Zip_ME87

Five Zips? That's good to hear! Who are we talking about and how did you get this info? This is only a guess on my part, but the Cleveland Internationals roster from last summer may be an indicator of which Zips. I believe that Nanchoff and Ponikvar played for the Internationals last summer. Of course, Nanchoff wouldn't be there this year, but I've forgotten the others...I think there were about 5 or 6 then. I thought I read somewhere that the Internationals sold out to the Akron Summit Assault.

Thanks for posting this. I'm sorry to see Geno leave Can't. I hate to admit my age, but I know his father Gene who was a coach at my high school, Tuscarawas Valley, before moving on to Cambridge [and also taught the driver's education class (back when driver's ed was taught in high schools]. I thought it was great when Geno became an assistant in the MAC and then became Can't's HC. Best wishes to Geno. end of trip down memory lane

That was a great watch on Friday, especially Kofi (Right Back) going head-to-head with Steve Zakuani (attacking/left midfield). Zakuani scored his first goal of the season in the 1-1 tie. It was also great to see Chris Korb get his first start for DC United on Saturday (with Perry and 2 others on "international duty"). Unfortunately, Blair Gavin re-injured his hamstring. Game notes (March 25th) - Chivas USA suffered an early loss in the first half, when midfielder Blair Gavin suffered a recurrence of his left hamstring injury and was forced to leave the game. While the Red-and-White were down a man, Rapids midfielder Jamie Smith threaded a ball through the defense to Amarikwa, who dribbled past goalkeeper Zach Thornton and scored into the empty net. - Midfielder Mariano Trujillo came in for Gavin, who will undergo tests in the coming days to determine the severity of his injury. MLS Direct Kick is great

Sure wish I could believe GP1 that KD wouldn't be seriously considered by a successful program like Dayton's. But since I disagree with GP1's opinion of KD, the Dayton possibility does concern me. I'm surprised Jeff Boals name isn't on Dayton's list. Perhaps his name will come up in the MAC.

Thanks Yaznasty...those are great.

I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing. What are the chances that a defending National Champion has to play a ROAD GAME at Akron at the start of the following season? Could you imagine the ticket demand from just the casual college basketball fans in the area? And what an opportunity for us. The last time something like this happened, we had to play #2 Pitt at the Richfield Coliseum in 1987. But, we don't have that option anymore. Playing the National Champions at the JAR next year would be awesome! Not to mention how much I want to see Shaka win this thing. Go Rams!

Good summary by Yaznasty. The Rowdies/students who were there were AWESOME (as always)...thanks. Darren had a PK opportunity in the Michigan game which the UM keeper easily handled. Not sure who's going to replace Nanchoff taking the PK's this year. Of all the new guys, Murrow looked the most "raw". Culbertson, Navarette, and Afsarifard looked to be fitting into the system. I agree that the team looked sloppy, but no moreso than I would have expected given their youth and limited time playing as a team. Also, I overheard a Michigan fan tell one of the Michigan players "not as bad as last time, huh?"

Thanks for posting that.

A friend and I are planning to be in Pontiac, MI this Saturday. Is anyone else planning to be there?

Was Zip_Me87 the only other boarder to see the Chivas game? While Zemanski did score his first MLS goal -- on a terrible attempt at an offsides trap by the KC defense that backfired -- he was also blamed in part for the first goal of the game. While I did not see it clearly, I think Ben either A) failed to clear a through ball he should have taken, or perhaps passed the ball back to his keeper which was intercepted by the SKC rookie who put it easily in the net. Valentin (who was repeatedly called "Valentine" by the announcer, made some good passes, and also made some errors that the announcers called out and could have cost his team. Also, while I missed a lot of this contest, Blair Gavin was subbed on in the second half, and it looked like he has not had a haircut since his injury last July. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- it was just a bit startling to see his shoulder-length locks after his always being closely shorn in the past. Interesting contrast between the two LA teams at Home (Depot Center): Chivas played in dry conditions before under 10k, while the Galaxy last night drew about 20k in a constant downpour -- by the second half it was like being in a wading pool. The ball just would not roll, especially near the New England goal, which benefitted the road team in the 1-1 draw. Z.I.P....I saw the first SKC goal, and I believe that Ben just didn't clear the ball properly. He kicked it too easy on the ground away from the goal, and it went right to the SKC rookie who kicked it into the goal. As far as Blair Gavin, he seemed to adopt that unkempt hairstyle last season. I don't know how many folks here found it, but Time Warner Cable had a free MLS Direct Kick preview on Saturday. Most of the MLS games were on digital cable channels around 760. I saw much of the Chivas game, as well as the start of the Quakes game and all of the Crew/DC United game. For some reason, the "freeview" cut off part way through some of the games. I had the DVR set for the Quakes, but only got about 10 minutes of the match...that was crap, given that Ampai was subbed into the match in the 81st minute according to the game recap. BTW...Kitchen and Valentin are both with the US U20 team now in Dallas. We won't be seeing them with Chivas and DC United this weekend.

