday. I hope we're still "friends".

Why do you consider Shaun Docking "top flight". He is an alum, but what has he done. Has he won a D-I National Championship? Is he involved in US Soccer. He's been at Coastal Carolina for 15 seasons, I believe. How many College Cup appearances in that time? Zero, if this is accurate. I won't dispute the others you mentioned, but we don't know they, or even Shaun, were actually interested. I never said there weren't others besides Jared interested in the job. I was just picking on your "facts". My question to you is why are you so against Jared before he's had the chance to prove himself? If you think for a moment that recruiting wasn't going to be off some this season then you don't live in reality. A program doesn't change head coaches without there being questions as to where it is going no matter who is hired as the replacement. Also, when you say that Jared "has inherited a program in fine shape", that, in my opinion, is totally due to Caleb Porter and staff. The Mens Soccer Team has basically had to do all of their own marketing by winning and by Caleb, staff, and players talking with the students and fans. Do you see Tom W and the marketing staff doing anything for Men's Soccer like they have been for football and Mens Basketball? Last season, we hosted 2 NCAA Tournament games, and what signs did you see all over campus..."Bowden Ball" and "Think Bigger". I don't have a problem with those signs, but where were the signs for Mens Soccer given that we were hosting NCAA Tournament games as a top 5 seed (out of 200+ D-I programs). I hate to admit it, but I'm not certain other "top flight" coaches wanted to step into a program with that kind of support from its Athletics Department.

No, I don't know differently. There's only 1 name whom I heard for certain expressed an interest, and I'm not sure he is a top flight coach. All the others I heard mentioned were wishful thinking, but no confirmation any of them were actually interested. I was absolutely calling you out on saying that you know something for a fact when you don't have facts. You have rumors and someone else's opinion. Without knowing names, how can you say "top flight coaches" were actually interested.

Without knowing the names, how do you "know for a fact"?

That's too bad. I really like Fred and was hoping he would settle in and have a great year for us. However, I understand that he may need the family support, and feel the need to be closer to home (especially given his unfortunate situation last Fall).

Feature: Perry Kitchen

Congratulations on Shaka staying put at VCU.

+1 Absolutely Jodi deserves the commitment from UA.

I love that picture of Darlington and DeAndre "battling". Before that game started, I saw DeAndre and Darlington and Darlington and Steve embrace each other in the tunnel before walking out onto the pitch at Century Link. It's so cool to see our professional players together even if they are competing against each other.

Well deserved call up. Seattle Sounders' DeAndre Yedlin says he's been called to US Under-20 camp

Complaining about specifics is still complaining.

Why do you believe that's more productive? Who is going to listen to specifics from a bunch of "Monday morning wanna be coaches"? I personally don't think that it's more productive to start blaming any one or anything. It is, however, our right --- as season ticket holders, casual fans, alumni, students, and donors --- to let the powers that be know that we're not satisfied with just getting to the NCAA Tournament. We can all Think Bigger, but It is their job to find a way to make more happen. That is what they get paid to do (regardless of amount). When I was younger, it was easier to say "wait 'til next year". As I've gotten older, "next year" has come and gone a lot without additional results. I'd like to see more in my lifetime. Am I happy for us to get to the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament? Yes. Is it unfair of me to want more for my Alma Mater? No. I think most of us know how great it felt when the soccer team won the 2010 National Championship. I'd love to have that same feeling for basketball with a run to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 or further. [before anybody goes off on my mentioning soccer, I'm not comparing sports or teams. I just want a similar "high" for Akron basketball.] PS: I sympathize with you Dr. Z.

Disappointment. You can try to guild this season any way you want, but it was a disappointment. I think most of us expected this to be the year that we would take the next step, and win at least 1 game in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, we lost by the largest margin of any of our NCAA Tournament appearances. We were in the game for about 6.5 minutes. We looked completely unprepared for a team that we knew. As has been noted numerous times on this board, we are in a "crappy" conference. I just can't use a MAC Championship (actually 2) to say we did well. Yes, we had player issues, but part of being a good team is to not have those issues. Sickness is different, but that was really only 1 player. The other 2 don't get significant minutes anyway. You can say I'm being negative, but in my opinion, I'm just stating reality.