Zip_ME87

Thank you again. Ives did a mock draft for Fox Soccer, and it appears that New England does indeed have the 3rd pick (as opposed to having traded it to Toronto FC).

Thanks. I guess I was too tired to find the key to the *. After looking at it again, that site is a joke. Speas can't be drafted without a GA deal, I believe, and I doubt that he gets one...which means Crew or UNC. Did that site even get the draft order correct? Given the other issues you pointed out, I'm unsure of the trade they claim that New England made with Toronto FC back in April. Unfortunately, the MLS site doesn't seem to have the draft order unless I overlooked it.

Which makes no sense. Why would he not sign a homegrown contract if he wanted to leave early? He will most more and be more valuable to the Crew if he signs a homegrown contract. A difference between $10-15k a year. A $30k salary or a $45k salary with the possible bonus money. I agree, which is why I found it "interesting". I couldn't find the explanation for the * on Ben's name at that site either.

Looks like the Canadians have the 1st 4 picks. Toronto has New England's pick, which is 3rd overall plus their own pick, which is #4 overall. Congratulations to Darren. I hope Montreal picks him #1 overall. Four former Zips in Montreal would be excellent. EDIT: Interesting that the website I linked projects Ben Speas being drafted #34 by the Philadelphia Union.

Because the site is run by someone with a juvenile sense of humor. Although I personally don't like the automatic "Can't" conversion, I recognize that those who pay for and run the board have a right to instill their humor whether or not I agree with it. The rest of us, of course, have the right to choose not to use this forum.

We could also be helped by the number of players we now have in the professional ranks. I noticed that Pina is in the Dynamo Academy. I wonder if he's asked Kofi about Akron (like Yedlin with Zakuani).

Soccer by Ives - Latest on 2012 GA Class (December 18, 2011)

Le Bron Speas Very bad call. The LeBron comparison is assinine. I don't think he was being serious. Anyway, he needs to sign that homegrown contract and we'll finally have a former Zip playing for an MLS club within driving distance! +1

It was a good game from the perspective that the Zips took it seriously and got the result they should have. Still a little more sloppy play than I wish we were seeing, but hopefully they'll work more of that out over the next 3 games before VCU shows up. BTW, it was nice seeing Darlington Nagbe at the game last night. It's too bad that our camera guys don't recognize our pro Zips. I think D got on the scoreboard once just because they were focusing on some kids near him. Oh well, the Rowdie's gave him some much-deserved "love" near the end of and after the game. D was probably happier not to get too much attention, anyway.

Very well-spoken interview by Ben with nice comments for both his current and former teams. Thanks Crew8.

And the KU AD gets an automatic induction into the NCAA Hall of Shame.

Charlie Weiss, Ron Powlus, others?. Gotta love how that Kansas AD is trying to catch up to Kansas State. Seems more like he's trying to catch up to K.e.n.t State. :rofl: When I posted, "others?" was my wishful thinking of Rob Ianello. Thank you Kansas; you really are trying to keep up with K.e.n.t State rather than Kansas State. :rofl:

Awesome read. Thanks.

Alfred Koroma I agree....#10 Alfred Koroma I agree that #10 should be one of the new guys. I wouldn't want Scotty to change from his familiar #15. He scored the National Championship-winning goal as #15, and that's the number he should always wear as a Zip.

Charlie Weiss, Ron Powlus, others?. Gotta love how that Kansas AD is trying to catch up to Kansas State. Seems more like he's trying to catch up to K.e.n.t State. :rofl:

Ok, I'll give you that. Find a way to play it indoor in Seattle or Tacoma then. Temporarily bring in some sod. I think I've seen that done for some other event before. The Pacific NW has the best MLS supporters. If you really want to try to increase the attendance and get the best atmosphere, that's the place to go in my opinion.

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So they did such a crummy job, they've been given a do-over. Now I'm starting to understand the NCAA. And that's scary! For those of us local to Akron, at least Hoover is drivable, even though it's further than Cary, NC was. Personally, I'd love to see the College Cup in Portland at Jeld-Wen Field. I'd be willing to bet many of the Pacific NW fans would be interested in attending and given that we have former players in Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver as well as a Sounders Academy player, we could pick up some local support.

Does anyone know if the jerseys are Adidas? Long sleeve? Blue? White, short sleeve, no choice but #10. Don't know the brand.

Le Bron Speas (edit) I remember LeBron crapping on Cleveland rather than (edit) making statements like Ben's for the PD article: He, along with Akron coach Caleb Porter, decided a transfer was best, so Speas jumped at the chance to play for North Carolina. "No hard feelings," he said, and the transition was smooth and easy. He still keeps in touch with his old mates, including roommates Chad Barson, David Meves and Scott Caldwell. "I was following them a lot," Speas said of the Zips season that ended with a 1-0 upset loss to Charlotte in the third round of the playoffs. "I'm still very close friends with several of the players, great friends actually. We've been texting. They wished me best of luck in all my games, and I did the same. It was tough for them when they lost, for sure." However, I must say I'm not quite sure there were really "no hard feelings" having watched that post-game interview on UNC's website and Ben's body language, sipping from the water bottle and other, before he answered It was time to move on after being asked why he left Akron. Just my interpretation, but I get the feeling there was some disagreement with Coach Porter. At any rate, kudos to both Ben and Caleb for keeping any issues that may have existed internal where they should remain.

It's almost always better to go into the MLS as an underclassman than a graduated senior. Graduated seniors don't usually have enough options to give them negotiating leverage. To do well, they have to be selected high in the draft, and there's no guarantee next season will be as good to Ben. This year, he can claim, at a minimum...ACC Tournament MVP, "winning" pk in the 2011 College Cup semi-final (with a very confident approach), beautiful championship-winning goal in the 2011 College Cup Final, being instrumental in UNC getting over the hump and winning the title after 3 previous tries, and if you go back to the final game of 2010, he can claim being the ONLY Akron sub in the 2010 Championship game.

I agree with your observations in ranking Darren 4th in this group. Darren has the speed but lacks the creativity, IMHO, which is why he struggled against teams in the post-season tournaments, not because of the weather. (It was rather warm in December 2010 in Santa Barbara as I recall.) EDIT: In thinking about this more, physical strength may be the better observation. It's difficult to be creative when you're being double-teamed and manhandled.

I agree with you that no one is infallible, but this could be a case where Ben's style didn't fit Caleb's. Coach and player may have agreed to disagree which led to Ben going elsewhere. Caleb absolutely has my full support and without knowing all the facts, I don't think I'd call this an "egregious personnel blunder".

That ref was horrible and missed calls both ways. Would have been a different game had he been on top of things. I have a lot of respect for your program and fans. You guys definitely deserved better than you got. Fantastic run knocking off the previous year's champion and the #3 and #2 seeds. As I told several of your fans when I was in Charlotte on Nov 27th, best wishes to you!

I believe Ben's teams' records in the NCAA Tournament are as follows, 11-1-3: 3-1-1 with Zips in 2009 (pk's with Virginia, unfortunately went into the books as a loss, per NCAA rules) 4-0-1 with Zips in 2010 4-0-1 with UNC in 2011 EDIT: I wholeheartedly agree. I wanted to see Ben reach the pros. He now has the body of work to do so.