Zip_ME87

Did you notice they have Andrew Souders listed as Andrew Sounders?

In typical, UA Athletic Dept fashion, the parking information is not clear. The term "general lot" is nowhere to be found on the Football Gameday Central parking map. If they're referring to the $5 public parking lots, then why don't they use that reference or change the parking map to use the "general lot" term?

US U23s in Costa Rica Jurgen Klinsmann talks to the U23s in Carson

I like that uniform that McClanahan is wearing. Didn't the Zips wear those for the FAMU game? I'd think a "light" gold version would make a nice alternate uniform rather than the "silver" or gray.

I'm with you. Did you see that Teal played for both the U23s (1st half) and the USMNT (2nd half) in a 1-1 scrimmage draw yesterday (January 17, 2012)? U23s hold senior team to 1-1 draw Edit: Another article on USSoccer.com prior to the first scrimmage with the senior team. Caleb Porter Pursues Continuity Within U.S. U-23 MNT Field Edit 2: Listening to Porter in that interview following the 1-1 draw with the USMNT, I realize Caleb's coaching the U23s is not only awesome from the perspective of the additional prestige it brings to our Head Coach and UA in the "soccer world", but also from the perspective of the learning experience it provides our head coach to work with Jurgen and the other coaches in the US Soccer system.

Although I agree with much of your sentiment, if I don't support the Crew, then I don't have close access to our professional Zips Soccer players. Also, the Crew Academy has provided us Chad Barson, Thomas Schmitt, Eric Stevenson, Will Trapp, and Ben Speas. (I apologize if I left anyone out.) EDIT: To keep this on topic, I hope Luke gets an invite to try out for an MLS club. I wish the Crew would give him a chance.

The Crew's colors don't go over too well with a lot of fans in Ohio, either. I attend matches at Crew Stadium for the sole purpose of supporting our former Zips. I've always cheered against the Crew in the past since they had no players with connections to Akron. With Ben on the team, that changes somewhat. I will still continue my support of the professional, former Akron players. My support depends upon who is on the pitch.

Not sure if this was already posted. This seemed like a good place to put it. Teal Bunbury on Soccer Today (ESPN Dallas) January 14, 2011 Teal's interview starts around 11 minutes in. EDIT: By the way, I'll try to join the group at Manny's Saturday night. U-S-A!

Zen, I believe you meant JD as in JD Brookhart. As far as TW's mistake in hiring RI, I think it's time to put it behind us. What good does it do to keep bringing it up on this forum? If TW makes another significant mistake (hopefully not), then all of these things could be used to move in a different direction. But, at this time, things seem to be going well for the Zips. As the old adage goes, Don't Worry...Be Happy.

Draft Analysis on MLSSoccer.com Montreal Impact (4) – The Impact came into the draft lacking one thing: speed up top. They came out of the draft lacking one thing: speed up top. Andrew Wenger could possibly be a guy you build a defense around, but nobody’s really sure what his best spot is. That could mean he’s the next Geoff Cameron, but it could also mean he’s the next Blake Camp. And Calum Mallace could provide nice depth at defensive midfielder, but will he really get off the bench? Vancouver Whitecaps (9) – Consensus was that Darren Mattocks was the most exciting draft prospect since Steve Zakuani. And he fell right into Martin Rennie’s lap, giving the Scotsman a perfect fit for the right side of the 4-3-3. Versatile fullback Chris Estridge makes this a transformative draft for the ‘Caps.

Channel 3 ended their 6 pm news broadcast with the story of Darren Mattocks being drafted today. They had a nice graphic with Darren's accomplishments over the past 2 seasons including his 39 goals and repeated several times that he went #2 overall. They also had a clip of his interview at the draft, gave accolades to UA Soccer and then joked about measuring snow tonight using a vuvuzela. It was an excellent story and not just a mere mention. Thanks Jim Donovan and WKYC!

Video is blurry, but I believe Ben was wearing his Zips' National Championship ring...nice.

I've told them that every time they've called me trying to sell tickets.

I really hope Luke gets picked up, too. I hope he doesn't get too down if it doesn't happen tomorrow since there is another opportunity in a few days. I remember talking to Chris Korb at the national championship celebration last year the night before the draft. Feeling confident he would be drafted, I wished him the best for draft day, but I knew he was worried. Also, you're right about twitter. It's even kinda creepy reading that stuff when you have talked to the person in the past. I noticed on Zarek's twitter account that he (and Steve Zakuani and other former Zips) got together in Akron around January 4th or so. Made feel like I'm stalking them even though it was information open to anyone. I could never be paparazzi. Ewww!

Count me as a Crew fan! Nice that Ben can celebrate his signing with the Crew and his 21st birthday (January 17th) in the same month. Impact at Crew on March 24th could be a huge Zips reunion, especially if Montreal selects Darren #1. Hopefully some of our current Zips will have the opportunity to attend that match.

Our other (ailing) Giant was also mentioned...Blackburn then started the final four games of the regular season, plus the playoff game against the Falcons. He might rank as the Giants’ best in-season addition since Domenik Hixon in the 2007-08 championship year. Back to Chase...during the playoff game vs the Falcons, the announcers mentioned Chase as being instrumental to the Giants' late season success, including the game they were announcing.

The Crew website mentions the offering of a homegrown contract. The team is also awaiting a response from North Carolina junior Ben Speas, who has been offered a Home Grown Player contract. EDIT: If Ben has accepted, I've just become a Crew fan.

Nice assist for Darren on Prime's 2nd goal. I missed their 1st goal. Final AdiPure 4 - 2 over Prime. (Darren only played the 2nd half.)

Luke scored AdiPure's 2nd goal today. Currently 3-0 Adipure over Prime.

Many thanks. I bet Caleb was there to check out prospects for the U23s. U-S-A!!

Yaznasty or Crew8...did either of you happen to see any of the second Combine match today? I just wondered how Luke Holmes looked? Thanks also for the U23 release. I've been looking daily for that since Christmas. I watched most of the 1st Combine match today and heard about Wenger the same way as Yaz. Mattocks was discussed quite a bit during that match. They also did a run down of recent #1 draft choices which included Steve Zakuani and talked a little about Kofi (perhaps because they knew he was on the U23 roster). [EDIT] I hope to catch the Combine matches [online again] on Sunday.

Combine Rosters announced Mattocks - Prime Holmes - AdiPure Match Schedule (watch on MLSSoccer.com) Friday, January 6 2:45 pm ET: adiPower vs Prime 4:30 pm ET: adiZero vs adiPure Sunday, January 8 2:30 pm ET: adiPower vs adiZero 4:25 pm ET: Prime vs adiPure Tuesday, January 10 10:00 am ET: adiZero vs Prime 11:55 am ET: adiPower vs adiPure

Wow, this schedule sucks! The March 24th match vs the Impact conflicts with USA v Canada U23 Group A qualifying match in Nashville and NO Nagbe, Zakuani, or Ampai in Columbus this [regular] season!

Nice article and billboard.

Crew8, thanks for this information. I wasn't aware of the different homegrown deals either. I'd think we could lose Chad Barson this way if the Crew comes across with the right GA homegrown deal.