Kitchen Lives up to hype in MLS Debut

Definitely VCU (Shaka), Butler, Richmond, San Diego State

NCAA Tourney. Always preferable to have an opportunity in the dance.

I'm with you DiG, RootforRoo, and GoZips. I'll attend any home game for Zips Mens Basketball, even the CBI and CIT.

It was cool midway through the first half of the Sporting KC v Chivas match to listen to the MLS announcers talk about the Akron reunion of Bunbury, Zemanski, Gavin, and Valentin prior to the start of the game and continue discussing Caleb Porter's pipeline to the MLS and Akron's success. All saw action except Teal, who is still nursing the elbow injury. I hope he's able to play when SKC visits Columbus on April 16th. Also, read that Ampai subbed into the San Jose game in the 81st minute.

Wow, Z.I.P. Crew Xtra just showed (prediction) Chivas battling with Portland and Vancouver for the basement of the West. They also had the Earthquakes at 6, just making the playoffs. Also, looks like Perry is playing tonight. I thought he was called up to US U20 national team. He's in at left back, I believe.

Of course, now that I have discovered that the Crew vs DC United game will be on ONN this Saturday, I've also discovered that Perry Kitchen has been called up to the US U20's. Perhaps Kris Korb will find his way into the game.

Sorry to go back and forth on this, but the Crew's website is now showing that ONN TV is broadcasting the Crew at DC United match on Saturday (March 19th)...so, perhaps ONN is showing ALL Crew games (home & away) this year as I had originally thought.

Zakuani is in the starting XI. This is the year that the Zips take over the MLS! Go Zips! Yeah, I'm glad to see Steve playing. Hopefully, Seattle gets it done in the 2nd half. GO ZIPS!

Zakuani (hip injury) is listed as questionable for tonight's match. Source

If you're there in time to do so, I suggest going to, at least, the Irish as well as the Zips' open practice. It was fun in Portland to see our competition as well as other teams besides our own.

It will be played at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu — Madrid, as you thought.

I believe the Zips will be attending in person and not watching on TV, given the following passages from Caleb: In the evening, we travelled as a team to Getafe to watch a La Liga match (spanish first division) Getafe CF vs Athletic Bilbao. The match was at the Coliseum, which is the home stadium for Getafe. It was one of the smaller stadiums in La Liga (att. 17,000). Getafe is middle of the table and Athletic is currently fifth, so the match featured two very solid teams. The game was played in a constant down pour which made for a sloppier game than probably normal. The game started with what you would expect out of a spanish team with both teams looking to build and possess the ball but then I was suprised with how direct the teams played once it started to rain. It was good for our players to see that conditions can dictate the way teams choose to play even at the highest levels. When points matter, style is important but the conditions sometimes warrant adjustments to get the result. It was a good reminder that we need to be able to change gears at times when the game calls for something different. It was also interesting to see a smaller stadium and middle tier teams in the La Liga. Now that I have attended matches at Camp Nou (home of Barcelona FC) and Santiago Bernabeu (home of Real Madrid CF), there is quite a discrepancy in the level, facilities and money the top clubs have versus some of the others. I can only imagine how interesting it is when Barcelona comes to Getafe and goes from 100,000 fans to 17,000! Tomorrow we will watch Real Madrid vs Lyon in a champions league match so the players will be able to compare first hand.

For those who can speak/read Spanish: Amistoso Combinado Juvenil Rayo vs Akron

Our Soccer Pros were also into it: Blair Gavin: yaaaaa akron!!!!!!! Mac daddys Anthony Ampaipitakwong: CONGRATS AKRON BASKETBALL!! So happy for them and this year they are making a run in the NCAA tournament!!!! watch out Ben Zemanski: Congrats Zips! #NCAATournyBound #Roo Zarek Valentin: Congrats to the mens basketball team. Know all of chivas is behind you guyss! Ill never forget the great times in study tables hahah